Tour de France: Stage 8 Debrief

The first day in the mountains is always one of the highlights of any Tour de France, and today was no different as the 189 remaining riders - Chris Horner having abandoned overnight - fought their way up the first serious climb of this year's event, the 1451m Col-de-la-Croix-Saint-Robert, tackling thunderstorms and rain to get there and slippery roads on the way back down.

Col-de-la-Croix-Saint-Robert, the first big climb of the 2011 Tour de France

The race began at 12:26 and almost immediately hopefuls began attacking, trying to sense if a breakaway would be feasible on a tricky stage. It took a little while to happen, but eventually AG2R's Christophe Riblon managed to break through, taking another eight riders with him. It looked as though it wasn't going to last, however, as the peloton were moving along at a good whack and after several kilometres the advantage was only 35". This encouraged three riders from the pack to attempt to bridge the gap and pull them back in, but it wasn't to be - the lead group simply turned up the power a notch or two and before long the counter attack was reabsorbed. By 32km, the gap had been increased to 2'40" and not much longer to 4'10", meaning that leader Rui Costa - who started 4'02" behind Cadel Evans - meaning that had the race have ended there he'd have been the new leader in the overall General Classification.

It couldn't last, though, not with the peloton speeding along like they were. Could it?

By 13:48 the escapees had reached the foot of the stage's first climb, Category 4 Côte d'Évaux-les-Bains, and a few minutes later had reached the top. Confidis' Julian El Fares was the first one up - as it was a Cat 4 there was only one point on offer, but every point is worth having. By the time the BMC riders leading the peloton reached the summit the breakaway had lengthened the gap even further, stretching it out to 5'30".

Surely it couldn't last much longer, though, not with all the top drawer sprinters eyeing the points waiting at the sprint section?

Christophe Riblon was first through the intermediate sprint

31 minutes later and they'd passed the sprint; Riblon taking the 20, Costa taking 17 and Katusha's Alexandr Kolobnev 15. Omega-Pharma Lotto had taken over from BMC at the front of the peloton and had obviously had more than enough of the nine tearaways, picking up the pace even more in an effort to reduce the advantage. Philippe Gilbert was the first of the bunch through the sprint taking 6 points while Mark Cavendish was content to sit back and let it happen, apparently content for the time being with his 17th stage win yesterday. At 14:34 Romain Kreuziger dropped back to the medical car and spent some time talking to the doctor, leading to worries that he might be considering abandoning the race after he was involved in the same crash that saw Bradley Wiggins stretchered off yesterday. Europcar's Pierre Rolland was forced to stop and call for mechanical assistance after his waterproof became entangled in his rear wheel, losing quite a bit of time as they faffed about trying to free it. Minutes later, due to high average speeds, the race was already into its final 90km. The nine escapees were still ahead at the feeding station with a gap reduced to 5'10" from a maximum of a full minute longer.

Their time in the limelight was nearly up. There was no way it could last now they were approaching another Category 4 climb at Côte du Rocher des Trois Tourtes. No way at all.

El Fares had a puncture, but the team car was with him quickly and the mechanic changed his wheel in the customary few seconds so he was soon on his way and catching up with the gang. Back in the peloton, Samuel Dumoulin had one too just as the BMC riders at the front reached the climb, 4'55" behind the lead group who were just reaching the top. Kolobnev was there first and took a point.

Sky's Xabier Zandio led the race for a while.

Back in the peloton, Astana and Garmin were working together in an effort to squeeze out a bit more speed, eventually falling back and letting Omega-Pharma have another go in the driving seat. Power outputs had risen dramatically with some riders now producing over 500 watts as they powered their way upwards, reducing the gap to a shade over 2' by the time the breakaway - now led by Sky rider Xabier Zandio - began the long climb up Category 2 Col-de-la-Croix-Saint-Robert. The peloton was soon doing the same with Tejay van Garderen getting the escapees in his sights and locking on, applying sufficient pressure for three members to fall back. He soon caught Costa and Gautier too, getting ahead of them for a while - but it turned out these two were made of sterner stuff and immediately attacked him back, managing to make their way back to the frontline once again. Meanwhile, Johnny Hoogerland, Juan-Antonio Flecha and a trio of riders from Euskatel, Europcar and Astana were also attacking van Garderen who was now at the head of the race with Costa.

