Call me a sentimental old fool, but Thibaut Pinot’s win in Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 8 was what the Tour is all about – the youngest man in the race gallantly holding off the rampaging favourites; Marc Madiot in the FDJ team car overcome with emotion; team mates barging in on the TV interview to hug and kiss Pinot, some in tears.
Our heart went out to Astana’s Swede, Fred Kessiakoff in his first Tour and just failing to make it back up to Pinot after the Frenchman caught, passed and dropped him on the last climb.
Fred’s form has been good – under scored by his beating of Cancellara in the Tour de Suisse time trial stage.
We’ve known him here at VeloVeritas since his days with Mauro Gianetti at Geox.
We were delighted for him when he won last year’s Tour of Austria; but it wasn’t to be, today – albeit Fred enjoyed the consolation of pulling on the polka dot jersey.
But this was a day for the ‘home boy’ – with not a mention of watts, number or box ticking.
This was about taking chances, suffering, joy, disappointment, emotion and sentiment – give us that analytical stuff on some other stage, please.
Van Den Broeck impressed today with Evans, Nibali and Menchov too demonstrating that they’re a long ways from rolling over and giving up.
Cadel’s manager, John Lelangue says he’s unconcerned by his rider’s isolation on that horrible finish ramp, yesterday; saying the team is built with men for the longer but less savage climbs more common to the Tour – Moinard, van Garderen and Cummings.
Cadel will be hoping so; but big Steve Cummings was one of Contador’s favourite domestiques back in the Disco days and is even stronger, these days.
The front is certainly the place to be in this Tour, we reported four or five riders had dropped out of the race, last night – it’s actually a dozen and more, with some of the injuries more akin to road traffic accidents.
Hopefully, after the rest day it should calm down as the race takes a more solid shape and riders and teams accept where they fit in to the picture.
Bradley Wiggins’ Press Conference
And, difficult though it is, we have to take the maillot jaune to task.
Maybe we could forgive him for replying ‘f**king great’ when asked how he felt about being in yellow, yesterday.
But his outburst at the press conference today wasn’t big or clever.
Given that the sport has been its own worst enemy for years and it’s only a few years since Brad himself was escorted off the race by the gendarmerie due to the antics of Cofidis team mate Christian Moreni; he shouldn’t be surprised.
And as the Lance saga grinds ever-on it’s inevitable that ‘d-word’ questions will arise from certain elements of the media – it’s their job.
I’m no prude when it comes to language, having spent too much time on building sites, but it’s a case of ‘time and place.’
Measured responses and explanations will always be a better advert for the sport, Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins than the ‘f-word’, ‘w-word’ and definitely the ‘c-word’.
Chrono tomorrow, Fabian will want it, so will Tony Martin – despite that wrist – but Bradley will be seeking to consolidate his grip on that jersey.
Evans will work hard to limit his losses – he’ll be stronger in the final TT – and Froome may well be dreaming of chipping back a few of those 92 seconds.
As we might say on a Scottish building site, ‘there’ll no’ be much f**king work gettin’ done whilst that time trial carry-on is on the tele!’
Result - Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 8
Stage Result
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:26
3 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan
4 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
5 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
6 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
7 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
8 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
9 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
10 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan 0:00:30
11 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
12 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team 0:00:47
13 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:25
14 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
15 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
16 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
17 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
18 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
19 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
20 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
21 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
22 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Sharp
23 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
24 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
25 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:02:21
26 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
27 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
28 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
29 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
30 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
31 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
32 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
33 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
34 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
35 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team
36 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
37 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
38 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team
39 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Astana Pro Team
40 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:04:58
41 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar
42 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
43 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
44 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
45 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
46 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
47 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
48 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
49 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale
50 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
51 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
52 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
53 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
54 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
55 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
56 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre – ISD
57 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team
58 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
59 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
60 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
61 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team
62 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar
63 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:07:25
64 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Sharp
65 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD
66 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
67 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
68 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team
69 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
70 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan
71 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
72 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:09:07
73 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:10:17
74 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
75 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
76 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
77 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
78 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale
79 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:12:19
80 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
81 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
82 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
83 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team
84 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
85 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
86 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
87 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
88 David Millar (GBr) Garmin – Sharp
89 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team
90 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
91 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
92 David Zabriskie (USA) Garmin – Sharp
93 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
94 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
95 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
96 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
97 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
98 Sebastian Langeveld (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
99 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
100 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:13:57
101 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team
102 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
103 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD 0:16:30
104 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
105 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
106 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team 0:16:41
107 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano
108 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
109 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar
110 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
111 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
112 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
113 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
114 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
115 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
116 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
117 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
118 Pablo Urtasun Perez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
119 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
120 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team
121 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
122 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos-Shimano
123 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
124 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team
125 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Garmin – Sharp
126 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team
127 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
128 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
129 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
130 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
131 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
132 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
133 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team
134 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
135 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
136 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
137 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
138 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
139 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
140 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
141 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
142 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
143 Brice Feillu (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
144 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
145 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:19:31
146 Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:21:56
147 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:22:19
148 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
149 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling
150 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Lampre – ISD
151 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
152 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
153 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
154 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
155 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team
156 Borut Bozic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
157 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos-Shimano
158 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
159 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos-Shimano
160 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
161 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat 0:23:31
162 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
163 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
164 Yuriy Krivtsov (Fra) Lampre – ISD
165 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Sharp
166 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
167 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
168 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
169 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
170 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne