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July 19, 2005
Pereiro gets Stage 16, Evans moves up the GC
Oscar Pereiro was angry about Sunday's stage, where he felt George Hincapie took an unethical win. He took all that anger, clamped it down way inside him, and today, he released all that pressure with a stage win, outsprinting three other breakaway survivors to win in Pau, as the Tour exits the Pyrenees.
Ironically, Pereiro could partly credit a long tow from Cadel Evans, hunting a higher overall placing, giving Pereiro, Zandio, and Mazzoleni a chance to recover a bit ahead of the sprint finish.
Evans moved up to 7th overall, 4 seconds up on Floyd Landis and 9 seconds ahead of Alexandre Vinokourov. Mazzoleni moves up to 12th, and Pereiro to 15th.
Stage results:
1) Pereiro in 4:38:40
2) Xabier Zandio, Illes Balears, same time
3) Eddy Mazzoleni, Lampre-Caffita, s.t.
4) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
5) Philippe Gilbert, Française des Jeux, at 2:25
6) Anthony Geslin, Bouyges Telecom, same time
7) Jorg Ludewig, Gerolsteiner, s.t.
8) Juan Antonio Flecha, Fassa Bortolo, s.t.
9) Ludovic Turpin, AG2R, s.t.
10) Cedric Vasseur, Cofidis, s.t.
The leaders' group was at 3:24, followed by a group at 10:05, then at 20:16, and the autobus at 21:33.
Interestingly, none of the leaders got any points toward the green jersey competition, so it's still Hushovd at 164, O'Grady at 150, and McEwen at 142. That may have been part of the original impetus for Davitamon-Lotto to send Evans, a teammate of McEwen's, up the road today.
GC Top 10:
1) Lance Armstrong, Discovery Channel
2) Ivan Basso, CSC, at 2:46
3) Michael Rasmussen, Rabobank, at 3:09
4) Jan Ullrich, T-Mobile, at 5:58
5) Francisco Mancebo, Illes Balears, at 6:31
6) Levi Leipheimer, Gerolsteiner, at 7:35
7) Cadel Evans, Davitamon-Lotto, at 9:29
8) Floyd Landis, Phonak, at 9:33
9) Alexandre Vinokourov, T-Mobile, at 9:38
10) Christophe Moreau, Credit Agricole, at 11:47
Posted by Frank Steele on July 19, 2005 in Oscar Pereiro, Stage results | Permalink
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When you're battling for a third-place podium position in the Tour de France like Jan Ullrich and Mickael Rasmussen, you've got to watch your back too.
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Comments
Pereiro, angry at George? Wait, guess Cadel should be angry too then. Have 1 word for Pereiro, Hypocrit! Phonak has no chance to win the GC, their captain of a year ago suspended for cheating(doping), and he has the "class" to consider his win in no way, shape, or form different than Sun.. Grow up Oscar, you lost Sun, period! This is why Discovery/US Postal has won the last seven! T E A M!
Posted by: kirk at Jul 19, 2005 12:08:16 PM
At my home, we were all horrified and saddened to hear the news from Germany. It just creates a state of shock. We are praying for all members of the team, and send condolences to the families and anyone connected to the tragedy.
About the stage, however, I will be brief. The outcome of this stage couldn't be more strange and obvious at the same time. As Adrienne eloquently stated yesterday: "...if roles were reversed he (Mr. Pereiro) would have done the same thing." I can see this is true now. Today's example, however, was on the roads leading to Pau, where drafting actually helps (as opposed to on a climb where it does not do anything). I hope Mr. Pereiro can hold his tongue in the future and just race.
Thanks Cadel Evans for your huge heart!
Posted by: jerome at Jul 19, 2005 12:13:19 PM
What tragedy from Germany, please?
Posted by: jack at Jul 19, 2005 12:33:49 PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/4695385.stm
Posted by: josh at Jul 19, 2005 12:40:23 PM
So sorry, thank you for the fast link, Josh. My mistake; I can't be on the web nonstop.