Costa had to drop at any second, hadn't he? He'd been leading since the 4th kilometre, on a mountain stage - General Classification contenders are hard-pressed to do that, never mind outside hopefuls in the Youth classification. Hadn't he?

As van Garderen and Costa entered the final kilometre of the climb, still slugging it out on the way to the high finish at Super-Besse, a new challenger in the shape of Alexander Vinokourov emerged from the peloton and began chasing them down. Vino may be 37 but he can most certainly still climb and just seconds later he flashed past those few riders who had managed to stay a little way ahead of the main group after dropping from the lead, seconds after van Garderen led Costa over the summit.

Oh come on, this was the end for Costa, wasn't it? He'd been working like a dog for 160km now. Wasn't it?

Vinokourov

The two riders entered the final 20km a mere 10" ahead of Gautier and Riblon who were still attacking. Vinokourov was still on the go too, now just 1'25" behind and showing no sign of slowing. Many people began to believe he was going to catch them and take the stage as he caught Zandio. Van Garderen launched another attack, but Costa, Riblon and Gautier remained with him until he eventually managed a small lead, but he couldn't increase it. Then, somehow, Costa passed him once again. Riblon and Gautier decided enough was enough and gave up the chase, being caught by Vino two minutes later. Then, Vino caught van Garderen too.

With 4km to go, Costa led by 20", retaining this advantage a kilometre later and news came through that van Garderen was top of the running to be awarded the Combativity award for his efforts just as the peloton - a minute behind Costa - caught him. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Alberto Contador was finding the climb much to his liking and had begun accelerating. However, he had company: Cadel Evans was following and so was Andy Schleck who sat in his usual place right on the Spaniard's rear wheel, grinning back at him every time he turned round to see if his rival was still there. For all Andy's nice-guy image, this has to be incredibly unnerving - and the Luxembourger is an intelligent enough rider to understand the value of psychological warfare. Perhaps that's why he didn't react when Evans dropped the pair of them.

So that's three of the very best riders in the world jousting with one another in the peloton? That must have upped the pace to a speed Costa wouldn't be able to beat. Mustn't it?

An amazing win for Costa.

Nope. He was already over the line, taking his first ever Tour de France stage win and the first for his Movistar team in this year's event. Since any sports report must by convention feature cliche, it's safe to say that a new star has been born.

Stage 8 results:

1. FARIA DA COSTA Rui Alberto 4h 36' 46"  
2. GILBERT Philippe + 00' 12"
3. EVANS Cadel + 00' 15"
4. SANCHEZ Samuel + 00' 15"
5. VELITS Peter + 00' 15"
6. DEVENYNS Dries + 00' 15"
7. CUNEGO Damiano + 00' 15"
8. CONTADOR Alberto + 00' 15"
9. SCHLECK Andy + 00' 15"


Overall General Classification after Stage 8:

1. HUSHOVD Thor 33h 06' 28"  
2. EVANS Cadel + 00' 01"
3. SCHLECK Frank + 00' 04"
4. KLÖDEN Andréas + 00' 10"
5. FUGLSANG Jakob + 00' 12"
6. SCHLECK Andy + 00' 12"
7. MARTIN Tony + 00' 13"
8. VELITS Peter + 00' 13"
9. MILLAR David + 00' 19"
10. GILBERT Philippe + 00' 30"


White jersey: Robert Gesink; Polka dot jersey: TeJay van Garderen; Green jersey: Philippe Gilbert; Team: Garmin-Cervelo; Combativity: TeJay van Garderen (not yet confirmed).

Tour de France: Stage 8 Preview

Aigurande

"First of the mountains today profile is more or less just climbing all day." (@swiftybswift, Team Sky's Ben Swift, Twitter)

The sprinters have had a fun week up in the flatlands of Northern and Western France where the racing has been all on their terms, but their games come to an abrupt end today when the Tour de France - en route for the Pyrenees - turns south and into the Massif Central. More than anything else, this means that the race favourites begin to emerge: whoever does well on the climbs is a safe bet to do well in the Tour overall, especially in one such as this which is very much a race for the grimpeurs.

