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2009 Tour de France – Stage 12 News, Notes and Quotes

July 16th, 2009 by Ron Callahan No Comment

Here are some of the day’s news, notes and quotes from Stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France. Sorensen hopes that today’s win helps his 2010 contract, Saxo Bank moves into the team lead, many try but few succeed to beat Cavendish, headsets back in and more. Plus, a major doping scandal in Italy, a two year ban for Bram Tankin and a possible lifetime ban for Tyler Hamilton.

“I would like to have been in yesterday’s break and today I grabbed the opportunity by riding to the front group on my own. But I had the strength and believed I was able to complete the plan to win. I was obviously a little nervous because Pellizotti was very strong but I did the right thing by attacking first. Of course I was tired by the end but everything worked out perfectly for me today. Now, maybe my chances of getting a job next year will be increased”, said a very proud Nicki Sorensen after today’s stage.
Sorensen gained six minutes on the peloton and moved from 39th place to 23rd. He now sits 4’38″ behind Nocentini.
Saxo Bank now leads the team competition for the race.
Most are saying that as the race heads into some more serious climbing tomorrow, it will mark the end of Nocentini’s time in the maillot jaune.
The UCI has lifted the ban on riders headsets for tomorrow’s stage. “To put an end to the controversy which is compromising the running of the Tour de France, the International Cycling Union Management Committee has decided not to repeat the experiment of a stage without radio communication on Friday 17th July,” it said in a statement. 14 of the 20 teams in the Tour de France had submitted a petition in protest of the ban during the 10th stage.
“My teammates put me in a good position, but I lacked the strength.” “I tried in vain to take the wheel of Cavendish. I lost my teammates and I had (only) myself.” “I’m right there. I don’t believe he is unbeatable.” – Just a few sprinters commented on the domination of Mark Cavendish (Gerald Ciolek, Tom Boonen and Tyler Farrar, respectively).
Cavendish came across in eighth today, but still earned enough sprint points to pad his lead over Thor Hushovd to ten points.
Johan Bruyneel says that Lance Armstrong “thinks he can win”. He also says that Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer think the same thing, but that Leipheimer would not say it out loud. He added that Armstrong is less tense than in previous years and is “far less obsessed than before.”
Leipheimer was involved in a crash late in today’s stage. He banged up his wrist and there was early talk that he might have to drop out of the race, but he told Velo News, “My wrist hurts, but surprisingly I am OK. It could have been much worse,” Leipheimer said. “I was a bit surprised by a left corner with 2.5km to go. I was sliding and couldn’t quite save my bike from sliding out and I hit the curb.”
The French Anti Doping Agency has been critical of Astana team behavior and lax enforcement on the part of the UCI during a doping control on the entire Astana team on Saturday. The controllers were delayed by an hour before they were able to start testing and not all riders remained in view of the controllers while the tests were taking place. According to L’Equipe, the UCI official had coffee with officials from Lance Armstrong’s team in Andorra last Saturday and didn’t test the riders for nearly an hour.

Tomorrow’s Stage:

The Tour begins where it left off with a start in Vittel. The stage travels east into the Vosges mountains and nearly to the border with Germany. There are five categorized climbs and very little flat riding on the menu. The final 20 kilometers descend to a flat finish in Colmar. The stage should favor a breakaway winner, but the general classification riders could choose to race for this one.
Located in Alsace, Colmar is considered the capital of Alsace’s rich wine-making industry and is the third largest city in Alsace. The creator of the Statue of Liberty in New York, Frédéric Auguste Bartoldi, was born in Colmar. The city sits in the rain shadow of the Vosges mountains, and is one of the driest in France. It also recorded the highest ever temperature in Europe during August 2003: 40.9° C, or approximately 105° F.
Colmar served as both a start and finish city in 2001. Laurent Jalabert won stage 7 between Strasbourg and Colmar that year, while Jens Voigt wore the Yellow Jersey. The following day, Erik Dekker celebrated victory after racing from Colmar to Pontarlier. Stuart O’Grady took over from Jens Voigt as race leader. This year marks the sixth edition of the Tour de France since 1947 to visit Colmar.

Courtesy of the Stage 13 Preview at Steephill.tv

Other Cycling News:

Thirty people have been arrested in Italy as part of a major operation against doping. Several thousands of doses of drugs, including the newest version of EPO were also seized. Aleksandar Nikacevic, former head of Serbian cycling, was identified as the supplier and was placed in jail. The others were questioned and released. Riders caught up in the scandal include Davide Rebellin, Emanuele Sella and Matteo Priamo.
WTF? Rabobank’s Bram Tankink received a two year suspension from the UCI after doping inspectors showed up at his home for an out of competition test while he was in competition at the Tour of Austria. His whereabouts information was proper and up to date, so don’t expect this one to make it through the CAS.
The World Anti-Doping Agency is seeking a lifetime ban for former Rock Racing pro Tyler Hamilton. He had received an 8-year suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after a second doping offense earlier this year, but WADA feels that the suspension should have come from an independent tribunal. They are appealing the USADA ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Hamilton’s lawyer issued a response saying, among other things that, “WADA’s insistence on a lifetime ban against Tyler is a vindictive, personal and ruthless attempt to destroy a man who suffers from a serious illness, has ended his career, and has already accepted the penalty imposed upon him.” [Amen. Why won't they just let the guy go off and get better? - Ed.]
Johan Museeum commented recently that the current generation of professional cyclists do not “live for their sport” like riders did in his time. Hopefully, they’re not doping for their sport like they did in his time either.
Vladimir Gusev is another former Astana rider looking to come back to the team. As we noted last week, with Lance and Alberto both possibly heading to new teams, there may not be an Astana to come back to.
There is a new pro continental team being formed in Germany. The primary sponsor is the German IT vendor NetApp. The team has set its sights on being a Pro Tour team within four years. They have their eyes on four or five young German riders, but are mainly looking to staff with younger rider. They are still looking for co-sponsors as well.
Yes, the Tour de France is still going on, but team announcements are already starting to be made for the Vuelta a Espana. Vacansoleil is the latest to name their squad preselection (Borut Bozic, Matteo Carrara, Baden Cooke, Johnny Hoogerland, Sergey Lagutin, Björn Leukemanns, Gerben Lowik, Marco Marcato, Jens Mouris, Matthé Pronk, Bobbie Traksel, Frederik Veuchelen and Lieuwe Westra).
Garmin has mentioned that Martijn Maaskant will be heading to the Vuelta as well, but have not named any other riders.
Astana has said that Andreas Klöden and Haimar Zubeldia will be heading to Spain, but are reserving comment on Alberto Contador.
The Tour of the Battenkill, which saw about 1,500 professional and amateur racers compete in 2009, will expand to two weekends for its 2010 edition, and add a second race for professional men on a new course. In addition to the hallmark race for professional and amateur racers on Saturday, April 25, two professional races will be held on Thursday, April 29, and Sunday, May 2.