Posted by: jerome at Jul 19, 2005 12:49:52 PM
I should think Oscar Perreiro owes someone an apology.
Either to George Hincapie, for his unsportsman-like complaints after the end of Stage 15 that "the strongest man [didn't] win" because Pereiro did all of the work and Hincapie took advantage.
Or else he needs to apologize to Cadel Evans, who pulled the Spaniard for at least the last 20k and could do nothing but watch Pereiro sprint past him for the win.
Didn't you just do the same exact thing to Evans that you accused Hincapie of doing to you, Oscar? It's bad when George does it, but it's perfectly acceptable for you to do the same? For shame.
Posted by: ivy at Jul 19, 2005 1:00:55 PM
Terrible thing with the Aussie women riders in Germany ... apparently Evans said prerace he wanted to go out and win the stage for them. So I guess he has every right to be pissed at "wheelsucker" Pereiro, eh?
Re. the last part of the race, I found it surprising that Phonak didn't do any serious pacemaking in the Peloton. Sure, they had a guy in the break (Pereiro) who they didn't want to chase down, but they also had a GC man in the Peloton (Landis) whose GC spot was threatened by a guy in the break (Evans). Once it was clear with around 10km to go that the break was going to succeed, they could've put the hammer down a bit in an attempt to keep Evans from leapfrogging their man Landis on GC. Seems strange to me that they didn't work harder - am I missing something?
Posted by: EWM at Jul 19, 2005 1:07:45 PM
I think both Pereiro and Hincapie deserve credit for smart racing.
Tactics are made up on the road. Today, Evans decided he valued his GC placing more than a possible stage win, and the other guys, who were thinking the other way around, sat on his wheel. That's smart racing, and Pereiro still had to beat the other two potential opportunists.
Yesterday, Hincapie had a very good reason to conserve his form, and when conditions changed, it put him in position for the stage win.
That's what makes bike racing so cool. What looks like a defensive move works better than you thought, and your guy is on his own. The guy you're sure you have to drop to win the break decides he's going to play locomotive, and you're the caboose. Things are always changing out there.
Everybody racing at this level has had at least one difficult loss like Pereiro's yesterday. Major props to Pereiro for bouncing back, and attacking, attacking, attacking.
Posted by: Frank at Jul 19, 2005 1:10:26 PM
It was with sadness to hear about the Aussie women in Germany, my heartflt condolences to their families and the team. I've had the pleasure to live and ride in many parts of Germany over the years and I remember the many rides that I took and how courteous the drivers are to bike riders over there. Just a very tragic accident.
Today's race: Well it looks like Mr. Pereiro learned something from his 2nd place finish the other day. He did what he had to do to win. But I laughed as he drafted behind Mr.Evans, looking like a little chick under the skirts of Mama duck. Quack!Quack! Quack!Quack!Quack! Quackkk!
Excellent tactics Mr. Pereiro? Yes indeed, job well done. Quack! Quack! Quack!
I love this race! (smile)
Posted by: Will at Jul 19, 2005 1:54:19 PM
What happened in Germany is truly tragic. It is a sad fact that road racers face not only the dangers of racing, but also the perils of sharing the road with speeding automobiles while training. During my career, we lost several elite racers to training crashes with cars.
After I retired from racing I returned to college and then medical school, and I'm now just a few months from eraning my M.D. degree. In medicine, we don't call these incidents "accidents", we call them "crashes," because only extremely rarely are these tragedies truly unavoidable.
When the 18 year old driver of the car that plowed head-on into 6 women athletes recovers, I hope she thinks a bit about what she's done. I hope she realizes that what ever she was doing which caused her to "lose control" of her car (speeding, talking on the phone, reaching for a favorite CD, whatever) cost one woman her life and 5 others quite likely their athletic dreams and futures.
For the rest of us, take a lesson. Most of us drive on a daily basis, and it takes only a moment's inattention to end someone's life. Take your responsibility seriously. Be kind. Be attentive. Share the road.
