St 13, Hushovd Surprises on Epic Ride; Voeckler Retains Yellow

by Steve Brunner

Proving he's every bit the current world champion, Norway's Thor Hushovd of the Garmin-Cervelo team took a flyer up the above category climb of the Col d'Aubisque on Friday's stage throughout the Pyrennes, and after flogging himself on a chase to the finish line, won stage 13 of the Tour de France.
     The 'God of Thunder' rocketed out of the mist on the descent of the Aubisque racing the final 42 kilometers (26 miles) in chase of breakaway specialist Jeremy Roy of team FDJ.  Poor Roy was lapped up by a charging Hushovd with about two kilometers remaining while speeding through the streets of Lourdes. It was the first finish stop for Lourdes since the 1940s and the streets were wild, with numerous Norwegian flags waving on Hushovd.
     Hushovd has shown remarkable form and a penchant for the spotlight in this year's Tour after wearing the yellow leader's jersey for most of the first week. Once a renowned sprinter, at age 33, he has developed into an opportunistic all-arounder, showing when pressed he can indeed climb.
     Sadly, Andreas Kloden of America's Team Radioshack had to abandon the race after suffering a back and leg injury after yesterday's crash.
     Meanwhile, a very motivated Thomas Voeckler kept his home country happy by maintaining the yellow leader's jersey. He was never threatened by the contenders, who decided to sit the day out while awaiting the monster stage Saturday to Plateau de Beille, which many riders have said may be the most difficult climb of the Tour, especially because of the earlier climbs. The Beille has played finish host to the Tour only four previous times. It wasn't until 1998 that the climb was used as a finish, as the great Italian Marco Pantani won. Each of the winners up Beille have went onto win the overall Tour, perhaps a portent of things to come.

Stage 14 Predications: More nastiness, as American Christian Vandevelde has noted, awaits on this brute of a day.  The course is relatively short---under 170 kilometers (104 miles)---but serves up six categorized climbs including the Col de Portlet-d'Aspet, which serves an appetizer for the big mountains ahead. The seldom used Col d'Agnes has a leg-seering 8.2% average gradient over 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) and about 60 kilometers from the finish. It is followed by a category 3 climb. It's the perfect storm for a selection of key riders. It's all a run-up to Plateau de Beille, which average almost 8% over 15 kilometers (9.3 miles). If Contador didn't look so stressed, you'd think he has been playing a bit of cat and mouse with his contenders. But, it looks likes the one-two punch of brothers Andy and Frank Schleck truly have Contador on the ropes. Watching all the fireworks are Cadel Evans, making all the right moves and biding his time while Ivan Basso looks comfortable and opportunistic. Meanwhile, Sammy Sanchez and Tom Danielson, two pure climbers, are climbing their way up the overall standings. Look for those two to be kindred spirits on Stage 14. Vandevelde will now be summoned to help Danielson. Still, lurking are the wild cards of Team Radioshack's Levi Leipheimer and Haimer Zubeldia, both a mere seven minutes down. Anyone who knows Leipheimer knows he will never give in and will continue to fight all the way to Paris. If anything, he know how to measure his efforts as well as anyone in the pro peloton.
     Here's what we know: Contador has to attack Saturday. When and where will partly depend on his team, which is not as strong a support group as his past teams. And, his explosiveness is lacking. But with Contador, if it comes back, it can be daunting. Expect, however, Leopard-Trek to flex it muscle one more time while pushing a hard tempo to eliminate a Contador attack. Though it shreds the team earlier than normal in a big stage, it takes the explosiveness out of a rider like Contador. Stage 12 proved that if nothing else. It will be Andy's turn to take a crack at the top of Beille. Both he and brother Frank have to put time into Evans and Basso, both good time trialists, if they want to reach their goal of two podium appearances in Paris. If they can lay some more wood to the three-time defending champion in their wake, well, it'll be that much better before the Alps.