Fedrigo pips Pellizotti to win stage 9; Nocentini holds lead
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Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) countered a late attack by fellow breakaway Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) to win stage 9 of the 2009 Tour de France on Sunday.
The two were the survivors of a 13-rider break that went clear early on in the 160.5km race from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes, which took in two of the most storied climbs of this part of France, the Category 1 Col d’Aspin and the hors categorie Col du Tourmalet.
But the Pyrenean giants came so early in the stage, they had no effect on the battle for the overall victory. Once over the top of the Tourmalet there remained 70.5km to race, all either downhill or flat, and none of the contenders for the overall made a move on either ascent, preferring to ride safely and anonymously in the bunch.
"It was pretty controlled, although it's never easy,” said Astana's Lance Armstrong, who remains in third place overall at eight seconds behind race leader Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r-La Mondiale). "The tempo was pretty regular as no one really attacked — we just kind of rode our race.
"I have felt a lot more pain on the Tourmalet.”
Columbia-HTC, Caisse d’Epargne and Rabobank all came to the front on the long drag to the line, chasing the break in hopes of setting up one of their men for the stage win. But the pursuit ended a half-minute short of success.
2009 Tour de France
- Stage 9: Saint-Gaudens to Tarbes
- 160.5km (99.7 miles)
- Stage winner: Pierrik Fedrigo (Bbox) in 4:05:31
- Stage winner's average speed:39.2 kph (24.4 mph)
- GC leader: Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r)
- Points leader: Thor Hushovd (Cervelo TestTeam)
- Climbing leader: Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi)
- Team GC leader: Ag2r
- Best young rider: Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC)
- Stage wins/GC leaders
- Stage 1 (ITT): Fabian Cancellara/Cancellara
- Stage 2: Mark Cavendish/Cancellara
- Stage 3: Cavendish/Cancellara
- Stage 4 (TTT): Astana/Cancellara
- Stage 5: Thomas Voeckler/Cancellara
- Stage 6: Thor Hushovd/Cancellara
- Stage 7: Brice Feillu/Rinaldo Nocentini
- Stage 8: Luis Leon Sanchez/Nocentini
- Up Next:
- Monday is a rest day. Tuesday's stage 10 is a 194.5km (120.9 mile) sprinter's stage from Limoges to Issoudun in central France.
Going into the final kilometer, Pellizotti tried to surprise his French rival with a sneak attack on a dodgy corner, but it was nothing doing and he had to settle for second on the day — along with the prize for the most aggressive rider.
"I felt strong throughout the day," said Fedrigo after claiming his second career stage win at the Tour, the first coming in 2006. "The break was working well together and then I was able to work with Pellizotti in the finish.
"Going through the last kilometers, I was at the front and I wasn't sure I was going to win. When Pellizotti came around me on the corner, I knew I could take him."
There were no changes in the battle for the overall in the third and final day in the Pyrenees as Oscar Freire (Rabobank) led the bunch in 34 seconds later. Nocenti will spend Monday’s rest day admiring his yellow jersey, with Astana’s Alberto Contador and Armstrong in second and third at six and eight seconds back, respectively. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) had a spot of bad luck when he punctured just outside the 3km limit. But he managed to regain the other hopefuls with the help of former breakaway Jens Voigt.
How it unfolded
At 15km a break of 13 formed: Fedrigo, Pellizotti, Voigt, Heinrich Haussler (Cervélo TestTeam); Danny Pate (Garmin-Slipstream); Christophe Riblon (Ag2r-La Mondiale); Benoit Vaugrenard (Française des Jeux); Daniele Righi (Liquigas); Stephane Auge and Leonardo Duque (Cofidis); Markus Fothen (Milram); Stijn Devolder (Quick Step); and Simon Geschke (Skil-Shimano).
At 30km, all but four had been retrieved — Pellizotti, Voigt, Duque and Fedrigo — and 5km later they had an advantage of four minutes. Katusha was setting the pace in the field, which contained yellow jersey Nocenti, Armstrong, Contador, Andreas Klöden and Levi Leipheimer (Astana), Bradley Wiggins and Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream), Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC) and the Schleck brothers, Andy and Fränk (Saxo Bank).
On the lower slopes of the Col d’Aspin, Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) had a dig, joined by Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel), Egoi Martinez and Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel). Sergio Paulinho (Astana) and Vladimir Karpets (Katusha) also made the cut.
Up front, Voigt was setting tempo in the break, which had shed Duque. But in a hint of what was to come, it was Pellizotti who led over the summit with Fedrigo second. The first chase followed a couple minutes later with the bunch summiting at 3:20.
The composition of the first chase changed on the slopes of the Col d’Aspin: Ten Dam, Paulinho, Martinez and Txurruka were joined by David Moncoutie (Cofidis), Jurgen Van den Broeck (Silence-Lotto), Juan Miguel Garate (Rabobank) and Thomas Voeckler (Bbox).
