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2011 Tour de France: Stage 16 News, Notes and Quotes

July 19th, 2011 by Al Fresco No Comment

Garmin-Cervélo’s dream run through the 2011 Tour de France continued Tuesday with an impressive stage victory by Thor Hushovd in the 162.5km 16th stage into Gap. Hushovd sprinted to his second stage win of the 2011 Tour while Ryder Hesjedal crossed the line third for his best-ever Tour stage result.

“The team rode a perfect team tactic today,” Hushovd said. “Ryder had his chance on the final climb and he was going alone. I really thought he had a good chance of winning the stage, then Edvald chased him down and I sat on his wheel. Then I was able to make the sprint to win the stage. A big, big thanks to him for helping me and I am sorry for him that he couldn’t stay up the road to win the stage.”

Hesjedal said he was pleased to fight into the day’s main breakaway and have a shot at winning the stage.

“It took a long time for the breakaway to form today. It was almost like a victory to be in there because everyone was really fighting,” Hejsedal said.
“We rode a perfect race. We wanted to attack on the climb to lose some of the riders in the breakaway. I went hard, but Boasson Hagen came from behind. Thor was strong to be right there, so it was great. I am just glad to be there to help deliver another win for the team.”

Garmin-Cervelo sport director Bingen Fernández said the team wanted at least one of its riders in the break today.

“We wanted to have someone like Ryder, Dave or Christian in the break. Ryder was the one and then Thor was able to bridge across. It was ideal for us to have two in the breakaway, because we could attack the other riders,” Fernández said.
“We are enjoying this success we’re having on this Tour, but it’s an accumulation of the work we’ve done over the years to build the program.”

Hushovd’s countryman Edvald Boasson-Hagen of Team Sky split the Garmin-Cervelo train into Gap.

“The team covered every move and it took a long, long time for that break to go so there was a lot of work involved,” said Team Sky Sports Director Sean Yates. “An earlier break went away but that contained Arnold Jeannesson from FDJ which we had to close down to defend the white jersey for Rigoberto. Everyone got stuck in and it was a great, great team effort.”
“Once again Edvald was up against Thor Hushovd who is in superb form and also had a teammate with him which made it a big ask for Edvald to win the stage,” Yates continued. “But it was a super performance from Edvald – he worked so hard right from the start to get in the break and then saw it all the way through to the end, it was a great effort.”

Yates also praised the work of Geraint Thomas, who rode near the front in the final climb.

“Geraint did a fantastic amount of work. He’s flying and to be there on that climb playing it cool with Rigoberto was great to see. I can’t praise the boys highly enough today.”

Euskaltel Euskadi continues to put in strong performances in the race, and today was no different as Alan Perez came across sixth and Samuel Sanchez was able to resist the strong attacks of Alberto Contador on the Col de Manse (category 2). The Olympic champion lost just 18 seconds today, finishing with Frank Schleck and Ivan Basso. ‘Samu’ moved to fifth in the general classification and remains second in the mountains classification.

Alan Perez stated that “It was a trip made by cyclists of high quality and be with them (helps my spirits). In addition, every time I felt very good and the balance is positive.”
For his part, Samuel Sanchez claimed, “We have overcome a difficult day and the result is satisfactory… This is not worth thinking about or what happened the day before or what will happen two days later. The important thing now is to recover from the effort for the day tomorrow. We have entered the third week of Tour (and our) forces begin to run out. We have earned a place in general, but as I say, much remains. We must remain usually no more secrets.”

Cadel Evans of the BMC Racing Team moved into second place overall at the Tuesday by marking all the attacks on the final climb and making a daring descent on rain-soaked roads to the finish. Evans gained time on all his closest competitors on the 162.5-kilometer stage that was defined by the Col de Manse, a climb that summited 11.5 km from the finish. The former world road champion attacked with Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and the trio had 30 seconds near the top. Evans gapped the two on the descent to gain three seconds on Contador and Sanchez and 21 seconds on both overall leader Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) and Frank Schleck (Leopard Trek), who was previously second overall.

“I wasn’t expecting to gain so much on the climb,” Evans said. “I was more prepared for things on the downhill actually because it was a little bit dangerous and narrow. That downhill really scared me last year when I had a broken arm.”
“George (Hincapie) and (Marcus) Burghardt got me in good position at the bottom of the last climb,” he said. “From there, I just had to play my cards. I took my time and looked around to see what was going on. You have to be really careful when things are so close in the GC.”
Evans finished 11th on the day to pull within 1:45 of race leader Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)

Katusha’s Mikhail Ignatyev again confirmed the good condition that he showed in earlier stages. The Russian rider took part in today’s breakaway that started at km 70 and later made a solo escape from his companions at the beginning of the final climb, riding solo for close to 10 kms before being caught. Thanks to his brilliant performance, the Russian rider won the prize for the most aggressive rider.

