Menchov gets gapped
Rabobank’s Denis Menchov became the of the Tour de France's top yellow jersey contenders to lose a significant amount of time Monday when he got caught napping in a hectic run to the finish of a 208km stage.
Menchov, a two-time Vuelta a España winner, found himself in a group that had been left trailing by some furious accelerations at the front of the peloton and a mid-field crash as sprinters’ teams ramped up an ultimately futile pursuit of a four-man break.
In the end, Cofidis sprinter Samuel Dumoulin went on to win his first stage of the race with a superbly-timed drive for the line while compatriot Romain Feillu made it a French double by pulling on the yellow jersey.
All the big favorites for the final victory in Paris crossed the line just over two minutes behind, Menchov being the only one of the big guns to lose time after he trailed in more than 30 seconds later.
It could have been worse, with nearly the full Rabobank team – with the exception of sprinter Oscar Freire – having worked furiously to close the gap to the first chasing bunch in the closing kilometers.
But the frustration in the Rabobank camp was evident, especially since riders had discussed that particular part of the course which, with detrimental crosswinds, made the chase and the race even tougher.
"I'm obviously not very satisfied with the result of today's stage," said Rabobank team manager Erik Breukink. "This is the Tour de France, so the time we lost today was valuable, especially when it could have been prevented.
"I can't explain it. We spoke about the dangers on this stage, and that particular point which, with the crosswinds, was susceptible to causing splits in the peloton."
Menchov has returned to the Tour as Rabobank's main yellow jersey hope a year after the controversy prompted by Danish climber Michael Rasmussen missing a series of doping tests and then eventually being sacked and thrown off the race for lying over his whereabouts.
Despite being seen by many as a dark horse for the yellow jersey, Menchov's setback will question whether he can win this year's race, for which Cadel Evans of Australia and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde are the main favorites.
"I was too far behind when the peloton decided to break away. Losing 38 seconds is not my idea of what I had planned for today," said Menchov. "But I'm not that far behind in the general classification and I'm not giving up hope just yet."
Menchov will aim to make up for lost time in Tuesday's time trial, over 29.5km, and Breukink will now try to forget the team's setback.
"The team worked really hard at the end of the stage to limit the damage. Now we have to get behind Denis to make sure he approaches the time trial in the best possible way."
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