Pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov once again is providing the drama for the Tour de France as he won the 13th Stage time trial around Albi on Saturday.
Seriously injured and counted out after his solo crash in Stage 5, the leader of the Astana team improved from 19th place at the start of the day to 9th overall at the end. In spite of two stitched up knees, he's not giving up.
Yellow jersey cyclist Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) provided the other surprise in the stage, as the traditionally poor time trial rider actually gained time on some of his close rivals and retained the overall lead.
Big winners
Cadel Evans, the Australian cyclist for Predictor-Lotto, might have been the big winner on the day. He finished second in the time trial, pulling himself within 1 minute of Rasmussen in the overall contest.
Discovery Channel cyclists Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer also made decent gains on Saturday, as did Astana's Andreas Kloden and Andrey Kashechkin.
On Sunday we'll see who left some gas in the tank as the peloton heads into the Pyrenees and one of the toughest stages of the Tour. The 122-mile stage from Mazamet to Plateau-de-Beille climbs three mountains — two of them “beyond category”: Port de Pailhères and Plateau de Beille.
The early riders on the 33.5-mile twisty course on Saturday had to deal with rain and wet pavement conditions. Several fell, including Fabian Cancellara, Yaroslav Popovych and Andreas Kloden. The later two turned in decent runs — 6th and 3rd — in spite of their falls.
But Rasmussen's good ride (as race leader he went off last) had to be attributed to something besides dry pavement. He finished 11th on the stage, actually passing Alejandro Valverde before the finish line.
Allegations against Rasmussen
Always a great mountain climber, Rasmussen never did well in the individual time trials. He lost a podium position to Jan Ullrich in 2005 after repeated spills from his time trial bike. His improvements in the ITT are going to make him a very tough competitor this year.
Rasmussen had more to worry about on Saturday than surviving a time trial, however. Earlier in the week, the Danish cycling federation booted him from the national team for missing two critical doping tests in June. That means he won't race in next year's Summer Olympics.
Then on Friday, a former mountain bike teammate came forward, telling VeloNews that Rasmussen had asked him to carry a shoe box for him back in 2002. When he checked, he found that it contained blood doping material. Rasmussen denied that charge.
An all new and improved Top 10 after Stage 13:
1. Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor – Lotto — 1:00 behind
3. Alberto Contador (Spa) Discovery — 2:31
4. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana — 2:34
5. Levi Leipheimer (US) Discovery — 3:37
6. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana — 4:23
7. Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC — 4:45
8. Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel — 5:07
9. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana — 5:10
10. Kim Kirchen (Lux) T-Mobile — 5:29
I'd have to say the biggest losers on the day were Valverde and Iban Mayo, who dropped from 2nd and 3rd to 11th and 12th, respectively. Carlos Sastre and Kim Kitchen also dropped a little time, and rank, overall.
France's last great hope for the Tour de France was Christophe Moreau. Although he fell behind on Thursday, a good showing could have redeemed him on Saturday. Not so. Moreau finished 9:26 behind Vino, putting him 23rd in the overall; still the highest ranking French rider.
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