“In the last days I feel in good shape,” said Mikhail. “so I wanted to try one more time. I tried to attack at the beginning of the climb, but honestly it was too long for me, so Hushovd and the others were able to catch me not a lot after. On the descent, then, I didn’t want to take risks: the road was wet and very dangerous, so I preferred (to not take the) risk. I think I did my best today, but I´ll try something before the end of Tour for sure.”

It really should not have been a surprise for anyone when Alberto Contador (Sax Bank-Sungard)attacked today on the ascent of the Col de Manse. Contador says that it was the result of a plan he had prepared in advance:

“It was very clear that I wanted to attack and I didn’t really care who took my wheel. I knew that some would be dropped and at the end, it turned out better than expected,” said the Spaniard at the finish line.
“It’s important not being too euphoric”, said Alberto. “The most important thing is that the legs respond well and that fact surely motivates the team and myself. There are still three more days of climbing and I will try to take advantage of that.”
“The most important was the sensation in the legs and that there were no accidents or mishaps,” he said. “My rivals are still the same as yesterday.”
“It was very clear that I wanted to attack and I wanted to try to make things difficult for the other favourites. I did not know the result, because the climb was not very demanding. I have been motivated the whole time but this motivates me even more.”
Contador says that the alliance with Samuel Sánchez will continue in the coming days: “We’re great friends and we have some of the same skills on the time trial. He can be a great ally.”
“Alberto (Contador) today showed that there’s a bike race going on,” said Saxo Bank-SunGard sports director, Bradley McGee. ”We knew there was a good opportunity of making a move on the climb and distance the rivals before the descent which favored Alberto as it was slippery wet. Cadel (Evans) is obviously looking strong and he’s an expert descending. I think we’re going to a lot of more attacking the following days. A good day for us and a good day for the race.”

If there were any clear losers on the day, it was Andy Schleck and Frank Schleck of the Leopard-Trek squad:

“We were a bit surprised that Contador went on the climb,” said Fränk Schleck. “We didn’t count out the possibility. of course. We know that he is a rider that attacks when he has good legs, but we had anticipated he would wait for the Alps.”
“Contador knows all too well that the Schlecks don’t perform at their best in the cold and rainy conditions,” Fränk said. “It’s all part of the game — knowing your opponents and knowing their weaknesses. He knows the conditions today, coupled with the dangerous descent, were not our strong point.”
Andy, having lost 1:09 to Evans, remains in fourth. Voeckler hangs onto yellow for another day with a 1:45 advantage over Evans. “I’m disappointed, of course, to have lost time today, but this isn’t the end of the Tour,” said Andy. “It’s important, but there are other chances to take back time. I’m disappointed but hopeful.”

Also slipping backwards after a surge last week was Ivan Basso of the Liquigas-Cannondale squad. Before the stage, Basso said:

“I’m well aware of what’s ahead and just how taxing the Alps can be. Your head and motivations can make the difference but you also need the legs and strength obviously. We’ve worked unbelievably hard so far and I can’t remember such a tough and exhausting Tour in my career.”
It’s a bad day, it did not happen as I thought. The bad weather complicated matters, making descent to the arrival dangerous. In addition, I had a problem with my saddle at a critical moment of the race. But that does not explain the result. I remain optimistic. The Tour is still open and I continue to believe it. I came from Italy with the desire to redeem myself. I want to give everything to win this Tour.”

Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) said that he had a “bad day”, but still managed to finish close enough to hold onto the maillot jaune for another day. He was riding with Contador when the Spaniard attacked.

“I was in his wheel so when he attacked, I went right away. Maybe I should (have) let others fill in the hole. Maybe I should let the other favorites make the effort, but I have no regrets about what happened. I followed, followed, and at one point that did not. I put a little into the red… I am disappointed to have lost some time on three riders, but I have no regrets.”
“I cannot say I had bad legs. I was well after the rest day. I had good legs. I simply was not able to follow. I lost 20 seconds, I was 1’40”(on Cadel Evans) It’s been a big deficit, knowing the difficulties that come. It’s a bad day for me.”
“We can say that there are only two who managed to follow Contador. But I do not think (about) the podium… That’s racing and I love the race. I’m not happy when the runners pass by me.”

Other News:

Quick Step’s Jerome Pineau was mourning the death of his uncle Patrick, who died yesterday evening, on his 57th birthday. Patrick was a biking fanatic and had followed the Tour de France for 16 years as a driver for one of the vehicles used for communications at the arrivals. As he did every year, Patrick was doing his job again in this Tour, yet he never missed the chance to greet Jeje at the end of each stage with words of encouragement and a pat on the back.
Geraint Thomas inked a new three-year deal with Team Sky. The Welshman has been one of the big success stories of the Tour de France, wearing the young rider’s white jersey for most of the opening week after finishing sixth on the opening stage. He said of his new contract: “It’s great news to be able to commit my future to Team Sky. The team have shown their potential over the last 18 months and I am delighted to have been a part of that success. The management have shown real faith in me as a rider and I feel like I’m improving all the time. The future is really exciting for Team Sky and British Cycling and I’m thrilled I will be able to play a part in it.”