Tour de Suisse Stage 8 Wetzikon to Liestal, 179 kms
The stage had a mixed day of weather – early on gilet and warmers were the order of the day; most were dispensed with by the last quarter of the stage.
As for the action, a group of escapees included Gregory Rast; he was accompanied by Tom Danielson (Garmin-Transitions), Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas), Maxime Monfort (HTC), Rui Da Costa (Caisse), Jose Gil (Caisse), Sandy Casar (FDJ) Lars Peter Nordhaug (Team Sky) and Gerald Ciolek (Milram).
Back in the peloton Team RadioShack rode close the front and frequently Lance Armstrong was riding next to the Tour leader, Robert Gesink (RAB). Lance was 55s behind Gesink in the GC.
And so the action remained relatively static until the ascent of the third Cat 3 hill. The breakaway group fractured on the hill with Montfort pulling away from the rest. However on the descent all but Ciolek and Rast came back together. The peloton was just over 3 minutes behind.
Montfort (HTC) attacked again and looked like he was making a bid for stage glory but Da Costa and Gil (both Caisse) took up the gauntlet and bridged over to him. With 28 kms to ride the three had a lead of 2m 41s.
Back in the peloton Fugslang (SAX) rode ahead of the pack on the descent. There was little reaction. As the peloton lined out, Rabobank took point and the RadioShack team had half of their number close behind. As the peloton brought Fugslang back Levi Leipheimer led the RadioShack effort to protect Armstrong’s GC place.
With 21 kms to ride Chavenel and Gutierrez punched out of the pack and built a lead before Voigt (SAX) charged across with a couple of other riders.
Montfort fell back and was taken by Rojas and Casar. Casar then pulled ahead of Rojas. The upshot of all of this was a leading pair of Casar and Rojas, a chasing group including Montfort, who was struggling, and the peloton.
With 15 kms to ride to the line and on the last cat 3 climb the chasing group fractured as the peloton found some strength with RadioShack’s Armstrong riding in 5th place. There was some apparent rallying and the more energised peloton riders pushed on; Armstrong and Kloden were in the number. The gap from the leaders to the peloton was 2m 18s with 12 kms to go.
Upfront Da Costa attacked and took pole position.
Gesink pulled from the peloton … and Armstrong was right there, on his wheel and took a turn at leading the group of about 8 riders that had joined the attack. As the group was joined by the rest of the field, Gesink and Armstrong stayed wheel to wheel and within a few riders of the peloton front line.
Attack after attack stepped out of the peloton, but not from riders that threatened the GC. The peloton was 1m 41s behind the leading rider of Da Costa; there were 2 kms to ride.
Da Costa stayed away and had time to straighten his jersey, sit up, cross himself and then his arms over his chest before throwing them open to take the applause of the crowd.
As the other leading riders crossed the line the peloton streamed into the finish there was Armstrong right behind Gesink making sure that he took the same time as the Tour leader. Gesink crossed the line in 10th place, Armstrong was given 14th – a place that belies how close he was to Gesink.
So with one Stage, a Time Trial, to go the only question for us is “Can Lance pick up the 55 seconds that Gesink has over him to take the win?” Literally, time will tell.
By Julian Winn, staff writer
Nice narrative & recap on the stage. Beyond LA, good to see rast & Kloden in key efforts for the stage. Like to see all the Shackers ride the tt well, final statement prior to tdf.
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