Enfin: Carlos Sastre Wins 2008 Tour de France

Carlos Sastre is this year’s Tour de France Champion after today’s grand finale into Paris. The Spaniard sipped champagne and exchanged back pats in the 89-mile stage that started as a parading fraternity party– a fitting end to a hard-fought Tour. When the peloton arrived to cheering crowds on the Champs-Élysées, riders put on race faces and attacked each other relentlessly. The pack was stretched out coming into the finish line. Quick Step’s Gert Steegmans won the field sprint.

Three weeks ago, 180 riders started the Tour. Only 145 of them made it to Paris. Some quit. Three were kicked out for doping. Several suffered injuries. All endured pain. Sastre covered 2,200 miles in less than 88 hours. Some riders took longer to finish the 21 stages. Australian Cadel Evans finished the Tour in second place for a second year in a row. Perhaps the pressure of wearing the number one was too great. Perhaps he just didn’t have a strong enough team. Evans goes home the bridesmaid and may have missed his only chance to be the bride.

Gerolsteiner’s Bernard “Burn Hard” Kohl was the big surprise. He finished in third and wins the King of the Mountains jersey. His name was hardly mentioned until he earned polka dots. We will see big things from him in the future.

Denis Menchov’s fall in a mountain stage and overly cautious descending cost him the yellow jersey. The shy Russian on team Rabobank was one of the race favorites. He deserves his fourth place finish, just missing the podium, because he is one of the few strong riders who makes cycling dull.

America’s new Tour hopeful Christian Vandevelde raced an impressive time trial that pushed him up to fifth place overall. VdV was the underdog with nothing to lose going into this year’s Tour. His consistent top-ten mountain finishes gave him confidence to be crowned team leader. VdV put Garmin Chipotle in the spotlight. Argyle is back in fashion.

Twenty-two riders under the age of 25 will likely return to challenge the French countryside. Veteran riders such as Columbia’s anchorman George Hincapie and CSC caboose Jens Voigt may return as well. The Tour is over for these strong men. But it’s not the end of their season. Quadruple stage winner Mark Cavendish and others will go to the Beijing Olympics next month. Fans will watch, cheer and remember the amazing performances in this unpredictable Tour. This was an incredible race. Now, I must get back to work. Until next year, au revoir!

-Le Tour Babe

Tour de France Stage 20: Sastre Assured Yellow Jersey

Carlos Sastre finished today’s 32-mile time trial fast enough to keep the yellow jersey. Barring an accident or surprise in tomorrow’s final stage in Paris, Sastre is the new Tour de France Champion. He is 65 seconds ahead of Cadel Evans, who pundits incorrectly predicted would overtake the yellow jersey today. But Evans didn’t have the legs and the pundits failed to consider the power of yellow, “when worn,” they say, “it gives a rider wings.”

The time trial is the “test of truth,” and today, new truths were revealed. World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara learned there is someone faster than him in the game. Germany’s Stefan Schumacher beat Cancellara today by 21 seconds. When Schumacher beat Cancellara in stage four’s time trial, critics wrote it off as an unusually bad day for “Fabulous C.” But Schumacher’s victory today was no fluke.

Another moment of truth: America’s new tour hopeful Christian Vandevelde is one bad-ass time trialist– a necessary talent for any Tour champion. VdV finished fourth in the time trial– a minute ahead of the top contenders. His outstanding performance moves him up to fifth place in the overall standings. That’s great news for the new team in argyle, Garmin Chipotle, which touts its cleanliness and shows riders can do well at the Tour without dope.

Team Columbia‘s Kim Kirchen finished an impressive third place in the time trial. That moves him into the top ten. Kirchen was my pick to win the Tour. He wore the yellow jersey for four days and green sprinter’s jersey for six stages. He’s a good all-around rider and finished seventh in last year’s Tour. He won’t win this year, but he’ll have his day in yellow again.

Another name to remember: Bernhard “Burn Hard” Kohl. The German from team Gerolsteiner is one of the most clumsy-looking riders in the Tour, but he is “King of the Mountains.” Kohl is awarded the red and white polka dot jersey for earning the most points over the mountain climbs. He and teammate Schumacher will be a heck of a duo in the future.

Team CSC brothers Frank and Andy Schleck became household names in this Tour. Their leader Carlos Sastre owes them and the entire team a lot of thanks for all of the pulls and pushes in the mountains. Andy Schleck won the white young rider’s jersey– the shirt that indicates future Tour champions. Andy has earned his wings. The nine CSC boys will stand on the podium in Paris as the best team. They deserve it.

The final day of the Tour de France is more of a parade than a race. The sprinters will put on a show in the final laps through the Champs-Élysées, but the 89-miles will be essentially a time for riders to glow in glory and say goodbye. It’s been an intense three weeks of competition and it’s going to be a shame to see it end. Of course, there’s still tomorrow in Paris.

Tour de France Stage 19: Vive la Chavanel!

Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel broke down in tears after winning his first stage ever in the Tour de France today. Chavanel has been around a long time– this is his eighth Tour. He won the climber’s polka dot jersey in stage six and was in breakaways with unsuccessful effect. This is the best day of his cycling career. Not a bad parting gift. Chavanel is leaving team Cofidis for Quick Step.

With only two days left in the Tour, Italy’s Little Prince Damian Cunego, who had high expectations but horrible results, withdrew after yesterday’s crash that left him with a stitched chin. It’s tough to leave the race so close to the finish. Maybe Cunego had no choice. His injury will heal, but the anguish of quitting never goes away.

