Just how long Australian Stuart O’Grady will hang on to his second place overall on the Tour de France will be answered by the end of Friday’s 12th stage, the first to hit the heights of the Pyrenees.
O’Grady, who saw his Cofidis teammate David Moncoutie add Thursday’s undulating stage over 160 km from Saint Flour to Figeac to the victory he secured last week on the flat, is still only three minutes behind France’s Thomas Voeckler in the general classification.
However the 30-year-old O’Grady, who is more interested in stage wins and the points classification’s green jersey which has gone to Australians the past two years, will not be upset if he is pushed way down the general standings.
The Tour so far has seen a number of different riders claiming stage wins, and a few old faces have been put out of place with the arrival of some of the new kids on the block.
While that has been happening, Lance Armstrong’s US Postal team have been keeping a low profile as their 32-year-old team leader concentrates on continuing his bid for a record sixth yellow jersey.
Armstrong, who is 9min, 35sec behind La Boulangere rider Voeckler, maintained his 55-second lead over his main rival, Jan Ullrich of the T-Mobile team, after Thursday’s stage where O’Grady came 10th.
The Adelaider has an interest in finishing as close to the stage winner as possible — his 10th place on Thursday gave him 11 points in the race for the green jersey currently being worn by former Brisbane rider Robbie McEwen, who won it in 2002.
McEwen currently leads former six-time winner Erik Zabel of Germany by nine points, Thor Hushovd of Norway by 15 and O’Grady by 24.
However on Thursday US Postal began to flex their muscles, preventing another Australian, 37-year-old Scott Sunderland, from getting any ideas about early attacks.
”The start of the stage was crazy, and it was bloody warm,” said Sunderland referring to the searing heat and the frenzied speed of the peloton in the first hour in which they covered 48km.
”There were a lot of attacks early on, but US Postal weren’t having any of it.
”I tried myself several times, but Postal and Boulangere didn’t want anyone to get too much of a gap at the front.” In the event a group of riders finally managed to escape, and Moncoutie sealed his first Tour stage victory shortly after a brave attack with nine kilometres to race.
The 29-year-old Frenchman, one of the unsung heros of the peloton who is known for his staunch anti-doping stance, had been part of an earlier breakaway before he attacked Juan Antonio Flecha, of Fassa Bortolo, and Euskaltel rider Egoitz Martinez.
Both riders failed to cooperate as Moncoutie surged away on a slight incline before the long descent into Figeac.
His breakaway companions came over the finish line around two and a half minutes adrift of his winning time of 3hrs, 54min and 58sec.
The peloton arrived around six minutes later with Norwegian champion Hushovd, of the Credit Agricole team, claiming fourth place ahead of T-Mobile’s Zabel and McEwen.
Armstrong was not far behind, the American surprising everyone by sprinting for the line to finish in ninth ahead of O’Grady.
Moncoutie meanwhile is from this region, and he admitted that his local knowledge had given him the edge.
”I knew that if I attacked on the last slight incline and managed to build a lead of 30secs on them I would manage to hold them off,” said Moncoutie, who was among those who had tried on numerous occasions to attack early in the stage.
”It’s my biggest ever win, and it definitely helped the fact that it was in my region.
”Winning a stage on the Tour de France was one of my career ambitions, so you can imagine how I feel.”
Moncoutie’s win boosted the hosts’ tally of results on the race, with Voeckler still in the yellow jersey and former Festina bad boy Richard Virenque sealing his seventh career victory on the Tour on Wednesday’s longest stage from Limoges to Saint Flour.
La Boulangere rider Voeckler meanwhile spent his sixth day in the yellow jersey, which one of the eventual contenders, Armstrong or Ullrich, is expected to take from the Frenchman in the next two days in the Pyrenees.
And the 24-year-old Voeckler, who grew up on the Caribbean island of Martinique, admits wearing it is starting to weigh heavy.
”I’m feeling okay, but not much better,” Voeckler said after the stage.
”Today the team did well again helping me to defend the jersey, but I’m beginning to feel the effects of the past few days of racing.
”I’m not looking forward to tomorrow [the climb to La Mongie] but who knows, maybe I’ll feel better than I anticipate.” — Sapa-AFP