St 14, Voeckler Continues to Surprise; Upstart Vanendert Wins Brutal Stage

If Frenchman Thomas Voeckler of team Europcar wins the Tour de France, or even finishes on the podium, we may all look back at his efforts on Stage 14, as the reason why.  Showing surprising heart as well as form, including some late stage attacks, Voeckler has positioned himself as an overall contender to win the 101st edition of the Tour de France.
     In another surprise, 26-year-old Belgium Jelle Vanendert of team Omega Pharma-Lotto, who was deprived of a stage win two days ago, accelerated from the group with under 5 kilometers to the finish and only Spaniard Sammy Sanchez followed. Ironically, it was Sanchez who pulled away from Vanendert on Stage 12. Surely, it provided extra motivation for the Belgian.
     The chase group up the slopes of the steep Plateau de Beille all the general classification contenders. That group of more than 10 lost a couple riders in the closing kilometers, including American Tom Danielson of team Garmin, but only Andy Schleck made a real push, albeit in the final 400 meters.
     It is evident both Andy and Frank Schelck continue to monitor three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and team BMC Racing's Cadel Evans, never losing site of them on each climb. This is proving to be aide Voeckler, who is now the man to mark and put time on. The tiny Frenchman has a one minute and 49 second advantage on the group Frank Schleck and 2:06 and 2:15, respectively on Evans and Andy Schleck. Outside the Schlecks, all other contenders, including Italian duo Ivan Basso and Damiano Cunego seem to follow and perhaps bide time until the two mountain stages and individual time trial next week in the Alps.
     It's well noted in Tour de France chronicles that some riders react differently in the Pyrennes than the Alps. The Pyrennes are general shorter but steeper climbs. The Alps contain some behemoth climbs that are sometime between 30 and 40 kilometers long. And, in the third week of a Grand Tour, some legs react differently. Some dead, some rejuvenated. The Alps would tend to favor the likes Andy and Frank Schleck, Voeckler, and even Danielson and Basso of the top nine riders. Of course, Contador, Evans and Cunego are all great climbers.

Stage 15 Predictions: Cavendish almost got dropped and lost via time cut on Saturday. Many of his teammates provided a huge effort to steward him back.  With the flat stage into Montpellier, it will be interesting to monitor how HTC-Highroad will fair. How much work will Europcar do to defend the leader's jersey while the suspected breakaway goes up the road.  The likely scenario is HTC shouldering the majority of the work in the second half of the race, reeling in a break while setting up Mark Cavendish. The extra pressure is not only a stage win, but a big addition for points toward in the green jersey competition. Waiting in the wings will be Garmin-Cervelo for American Tyler Farrar, Omega Pharma-Lotto and Andre Greipel, Movistar and J.J. Rojas and Lampre and Allesandro Pettachi, who is desperately seeking a stage win but who pop doesn't seem to match the aforementioned.

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Today, in a special event at Red Rocks in Colorado, the new official Pearl Izumi leader's jerseys for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge were unveiled. Check them out now at usaprocyclingchallenge.com