Tour de France Stage 9: Ricco Rockets Ahead to Second Stage Victory
“I had told you the other day that I would win another one,” said Riccardo Ricco moments after crossing the line. He was right. With two major cols in the final third of a 224km stage, a climber was expected to excel in stage nine and the Italian is a specialist for the mountains. It was a stage that prompted a lot of riders to lose time but the only reshuffle of the top order was from Schumacher who slipped down the rankings a little after losing time on the Col d’Aspin – the site of Ricco’s conquest.The Progress Report
The 224km ninth stage of the 2008 Tour de France, from Toulouse to Bagnerre-de-Bigorre, began at 11.20am. There were seven climbs on the itinerary starting with four cat-4 ascents – the cote de Saint-Pey (at 42km), cote de Sainte-Quitterie (46km), cote de Mane (91km), col de Buret (113.5km) – then the cat-3 col des Ares (123.5km) followed by the first two cat-1 climbs of the 95th Tour: the col de Peyresourde (with the top at 166.5km) and the col d’Apsin (at 198km). This was the first road stage with just two intermediate sprints; they were in Saint-Sulpice-sur-Leze (at 29.5km) and Sengouagnet (at 111km).
Three Gain Large Advantage Early
David De La Fuente (SDV) continued his usual attacking antics and joined an escape of six riders who jumped ahead of the bunch in the opening kilometer. The others involved were: Bichot (AGR), Clement (BTL), Cheula (BAR), Moncoutie (COF) and Schroder (MRM). They were caught at the 12km mark. The next to attack were Lang (GST), Kuschynski (LIQ) and Jalabert (AGR) who escaped at 22km and once they’d opened a gap of a minute, many in the peloton responded by stopping to answer nature’s call. By 37km, the advantage had blown out to 5’40”; at 39.5km 7’30”; at 42km 9’50”. The average for the first hour was 45.6km/h. The maximum gain of the escape was 14’20” (at the 55km mark). Then the Euskaltel team came to the front and started to chase. The average speed for the second hour was 40.9km/h. At the top of the third climb, the peloton was 10’55” behind Lang’s trio.
Cadel Evans crashed around the 105km mark, sustaining abrasions to his left elbow. He changed a bike and quickly remounted and rejoined the peloton by 109km even though the Euskaltel team continued to set a rapid tempo. He did consult the race doctor who said the wounds were not too deep but that he expected the Australian would have problems climbing because of the injuries sustained.
Col de Peyresourde
At the base of the Peyresourde, the peloton was 9’10” behind Lang’s trio. Euskaltel was in charge and caused numerous riders to drop and form a ‘grupetto’. Jalabert was the first to drop from the lead group, followed by Kuschynski. De La Fuente attacked the peloton with 6km to climb, he was followed by Montfort. That was the order at the top: 1. Lang; 2. Kuschynski at 40”; 3. Jalabert at 3’40”; 4. De La Fuente at 4’50”; 5. Montfort… Luis Sanchez attacked the peloton just before the summit, taking sixth place points. The yellow jersey and the other top 10 on GC were in the group that was 5’25” behind the stage leader.
Ricco Makes A Winning Move On The Col d’Aspin
Early on the final climb the there were a number of attacks in the yellow jersey’s group including a brief effort by Schumacher who would later become the first from the 10 on GC to be dropped from the main pack. Other attacks came from Casar, Nibali, Kreuziger, Gonzalo.. and a host of others but none had the impact that Ricco would have when he surged 30km from the line. He waited until De La Fuente was caught before flying into the lead like a man possessed. Nothing could get in the way of the Italian winner of stage six; he made the mountain look like a flat road as he captured all ahead of him, the last being Lang who Ricco flew past with 1km to climb. At the top Ricco had a lead of 35” to Lang who was joined by Nibali briefly on the descent before the yellow jersey’s peloton reeled them in. The yellow jersey crested the summit 1’15” behind Ricco. He was able to maintain this advantage all the way to the finish. It was his second stage victory in four days and he moves up from 27th to 21st overall and from fifth to third in the climbing classification.
Kim Kirchen finished the ninth stage in 12th spot, pushing him back into the lead of the points classification and confirming his status as the overall leader. He will wear the yellow jersey in stage 10.
