Portugal's Rui Alberto Da Costa, a late entrant for the Movistar team of Spain, provided an inspirational ride that should carry his club out of a dark period. In May, teammate Xavier Tondo of Spain died when a garage door feel on his head. Weeks ago, Mauricio Soler of Colombia, crashed and hit some road barriers and just days ago came out of a coma. So, Da Costa's win was a ray of sunshine for a team that has suffered much the past two months.
Tondo was the suspected break-out team leader along with Soler at this year's Tour de France. From a competitive standpoint, it was a double blow for Movistar, a newly-sponsored club that was formerly Caisse d'Epargne. The team's lineage goes back to Banesto, which was the team of five-time Tour de France winner Migual Indurain in the 1990s. Tondo's death seemed heartbreak enough, but only weeks after Soler went down in a nasty crash. The team's top sprinter J.J. Rojas has come close to winning a stage and was in the green sprint points jersey earlier in the race, but never notched crossed the line first.
Saturday's race itself averaged only 32.4 kph (just over 20 miles per hour) in another deceptively difficult day in the saddle for the peloton. The final run up to Super Bessy Sancy, which last saw the Tour in 2008, was again a reminder of how great racing can be in the world's biggest bike race. Astana's Alexander Vinokourov, always on the attack, tried to steal a stage win but was thwarted in the final kilometers by Da Costa. The chase group, which included all major contenders, including Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, and Andy and Frank Schleck, were all there in the final bunch. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly at this point, was Hushovd, hanging on to the yellow jersey. (No one will say 'the God of Thunder' is a sprinter after this year's Tour de France. The now 33-year-old has developed into a great all around rider.)
Stage 9 predictions: The 208 kilometer (129 miles) stage from Issoire to St. Flour in the Central Massif region will be another difficult day. The race features seven categorized climbs, mostly Category 2 and 3. After the first 40 kilometers, the race never stops undulating. At this point in the game, the Garmin boys have to be tired. (Dave Z should have a Superman shield on his chest for all the work he's done.) If they can get to the rest day in yellow, it will be quite a feat for both Hushovd and the team. To defend yellow, the tempo riding on a day like Sunday will take some super strength, but expect Garmin to tough out one more day. Should the rubber band unexpectedly snap, Cadel Evans seems up for the task of taking over the yellow, but surely would rather wait till the Pyrennes. Therefore, another small breakaway containing some strong riders a bit down in the overall standings, could be on the attack for a stage win. Some of the same cast of characters featured Saturday could feature again Sunday, including Juan Antonio Flecha, Sammy Sanchez, Alexander Vinokourov. Frenchmen Thomas Voeckler, Jerome Pineau, Jean-Christophe Peraud could also be featured. A wild card on this stage may be Ivan Basso, who is far enough back to be hidden. Don't be surprised if a small group whittled down to under 40 ends up fighting it out in the final kilometers for the stage win if the smaller break doesn't stick.
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