Opportunist Victory in Stage 16
The 16th stage of the 2010 Tour de France is what everybody was waiting for. This hundredth-anniversary stage commemorates the first inclusion of the Pyrenees in the Tour by replicating the same four climbs of the Pyrenees stage in 2010. It seems like nearly every general classification contender in the race said at one point that they were waiting for the Pyrenees. And for the first two hours of the race, this was true.
Almost every climber in the peloton, aside from the leaders Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck, tried their luck at an attack within the first half of the stage, but two famous champions held back for the right time. Schleck and Contador marked each other, knowing they both planned to save their energy for the long descent from the final summit to the finish line in Pau.
"I had to be careful in the beginning of the stage so I stayed up near the yellow jersey and had a good look at what he was up to,” said Schleck. “It looked like he had a good team around him and I had Jakob Fuglsang with me the whole time and unfortunately Jens crashed in the downhill so it was not a super day for the team. I heard that he is okay, so that’s some of the best news of the day.”
It was Lance Armstrong and Carlos Sastre who took over the race in the climbs of the Peyresourde and the Aspin. Both being past their prime, the pair were well enough down in the overall rankings that the peloton gave them a lot of slack, and they set the tone for a race-long leading group of opportunists seeking the stage win, including Carlos Berredo and Pierrick Fedrigo.
“At the beginning I tried to go alone and I was just thinking about the ride ahead but there was a lot of wind and it was blowing right in the face,” said Berredo. “It was difficult and then, in the last kilometers, the roads were too big and they didn’t offer any advantage for a one-man escape – that’s better done on smaller roads.”
Berredo, riding for Quick Step, took the lead 45km from the finish line and held onto it the final kilometer. This was followed by a sprint battle, which included 24-time stage winner Armstrong, but it was 2-time stage winner Fedrigo who took the lead in the final 300m and crossed the line.
“This morning I went into the break with the objective of taking maximum points to protect the polka-dot jersey of Anthony Charteau,” said Fedrigo. “He had to stay very focused to make the break and stay ahead. Then I remembered a lot of stage last year, the moments where I escaped with [Franco] Pellizotti on the Tourmalet and the Aspin. In the end, Armstrong told me that he would not cooperate with me because he knew I was the fastest group…”
Fedrigo was followed by seven others in the lead group, then Berredo, who had dropped off in exhaustion, trailing by 28 seconds. The peloton, including Schleck and Contador, finished 6:45 behind the stage winner, led by Thor Hushovd, who took back his green jersey from Alessandro Petacchi with a four point lead.
“It was a great way to end the stage,” said Hushovd. I think I’ve got the best form of my life. It was worth trying something today and see what happens.”
With Mark Cavendish 29 points behind Hushovd, the battle for green is still very much just between Hushovd and Petacchi. However, on Monday, it was announced that Petacchi was under investigation for doping by an Italian prosecutor, and the precedent exists to allow his team to suspend him from the Tour. If this happens, the Norwegian points leader Hushovd will have little competition left to once again obtain the green jersey.
Tags: