We have been on the roads of the Tour driven them, and they are wicked mountain roads, the likes of which I have not seen in this country. The Pike's Peak climb is higher, but the road is wider and seems less steep. This is the place where legends are made, where Lance, after a day of being spit on by the German fans finally broke Jan Ulrich, looking over his shoulder and taunting him to keep up as he went onward. The cycling world watches this climb as the Super Bowl of cycling.
This year, it is just as important. The top 5 riders, after 16 days of riding, are within less than two minutes of each other. All are great climbers, and all have a chance to win the whole race here, if they can find a way to "put some time into" the rest of the leaders. Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, Carlos Sastre, these are the men left who look like they could win, and who can do well here today.
But cycling is a team sport, and the name of the game is using teamwork to drive the pace high enough to make the opponents suffer, to break them. This year the only team that looks like a great team is CSC/Saxobank. In the past, Lance surrounded himself with great teams, teams that spawned riders who went on to lead other teams, and be stars on their own, and every member of those teams rode for one purpose, to put their leader in place to win. But make no mistake, after every team member exhausted themselves all day, relentlessly pushing the peleton faster to expose weaknesses in the competition, the team leader had to take the race on his own shoulder and ride on to win. This year CSC is doing this, acting as a juggernaut at the head of the peleton each day, lifting the speed higher and higher. Their members who are in contention have the advantage of knowing the team is there with them, and to be able to ride behind them, enjoying the slipstream effect. They are riding for Carlos Sastre, but one of the other members of CSC, Frank Schleck is also doing well, and is leading as today's race begins. And that is a good position to be in, the same situation as Discovery Channel enjoyed last year when it rode for Levi Leipheimer, but a new rider, Contador, showed he was the one able to mount the final effort at the end of the climb in the Alps, when no one else could keep up.
As the race is unfolding, amazingly, the leaders in the standings are all there at the end. CSC is doing all it can to work together to lift the pace to where someone has to drop back, but no one has. Then, at the foot of Alpe d'Huez, as the road turns left and begins the final climb of the day, it is apparent that this road will be different, it will be every man for himself for these last 15 kilometers. The pace slows, the riders come out of the saddle, and quickly, one man breaks away, Sastre! But not for long, Menchov is right on his wheel, so the pack catches up and they are all bunched again. But as soon as that is apparent, Sastre breaks away again, and this time no one can match him, he is off! For the rest of the climb he is inching ahead. In the pack, the leaders stay together. There are small breaks, but no one can go clear. The favorite to win the Tour, Cadel Evans has no reason to catch Sastre, he can do that on Saturday at the time trial. The American, in 6th place overall, Christian VandeVelde is still there, and looks good! The others are dueling with break aways that get reeled in, using precious energy, but the effect is to actually slow overall pace, letting Sastre open more of a lead. As the thrusting and recovering in the pack continues, he is ahead by over a minute. Then Menchov is off the back, he may lose any chance for a high finish here. There are two remaining CSC riders, the Schleck brothers, and one of those is in the Yellow Jersey, but this is not to be his day, and he is suffering. His younger brother, Andy though, is working to contain the group. No one can get away from him, and he is like a psychological anchor on anyone who tries to close the gap with Sastre.
As they work up the hill, Sastre focused on riding a great climb, putting time into the other behind him, the pack is engaged in wasteful efforts with no clear benefit. Until it is clear that Sastre is capable of getting far enough ahead to build a time cushion that the rest can't close in the remaining few days. Then Evans, finally, takes on the mountain, breaking away, and immediately Schleck is on him, the others catch him. But this doesn't matter to Evans now, he keeps riding, dragging them all behind him, closing in on Sastre, knowing he can't let him get more than one and a half minutes ahead at the end of the day. Is VanderVelde still there? YES! And he looks like he can do more. Now the group is really making time! And what's this? Menchov is back among them. They ride now with no attempt to game each other, the mountain is asserting itself, it is purely a game of survival. If they can keep the pace, the race will remain close, with 4 or 5 potential winners.
Meanwhile, at the line, Carlos Sastre has crossed, finishing a great day of racing for him and his team, and the clock begins. The chase group is working now at their limits, pain in every face, legs and lungs on fire, but wills unbreakable. They all round the final curve and come across the as a ragged group. And for the first time, on the other side of the line, all the racers simply stop, no riding off out of camera range, no seeking out support crews, they simply stop there on the road, heads down, panting for air, utterly spent. What a race!
There was no race winning effort here, in fact, the standings got tighter. There is no superstar, there is no super human performance. In this group, the are no drugs, just riders on the edge of human effort. The top four are separated by one minute, thirty four seconds, and in the time trial on Saturday, it is very easy to see that gap overcome by any of them. Then the 5 and 6 slots are within 4min 41 sec. And number six is the American, VanderVelde. Is it likely he can gain that much time on Saturday? No, not agains Evans and Menchov, but he COULD just get past the other two ahead of him and get on the podium.
VanderVelde has no great team around him, he has never been thought a Tour winner potential. His team Slipstream Chipotle recruited him as an old hand with the right attitude to help its young riders as the team builds itself up, a brand new entity invited to the tour as a gesture to America, to keep the viewership ratings up in this country, with no chance of winning, Just as the French like it. But here he is, a veteran of the US Postal teams, a journeyman, as surprised as anyone he is here. A great story of heart and dedication to a sport that is one of the best there is.
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