Team RadioShack Leads in Stage 10
For the first time ever, a teammate of Lance Armstrong took a stage victory. In the Tour de France career of the seven-time winner, Armstrong was the only member of his team to ever win a stage. However, now that Armstrong is out of reach of the podium in 2010, he has given his teammates the opportunity to shine.
Armstrong’s team RadioShack is riding its first Tour de France, and in today’s tenth stage, the team earned its first stage victory. Sergio Paulinho crossed the finish line with Vasili Kiryienka on his tail, after a six-man escape from the peloton. The general contenders sat back in the heat and allowed the main group to finish 14 minutes behind the escape group.
“It was not a day for me to do anything,” said Andy Schleck, the overall Tour leader. “Even if it was quite up and down, there was nothing for me to achieve. I was lucky because I had bad legs from yesterday and so did all the others who actually rode really hard yesterday.”
The first sprint, at 19.5km, was taken by 2nd place rider in points classification, Alessandro Petacchi, followed by the 3rd place Robbie McEwen, and Thor Hushold, the green jersey holder since the third stage. Team RadioShack overtook them 16km later and were never caught.
Robbie Hunter had a painful crash early in the race, but finished the stage with a replacement bike. A second crash involved Brent Bookwalter and Team RadioShack's Yaroslav Popovych, who managed a 66th place finish despite the pain.
The otherwise tame second hour of the race was decisive for Jerome Pineau, who took the opportunity to challenge Anthony Charteau’s polka-dot jersey. Charteau wore the jersey in today’s stage despite being tied with Pineau in total points for the "King of the Mountains" classification. Charteau was the first to the final and most difficult climb of the ninth stage.
“Yesterday I was very disappointed because the work I did in the breakaway was all for nothing,” said Pineau. “I like this polka-dot jersey, I think it suits me well and so I wanted it back. It was enough of a sprint to get there.”
While the race was led by a six-man escape group, the climbs afforded points to the first eight cyclists, so Pineau still had a chance to sprint to the front of the peloton to regain the polka-dot jersey, which he had held for the entire race until Charteau took it in the previous stage.
“At the top, both Charteau and I sprinted ahead but I was faster than him on this kind of climb,” described Pineau. “There’s no friends in the heat of competition but I have respect for him and that’s why we shook hands after the sprint…”
Kiryienka and Paulinho led by 45 seconds 10km from the finish line. Paulinho, an Olympic silver medalist, didn’t manage a clear lead until 400m when Kiryienka just couldn’t match his speed. It was the first time since 1989 that a Portugese rider took a stage win.
“It was a close sprint but the most important thing is to win and so this moment, for me and my team, is a good one,” said Paulinho. “For me this victory is more important than the silver medal in the Olympic Games. This is the best race in the world and to win one stage in the Tour is the pinnacle of what a cyclist can achieve."
While Andy Schleck remains the overall Tour leader, his relaxed attitude has come as a surprise to some. Calm and casual Schleck insists that there’s no reason to stress, not yet.
“I enjoy my yellow jersey,” said Schleck. “I enjoy having everyone around. I enjoy the atmosphere in the team and having the guys working so well for me. Of course I’m happy and relaxed. I know there’s hard work coming up but that’s what I’ve been training for since the Tour ended in Paris last year.”
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