Touroscopy - Stage 11

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

The Stage 11 jaunt to Foix was a great one for Tour leader Cadel Evans. The Pyrenees was a weird adventure this year and the battle raged really for only one stage. In years gone past the great mountains of the Pyrenees held a lot more in terms of the overall general classification. Stage 11 did see another rider expelled from the Tour due to a positive test for EPO. Spanish rider Moisés Dueñas of Team Barloworld was the rider named as having a positive test. Justice is swift on the Tour with the rider being dispatched quickly and without much comment.

Winners

Cadel Evans - He had the easiest of stages as it came good for the Australian leader of the Tour. With a break up the road containing a CSC Saxo bank rider the strongest team in the peloton laid down arms. This left the chasing to be taken up by other teams and the Silence Lotto team of Cadel Evans to do nothing more than follow wheels. The big climb of the day, the category one Col de Portel, presented no obstacle for the bunch and for its' leader. This provides the race leader with another day to get over injuries sustained after his crash on Stage 9.

Team CSC Saxo Bank - Not only are they THE team of this year's Tour they had another great day with Kurt Asle Arvesen winning the stage. They have put fear into the peloton after Jens Voight's epic ride between the Tourmalet and Hautacam mountains on Stage 10. That sort of firepower has not been seen since the Lance Armstrong assembled his mighty blue train of U.S Postal. They are just waiting until the Alps when we will again see their muscle flexed.

Losers

Moisés Dueñas - The Spanish rider who tested positive for EPO. Mike Tomolaris from Australian TV station SBS summed it up well when he said it was another cheat out of cycling and out of the Tour de France.

State of Play

The next couple of stages are going to be relatively quiet for the big hitters of the Tour de France. The race heads to the Alps and some of these climbs are brutal and will be the undoing of some of the favorites. The contenders this year will be content to just ride the next couple of stages and again avoid trouble and mark their rivals. We will see plenty of breaks as the riders know that they have a better chance to get away now that there has been some form of order put in place. The word is Cadel Evan's rivals are going to need at least two minutes on him before that final time trial on Stage 20.