| Stage 9 |
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07.16.01
With over 1,500 kilometers of racing behind them, the peloton of the Tour de France showed no signs of slowing down despite the pending arrival of the first mountain stage on Tuesday. One might have expected the 175 riders who began the ninth stage to ride today at a mild tempo – or, as they say in the bunch, play a bit of piano. But that certainly wasn’t the case. The action started right from the drop of the flag to indicate the start of the 185km stage from Pontarlier. And by the time the Tour arrived in Aix-les-Bains at the base of the Alps, the average speed was 46.677kph. And thankfully, for the winner Sergei Ivanov, the pace had slowed down from the frantic 50.5kph first hour. Rapid attacks were launched and chased for the first 30-odd kilometers, but it wasn’t until Brad McGee jumped clear at the 36th kilometer that any significant gain was made. Perhaps the eagerness of the chase of each escape attempt was an indication that the consensus was for a piano session today. Instead, what eventuated was a flat-knacker perpetual pursuit of McGee and his day-long escape companion, David Etxebarria and Fassa Bortolo’s lone Russian, Ivanov. The organizers offer several predictions for the arrival time of each stage. And today, the pace was 15 minutes ahead of the fastest option. It’s a stark contrast to the last time Aix-les-Bains hosted a finish of a Tour stage. (Back in 1998, the stage from Albertville was cancelled because of a rider strike which brought the peloton to the shores of Lac du Bourget three hours past the slowest anticipated time.) In the end, the only real winner today was Ivanov who launched his final attack nine kilometers from the finish. Etxebarria and McGee limped home 16 and 17 seconds later. The Australian was obviously exhausted and feeling the aches and pains of the race to Aix-les-Bains. Seven seconds later Erik Zabel burst from the remnants of the peloton to claim fourth-place. The German won’t concede defeat in the green jersey compeition easily. But with the leader of that classification – the man who also leads the Tour de France – Stuart O’Grady coming in two places later it’s now going to be a battle within the war of what’s yet to come in this year’s Tour. Tomorrow is the rendezvous with one of the most famed finishes of the race: the beautiful ascent to the summit at Alpe d’Huez. On the way the riders face the prospect of the highest pass of this year’s event: the 2,000 meter tall epic of the Col de la Madeleine. The race for overall honors really begins, and you can bet that there’ll be some maestros at the back of the pack who wished they heard a little more music today. |
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