Thursday, July 19, 2007

TdF Stage 11: Attack, Attack, Attack!

That one's for my brother. ;-) He likes to describe Vino that way. Ironically, one could've used it to describe Moreau the other day. But the worm turned today, and made for a great day of racing! Shades of the Vuelta as the wind and Astana split the peloton and sent the race into chaos.

Astana put on an impressive display to make the gap stick, and then all the teams started joining in to keep it going. After all the poker of recent days, it was great to see so many teams pulling together, rotating through in seamless fashion. It was awesome, it was like the United Colors of Beat the Crap out of Moreau (and Zabel and Hushovd).

Not that I don't feel bad for those who got dropped, Zabel and Hushovd are great guys, and Moreau has been doing so well for France. But the racing was great, and it was fun to watch! Guys must've been peeing their pants, and not just out of fear. No way you could slow down for a nature break during that!

It's already being called revenge on Moreau, I don't know about that, it would be no more revenge than Moreau's attacks the other day were. It's bike racing. Vino's a racer, he knows there are no real rest days. There's always something you can do, you keep fighting, even if it's getting one guy at a time. I wondered as it went along if he wanted to take the stage, salvage something and show he's still there. He's beaten sprinters before, on the Champs no less. But he went early on his little flyer, so I don't know if he was really going for it there or just trying to keep the pressure on. In any case, he did remind the field that he and Astana were still a force to be reckoned with, great to see.

Fabian, you nut! Going for the hat trick, I love it! Note to CSC - don't ever leave this boy off the Tour team again!

Glad for Robbie Hunter, he's been trying so hard. And it was such a heartbreak last year, when he got timed out a day before Paris, because he had to ride the TT standing up.

Tomorrow's no slouch of a stage either, can't wait to see what unfolds!

4 comments:

Unknown said...

A moment of mourning please for the last overall shot for a French rider this year. Moreau is now 6.31 back.. too far but it does look like it wil come down to the lat time trial After the Pyros. Chicken Man will need at least 5 minutes coming out of there to have a shot so way too early to call this one. It is an exciting Tour

cat2bike said...

Yes, it is exciting!! I have no idea what is going on in the rest of the world, because my time is consumed with the Tour(ASO is happy!), Tour news, and trying to work and sleep enough! Speaking of work, I've got to go get ready!!!

Julie, I love your stage updates!! Really, they are GREAT!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Julie. I have finally watched the stage and now understand what Oskar was trying to tell me this morning- my man was off the front in the final 2k and looking good.

Anonymous said...

Love your reports! I was expecting a classic (ok, boring) breakaway/sprint stage today. What an EXCITING race!!
-janann