They say that a marathon starts ten kilometers before the finish line. The Tour de France is the same marathon, only stretched out for more than twenty days. And the third week of the "Tour" - it is always the most difficult. The third week is a series of difficult mountain stages. The first of them is 187 kilometers from Gap to the Alps d'Huez.
For ten years now, the Alps d'Huez has always been present on the Tour map. During this time, he managed to become a place almost sacred, the reference rise of the highest category. 2006 gave the audience a new conqueror of the Alps d'Huez. Frank Schleck, a young rider from Luxembourg, left the gap from the very beginning of the stage. A large motley company worked harmoniously for the feast of the eye, but as soon as the climb began, friendship came to an end. Two kilometers to the finish line, only Schleck and Damiano Cunego remained the leaders. The Italian looked like a clear favorite - at the age of 22 he won the Giro d'Italia and was solemnly named the heir of the great Pantani. Over the past two years, Cunego’s career has not developed very fast, and a victory in the Alps d'Huez should have restored his confidence in his own abilities. The Italian was counting on his magnificent finish uphill, but Schleck gave him an unpleasant surprise. The Luxembourger went on the attack one and a half kilometers to the line, and Kunego was not ready for this. For the first time in history, a rider from Luxembourg defeated the Alps d'Huez.
And behind Schleck, events developed dramatically. German Andreas Claudin, who lost a lot in the Pyrenees, decided to take revenge in the Alps. With the help of teammates, he set an incredibly fast pace that only Floyd Landis, the former leader of the general classification, could withstand. Denis Menshov missed Clauden’s attack, and the Russians failed to catch up with the rivals who had run ahead. It was evident how hard the last kilometers of climb were given to Menshov, but the comrades at Rabobank, Michael Bogerd and Michael Rasmussen, came to the rescue. The Dutchman and the Danes dragged Menshov to the leaders, and on top he lost to Landis in just over a minute.
The leader of the overall standings Oscar Pereiro drove very dignified, but still parted with the prestigious yellow T-shirt. She was intercepted by Floyd Landis, not too pleased with this Lance Armstrong, who arrived at the finish line of the stage to support his own. At one time, Landis left the Lance team (then it was called "U.S. Postal") with great scandal. He called Armstrong a dictator who sucked juices from his comrades, and reproached manager Johan Brunel for shortsightedness. Brunel gladly got rid of the rebel, believing that he had such a box full of landys. As a result, everyone won from this decision - Armstrong crushed the riot on the ship, and Landis got the opportunity to work for himself. However, their relationship didn’t get any better, and Landis’ possible victory on the Tour de France would decently have snapped the great champion's nose.
Even on Tuesday, such a scenario seemed not just probable - almost the only possible one. But the Tour de France is a thing stronger than Goethe's Faust. Human forces are not unlimited, and the 16th stage has fully demonstrated this. Each rider, I repeat, everyone necessarily has crisis days. On Wednesday, Landis practically died on his last climb.
And after all, everything was normal for the American. Landis confidently controlled all movements in the peloton: Michael Rasmussen, who had left on a break, did not bother him, and all the main competitors - Menshov, Clauden, Sastre - were at hand. And the finish pass was not so scary - just the first category. But this is the Tour de France, this is the third week, this is the second consecutive alpine stage, this is work on the limit and beyond. Two minutes ago you were feeling fine, when suddenly someone is increasing the pace - and that’s it. Landis literally stopped - at first, Clauden and his comrades flew away from him, then the earlier behind the racers began to pass the American. We must pay tribute to Landis: he fought as best he could and completed the stage, but lost for ages - 10 minutes.
The Danish Rasmussen from the Rabobank team proved to all doubters - and there are fewer and fewer such people every year - that he is an excellent miner. But the main character of the stage is Spaniard Oscar Pereiro Sio. The same comrade who left everyone last week and brought a huge handicap to the main group. Already then it was said that this was a serious flaw in the group, you should not let such a person go into such a gap. As a result, Pereiro Sio, who was not a member of the “Tour” and among the twenty favorites, became the main contender for the victory.
After such events, it seemed that Tour 2006 had exhausted surprises - in the end, what else could be invented here? No matter how. At the last alpine stage, the triumphant return of Floyd Landis took place. No one can understand where the American’s strength came from, but the driver from the Fonak team drove off 100 kilometers to the finish line. “Let them ride and turn their own neck” - decided the favorites and cruelly paid for it. Landis won the stage, brought his closest rival Carlos Sastra five and a half minutes and almost recouped for the 16th stage. Neither Miguel Indurine nor Lance Armstrong won such victories - only the “Eater” Eddie Merckx could afford to lead from the start to the finish. No less striking was the resurrection of Landis.
Before decisive cutting, Landis lost to Oscar Pereiro Sio for only 12 seconds, and no one doubted that the American would gobble up a competitor. Carlos Sastre also retained certain chances of victory, but he went through the race very weakly and as a result lost third place to the German Andreas Clauden on the podium. Pereiro Sio tried very hard, gave out the best butchering in his career, but this was too little. Landis brought the competitor a half minutes and regained the yellow jersey of the leader - now completely. Well, the victory in cutting again won Sergey Gonchar, 41 seconds ahead of Andreas Clauden. Denis Menshov lost to the Ukrainian four and a half minutes - the Russians did not have enough forces to finish. In the final protocol of the “Tour” he settled in sixth place - this is the best result in the career of Menshov. Down and Out trouble started.