Luis Leon Sanchez and Voeckler Star; French Television Contributes To The Carnage – 98th Tour de France, Stage 9
Stage 9 of the 98th Tour de France, a 208 kilometer sojourn from Issoire to Saint-Flour, ended with Rabobank's Luis Leon Sanchez easily taking a three up sprint against breakaway companions Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) and Sandy Casar (FDJ).
Yet, while Sanchez’s victory, as well as Voeckler’s effort to claim the maillot jaune, is to be lauded, the celebratory mood was certainly dampened by what transpired behind.
Another massive crash would send a number of big names, including Alexandre Vinkourov (Team Astana), David Zabriskie (Team Garmin-Cervelo), Omega Pharma-Lotto’ team leader, Jurgen Van den Broeck , and teammate Fredrik Willems, immediately packing.
But the most dispiriting act on the day came courtesy of French television, France 2/3.
Attempting to forge ahead of the five breakaway, France 2/3’s car swerved directly into the Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky Procycling) causing a chain reaction that would send Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) skyward and into a barb-wired fence lining the road. Though both would eventually make it to the finish, the callousness of the French television giant was enough to taint what would have been a glorious day for their countrymen.
Results - Stage 9
1. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
2. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
3. Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ
General Classification After Stage 9
1. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
2. Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
3. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
4. Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek
5. Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek
6. Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad
7. Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad
8. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team RadioShack
9. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
10. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek
Jersey Leaders After Stage 9
maillot jaune - Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
maillot vert - Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
maillot a pois rouges - Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
maillot blanc - Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
Quick Stepping Through The Tour - Terpstra Animates Stage
After a very fast first race hour with an average of 45 km/h, a group of 3 riders opened a gap. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Juan-Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) and Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) were accompanied by Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) and Niki Terpstra some kilometers later. The six escapees quickly gained a 4 minute gap but at the second climb of the day the gap dropped to 2,5 minutes. On that climb Terpstra lost contact with his companions and lost half a minute. "Today I made it into the break with my head more than with my legs. I wasn’t super, but I was highly motivated to try. The route was really hard and the first hour of the race flew by at an average of over 45 km/h! In the last kilometers on the second class climb I just couldn’t follow the rhythm of the other riders in the break. It’s too bad, but I really did give it my all. Tomorrow I just want to rest, then we’ll see what I can manage to do in the following stages”, commented Terpstra after the stage.
More than 3 minutes behind the escapees, the peloton reached the summit of the second climb of the day. In the descent things went terribly wrong with a massive crash creating chaos. Some of the riders were injured quite badly and had to abandon the race. The peloton took it easy for the next few kilometers to give the fallen riders the possibility to return to the bunch. In the meantime, the escapees opened up a huge gap, but at 35 kilometers from the line a car created chaos there also. The car hit Flecha and Hoogerland, who crashed hard. The other 3 escapees continued their way to Saint Flour. The peloton didn`t rush to reel the escapees in, the followed 5 minutes behind the escapees. Voeckler, Casar and Sanchez sprinted for the stage win in Saint Flour, where Sanchez took the win.
Almost 4 minutes behind the leaders Kevin de Weert ended in 16th place in the first chase group. In the overall classification De Weert moved up to a 14th place. "Once again today was an incredible day; during the race the situation changed many times. I’m really sorry for what happened to the riders who fell today and for Van den Broeck. It’s terrible to have to leave a race after a fall. My support goes out to him and to all the guys who’ve been having problems in these days, with best wishes for a quick recovery", said De Weert after the stage. "As far as I’m concerned, I’m happy that this first week is over and I think I played it the best way possible. On a mental level it’s been a rough race. Every day we stayed 100% concentrated to avoid falls, to avoid falling behind and everything else. Tomorrow I’m going to rest and try to recuperate the mental and physical energy I’ve exerted up to now. As of Tuesday a new chapter in the Tour begins.”
Next: Rest Day 1; Stage 10 - Aurillac to Carmaux (161km)
Photo: (top: Michael Steele/Getty Images; bottom: © Tim de Waele - TDWSport.com)
Related Posts:
Leave a Response
Entries(RSS)