THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Vasseur wins one for the home crowd;
Rasmussen holds lead
A decade after his first Tour de France stage win, 36-year-old Frenchman Cedric Vasseur gave the host country something to cheer about on Wednesday, taking the 10th stage of the 2007 Tour, a 229.5km rolling run from Tallard to Marseille.
Vasseur (Quick Step-Innergetic) shot out the right side of a five-man breakaway 200 meters from the finish, narrowly holding off countryman Sandy Casar (Française des Jeux); the difference at the line barely more than a tire width. It was the first victory by a Frenchman at the Tour since Pierrick Fedrigo took stage 14 into Gap a year ago.
Italian Michal Albasini (Liquigas) was third, with France's Patrice Halgand (Crédit Agricole) and German headbanger Jens Voigt (CSC) all receiving the same 5:20:24 finishing time.
The quintet was part of an 11-man breakaway that came together 81km into the stage and didn't split up until first of two cat. 3 climbs, the Cote de Bastides 28km from the finish. Halgand led the way over the top, with Casar and Albasini in tow. Voigt and Vasseur bridged on the descent.
After some early action on the final climb, the cat. 3 Col de la Gineste, the five survivors crossed the summit together, setting the stage for Vasseur's first Tour victory since 1997, when he won at La Charte riding for the Gan team and wore the yellow jersey for five days. Vasseur turned pro in 1994 and has said this will be his final season.
"It's a great gift," said Vasseur, whose victory gives Quick Step three stage wins at this year's race, following Gert Steegmans (stage 2) and Tom Boonen (stage 6). "It was the 10th stage on my 10th Tour and this morning a close friend told me that this was going to be my day. I knew a breakaway would form, and I was just lucky that I got into the right one. Once we'd got a good gap on the peloton I started to think maybe it would be my day."
There was no change at the top of the overall standings, with race leader Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and the rest of the GC contenders embracing a relaxed - albeit warm - day following Tuesday's epic battle in the Alps. The peloton finished 10:39 behind lead five, with Sebastien Chavanel (Cofidis) winning the sprint for 12th, one spot ahead of green-jersey leader Boonen.
Rasmussen leads Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) by 2:35, with Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), at 2:39, Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto), at 2:41, and Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel), at 3:08, rounding out the top five overall.
"It was a long hot day and a lot of guys were suffering in the heat," said Rasmussen, who took the Tour lead Sunday following his solo win in Tignes. "The heat takes a toll on everybody, but my team defended well today."
Wednesday's stage started 14 minutes late after several team buses were held up in traffic. When racing finally commenced, 171 riders pushed away from the start in Tallard and did their best to get back on schedule, tapping out 48.3km in the first hour.
After a flurry of early attacks, including one with brothers Sylvain and Sebastien Chavanel, T-Mobile's Marcus Burghardt - who collided with an unleashed dog on stage 9 - made the move of the day at the 50km mark. The German flew solo for the next hour, before a chase of 10 took off at the 73km mark and bridged across to Burghardt. At the 81km mark the reformed group of 11 had a two-minute advantage on a disinterested peloton.
The group included Burghardt, Voigt, Casar, Halgand, Vasseur, Albasini, Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank), Paolo Bossoni (Lampre), Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis), Aleksandre Kuschynski (Liquigas) and Andriy Grivko (Milram).
With Voigt the highest placed on GC, 36th at 24:39, and most of the sprinters' teams represented, it was clear the move was not coming back.
With 95km covered the advantage was 5:55. Five kilometers later it was up to 6:45, and by the time the bunch passed the 127.5km mark the margin had ballooned to 14 minutes. That was enough to set off alarm bells back in the field, and Rasmussen ordered his Rabobank teammates to pick up the pace. At the second intermediate sprint, at 154.5km, the gap was a more reasonable 10:45.
Tour team GC leader Caisse d'Epargne was among the 10 squads that missed the decisive break. But with second-placed Discovery Channel and No. 3 team Astana also caught out, the Spanish formation was content to take a day off after placing three riders in the top 16 on Tuesday.
Back in the break the cat-and-mouse games began on the penultimate climb, the cat. 3 Cote de Bastides. Voigt attacked first, taking off 4km from the summit. But the German's fellow fugitives caught back on, with Halgand launching an immediate counter. Casar and Albasini joined the Frenchman, and the threesome crested the climb eight seconds ahead of a four-man chase including Voigt, Burghardt, Scheirlinckx and Vasseur.
Burghardt and Scheirlinckx dropped off, while Voigt and Vasseur made contact with the lead group on the descent of the Bastides, putting five riders off the front.
Burghardt, Flecha, Bossoni, Scheirlinckx and Kuschynski now led the chase. Grivko was dropped and riding alone.
On the final climb, the cat. 3 Col de la Gineste, Halgand was again the aggressor, putting Casar in difficulty with several sharp attacks. But the group of five - which included three former Tour stage winners - was back together with 17km to go, while trailing six accepted their fate, quickly losing time.
"It was a long, hot day, and difficult," said Halgand. “I did everything I could to drop them but the final climbs just weren't hard enough.”
As the grade on the final climb lessened, the five leaders put their differences aside, each taking quick, even pulls all the way to the summit, 10km from the finish. Back in the field Rabobank continued to set an easy tempo, 12 minutes behind the break.
After the final descent, Voigt was the first to attack on the dead-straight run into Marseille. But the front five were soon back together, drifting left and right across the wide road, none of them wanting to take the initiative.
“I knew Voigt was one of the strongest in the bunch, so I followed his wheel,” said Vasseur. “He brought me back on the last climb when I was starting to feel the fatigue.”
Vasseur gave one dig on the run toward the line, but Albasini came across, dragging the three others with him. That left the end game to a sprint, where no one could touch the aging Frenchman.
Next up at the Tour de France is the 182.5km run from Marseille to Montpellier. This is one of the Tour's flattest courses, skirting the Camargue marshes of the Rhône delta, just north of the Mediterranean coast. There have been 25 Tour stage finishes at Montpellier, the last in 2005, when Robbie McEwen won a tight field sprint after breakaways Chris Horner and Sylvain Chavanel were caught in the finishing straightaway.
The stage has bunch sprint written all over it, especially if the Mistral winds are blowing. The finish loops to an end on the western edge of Montpellier, an ancient city dating back to the 8th century. With the sprinters' field cropped by the Alps, look for the survivors - Boonen, Erik Zabel, Robbie Hunter, Sébastian Chavanel and Thor Hushovd - to lead the charge to the line.
Stage 10
1. Cedric Vasseur (F) Quick Step-Innergetic, 5:20:24
2. Sandy Casar (F), Française des Jeux
3. Michal Albasini (I), Liquigas
4. Patrice Halgand (F), Crédit Agricole
5. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, all s.t.
6. Staf Scheirlinx (B), Cofidis, at 0:36
7. Paolo Bossini (I), Lampre, s.t.
8. Marcus Burghardt (G), T-Mobile, at 1:01
9. Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr), Liquigas, 2:34
10. Antonio Juan Antonio (Sp), Rabobank, 2:34
Overall, after Stage 10
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 49:23:48
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse D’Epargne, 2:35
3. Iban Mayo (Sp), Saunier Duval-Prodir, 2:39
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 2:41
5. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 3:08
6. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 3:18
7. Carlos Sastre (Sp), Team CSC, 3:39
8. Andréas Klöden (G), Astana, 3:50
9. Levi Leipheimer (Usa), Discovery Channel, 3:53
10. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, 5:06
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