Today's start town is Aigurande with its unusual church that has a heavily-buttressed octagonal tower, close to the physical centre of France. With a population of under 1,700, the town is fortunate in having a cinema, a building which in part looks like the typically modernistic cinemas of the late 1940s and in part like one of the traditional houses of the region: an odd mix. The route soon travels through the flat and marshy land into the department of Creuse, which for many centuries provided architects and builders of cathedrals and other large projects. Known as the Masons of Creuse, they built the dam at La Rochelle and much of Baron Haussmann developments in Paris. The first village we come to in the department is La Forêt-du-Temple, site of what is reputed to be a Templar temple. Another few kilometres brings us to Nouziers, the northernmost town in Limousin, so expect some footage of large cows. 34km from tha start, we come to Boussac, location of the Chateau-Boussac-Sur-Petite-Creuse which is a long way from the prettiest of the chateaux but cannot be doubted as a contender for one of the most interesting-looking.

Lavaufranche

After 40km, we come to Lavaufranche which is home to a remarkable 12th Century hospital and commandery established by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. Then, 13km on at Lépaud, the riders should be able to catch sight of the rising terrain ahead. Is the name an omen in favour of "LépaudTrek?" Does LeopardTrek's success over the coming mountain stages even need to be preceded by an omen when they have both Frank and Andy Schleck?

At 65.5km is the first climb of the stage, a Category 4 which won't cause any serious problems but could prove to be the undoing of breakaway groups, especially if they're composed of riders who are already tired from earlier attempts.

After 83km comes Auzances which brings today's intermediate sprint, once again in its usual place near the halfway point rather than near the end as was the case yesterday. This really is the last chance for the sprinters, so expect a breakaway early on to make an attempt at getting there first. The big-hitters such as Cavendish and Hushovd may try to chase them down - and the breakaway isn't likely to last long if those two go after them - to take the top points for themselves as sprinting opportunities are somewhat limited for a while now, or they may let them go and settle for the smaller point allocations; content just to conserve energy that can be spent later when the climbers are having it all their own way.

Blimey, that's a big dog. Puy de Dome.

Soon, the route passes Puy de Dome, a dormant - note dormant, not extinct - volcano which is well-known and notorious among cyclists as a challenging climb, very much this region's Mont Ventoux. The Tour has featured the climb on a number of occasions, including its first appearance in 1952 when Fausto Coppi was first up the long spiral road to the summit to win the stage and 1964 when Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor fought one another all the way to the top (I have footage of this on video, it's one of the all-time greatest Tour battles). The Tour does not climb it this year, however, and sadly probably never will again - organisers say that the roads to the summit are simply too narrow since the construction of the funicular railway. A great pity - but have a look on Google Earth, it's quite an amazing sight: 45° 46′ 20″ N 2° 57′ 57″ E.

The feeding station comes a little later, and the domestiques are going to be working hard to ferry back the musettes to their team's climbers who will wanting their energy gels (that's how seriously they take the Tour - they actually want to eat energy gel) because, from this point onwards, it's uphill almost all the way. Since the finish line is still 85km ahead, that means a lot of climbing. In the 15km immediately after the feeding station, it rises 117m which doesn't sound especially testing but the majority of that rise comes in one short, steep section called the Côte du Rocher des Trois Tourtes. A bigger, uncategorised climb of around 200m leads up to Briffons where there was once a fluorspar mine which brought prosperity to the area thanks to its use in the steel industry. Workers were permitted one fifteen minute break during the long and hard working day - according to Google's translation of French Wikipedia, "the teams had to surface a quarter of an hour to enjoy the snack time, it pulled the bagpipes of course." Not quite sure what that's all about.

Next comes flatter section which climbs just 72m in 17km. However, though this is a very low gradient, it's sufficient to take the parcours up to 1022m which means the effects of altitude become an issue for the first time in the 2011 Tour. It's here that those who are naturally better-equipped to perform at altitude and those who, through sheer hard work, have tuned their bodies to work in rarified air begin to dominate - which means Andy Schleck and, provided he isn't subjected to the bad fortune that has dogged him all the way since the Passage du Gois, Alberto Contador begin another epic battle for supremacy which will last through the majority of the rest of the Tour. That race-within-a-race begins in earnest over the coming kilometres when we reach the hardest climb of the 2011 Tour so far in the shape of the Category 2 ascent of the Col de la Croix Saint Robert, the first of the high mountain passes. This is an area that is frequently subjected to very high winds so climbers may wish to regroup with their teams at the summit and tackle the steep descent in echelons.

