2013 Cycling Thread

[Smallville22]

Power data debate heats up at Tour de France

After being lied to about doping for decades, cycling fans want the plain and simple truth.
Establishing the truth is, however, altogether more complicated.
Frenchman Antoine Vayer, who was a coach at Festina when the infamous EPO scandal broke in 1998, says it is possible to know who is cheating by measuring how much power a rider generates.
Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford, however, is not convinced.
"It's pseudo-science, we have our own data with real validity, people can create their own theories and we understand how difficult to get accurate information is and so to do that from afar is very difficult," Brailsford, who declines to make his riders' data public, told reporters.
The calculation is reliable. It is the interpretation that is subject to debate.
"Nobody invented that method of calculation. It is pure physics," Julien Pinot, a coach at French team FDJ.fr, told Reuters.
"It is a mathematical model that takes into account environmental data such as atmospheric pressure, temperature, weight," the Frenchman, who is Tour de France rider Thibaut Pinot's older *******, added.
Can those calculations give indications that a rider is cheating?
Vayer insists that a performance is "miraculous" if a rider goes beyond the 430-watt threshold, and "inhuman" beyond 450 watts.
"You've got to be careful with all of that," warns Brailsford.
"From a scientific perspective, it's got nothing to do with doping, looking at that data from a scientific perspective, we wouldn't use it as valid information, it wouldn't stack up. So we'll work with the facts and the data and our own information."
The first calculations made from Chris Froome's ascent to Ax-3-Domaines in his Tour de France stage eight win on Saturday shows that the Team Sky rider generated about 433 watts - the third best performance of all time on that climb.
"Any interpretation is delicate," says Pinot, who would rather use data taken from power metres, which have a "two per cent margin of error on a 30-minute climb".
Usually, those instant calculations are backed by power metre data but setting a barrier beyond which doping is inevitable "makes no sense", according to Pinot.
"It depends if the climb is made at a regular speed or in fits and starts, if it's part of a succession of ascents or not. Some do not make the difference," he explains.
Brailsford finds such theorising crude.
"You've got to be careful, because at some point if you draw a line in the sand and say above that point there is doping and below that point there is not doping, it's a very, very crude way to think about something," he said.
Pinot said he would rather look at trends.
"The last thing that struck me is the Tour of Switzerland. In the final time trial, (Portuguese) Rui Costa rode the last ascent (to the Flumserberg) in 30 minutes. In 1995, Marco Pantani rode it three minutes faster and it was on a stage with several climbs, the weather was bad."
Garmin-Sharp manager Jonathan Vaughters also believes a group of riders' climbing times should be looked at, not just the winner's, because to prevail in a Tour de France a rider somehow must push the limits.
Brailsford points out that human nature is such that new ground will always be broken.
"At some point in time the natural progression of the human race will mean riders can ride faster clean, than old guys used to ride 10 or 15 or 20 years ago, doped," the Welshman said.
"That's going to happen. Just to use this one line in the sand and go 'right, he's doping', it doesn't say take into account anything we've seen in the last 100 years of the athletic endeavour of sport, which is people get faster.
"At some point they've got to catch up and that doesn't mean to say somebody is doping."

 

[Smallville22]

