Stage 9
Morzine-Avoriaz – Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Distance: 204.5 kilometers.
The Tour is in the mountains and this sadistic stage was designed to convince the sprinters who have been holding on to some hope of a yellow jersey that it isn’t going to happen.
Andy Schleck ( Lux – SAX – 011 ) [Yellow] 43h 35′ 41″
Thor Hushovd ( Nor – CTT – 095 ) [Green] 124 points
Anthony Charteau ( Fra – BBO – 153 ) [Polka Dot] 85 points
Robert Gesink ( Ned – RAB – 195 ) 7 [White]
Team: Caisse d’Epargne GCE ( 161-169 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Sandy Casar ( Fra – FDJ – 062 )
Combative: Luis-Leon Sanchez ( Esp – GCE – 161 ) [Red numbers]
They’ve gone 1,773.9 kilometers [1,102.3 miles] at an average speed of 40.7 kph [25.3 mph].
OVERALL STANDINGS:
Andy Schleck ( Lux – SAX – 011 ) [Yellow]
2 Alberto Contador ( Esp – AST – 001 )
3 Samuel Sanchez ( Esp – EUS – 181 )
4 Denis Menchov ( Rus – RAB – 191 )
5 Jurgen Van Den Broeck ( Bel – SIL – 101 )
6 Levi Leipheimer ( USA – RSH – 025 )
7 Robert Gesink ( Ned – RAB – 195 ) [White]
8 Luis-Leon Sanchez ( Esp – GCE – 161 )
9 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver ( Esp – KAT – 077 )
10 Ivan Basso ( Ita – LIQ – 041 )
11 Roman Kreuziger ( Cze – LIQ – 044 )
12 Ryder Hesjedal ( Can – GRM – 054 )
13 Alexandre Vinokourov ( Kaz – AST – 009 )
14 Michael Rogers ( Aus – THR – 118 )
15 Carlos Sastre ( Esp – CTT – 091 )
16 Bradley Wiggins ( GBr – SKY – 031 )
17 Nicolas Roche ( Irl – ALM – 081 )
18 Cadel Evans ( Aus – BMC – 121 )
19 Thomas Lövkvist ( Swe – SKY – 037 )
20 Andréas Klöden ( Ger – RSH – 024 )
24 Sandy Casar ( Fra – FDJ – 062 ) [Stage winner]
31 Lance Armstrong ( USA – RSH – 021 )
40 Anthony Charteau ( Fra – BBO – 153 ) [Polka Dot]
53 Jérôme Pineau ( Fra – QST – 135 )
67 Geraint Thomas ( GBr – SKY – 039 )
138 Thor Hushovd ( Nor – CTT – 095 ) [Green]
140 Robbie McEwen ( Aus – KAT – 075 )
147 David Millar ( GBr – GRM – 057 )
Lance Armstrong wasn’t the only one who crashed on Stage 8, Cadel Evans of Australia who captured the Yellow Jersey on the stage also crashed, but didn’t discover until the rest day that his injured arm wasn’t just bruised, it was broken. As a result, Evans dropped to 18th place, and is in no condition to regain the lead.
Five riders failed to make the start of Stage 9 or withdrew. The Footon-Servetto team lost two riders, Markus Eibegger and Fabio Felline, which takes the team down to six.
Wikipedia has a simple article on the Mountain classification used on the Tour. The basic fact is that climbs fall into five types, with the four numbered types decreasing in difficulty as the numbers get larger, and then there is the Hors Catégorie, literally “without category”, which generally make you look for an elevator.
Stage 9 starts with a 4, the easiest climb, then a flat, followed by a 1, the worst of the numbered climbs, which is followed by a 2, another 1 and then relatively flat until you have finished a bit over 140 kilometers and you start climbing the Col de la Madeleine.
Madeleine is a Hors Catégorie. You pedal 27 kilometers and rise 1625 meters to reach the top – but, wait… there’s more. You finish by flying 32 kilometers down the other side. Of course there are hairpin turns on both sides. They have aerial photos on the official site, because even the mad photographers who capture most of the race while riding facing the rear on the backs of motorcycles, aren’t crazy enough to drive at the speeds some of the riders will achieve coming down from the top. You don’t see any of the usual crowd of escort vehicles that are normally part of the race.
As I said at the beginning, this is a sadistic stage.