Super-Besse

There are few villages up here, but one worth looking out for is Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise, often known by its old names Besse-en-Chandesse or Besse, which marks the beginning of the climb up to Super-Besse Sancy where the stage ends. With some 1,600 inhabitants, it's really more a small town than a village but has retained its character and there are a number of interesting buildings, including Le Beffroi (the belfry) and the Mediatheque. Besse was the site of the first meeting in 1935 of the Bourbaki, a group of mathematicians that had a revolutionary effect on the subject and its teaching. The Tour has been this way before with Super-Besse having been a stage finish town three times since 1978. The last time, in 2008, was won by Riccardo Riccò who was later ejected from the Tour after providing a positive sample to anti-doping control. He was fired by Vacansoleil in February this year after a self-administered blood transfusion led to kidney failure and suspended by the Italian Olympic Committee in June for "use or attempted use of prohibited methods." All in all, a rider that the Tour and cycling as a whole is better off without.

Sammy Sanchez

Predictions: Well, it's going to be a climber, innit. But who? Will Andy Schleck want to use the stage as an opportunity to say to the world, "You know how last year you all said I was going to be a great rider? Well, watch this!" Will Contador want to use it to say, "You know how you all wrote me off as a great rider? Well, suck on this!" And, if Contador does want to win today, is Andy now strong enough to prevent him doing so - or on the other hand, will both of them sit back and let this first climb go to a mere mortal since they can play all they want on the big mountains to come? Of course, Frank Schleck can climb with the best of them too, so he's in the running. Don't forget that Euskaltel-Euskadi have been lurking in the peloton in the flat stages: Euskaltel are a team composed of Basque hardmen who ride up mountains like this one just to wake themselves up in the morning and, probably, to relax in the evening. Flat stages are not their thing at all, so today is an opportunity for them to start gaining points. For that reason, we're going to nominate Sammy Sanchez and Amets Txurruka as favourites, provided Andy Schleck and Contador don't lock horns. If they do, we'll be backing Schleck all the way.

Weather: It's not looking that good for Aigurande - while it's dry at present, there are grey clouds and showers forecast for the next couple of hours so a wet start is very likely. It's much the same for Nouzerines and Lavaufranche, the latter having a probability of thunderstorms this afternoon. Heavier rain is forecast for Chambon-sur-Voueize but it should have lightened to showers by the time the peloton hits Rougnat, Tralaigues, Briffons, Mont-Dore, Besse-et-Saint-Anastaise and Super-Besse. Mmm, cycling up mountains in the rain. Fun. The temperature should top out in the low 20s and the wind is light, coming from the south east, but may be considerably stronger on the summits especially Col de la Croix Saint-Robert.

DEVIL WATCH: The mountains may be grimpeur country, but they're also the natural habitat of the Devil because steep climbs offer an ideal opportunity to run along with the riders and cheer them on. Luckily, the Tour Devil is considerably less evil than most other devils and so the Cross of Saint Robert won't be any impedance should he choose to appear nearby.

Tour de Suisse Stage 8

It's the penultimate day of what has been a great Tour de Suisse - we honestly can't see why this race doesn't get the attention the Vuelta and Giro do - and the sprinters will be glad that Stage 8 is completely different to Stage 8 and its vast climbs. Today is all about speed with long, flat sections around 400m above sea level, a couple of uncategorised 200m ascents and one C4 and a manageable C3 towards the end of the 167km parcour.

Mark Cavendish comments sarcastically about the rain in Tübach but is chipper on Twitter, saying "Lovely day for a bike race! Upside, should be a bunch sprint." British fans will be hoping to see the Manx Missile demonstrate the capability that earned him his nickname today and the flat finish at Schaffhausen should be to his liking. However, he's got to deal with those hills first and they're just big enough to spoil the fun.

Romanshorn, despite lying at an altitude of more than 400m in a landlocked country, as the feel of a seaside town due to the docks on Lake Constance where fishing vessels provide an important source of food and income.