Froome under pressure as Martin wins dramatic stage

Ireland's Dan Martin won a dramatic stage nine of the Tour de France in the Pyrenees on a day Britain’s Chris Froome had to dig deep to retain his leader’s yellow jersey.
Garmin-Sharp’s Martin won his first stage on the Tour, outsprinting Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) in a two-man shootout at the end of the 165.5km stage from Saint-Girons to Bagneres-de-Bigorre.
But the story of the day was race leader Froome having to ride the best part of 130km in isolation after all his Sky team-mates – including the Australian Richie Porte – were blown off the back of the main pack in a ****** opening hour of racing.
Porte – so impressive on Saturday after finishing second to Froome in Ax 3 Domaines – teetered on the opening climb of the day before bring dropped definitively on the second ascent, the Col de Mente, to finish the stage 18 minutes in arrears and plummet from second to 33rd on the general classification.
A series of attacks from Garmin ahead of the first of five climbs opened the race from the outset, with Jack Bauer, David Millar, Tom Danielson, Ryder Hesjedal, Andrew Talansky and eventual stage winner Martin all heavily involved.
The Saxo-Tinkoff and Movistar teams of Alberto Contador and Alejandro Valverde also rode an aggressive stage, piling the pressure on Froome from kilometre zero – pressure which intensified after the unexpected cracking of Froome’s main lieutenant, Porte.
Loosing young British climber Peter Kennaugh hardly helped, the 24-year-old crashing on the side of the road and disappearing into dense undergrowth in a ditch.
“Yesterday was one of our best days whereas today was one of the toughest,” said Sky manager David Brailsford. “Those who said the race was over may think again. I give credit to Garmin and Movistar for taking the race on and making it exciting.”
Froome finished safely in the main pack of riders, which was led over the line by the young Pole Michael Kwiatkowski, 20 seconds behind leading duo Martin and Fuglsang.
After Porte’s bad day in the office, Spaniard Valverde rose to second on the overall standings, one minute and 25 seconds down on Froome. Dutch pair Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam, of Team Belkin, are third and fourth on GC, at 1:44 and 1:50 respectively.
Froome’s main rival, Spain’s Contador, is sixth at 1:51 while stage winner Martin rises into the top ten to eighth place, 2:28 in arrears.
Irish climber Martin was ecstatic about his victory – and told Eurosport before rising onto the podium that it was part of a carefully executed plan.
“Last year was a procession behind Team Sky so we wanted to show what we could do and put them under pressure,” the 26-year-old said.
“It was an incredible effort today from the whole team. We really made the race and from the start we were in breakaways.”
Having made numerous attacks early in the stage, Martin made his decisive move the main on the final climb of the day, the Cat.1 La Hourquette d’Anzican, 34km from the finish, taking Denmark’s Fuglsang with him.
The pair crossed the summit with 33 seconds over the main pack and maintained this lead on the long downhill stretch to the finish in Bigorre.
“I don’t think one guy would have survived alone today so I was happy when Jakob came with me. He’s a super-strong rider,” said Martin, winner of this year’s Liege-Bastogne-Liege spring classic.
“I knew the last 30km, I knew the last corner was crucial and I knew that I was a better sprinter than Jakob. After the year I’ve had there was the belief and the calmness, which helped too.”
Despite being isolated for much of the day, Froome withstood numerous attacks and inter-team alliances to retain his yellow jersey going into the much-needed opening rest day of the race.
After Garmin’s initial animation, it was the constant pressure of the Movistar team which had Froome seemingly on the ropes.
Movistar dominated proceedings for much of the afternoon, with six riders driving the pace over most of the climbs – including Valverde, the Colombian white jersey Nairo Quintana, Spanish national time trial champion Jonathan Castroviejo and Tour de Suisse winner Rui Costa of Portugal.
A long flat drag between the Col de Mente and the Col de Peyresourde saw Valverde and team-mate Ruben Plaza ride clear of the main pack in pursuit of a large leading group of 15 riders, prompting a response by Froome.
The race calmed down ahead of the Peyresourde, with a large pack forming around the yellow jersey while one group of five riders rode two minutes up the road. Porte, meanwhile, rode alongside four Sky team-mates in a chasing group a further two minutes off the pace.
Like his compatriot Porte, former Tour winner Cadel Evans was also distanced on the first climb – but the BNC veteran was able to fight back, and despite needing to change bikes at the foot of the Col de Mente, Evans had ridden back to the yellow jersey group.
Alongside Canada's Hesjedal, Frenchman Pierre Rolland (Europcar) was one of the leading five riders on the Peyresourde, and the 26-year-old picked up enough points to move above Froome in the KOM standings before fading on the final climb.
The last escapee to be reeled in was the impressive Tour debutant Romain Bardet of Ag2R-La Mondiale, who was caught by the Movistar-led pack moments before Quintana made a series of three attacks in a bid to distance Froome.
Each ****** failed – and in between the second and third attempts, Martin and Fuglsang had made their decisive move.
Despite seeing his friend and right-hand man Porte drop down the standings, Froome was upbeat at the finish after a what proved to be a baptism of fire for his first ever day in yellow.
“I did feel in control and, tactically, I was able to sit on the wheel of the Movistar riders,” he said.
“Given their amazing work yesterday, it’s quite normal for my team-mates to be feeling it today. They are human and that’s bike racing,” he added.
Dave Brailsford was also unconcerned about the events of the say, claiming: “Physically, Froome wasn’t worried all day, which is a good thing.”
After a rest day on Monday, the Tour resumes on Tuesday with the flat 197km stage 10 which should give the sprinters a chance to return to the fold after two ****** days in the high mountains.

