- HOT TOPICS:
- The new VeloNews.com (BETA)
Cipollini says McEwen 'extraordinary'
Australian Robbie McEwen has been lauded for his “explosive” top-end speed by Mario Cipollini, arguably the greatest sprinter of modern Tour de France history.
Such praise from the retired Italian superstar was all the more meaningful considering that McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) actually lost the sprint at the end of Tuesday’s 169.5km ninth stage from Bordeaux to Dax.
But McEwen’s lightening come-from-behind surge in the last 50 meters of Tuesday's stage to come from fifth wheel and then dart 10 meters across to his left and still challenge for the win was “astonishing,” said Cipollini.
“The explosiveness of McEwen is something extraordinary,” said Cipollini who followed the stage in the Liquigas team car on Tuesday. The route was covered at an average speed of 47.214kmh was the fastest stage so far this year.
McEwen was beaten by Spaniard Oscar Freire (Rabobank) in a thrilling edge-of-the-seat and shoulder-to-shoulder lunge between the pair.
In third was the evergreen German Erik Zabel (Milram), followed by Belgian world champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) who is still without a win in this Tour.
Cipollini bagged 12 Tour de France stage wins over the course of his career that ended last year compared to McEwen’s current score of 11. He also amassed a record 42 Giro d’Italia stage wins.
The winner of the 2002 World Championship (over McEwen) and Milan-San Remo classic and two Ghent-Wevelgems was also amazed by the change in bunch sprint styles.
While Boonen is obviously still reliant on the classic team lead-out or “train” that Cipollini relied upon to win – and often seemed lost without one – McEwen and Freire are not.
Both have mastered the use of one or two teammates to position themselves with 450 meters to go and then picking out the best the wheels of their rivals.
“I see a lot of confusion in the last 500 meters,” said Cipollini after the sprint into Dax that saw the whole width of the finishing straight taken up with riders contesting the win. “There were three or four teams up there and none were able to take control, or had the strength to do so.”
Most spectacular was McEwen’s brazen move as he jumped off Freier’s wheel to his left with just 75 meters to go and surged passed a host of riders in a remarkable charge to the line.
At the time, McEwen's chance of contesting the win seemed non-existent. Ditto for Freire, as Zabel and Boonen both appeared to be perfectly placed and locked in for a two-up duel of their own.
But then Freire blasted past, but not nearly as fast as did McEwen who, despite taking the longest line to the finish, drew nearly level on the Spaniard’s left just as Zabel and Boonen began to fade.
“For me McEwen and Freire have the same capacity. They have the same speed and equilibrium, not like Boonen who needs a team to lead him out,” said Cipollini.
The Italian believes Boonen’s bodyweight can be a disadvantage when he is left to sprint without a full team clearing the way for him.
“At 80kg he could be hindered by the others who are about 15kg lighter. A bit like me, he needs a train to get himself up to full speed.”
McEwen was philosophical about his lost opportunity to match Cipollini’s score of Tour stage wins in a bunch sprint that was assured once a three-man break was caught.
In the break were German Christian Knees (Milram) who started it at seven kilometers, and Frenchmen Walter Beneteau (Bouygues Telecom) and Stephane Auge (Cofidis). The trio built up a maximum lead of 7:50 at 59km before being reeled back in at 3.5 to go by the combined efforts of T-Mobile, Lampre, Credit Agricole and Quick Step.
The sprint was a hurly burly affair that did not leave Cipollini as the only agog in awe for the brilliant bike handling, brazen tactics and speed with which it was contested.
For McEwen, who was up to 12th wheel back with about 350m to go it was a case of doing what he does best, which is making the best out of a situation that many others would think impossible to profit from.
“I was just starting to really accelerate when we hit the line. I hadn’t even got into top gear yet,” said McEwen. “That’s what happens on the Tour. Sometimes you need a bit of luck to get out and I didn’t think I was going to get out at all, so in the last 40 meters I rescued a few points.
“It would have been nice to win another one but that’s how the Tour goes. You don’t win every day. Maybe if I won it would get a bit boring – not for me, but for everybody else.”
Former VeloNews European correspondent Rupert Guinness is editor and publisher of PelotonPress.net and joins us each year at Tour time.
