(Kloden and Leipheimer finish in the Top 10)
Tour De Suisse Stage 9 TT, 27 km around Liestal
‘The Time is Now’, as the song says. Time to decide the outcome of the Tour; time to see if valuable seconds can be gained; and, for those closest to Robert Gesink (RAB) who has led the Tour GC since Stage 6, the last time to move up the classification Coalescing this for Team RadioShack, it’s the time for Lance Armstrong to strive for a podium place – beating Gesink by 56 seconds would put Lance where he has been so many time before, on top.
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And so to the TT. Kicking out of the Start House, Armstrong seemed to have a problem; it took sometime for him to get into that familiar arched-back aero-position. A head of him and crossing the finish line, Monfort had worked very hard and posted the third best time of the day so far. In consideration of the monumental group and solo efforts he put in on Stage 8 his time was remarkable; he must have felt it in his thighs.
Andreas Kloden hit the half way point and recorded the 9th best split time. Behind him team mate Armstrong was swerving in the road to find the line that would provide the best possible time – shaving seconds was everything, and foremost in his mind.
Ahead Martin (HTC) recorded a better time than Cancellara (SAX) – 17 seconds better. He had the top spot.
As Armstrong sped down the course descent Levi Leipheimer crossed the finish line to claim 5th place so far. Then Kloden finished and took 6th at that time. Armstrong kicked on regardless – and totally focused.
Pushing, pushing, pushing – Armstrong hit the finish line to take 11th place. In Armstrong’s wake Frank Schleck (SAX) was determined and crossed the line recording the 13th fastest time. As Gesink rode the course the calculators came out. The sums were being checked. With a gap of 2m 18s down on Martin, Gesink was losing the yellow jersey. Tapping the numbers, Frank Schleck had pulled the Tour GC out-of-the-bag and is deserving of our congratulations.
Joining Schleck (SAX) on the podium were Lance Armstrong (2nd) and Jakob Fugslang (SAX) (3rd). Bravo Lance!
For Team RadioShack the Tour has proven to be an excellent primer for the Tour de France and has shown everyone that the Team is a force to be reckoned with. When it comes to competition count Team RadioShack in; you won’t be disappointed.
Top Ten, stage 9
| Rank | Name | Team | Result |
| 1 | Tony MARTIN | THR | 32:21 |
| 2 | Fabian CANCELLARA | SAX | +17 |
| 3 | David ZABRISKIE | GRM | +29 |
| 4 | Gustav LARSSON | SAX | +48 |
| 5 | Levi LEIPHEIMER | RSH | +48 |
| 6 | Andreas KLÖDEN | RSH | +52 |
| 7 | Jakob FUGLSANG | SAX | +52 |
| 8 | Maxime MONFORT | THR | +57 |
| 9 | Wouter POELS | VAC | +1:02 |
| 10 | Stijn DEVOLDER | QST | +1:07 |
Top 10 GC standings:
| Rank | Name | Team | Result |
| 1 | Frank SCHLECK | SAX | 35:02:00 |
| 2 | Lance ARMSTRONG | RSH | +12 |
| 3 | Jakob FUGLSANG | SAX | +17 |
| 4 | Steve MORABITO | BMC | +23 |
| 5 | Robert GESINK | RAB | +27 |
| 6 | Tony MARTIN | THR | +27 |
| 7 | Rigoberto URAN URAN | GCE | +33 |
| 8 | Andreas KLÖDEN | RSH | +48 |
| 9 | Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER | KAT | +1:09 |
| 10 | Levi LEIPHEIMER | RSH | +1:14 |
By Julian Winn, staff writer
Well done lance and the rest of the shack
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Lance and team RS have done a great job of picking the right races to prepare for July. He (Lance) is on track to at least podium, if not repeat in the TDF. Levi and Andreas are looking very good as well, and RS should have the top team going into the TDF. Looking forward to the month of July, it should be very exciting!!
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With due respect to you lance as well as the whole radioshack team.. the speed concept unity sucks!!! I bet you if you used your previous TTX Trek( the one you crushed Ullrich on short time trial), well your time would have improved a lot, hence maybe winning that race. there is no Fluidity in your cadence .. you are more like mashing gears than spinning at high cadence.. like i said before in my previous blog, on your previous TTX your torso along with your forarms were couple of centimetres higher which made you being able to activate your high cadence.. for god sake.. why dont you guys see at the technical side of that.. where the hell is F1 TEAM to correct that!!!! Im a fan of Lance and I really don’t want to see him loosing the tour.. not even a top ten for Lance in TDS??? you guys need to fix up. why do you guys think Lance finish in top 5 in the last tour of 4 days he attended. watch his cadence how high it was… watch his forarms when resting on the forearms very high up compared to his speed concept unity. make the maths!!!!
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its fantastic….welldone lance..levi..andreos…what a tour…watch the tt with baited breath…AWESOME…BRING ON LE TOUR……X
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way to go trs boys. On to the Tour de France..
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There should be a thousand responses to this news.
Lance #2 !!!!!!!!!!!!
Kloden, and Leipheimer, in the top ten!!!!!!
Come on….THIS is one hell of a team.
Maybe everyone would have been more enthused if Lance had won I guess.
Lets give creit where credit is due!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ride on Radio Shack.
Conratulations to all.
The Tour looks VERY promising.
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Muchas felicidades campeon.
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I read Msr. Pierre’s comments with great interest. I assume Lance and the tech people have gone over the variables well enough to make a clear decision; nevertheless, his question is an interesting one. I hope Lance looks at his TT approach again before Rotterdam. Anyway, congrats to TRS. I think we’re all looking forward to July with great anticipation.
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Awesome work TRS!!! Way to push the second half of the stage!! It’s shaping up to be an epic July.
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Well done Lance, Levi and Klodi!
This is the form we all like to see.
Now for some fine-tuning before the big one.
Bring on Le Tour! Kick derriere!
Cheers
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Tiago Machado no Tour, após resultados médicos, é uma boa opção!
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Fantastic! The entire team & sponsors are giving us and the sport a thrill. This is the best build up to the Tour I have ever experienced. I would give anything to know what the boys (old slang, no disrespect intended) are doing for the next 10 days. I picture the whole team encamped in some mountain retreat somewhere, having meals together, training rides, strategizing, bonding and in the evenings after dinner & a massage, getting a pep talk w/ Johan. Pretty sappy huh? I know, its not collegiate rowing, its pro cycling. Everyone is probably in different directions getting family time. A guy can wish though, eh?
What an extroardinary team. That U all could put it together like this in TRS’ 1st year is really incredible. The sponsors must be very pleased. I m sorry about the Vuelta. Especially for the riders who were looking to do well there. I hope TRS sponsors get some possitive exposure from the controversy, and how ridiculous the race organizers look w/ their poor choice. And I hope that it sets the stage for more fair play implimentations in the circuit.
Have a Great Tour TRS!
Heronemo
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