Rasmussen beats back attacks to win Stage 16
Despite tepid support from fans, race organizers, fellow riders and even his own team, Michael Rasmussen is just one steady time trial away from winning the 2007 Tour de France.
The beleaguered Dane, who's been dogged by doping allegations since taking the yellow jersey on stage 8, strengthened his grip on the race lead Wednesday after his convincing win of stage 16's 218.5km ride from Gourette to the top of the hors categorie Col d'Aubisque.
Rasmussen's fourth career Tour stage victory - and second this year - followed yet another epic battle with Discovery Channel's Alberto Contador, who along with teammate Levi Leipheimer, isolated the Rabobank rider with just under 10km to go. But Rasmussen proved unbreakable, standing up to yet another barrage of attacks from the current runner-up, then charging away on his own just past the 1km-to-go banner.
"On Monday I was finding it tough to follow him," said Rasmussen about his stage-15 showdown with Contador when he had to dig deep to neutralize the Spaniard’s frequent attacks. "I decided to use a different strategy today and go at my tempo. It worked perfectly because he blew up."
With Contador dispatched, Rasmussen zipped up his jersey, then crossed the line with hands high in the air. The fans at the finish didn't share his joy, though, showering him with disapproving whistles and boos.
"I believe there's a lot of frustration among the people and in the peloton about what's going on," said Rasmussen, who was a no-show at four out-of-competition doping tests in the last year and has been accused of trying to trick a training partner into smuggling doping products to Italy for him five years ago.
But the man known as "Chicken" deflected blame, instead pointing to Tuesday's revelation that pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov had tested positive for homogulous blood doping, a result the Astana team leader has vehemently disputed.
"Since [Vinokourov] is not here, people are taking their frustrations out on me," said Rasmussen, his lip swollen from a wasp sting early in the day. "Now I understand what Lance Armstrong went through in seven years. My respect for him is growing day by day. The only good thing about the Vino' situation is that it proves that the system is working. To that I can only add that I have 14 negative tests at this Tour."
Meanwhile, Leipheimer took second on the stage, 26 seconds back, with Contador third at 0:35, Aussie Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) fourth at 0:43, and Colombian Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) fifth at 1:25.
"Today was an extremely hard stage," said Discovery's Leipheimer. "Maybe the hardest I've ever seen in the Tour. Rasmussen was so strong. We tried. We gave it everything, but Alberto wasn't as good as he was the other day. You could see that Rasmussen was going to dump us."
Rasmussen now leads Contador by 3:10 in the overall standings, with Evans third at 5:03, followed by Leipheimer at 5:59, and then Carlos Sastre (CSC) at 9:12.
"It was a long day, very hot, challenging," said Contador. "I didn't have my best day. I said I would attack and I did with 7km to go. Rasmussen was very strong today. His team rode well. At the bottom of the climb, you could see he was strong. "
Thursday and Friday bring a pair of transition stages, followed by stage 19's 55.5km individual time trial. If Rasmussen can avoid a repeat of the disastrous day he had in a similar situation two years ago, when he was fighting for the final podium but instead crashed twice, he will win the 94th Tour.
"Maybe I changed a few minds today," said Rasmussen, when told that poll taken back in Denmark found that most didn't believe he could hang on for the overall win. "I'm closer than ever to winning the Tour. I have more than three minutes for the final time trial to Contador. That should be more than enough if I have a good ride."
Sending a message
Wednesday's stage start was delayed by a protest from the Tour's six French teams and two German outfits, who failed to show up at the designated 10:40 roll-out time. Amid a scrum of photographers and journalists, Tour director Christian Prudhomme left his lead car to speak with the riders. Then the wait began. For 10 minutes the peloton sat in the sun, with jersey holders Rasmussen, Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Innergetic) and Soler perched squarely at the front of the bunch.
"We are standing here to say something," said Crédit Agricole's Thor Hushovd, referring to the ongoing doping scandals. "The riders want to talk to the whole peloton to say we can't continue like this. We have to do something."
Finally a group of about 15 riders, including Rasmussen, Boonen and Soler, pedaled away to jeers and boos from the start-line crowd. But the protesting riders held their ground, creating a surreal scene where riders less supportive of the protest had to trickle one at a time past protesting riders because the start line was partially blocked.
Eight minutes after the first riders peeled away, the protesters slowly mounted their bikes and rolled out, the crowd clapping and cheering in support. The last rider to leave was T-Mobile's Marcus Burghardt, who stood at the line conducting a TV interview even as caravan officials drove past him. The official start came at 10:58 a.m.
With all nine members of the Astana team out of the race following Vinokourov's positive test, there were 151 riders still in the race. That number was sliced to an even 150 later in the day when Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom) abandoned. And at the end of the stage it was announced that Italian Cristian Moreni had tested positive for testosterone after stage 11. The Cofidis rider accepted the result, and his team left the Tour — the second squad to abandon under a cloud of suspicion in 24 hours.
Of the 21 teams that started the Tour, Quick Step-Innergetic and Gerolsteiner are the only two that still have the full complement of nine riders. Astana's departure also pushed Discovery Channel into the top spot of the team standings, earning them the right to wear the corresponding yellow numbers on Wednesday.
Stage 16 marked the Tour's last dalliance outside France, with 52km of racing in Spain on the menu. The summit of the Port de Larrau is right on the border, while the return to France came on the third ascent, the Col de la Pierre St-Martin at the 131km mark.
