Stage 9 - Morzine-Avoriaz Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 204.5 km : High Mountains - A sporting perspective : A final descent that can hurt
Yesterday Andy was the winner while Evans was the leader!
There were many scenes in the eighth stage of the 2010 Tour de France that will be remembered but the biggest talking point stems from two words – “Armstrong Dropped”. The seven-time champion lived a nightmare on the roads leading to Morzine-Avoriaz, crashing three times in the stage and eventually losing contact with his rivals for the title on the col de la Ramaz. It was 10 years ago, in Morzine that he suffered his first – and only – true crisis of his seven-year reign as champion when he when went hunger flat on the col de Joux Plane. Today he collapsed and lost 11’45” to the stage winner.
It was the confirmation of the arrival of a new generation: Andy Schleck won the stage and moved up to second overall thanks to a sensational sprint at the top of a tough mountain while Cadel Evans finished sixth in the stage and took over the lead of the general classification. Chavanel’s second reign in yellow lasted just one day but it was essentially expected. What wasn’t on the forecast was such a mighty collapse by the leader of the RadioShack team which still has Levi Leipheimer in the top nine but a new game plan will be mapped out on the rest day tomorrow.
Evans was also caught up in a crash early in the day but he replaced his world champion’s jersey with a yellow one.
After the first rest day, which the riders will have to get out of their system, this is the main Alpine stage, with the Col de la Colombière pass via Le Reposoir, the Col des Aravis pass, Les Saisies and the Col de la Madeleine pass. If Contador has lost five minutes on the cobbles, it is not unimaginable that he will be clawing them back a little every day on this sort of terrain. However, there is no summit finish, because there would have been too many on this Tour. We preferred to diversify the route more to avoid riders waiting for the summit finishes to open up the gaps. The favourites might not want to attack to avoid finding themselves alone on the flat, which means a big battle is an unlikely scenario. That said, those who are not good downhill riders could lose Le Tour in the finish to this stage.
• Once a stage town
• Population: 9,400
• Sub-prefecture of Savoie (73)
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has notably seen the birth of expert slalom racers, like Jean-Noël Augert and Jean-Baptiste Grange, but the close proximity of the Croix-de-Fer, Télégraphe, Lautaret, Madeleine, Glandon, Iseran, Mont-Cenis and Galibier mountain passes have always made it a natural cycling ground. The start of a stage in 2006, the Savoyard city will this year have the honour of hosting a stage finish.
At the heart of the biggest cycling area available to climbers, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne has a veritable passion for cycling. Galibier, Télégraphe, Madeleine, Glandon, Croix-de-Fer, Iseran… it is at the crossroads of all these mythical passes and famous climbs, for the utmost delight of sports cyclists, touring cyclists, mountain bikers or simply spectators. Furthermore, Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne boasts the rich heritage of a Town of Art and History: the cathedral and gothic cloisters, a crypt that was a cradle to Romanesque art, the suit museum, the Mont-Corbier museum (a liqueur made out of plants gathered from the surrounding mountains) and, of course, the Opinel museum, devoted to the now world famous knife invented more than a century ago a stone’s throw away from the town. Lastly, in a year that marks the 150th anniversary of the annexation of Savoy by France, in 2010 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne will be organising many events in addition to the traditional Saint-Jean Bread Festival that takes place on the 5th of August.
Roll of honour : Result after stage 8
121 EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM 37h 57' 09"
95 HUSHOVD Thor CERVELO TEST TEAM 118 pts
135 PINEAU Jérôme QUICK STEP 44 pts
11 SCHLECK Andy TEAM SAXO BANK 37h 57' 29"
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