 

[Smallville22]

Sky feel the heat as rivals strike back

One day after destroying the field in the first Pyrenean stage of the Tour de France, Team Sky were under the microscope on Sunday with only leader Chris Froome surviving the heat.
Garmin-Sharp riders, soon followed by the Movistar and Saxo-Tinkoff teams, attacked relentlessly in the first of five climbs on the 168.5-km ninth stage in a bid to isolate Froome.
The plan worked as the Briton was quickly without a team mate and left to fend off attacks on his own.
"Since the beginning we saw that Sky were in difficulty," Ireland's stage winner Dan Martin, one of the early attackers, told a news conference.
Although Froome eventually escaped unscathed in the overall standings, still leading Spain's Alejandro Valverde by 1 minute 25 seconds, the moves knocked out Sky's Belarussian Vasil Kiryienka, who was eliminated from the race after finishing outside the time limit.
"It's a huge thing," said Froome.
"He's one of the big engines in our team, we're going to miss him in the next couple of weeks."
Kiryienka was one of the riders with the task of setting the tempo in the climbs, which he did perfectly on Saturday.
Sky also had an early fright when Peter Kennaugh fell off his bike and into a ditch but the Briton recovered quickly.
Australian Richie Porte, second overall at the start of the stage in St Girons, was rapidly dropped and, after almost making contact with the lead group again, cracked to finish 17 minutes and 59 seconds off the pace on the ninth stage.
He is now outside the top 30 overall and has lost all hope of a podium finish in Paris, which was one of Team Sky's tactical goals.
"Definitely it's always better to have two cards to play in that respect and having Richie in second place was a huge boost," said Froome.
"For me, that he was right there and could at any point put other riders under pressure was great. It leaves us a bit exposed."
Froome, however, never panicked.
"I wasn't completely on my own, I had (sports director) Nicolas Portal in the car talking to me," he said.
Sky team principal Dave Brailsford said they could not take the race for granted.
"Last night, everyone was saying 'game over, let's go and watch the tennis,' but no one knows what's around the corner."
With two weeks and a gruelling few days in the Alps left, Froome could be worried. He is not.
"I don't think it helps to worry about things. We're here with what we've got," he added referring to the yellow jersey.

 

[Smallville22]

Froome still alive and well after Pyrenees ambush

Rivals have been bragging that they dismantled Team Sky with a ****** onslaught in Sunday's second mountain stage, yet Chris Froome is still in yellow and on the path to a maiden Tour de France title.
"It should have been the death blow. I would have seized the opportunity," Sky sports director Nicolas Portal told Reuters on Monday as the peloton enjoyed the first rest day in the three-week race.
Movistar followed up on early attacks from the Garmin-Sharp teams in Saturday's eighth stage to isolate Froome on Sunday and the Briton quickly found himself with no team mates around him while Alejandro Valverde and Alberto Contador both had plenty of support.
Yet Movistar seemed content with eliminating Sky's Richie Porte, who had started the day in second place overall, while Saxo-Tinkoff played a waiting game.
"We had the feeling that Saxo were a bit under par," said Portal. "I heard that (Movistar manager) Eusebio (Unzue) was proud to have broken the Sky machine. It's clear that they were brilliant but I don't think he wanted to win the Tour, he wanted to secure second place (overall)."
"We learnt some lessons," Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford told a news conference, refusing to elaborate.
Froome leads Valverde by one minute 25 seconds and sixth-placed Contador by 1:51 after destroying the field in the opening mountain stage and he is expected to stretch his advantage after Wednesday's individual time trial to Mont St Michel en route to a gruelling third week in the Alps.
Belkin Dutch riders Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam are in third and fourth overall, but Froome does not regard them as top contenders for the win in Paris.
"The way I see it at the moment, my main rivals are Movistar and Saxo-Tinkoff," Froome told a news conference.
Spain's Contador, the 2007 and 2009 Tour champion, admitted that he was not at his best, although he drew comfort from the fact that his form usually improved in the third week of grand Tours.
"It is true that Froome is in great form and that my form is not extraordinary but every time in the grand Tours I am better in the third week as I showed in the last Vuelta," Contador told a news conference. "Froome had problems in the last week, too."
In the 17th stage of last September's Spanish race, Froome, who had raced in the Tour and the London Olympics time trial, struggled while Contador launched a surprise, devastating, long-range ****** to seize the overall lead, eventually winning the race.
"People can speculate and look at my previous performances...but I was not at my best (at the Vuelta)," Froome said.