Carlos takes a crack
The opening move came at the 8km mark and included Vicente Garcia Acosta (Caisse d'Epargne), Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Stephane Auge (Cofidis) and Christiophe Rinero (Saunier Duval-Prodir). Their margin quickly rose, and after peaking at 8:50 early on, it was seven minutes at the 71km mark. Back in the bunch Soler's Barloworld team was doing the pace-making, looking to send their Colombian ace across the gap in pursuit of the KoM title.
With the break already well on their way up the hors categorie Port de Larrau, Soler came to the front of the field and charged away. That drew out Sastre and Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir).
Initially Discovery Channel dispatched Yaroslav Popovych and Sergio Paulinho in pursuit, but Popo' was called back, leaving the 2004 Olympic silver medalist to go it alone. He never made it and was soon back in the bunch.
Soler entered the day just two points back of Rasmussen in the KoM standings, but he scored 12 points for the fifth spot on the top of the HC Port de Larrau, pushing him into the lead that he would hold at the finish.
The chase continued up and over the cat. 3 Alto Laza, with Garcia-Acosta leading the break over the top, and Sastre, Mayo and Soler following 2:35 behind. That gap came down quickly from there, and at the 110km mark there was seven riders off the front with a 4:20 advantage over the peloton.
The lead group was whittled to five on the ensuing ascent of the cat. 1 Col de la Pierre St-Martin, with Auge and Rinero unable to keep the pace. Rabobank continued to lead the bunch with Thomas Dekker doing most of the work.
Soler took top points on the Col de la Pierre St-Martin, the repeated the feat on the cat. 1 Col de Marie-Blanque, fortifying his lead in the climber’s standings.
"I really had to fight for this jersey. I came here to win it and now I hope to carry it all the way to Paris," said Soler, who up until now had had been wearing the polka dots only because Rasmussen was in yellow, but now leads the competition by 10 points.
"Today was a really hard day. I knew if I could go into a breakaway, Rasmussen would defend his yellow jersey and not worry about me. When I was in the break, I conserved and never went over the limit. I couldn't follow in the end to try to win the stage, but I reached a higher goal. I wore this jersey the past few days, but it wasn't really mine. Now it's mine for real."
Rabobank led the field over the top of the Col de la Pierre St-Martin at 4:55, and the gap was steady at 4:50 after 150km of the 218.5km stage.
The race situation remained essentially the same up and over cat. 1 Col de Marie-Blanque. After putting all his efforts into the chase, Dekker peeled off the front, handing the baton to teammates Denis Menchov and Michael Boogerd. That duo led a the final selection over the top of the penultimate climb, 2:25 behind the lead group that was now down to Soler, Sastre, Mayo and Verdugo.
The final showdown
The yellow-jersey group included Rasmussen, Menchov and Boogerd, Oscar Periero, David Arroyo and Alejandro Valverde (all Caisse d'Epargne), Frank Schleck (CSC), Evans and Chris Horner (Predictor-Lotto), Leipheimer, Contador and Popovych (all Discovery Channel) and Jose Cobo (Saunier Duval-Prodir). With 20km to go they were just 52 seconds behind the leaders, and the battle of the Aubisque was on.
With 15km to go, Sastre went on the offensive, dropping Verdugo and then Soler. Menchov continued to lead the chasing bunch, with Rasmussen and Contador sitting third and fourth wheel.
"It was my last chance to go for the podium," said Sastre. "I knew I had to try something from a long way. It was a risk, but I didn't want to leave anything behind. I gave everything.
"What I lacked was someone in the group with similar interests as mine to drive the break. I understand why Mayo didn't work. We all have individual interests and ours didn't intertwine today. I won't be on the podium, but you cannot say I didn't try."
Indeed, with 12km to go the CSC leader attacked Mayo while Menchov imploded, leaving Rasmussen with just one teammate. Contador was in a far better position, with Popovych and Leipheimer riding at the ready. Popovych took over the pace-making with 11km to go, shedding Boogerd in the process.
With Mayo and Sastre back together up the road, Leipheimer attacked and only Rasmussen, Contador and Evans held on. The group represented the four top riders in GC and moments later they stormed past Sastre and Mayo.
The Discovery duo kept the pressure on the rest of the way up, shedding Evans in the process. But Rasmussen's biggest concern wasn't Leipheimer or Contador. Instead, he spent most of the last kilometers angrily waving away TV and photo motos, not wanting his rivals to gain any advantage.
Leipheimer launched the last of six Discovery attacks with 4.3km to go, but Rasmussen easily caught back on, then went to the front. It was clear then that the race - and the Tour - was his to lose.
"I've come one step closer to winning, but everyone knows what happened two years ago [at the time trial] in St. Etienne," said Rasmussen. "That just shows that nothing is finished until we reach the Champs-Elysées."
Next up
With the real climbing done, the Tour de France begins the long trip north towards Sunday's finale in Paris. That journey begins with stage 17's 188.5km ride from Pau to Castelsarrasin. Racing starts at 12:45 p.m. local (6:45 a.m. U.S. EST).
The rolling terrain of the Armagnac region is perfect for breakaways, especially with a weary peloton unlikely to chase. There are six climbs on this medium-length stage (one cat. 3 and five cat. 4s), but none is particularly challenging, and the final 60km is mostly flat. Look for stage hunters such as Jens Voigt (CSC), Christophe Moreau (AG2R), Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) or George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) to factor in the finish.
VeloNews senior writer Neal Rogers contributed to this report.
Stage 16
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 6:23:21
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:26
3. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 0:35
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 0:43
5. Juan Mauricio Soler (Sp), Barloworld, at 1:25
Overall
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 76:15:15
2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery, at 3:10
3. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 5:03
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery, at 5:59
5. Carlos Sastre (Sp). CSC, at 9:12
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