CEBU, Philippines – That’s what a 22/100th of a second will give you, a yellow jersey or 2nd place in the general classification.
ASTASNA tightened the screws yesterday, putting its rivals on the ropes this early. Lance Armstrong, the cunning and wily ASTANA “co-captain”, is just this close to wearing the Maillot Jaune. But SAXO BANK (3rd in the TTT), even though they lost 40 seconds to ASTANA today, kept the yellow jersey for Fabian Cancellara and the GC hopes of the Schleck Brothers, Andy and Frank. GARMIN, the team expected to win this event, came in second and kept the hope of Christian Vande Velde a bit better than the rest. But for Carlos Sastre @2’44”, Cadel Evans @2’59” and Russia’s Denis Menchov, @3’52”, they have to climb out of the deep hole they dug themselves in. And that’s before the first mountain stage.
As for all the LA fans out there, don’t pop up the champagne just yet! There’s still 15 days to go and s**t can still happen. While it may be a shame that Armstrong didn’t get to wear the jersey today, tactically, his position is perfect! Cancellara’s team, SAXO BANK, will be forced to work for the next 2 days defending the 22/100 second lead of the yellow jersey, as the unwritten peloton law states, leaving the ASTANA boys recuperating and getting prepped up for the first mountain stage at the end Fridays’ stage.
In the meantime, all is calm at the ASTANA front-Contador is happy, Armstrong is happy and the rest of the team getting plenty of rest. In the meantime, the media is salivating as to who will genuflect to who at the top of Aracalis, Armstrong or Contador. At this point in the race, Armstrong has slight advantage over Contador. It would have been interesting to know what Johan Bruyneel would say if Bertie was leading going into the mountains. As Lance says, let the road determine the leader of ASTANA.
The penultimate stage of this years Tour will be an ascent to Mt. Ventoux, a mountain with a lunar-like, tree-less landscape where winds are as strong as they are unpredictable. This is also the same place where the late Tom Simpson collapsed and later died from a combination of exhaustion and drugs. As a parting shot, Lance told the writers not to write him off easily. “Write your story on the top the Ventoux”, the 7-time champion said.
For a “healthy” discussion of the Tour de France, please go to www.cebucycling.com. – THE FREEMAN