Astana snookers Moreau as Hunter scores for Barloworld
The 11th stage of the 2007 Tour de France dealt a cruel blow to one GC contender and welcomed a new country into its hall of champions on Thursday. The newcomer was South Africa and top sprinting star Robbie Hunter, who won a mad dash to the line that concluded the pan-flat, 182.5km ride from Marseille to Montpellier.
The big loser was French national champion Christophe Moreau (Ag2r), who entered the day sixth overall, 3:18 behind race leader Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank), but crashed early in the stage and then got caught out when a hard-charging Astana team - and a brisk cross-wind - split the peloton with 77km to go.
By the finish, Moreau had ceded 3:20 to the other yellow-jersey contenders, ending his hopes of becoming the first Frenchman since Bernard Hinault in 1985 to win the Tour. The Ag2r team leader is now 14th overall, 6:38 behind Rasmussen.
There were no other significant changes at the top of the overall standings, with Rasmussen still leading Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) by 2:35, with Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) at 2:39, Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) at 2:41, and Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) at 3:08.
Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) is the top American, moving up one spot to eighth, 3:53 behind the Rabobank leader.
“There is still a long way to Paris but Moreau has definitely lost the Tour,” said Rasmussen. “When Astana began to turn up the speed, I was in a good position near the front. It wasn't a surprise.”
The 30-year-old Hunter was also aided by the fractured peloton, which saw fellow speedsters Eric Zabel (Milram) and Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) caught on the wrong end of the split. That left the end-game to the likes of green-jersey leader Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic), Julian Dean (Crédit Agricole) and American Freddie Rodriguez (Predictor-Lotto).
But that threesome was caught up in a crash with less than 1km to go, opening the door for Hunter, who launched away from the remnants of the bunch 250 meters from the line, then held off Fabian Cancellara (CSC) by half a wheel, with Murilo Fischer (Liquigas) third. Eighty riders were credited with the same 3:47:50 finishing mark, eight minutes ahead of the fastest expected finishing time listed in the Tour’s race bible.
It was Hunter's third stage win in a grand tour. He took a pair of victories at the Vuelta a España in 1999 and 2001 while riding for Lampre, moved to Mapei the following year, rode two years with Rabobank, and then joined Floyd Landis on Phonak for 2005-06.
“I was following [Boonen] but then I decided to go my own way,” said Hunter, who moved from third to second in the overall points standings, and is now just 11 behind Boonen, who finished out of the points after being halted by the crash along the left side of a sweeping right-hand turn, 750 meters from the line. “With 350 to go I took off as hard as I could around the corner and never looked back.”
Hunter's triumph gave final wild-card selection Barloworld two wins in three days, following Colombian Juan Mauricio Soler's solo victory on stage 9 into Briancon.
Thursday's stage rolled away at a rapid pace, with a jittery field covering 50.8km in the first hour. Attacks came early and often, with a group of nine cresting the day's lone climb, the cat. 4 Cote de Calissanne, 1:40 ahead of the bunch.
Back in the field Moreau's problems were just beginning. At the 30.5km mark France's best hope for a high GC placing got tangled up with Australian teammate Simon Gerrans, and both riders went down. Moreau was up and rolling quickly, but a tear in the left side of his bib shorts revealed a patch of red scraped skin on his thigh.
Meanwhile, the break of nine, which included German Jens Voigt (CSC), couldn't make its move stick, and with 101km to go the race was all back together thanks to the chasing efforts of Milram, Predictor-Lotto, Euskaltel and Rabobank. The pace remained high, with the field six minutes ahead of the fastest expected arrival time.
After a short pause in the action, German Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) and Belgian Philippe Gilbert (Française des Jeux) shot out of the field. They were joined by Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom) and Dmitriy Fofonov (Credit Agricole).
The foursome had 14 seconds at the 85.5km mark, with David Millar (Saunier Duval-Prodir) chasing in between. At that point the field sat up and it looked like this would be the escape of the day.
Four became five when Millar completed his bridge effort. At the second sprint at Arles, 96.5km into the race, the leading quintet had a 4:50 advantage. The average speed for the second hour was 48kph, with the average of the first two hours a sizzling 49.4kph.
For the second day in a row Millar was wearing arm warmers. The Scot is allergic to the sun and both arms have broken out in ugly rashes during these sizzling hot days in the south of France.
The peloton rolled through the feed zone at 6:30, and with 80km to go the gap was up to 7:30. Everything pointed to a familiar plotline, where the break gets its time in the spotlight, is reeled in a few kilometers from the finish, and then the sprinters do their thing.