The first climb comes just 1.8km after the start and though not huge, with an ascent of 196m in under 5km the mountain specialists and all-rounders will take up the lead for a while. Once topped, it's a long downhill run over 32.2km which should spread out the pack a bit. It's still early days at this point, but anyone who feels up to it may start putting on the pressure with a breakaway attempt before reaching the second respectable uncategorised climb of 200m up to Romanshorn on the banks of Lake Constance. Then there's a quick bit of descending and, but for a brief blip at Altnau where remains of a Neolithic culture dating to 5500 years old have been discovered, it's a flat run all the way to the food station at 94.2km.

It's much the same all the way for the next 32km until the first of the day's visits to Schaffhausen, but with a few hazards in the form of level crossings, narrow roads and an undefined hazard at 105.2km it's not a section to be taken lightly - especially when traveling at the high rate the Tourists will be maintaining. Schaffhausen was an independent city state during the Medieval period and despite accidental bombing by the USAF on April Fool's Day 1944 (oh, how the locals laughed) has retained many very fine old buildings in the traditional Swiss Alpine style. If you're watching on television, make the most of any local interest to catch the cameraman's eye because they'll be concentrating on the rider at the front next time the Tour hits town.

Schaffhausen

More flatlands, narrow roads and another hazard bring us up to sharp bend into Rheinfall, the largest waterfall in Europe and quite possibly the most spectacular too, which brings holidaymakers and their wallets in droves to the area. Then it's a short climb followed by a couple of fast sprints (at 132.7km and 142.3km) before the first proper climb of the day, the 177m Category 3 Oberhallau. An equally steep descent affords little let-up before Cat 4 Siblingerhöh at 560m. The actual ascent is just 89m, but after spending so much of the last 154km trying to keep up with the sprinters few of the climbers will make it to the top without at least minor suffering. Once back down, the real sprinting will start - it's flat all the way over the final 11.7km back to Schaffhausen on a road with few complications other than a tight bend 0.4km from the finish line. This is where we may see Cavendish prove why he's got such a formidable reputation and, with a bit of luck, take the stage winner honours. However, the thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon in the region may mess things up a bit.

On average, 700 cubic metres of water flow over the Rheinfall every second in summer.

The weather looks set to be fairly horrible for most of the day, with heavy rain in Tübach and thunderstorms likely to leave the roads slippery around Schaffhausen even if they've died out by the latter part of the afternoon.


Predictions: we were even less accurate yesterday than the day before, but it's that unpredictability that keeps stage racing interesting. We thought the top five would be Cunego, Kruijswijk, Frank Schleck, Mollema and finally ten Dam in fifth. As it turned out, none of them were even in the top ten; somewhat surprisingly as each of them is a strong climber who should have performed well on a course dominated by the vast Flüelapass - we did at least have a Schleck in there, though - the high altitude horror brought the expert mountain man Andy Schleck out of hiding and he took an opportunity to show everyone what Contador will have to contend with in the Tour de France.

Will Cavendish show us why he's called the Missile today?

Now, this is just a hunch and may be down to wishful patriotic thinking rather than studious examination of form, but we think Mark Cavendish will shine today, and we think that as a result he's going to be the first over the line. We'll hope for Ben Swift of Team Sky to make a top ten appearance too, but this is less likely. Second place is a difficult one to describe because so many riders will be after it. Oscar Freire may be one of the older riders, but he managed second in Stage 5 which was, broadly, a similar one to today; but Peter Sagan, Tejay Van Garderen, Jose Joaquin Rojas and Marco Marcato (3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th in Stage 5) are all going to be jostling for a piece of the action too. Then again, at this late stage in the Tour, some of the sprinters further down the ranks might be wanting to have a go on the podium too. Oh well - we'll have a stab at it: Cavendish for 1st, Marcato for 2nd, Freire for 3rd, Linus Gerdemann for 4th (perhaps encouraged by team mate Schleck's success) and Van Garderen for fifth.


We were correct in our guess that yesterday would see abandonments: Daniel Sesma, Mirco Lorenzetto, Danilo Di Luca, Jeffry Louder and Philip Deignan all fell by the wayside. Provided there's no accidents or illness today, there's every chance that everyone who sets out will make it to the end today.