pelotonplanet: Stage 20: Winner Revealed

The penultimate stage of the 2011 Tour de France proved that to win the yellow jersey, a cyclist must excel in every discipline. He must climb mountains and descend, stay out of trouble on the flats and hills, keep a solid team around him, and finally, race hard against the clock. At the individual time trial in Grenoble, Cadel Evans climbed to the top of the leader board with his prolific performance, while Andy Schleck dropped to second place, unable to hold back his last rival and once again heartbroken.

Coming into today, the race was down to three riders whose cumulative time over 19 stages was within one minute. Brothers Andy and Frank Schleck of Team Leopard-Trek and Cadel Evans of BMC had gained enough time on the other leading riders, knocking them out of the competition for first place overall. Most importantly, defending champion Alberto Contador had lost nearly 4 minutes due to crashes and weakness in the mountains, bursting his hopes for a repeat win. Both Andy and Cadel had been runner-ups to Contador, and now they would face off to determine the new champion.

The individual time trial is called the “race of truth,” because the cyclist races alone against the clock without the benefit of teammates or motivation from competitors. (For an experience of the time trial, see my earlier post “Pacing the Time Trial” from the Tour of California.) Evans excels at the discipline, while it is known as the Achilles heel of the Schleck brothers.

Andy Schleck came in as race leader with a 53 second advantage over big brother Frank and 57 seconds over Evans. Andy’s goal was to hold off Evans, while the Australian aimed to race into the lead on the 42.5 kilometer circuit around the eastern town of Grenoble. The course was nearly the same as the time trial of the Criterium du Dauphine in June, where Evans competed and finished sixth on the stage.

While Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad set a fast leading time with an early ride, the final three cyclists out of the gate were Evans, Frank, then Andy Schleck. Evans burst out of the gate and drove hard through the finish line, missing Martin’s time by just 7 seconds for second place on the stage. Frank’s performance was as expected; he finished in 20^th place. The disappointment came from Andy’s ride. While the Luxembourger is known to be weak in the time trial, wearers of the yellow jersey sometimes show special powers, rising to the occasion and surprising the critics. This was not to be for Andy Schleck today, and no one is more disappointed that he is. Andy finished 2 minutes and 31 seconds behind Cadel Evans, surrendering the champion’s title on the day before Paris. A consolation is that the brothers will stand together in second and third place on the final podium.

His victory confirmed, Evans wiped tears from his blue eyes. The 34-year-old former mountain bike champion secured the first Tour de France victory for an Australian. The win is the highlight of a cyclist’s career, and the joy and relief emanated from Evans as he donned the yellow jersey as race leader. By tradition, no one attacks the race leader on tomorrow’s finale stage into Paris, so Evans’ first place is secure.

However, the stage win is still up for grabs, and the sprinters will vie for one more notch on their belts, making for a dramatic grand finale. When the peloton arrives in Paris, they complete eight circuits with the big finish on the Champs-Elysees. Mark Cavendish will seek a third straight win in Paris, and rivals including Tyler Farrar, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Jose Joaquin Rojas, and others will try to spoil his party. Once the race is over, the winners will be crowned in grand fashion, including the victors in the king of the mountains, points, best young rider, and team competitions.

But all eyes will be on Cadel Evans, the first Australian to win the Tour de France. A two-time runner up, he will top the podium for the first time as champion. Bridesmaid, no more.

Post-stage interview with Evans: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/43866395#43866395

Overall standing after Stage 20:

1. Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) 83h 45’ 20”

2. Andy Schleck (Leopard-Trek) + 01’ 34”

3. Frank Schleck (Leopard-Trek) + 00’ 53”

4. Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) + 03’ 20”

5. Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard) + 03’ 57”

6. Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) + 04’ 55”

7. Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD) + 06’ 05”

8. Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) + 07’ 23”

9. Tom Danielson (Garmin-Cervelo) + 08’ 15”

10. Jean Christophe Peraud (Ag2r La Mondiale) + 10’ 11”