Tour de France Time Trial Preview

I was at the 2003 Tour de France when U.S. Postal Service won the team time trial into Saint Dizier– close enough to hear the riders breathe as they passed by. Tré bon.

There’s no team time trial in this year’s Tour, but on Saturday, the individual time trial will decide our Tour champion. Thirty cyclists quit or were yanked since the Tour started three weeks ago. The remaining 150 will ride one-by-one from Cérilly to Saint Amand-Montrond. It’s a tough 32-mile up and down course. Can Carlos Sastre ride fast enough to stay in yellow? Can Andy Schleck stay in white? The anticipation is great.

Tour de France Stage 18: Boring but for Burghardt

Team Columbia’s Marcus Burghardt won today’s unenthusiastic 122-mile stage into Saint-Étienne. In a year from now, we won’t remember this day, but we won’t forget Burghardt’s canine collision in last year’s Tour:

Stage 18 was a bummer day for Italy’s little prince Damiano Cunego. He fell early in the race and cut open his chin. After getting roadside stitches, he and his Lampre team finished twenty minutes back in their own small group. Lucky for them–they beat the time cutoff.

Tour de France’s Mates at the Finish

Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen

If you’ve watched the Tour de France on television in the past 34 years, you know British cycling commentator Phil Liggett. He’s been reporting on the Tour since 1973, and the race wouldn’t be the same without him. He has a unique way of calling events, such as when a rider loses energy, Liggett yells, “The rubber band has snapped!” Liggett elegantly describes hills as “undulations.” And he has other Liggettisms too, such as incorrectly naming riders. Once in a while, he’ll accidentally refer to any U.S. rider as Lance Armstrong. We excuse those mistakes because Liggett is a true cycling fan and his love of the sport is contagious. Check out his fan club here.

Liggett’s sidekick at the finish line is Paul Sherwen, another commentator with a lovely British accent. Sherwen knows what he’s talking about: He is a former professional cyclist who raced in the Tour de France seven times and was two-time British National Cycling Champion. Liggett and Sherwen must get along well. For 21 days of the Tour, they sit tightly snuggled in a booth for hours commentating the race. When do they have time to eat, get fresh air or go to the bathroom? They must be good mates, eh?

Tour de France Stage 17: C-S-C’est Magnifique!

CSC’s Carlos Sastre won today’s 130-mile stage ending in L’Alpe d’Huez, finishing more than two minutes ahead of his main rivals and taking over the yellow jersey from teammate Frank Schleck. It was the Spaniard’s first stage win in this year’s Tour, but a significant victory because of the race length and difficulty.

CSC proved again that it’s hard to win the Tour de France witout a strong team. The squad kept a fast tempo at the front of the peloton up three steep mountains and 15-thousand feet of climbing. Lungs burned, legs exploded and rider after rider fell behind. The pack shrank down to the same top riders we’ve seen in the previous mountain stages: Sastre, Cadel Evans, Frank and brother Andy Schleck, Denis Menchov, Bernard Kohl, Christian Vandevelde and Alejandro Valverde. Any one of them could win this year’s Tour because they are close enough in the general standings and there are four more days of racing left.

Watch Team CSC video here.

High at the Tour

The Tour de France reached a peak today as riders struggled over Europe’s highest road on the Cime de la Bonette. The most notable moment of stage 16 was when the Tour’s youngest rider, South Africa’s John Lee Augustyn, reached the summit first. It looked as if he might win the race. But on the descent, Augustyn failed to negotiate a sharp turn and went off the cliff. He slid for several feet while his bike continued to roll downhill. Augustyn crawled back to the street but was left without a bike until long after most riders went by.

The French finally have a reason to celebrate. Frenchman Cyril Dessel won today’s 98-mile race from Cuneo to Jausiers. His victory did little to change the overall classification of top riders. But Denis Menchov and Christian Vandevelde lost some time today and will go deep into their lactic thresholds to get that time back. The race continues through the Alps on Wednesday up the brutal L’Alpe d’Huez. There will be lots of pain and suffering. Don’t miss it!

Tour of The Times

Kudos to The New York Times‘ Robert Mackey and his sidebar stories on the Tour de France. Check out his climb up the Col du Tourmalet here.

Le Tour by a Hair

This year, the Tour de France is an extremely close race. As we enter the last week of competition, the top six contenders are only seconds apart– an unusual occurrence, according to veteran race commentator Phil Liggett. Why the tight time gaps? Race organizers took away time bonuses for the overall stage winners. It used to be that when a rider won a stage, he would earn an additional thirty seconds off the clock.

Cadel Evans

Without those bonus points, there is less incentive for top contenders such as Cadel Evans to ride hard to gain four or five seconds and risk blowing up and losing more time.

So far this Tour, we’ve seen no stage wins by the yellow jersey wearer. The top riders generally stick together on the toughest climbs. Finally today, we saw an attack with race leaders stick, but it was a fight over seconds not minutes.

Only CSC has more than one teammate in the leading group. That works to the advantage of Carlos Sastre and Frank Schleck. Evans, Denis Menchov, Bernarnd Kohl, Christian Vandevelde and Kim Kirchen have no helpers in the last miles. Their teammates cannot hang.

What happens next? There are a few tough mountain stages to come. That will provide opportunities to gain more time. But it seems this Tour will not be decided until the 32-mile time trial on Saturday, July 26, the penultimate day of the Tour. That’s where riders race one-by-one against the clock. It’s possible for strong time trialists to gain one or two minutes over rivals. If the time trial were tomorrow, my money would be on Evans. But it’s not, and any one of the riders sitting in the top ten could still win the Tour.