But Alexander Vinokourov's Astana team had other ideas. With 77km to go, the men in aqua blue moved to the front and dropped the proverbial hammer, taking advantage of the hard-blowing Mistral winds. Moments later the field had fractured and the gap to the front five began to tumble.
The marquee victim of Astana’s efforts was Moreau, who was caught at the back. Ag2r dispatched several riders in a desperate attempt to pace its team leader back to the front group, but with Discovery Channel and Barloworld now aiding the Astana effort, Moreau's fate was sealed.
It wasn't lost on anyone that Moreau had been the protagonist of a series of attacks during the first stage in the Alps, when the injured Vinokourov lost time to the GC leaders. On Thursday, it appeared to be payback time.
Within minutes Moreau's group was a minute down, with Hushovd and Zabel even farther back. The break's advantage was slashed to 3:40.
“What Vino did was not unfair,” conceded Moreau. “Settling scores is part of the sport. When I attacked [in the Alps] he was not well. Today I was the one who was not that well. But the Tour is far from finished. It could have been even worse. I was well-supported by my team, because at one moment I was near a breaking point.
“In the Tour, you have to get over these sort of days, even if it isn't easy. Perhaps something good may come out of the bad. Perhaps now I will have more chances of an opening, more room to move. It's a black day that I will have to forget.”
Finally at the 156km mark, Vinokourov drew his hand across his chest, calling his team off the front of the field. The damage was done, though, with Moreau's group now 1:20 behind, and the break of five only 2:25 up the road.
The pace didn't let up, though, and with 38km to go all five escapees had been reeled in. Behind the field, the Moreau group continued to lose time, now 1:35 in arrears. Astana kept the pressure on, with Quick Step and Saunier Duval joining the pace-making effort. At 15km to go Moreau had lost 2:25. By 10km to go it was 2:45.
At 4km to go Vino' - bandaged knees and all - took off on his own. The move had no chance to stick, but maybe it was meant as a message that though the Kazakh is down more than eight minutes on Rasmussen, he may not be out.
With the Astana team leader back in the bunch, Quick Step moved to the front, intent on setting Boonen up for what would have been the team's fourth stage win at the '07 Tour. But inside the 1km sign, a half-dozen riders, including Dean and Rodriguez, rolled wide and crashed into the barriers of a sweeping right-hand turn, slowing up the Quick Step leader and springing Hunter to his historic win.
The South African said afterward he hopes his victory provides some spark for cycling back home.
“It's a really big sport on an amateur level,” said Hunter. “There's not enough behind the sport to bring it up to a professional level like it is in Europe. There are so many people who [can't make the jump to Europe without support]. I hope this win gives South African cycling a boost.”
Next up at the Tour de France is the rolling 178.5km stage 12 ride from Montpellier to Castres. Start time in 12:40 p.m. local (6:40 a.m. U.S. EST).
The stage includes four rated climbs, including the 3000-foot ascent of the cat. 2 Montée de la Jeante, which commences 60km from the finish. That's followed by 40km of winding back roads before the fast 8km run-in to Castres, an ancient town of 45,000 on the Agout River about an hour east of Toulouse.
Just one Tour stage has finished at Castres, in 1991, when Italian Bruno Cenghialta won stage 14 from St. Gaudens out of a seven-man break that finished a minute ahead of the pack.
Stage 11
1. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld, 182.5km in 3:47:50
2. Fabian Cancellara (Swi), CSC, same time
3. Murilo Fischer (Brz), Liquigas, s.t.
4. Filippo Pozzato (I), Liquigas, s.t.
5. Allesandro Ballan (I), Lampre-Fondital, all s.t.
6. Paolo Bossoni (I), Lampre-Fondital, s.t.
7. Claudio Corioni (I), Lampre-Fondital), s.t.
8. Philippe Gilbert (B), Française des Jeux, s.t.
9. William Bonnet (F), Crédit Agricole, s.t.
10. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, s.t.
Overall
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 53:11:38
2. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), Caisse D'Epargne, 2:35
3. Iban Mayo (Sp), Saunier Duval-Prodir, 2:39
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 2:41
5. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 3:08
6. Carlos Sastre (Sp), Team CSC, 3:39
7. Andréas Klöden (G), Astana, 3:50
8. Levi Leipheimer (Usa), Discovery Channel, 3:53
9. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-Mobile, 5:06
10. Mikel Astarloza (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 5:20
Complete results
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