Tour de France - Stage 15 / Simon and my Cat

It has been a pretty ordinary weekend after a pretty ordinary week. I am, again, talking about my Training and Racing which I don't know at the moment where is going... Sickness strikes again, this time keeping me in the house for days. That meant watching one more stage of the Tour de France. Terrible!!!!
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Stage 15 - Embrun - Prato Nervoso, 183km

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That was the most eventful race I can remember watching, for a long time. People that unlike me, have been in the sport for a long time always talk about the old days when bike racing was about attacking, dramas, tears, crashes, adverse weather and strong men on bikes. Well, that is exactly what I witnessed last night on the race to the Prato Nervoso summit. And more...

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The action, as in most of the previous stages, started with a break away group that included Australian Simon Gerrans, a rider that has been quoted a few times as a stage winner in the Tour. And guess what...
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But before that took place, a series of events made Stage 15 one of the most exciting so far for the 2008 French event ( surprisingly, there wasn't a Frenchman on the break away). There was rain, there was sunshine, there was insane riding through feed stations, there were capes getting caught around hubs and derailleurs, there were amazing views of mountains and cliffs, there was Italy, there was a kaleidoscopic crash as the riders negotiated one huge roundabout, there was the 2744 m Col Agnel to be conquered, there was Pereiro's attempt to get a short cut which ended his Tour aspirations (if he had any...) and there was the final 11.4 km climb.

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That's when Team CSC-Saxon came into the action, in fact a bit before that again when the lead out guys (Fabian, Stuart, Jens, Kurt-Asle, Andy and Nicki) were told to go to the front and hurt everybody else left in the race. So, they did and when Voigt followed by Andy Schleck started their bit on the first kms of the limb there was an explosion which spat big name riders all over the place!

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Then, there were Sastre's attacks, Menchov's chase and crash, Valverde's attack, Kreuziger's attack, Kohl's chase, Gonzale's attack and Frank's chase and attack. I could keep going here but I think I need to watch that pyrotechnical display of men on bikes going up this climb again, before writing anything else.

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No, I didn't forget Cadel Evans or Vande Velde. They were fantastic. The first one was covering attacks from right, left and center, not just by the CSC trio as most cry, but by everyone in the bunch of 8 or 9 super cyclists. Vande Velde? Just for been part of that elite group. Awesome display of talent and determination.

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It just kept happening. At the end, pure team tactics by CSC or not, Frank Schleck proved to be stronger than most on the climb again by dropping Cadel at the right time to snatch the Yellow Jersey by more than 1 sec, seven in fact. And I must mention Carlo's efforts also. He attacked, chased, sat and then launched a stylish and opportunistic ride-away to the finish.

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The one who impressed the most was Andy Schleck. He did an enormous amount of work before and on the climb where he blew up, he came back to help Sastre and Frank, he sat, he attacked, he drove again, he blew up and sat and finally finished on Cadel's wheel. What does that tell about this youngster from Luxembourg?

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Andy and Frank Schleck did a lot of damage
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Hey, I can't forget the group of 4 riders fighting their own battle for the stage win less than 5 min up the same climb. By the way, it seems that the Yellow Jersey group gained more than 5 min on that front group as they fought each other up the mountain. But the winner came from the 4 riders who took the plunge and raced the whole afternoon ahead of the peloton. Brilliant!!! And the winner was the young and 4 times tour rider, Australian champion Simon Gerrans. What a fantastic result for someone that works really hard and has the reputation of being one of the nicest guys in the Pro bunch. Congratulations, Mr Gerrans!!!
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Simon Gerrans smiles big time
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Simon's future smile

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I always had an enormous respect for Cadel Evans as a cyclist, I know his story and watched him race in the 2007 World Championship (even said "Good Day!" to him). I don't have to say more as we can just look at the jersey his wearing in this photograph. I have also watched a few interviews and thought of him as a nice guy. Now, I see what shirt he is wearing under the jersey and my respect for the man grows bigger.

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Well done and Good Luck, Cadel!