Sorry to be so preachy, but there you are.
Posted by: Adrienne at Jul 19, 2005 2:55:10 PM
The accident in Germany is both shocking and sad. The loss of Amy Gillett is horrible. My first hope is that the remaining riders survive. Still, I can't stop thinking about "It is not known if any of the [surviving] riders will be able to compete at the top level again" from the BBC report. I wish I had that sort of talent; I can't imagine having it taken away by a stupid freak accident like that.
As for Pereiro and Hincapie, hey folks, it's the athletes' adrenal glands talking. There's some things you don't take seriously. Either the two will be out drinking beers together sometime after the 24th or they'll become bitter rivals and engage in grudge matches for the rest of their careers. I'd hope for the former, but the latter would be quite entertaining.
Posted by: Rob at Jul 19, 2005 4:40:16 PM
I just read the following at Velonews:
"Rasmussen's points closed the race for the King of the Mountains jersey competition, meaning the former world mountain bike champion will win the illustrious polka-dot jersey if he survives to Paris"
http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/details/articles/8549.0.html
To begin with, I couldn't find that Rasmussen won any points in today's stage (at www.letour.fr), and in addition, I calculate that he has not yet won the Polka-dot jersey outright.
Rasmussen has 185, Pereiro has 135. Unless I'm calculating wrong, there are at most 81 points left in the competition (first place on all climbs remaining including the 20 on offer for the last Cat. 2 on Stage 18 into Mende).
Right now, Pereiro needs 51 to win (if Rasmussen gets 0 in the remaining stages), and Rasmussen needs 32 to "close" the competition (if Pereiro gets the 81). Obviously, it gets more intricate and the necessary points need to be recalculated every day, but it doesn't seem to be "closed" as of today. Maybe I missed something.
True, the contest is usually over for all practical purposes once the high mountains end, and I don't know of anyone who has made a challenge at this point (does anyone know the history of this type of occurence at the Tour?). However, if Pereiro tries to get all the points, Rasmussen will not be able to sit back and relax or just "survive" into Paris. Actually, I don't think many people are going to relax in the Massif Central.
I don't think it will happen, but stranger things have happened. Does anyone think Pereiro is trying for the Polka-dot?
Posted by: jerome at Jul 19, 2005 5:33:26 PM
Only one thing worth saying about this stage--hell of an effort from Cadel Evans. Hell of an effort young man--thanks for going out on the first attack of your professional career. Good show! Big heart. You've got a new fan brother.
Posted by: Trée at Jul 19, 2005 10:13:36 PM
Cadal Evans was the Man of stage 16!
Oscar Pereiro mentioned Sunday the "best" rider doesnt always win the stage and we saw that demonstrated today.
Rasmussen can likely depend on the sprinters teams to help minimize the climbing points that Pereiro can pickup in the next several stages. If Mickael needs to mark any attack by Pereiro that will likely catch the attention of the Peleton (and the Disco, CSC and T-Mobile teams) to reign in Pereiro.
Condolences for the Aussie team tragedy and Best Wishes for all concerned.
Posted by: RGW at Jul 20, 2005 12:35:01 AM
I realize you are right RGW. Pereiro or Rasmussen will not be allowed to move due to their GC positions. I just like jersey action. Maybe Pereiro will try to just get to the front of the peloton each time? Julich already won the first 4 points, oh well.
I was wrong again, however, in my calc. After Stage 16, there are actually 85 points available for the Mountains (I forgot the Cat. 3 in the Time Trial).
Posted by: jerome at Jul 20, 2005 7:30:32 AM
As a recreational bike rider, who rarely gets above 10 MPH (unless it's downhill), I can understand about near death experiences with cars on the road. It's like they don't understand that what would be a scratch to another car would mean death or maiming to a cyclist.
Condolences to the Aussie Women Cyclists and kudos to Cadel Evans (yeah Evans!). His interview just after the race was very moving. You can tell he had a lot on his heart.
Posted by: Devans at Jul 20, 2005 9:27:56 AM
