The mountain-top finish at Morzine-Avoriaz will be remembered in Tour de France history as the place where Lance Armstrong's chances to achieve another championship appeared doomed and Alberto Contador showed he was beatable.
Andy Schleck had the strongest legs at the end of the 117-mile stage that included two Alpine summits as he beat Samuel Sanchez in a two-man sprint to the finish. Cadel Evans, left, and Contador were unable to match Schleck's final kick to the finish, although Evans did gain the yellow jersey for the first time at this Tour de France.
Seven-time Tour de France champion Armstrong didn't take part in this battle, however. He was some 11 minutes down the mountain after getting caught in three crashes. He was just trying to put one of the worst days in his cycling career behind him. He Twittered:
“When it rains it pours I guess.. Today was not my day needless to say. Quite banged but gonna hang in here and enjoy my last 2 weeks. … “
Three crashes
The 38-year-old Texan and cancer survivor crossed the finish-line grim-faced, his right elbow freshly bandaged, blood dripping from his left knee and the back of his RadioShack jersey scuffed and torn. He had just lost 11:45 minutes to the leaders.
Armstrong's chances for a 2010 championship are in tatters and he must consider what role he'll play in the final stages of his last Tour de France.
Already suffering from saddle sores as he began Stage 8 of the Tour de France on Sunday, Armstrong was slowed by a crash in the first few miles after leaving Station des Rousses. He had to slide over into the grass to miss the pile-up on the road.
Then, as the leader's group passed through a small town at the base of the Col de la Ramaz, Armstrong clipped his pedal on a curb and fell. He suffered some cuts and needed a bike replacement.
Cooked
After the race, Armstrong said that by the time he and his teammates caught up to the group of leading contenders, he was “cooked.” When the accelerations started to catch a three-man breakaway, Armstrong couldn't hold the tempo and dropped back.
As the 5-man Armstrong group continued to lose time on Ramaz, former teammate Egoi Martinez crashed right in front of Armstrong. Once again Armstrong had to stop, although only briefly, to extract his bike from the mess and continue on his way.
Final battle
Meanwhile, a group that included Contador, Evans, Schleck, Sanchez, Ivan Basso, Denis Menchov, Bradley Wiggins and Levi Leipheimer fought to gain control of the Tour de France. Yellow jersey wearer Sylvain Chavanel lost huge time and was not a factor.
After they caught the three survivors of the day's breakaway, they began testing each other's strength with short sprints uphill. When Schleck went with about 1 kilometer left, only Sanchez could answer. Contador either could not or chose not to match the attack. After the race, Schleck was quoted:
“I take some really good morale from knowing that I could attack and not have Contador follow me. Maybe he takes it the other way but I’m happy. For me it’s a fantastic stage win – everything worked out to be perfect. It’s hard but the team can have confidence in me and I promise to them that I’ll fight until Paris – I’ll fight until I fall off my bike. “
As expected, the first day in the Alps rewrote the General Classification standings. What few predicted, however, is that the day ended without Armstrong being a factor.
Top 10 overall
1. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing
2. Andy Schleck, Team Saxo – 20 seconds
3. Alberto Contador, Astana – 1:01
4. Jurgen Van den Broeck, Omega – 1:03
5. Denis Menchov, Rabobank – 1:10
6. Ryder Hesjedal, Garmin – 1:11
7. Roman Kreuziger, Liquigas – 1:45
8. Levi Leipheimer, RadioShack – 2:14
9. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel Euskadi – 2:15
10. Michael Rogers, HTC Columbia – 2:31
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39. Lance Armstrong, Radio Shack – 13:26
More results, news at Tour de France website, CyclingNews, and VeloNews.
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