Up ahead, the break was changing, too — Voigt drifted off the back on the Col du Tourmalet, leaving Pellizotti and Fedrigo out front.
Pellizotti led the way over the Tourmalet. Behind, Garate was setting tempo at the front of the first chase with Van den Broeck on his wheel. Moncoutie tried to come around him at the summit, but Garate held him off.
Meanwhile, the man who got the chase going, Ten Dam, hit the deck on the descent and fell out of the pursuit. Armstrong, meanwhile, came to the front of the peloton on the descent — not as a demonstration of strength, but as a measure of caution.
Down comes the hammer
With 57km remaining, the two leaders were 3:15 ahead of the chase group and 5:10 ahead of the peloton. Then someone gave the word and the peloton began to chase in earnest, with first Astana and then Columbia-HTC twisting the throttle, the latter perhaps thinking of Kim Kirchen.
Ten kilometers further along a shredded and dirt-speckled Ten Dam was back in the peloton and the impetus seemed to have gone out of the seven-man chase. But the two breakaways, Pellizotti and Fedrigo, soldiered on.
With 41km to race the twosome had just over four minutes on the peloton, which was gathering up the first chase group. In the absence of green jersey Thor Hushovd (Cervélo) and Mark Cavendish (Columbia), Rabobank was taking a hand in the pursuit on behalf of Freire, as was Caisse d’Epargne for Joaquin Rojas.
All these interested parties quickly began chipping away at the break’s margin, whittling it down to 3:23 with 35km to go.
The escapees soldier on
With 30km to race Rabobank was drilling it at the front of the bunch and the gap was down to two and a half minutes. Seven kilometers further along and it was Caisse d’Epargne pushing the pace, but Pellizotti and Fedrigo were hanging tough, clinging to their advantage as they raced through the streets of Lourdes.
Ten kilometers from the finish the leaders held just 90 seconds on the chase. Caisse d’Epargne was getting a small assist from Rabobank, nibbling another 30 seconds from the deficit with 7km to go, and Garmin-Slipstream was moving forward, too, for Wiggins.
Five kilometers from the line another 15 seconds had evaporated. But the twisty, narrow streets of Tarbes, punctuated with road furniture, seemed to favor the two leaders.
Two kilometers from the line Pellizotti and Fedrigo still clung to a 40-second advantage — and it was going to be just enough. The Italian tried to shell Fedrigo with a jump going into the final corner, but the Bbox man had studied the finish and would not be caught out.
"Thankfully I had a look at the stage finish so I knew there was a bend not far from the finish," said Fedrigo. "Once he attacked I made sure I jumped on his wheel, especially as there was a bit of a headwind."
"I am feeling really good in this Tour," Fedrigo added. "I hope to get another chance."
So, too, no doubt, is Pellizotti. "We rode together in accord because we both had an accord to race to the line," he said. "We knew that would be our only chance to win, to take it all the way to the line and play it out in the sprint. We heard that the peloton was closing in on us. With the sprint, he was simply stronger than me."
As for race leader Nocentini, he was content with the way the day played itself out.
"It was a hard day again across the Pyrenees, but it was ideal with the breakaway up the road," he said. "We didn't see a lot of movement from the favorites, so i was able to make it over the Tourmalet. It wasn't easy and my team did a great job to pace me up the climb. I really want to thank them.
"Once I made it over the Tourmalet, it was pretty tranquil. We let the other riders try to set up the sprint, so we didn't have to do any work in the final kilometers.
"It's great to defend the yellow jersey for another day. It's big for me and for my team."
Race notes
• Third time a charm: Fedrigo is the third French rider to triumph so far in this year's Tour. Teammate Voeckler won stage 5 in Perpignan while Agritubel's Brice Feillu took the mountainous seventh stage to Arcalis.
• Cervélo doing double duty: Cervélo TestTeam was keeping an eye on two races during Sunday's stage, according to director Alex Sans Vega. "The most important thing today was to protect Thor's green jersey. There was an escape early, with four riders up front, so that took the pressure off us before the intermediate sprint. For the rest of the day, it was a question of helping Carlos (Sastre)." The team will continue to work to keep Hushovd in the green jersey while trying to see that Sastre loses no more time, he added. "The most important thing is to avoid further setbacks and protect Carlos going into the third week," Vega said. "Carlos is strong and the third week is always his best."
• Rogers feeling better: Australian Michael Rogers (Columbia-HTC) appeared more optimistic about continuing the Tour after managing to stay with the main peloton throughout the third and final day in the Pyrenees. A crash on Thursday’s rain-slick stage left him with a swollen disc in his back, struggling to produce any power, but Sunday’s ride proved “much better than I thought it was going to be," he said. Rogers, who crashed out of the 2007 Tour, has been enduring some grueling sessions of physiotherapy since his still, and he will enjoy more of the same on Monday’s rest day.
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