 

[Smallville22]

Brailsford: Controversial Leinders an 'error of judgment'

Hiring a doctor once linked with alleged doping practices was a mistake, Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford said on Monday.
Last October, Sky severed ties with Belgian Geert Leinders, a former doctor at Rabobank who is under investigation by the Belgian judicial authorities after being implicated by former riders. Leinders has denied any involvement in doping.
"The whole thing is my responsibility. I will take that squarely on the chin. It's something I regret, it's a mistake," Brailsford told a news conference.
"I should not have done it. I made an error of judgment."
Team Sky have been under the microscope since last year when they started to dominate the field in ruthless fashion, with 2012 Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins repeatedly being grilled on doping.
Things have been no different for Sky's current Tour leader Chris Froome, who said on Saturday after claiming the yellow jersey that he is "100 percent" clean.
He had to repeat it on Monday, the first rest day in the three-week race.
"I know that what I'm doing is right, I know that the stage I won two days ago ... I know that result will never be stripped," said Froome, who finished last year's Tour as runner-up to Wiggins.
There will be more questions to come along the road to Paris.
"At the end of the day we all know the level of suspicion that is in or around the sport and it's only right that we have to sit here and answer questions," Brailsford said.
"We have to take it on the chin, that's the reality."
This year's Tour is the 100th but it is also the first one since American Lance Armstrong lost the seven titles he won from 1999 to 2005 before admitting to cheating his way to glory.

 

[Smallville22]

Froome couldn't afford bike as ***** in Kenya

As Chris Froome races up France's snow-capped mountains in a series of lung-busting Tour de France climbs, one man in a far away Kenyan village hopes a win for the "thin boy" he introduced to road cycling can transform the sport's popularity in Kenya.
"Chris is our big hope now," said David Kinjah, Froome's former mentor, as he watched television images showing the Kenyan-born rider nearing the end of stage eight of the Tour.
In the east African country best known for its champion runners, cycling has faced an uphill struggle to compete with athletics and football, sports which are not only more popular but also much more affordable.
"If you play football, it's easy - one ball for 20 people," explained 41-year-old Kinjah, as 10 young riders crammed his modest corrugated-roof home, which is filled with cycling medals, trophies and spare bike tyres.
"We have limited access to funds and bicycles here so if you put more boys on the bikes, you have to take care of them," said Kinjah, who also does cycling tours for tourists.
Froome survived a ****** early onslaught from his Tour de France rivals on Sunday to retain the yellow jersey after an epic ninth stage won by Ireland's Dan Martin.
Some of the challenges faced by the Kinjah's Safari Simbaz team, made up of teenage boys and young men from nearby villages, also frustrated young Froome when his single-parent ****** introduced him to Kinjah.
Froome had to borrow a road bike from a sympathetic teacher as his ******, living in the servant quarters of a wealthy ****** in a Nairobi suburb, could not afford a new one.
"The teacher said 'you can have it', but it was a huge bike with a large frame so Chris couldn't properly reach the pedals or the handle," Kinjah remembered, laughing and shaking his head.
Froome, 28, fell in love with cycling in Kinjah's Mai-I-Hii village, reachable only by a sun-kissed dirt road piercing through the lush green hills of the Kikuyu township north of Nairobi.
The Olympic bronze medallist has described Kinjah as a "role model" and an inspiration.
"He helped me see you didn't need the best bike or perfect conditions. You can just get on a bike and go - no matter where you are," Froome told the Guardian newspaper in January.
Kinjah, who remains Kenya's top cyclist, said Froome was a shy but determined boy, cared for by a loving ****** who did her best to find an outlet for her ***'s considerable energy.
"He became one of us. We were happy, we didn't care about tomorrow. We moved one day at a time," said Kinjah, who cycling enthusiasts in Africa recognise by his flowing dreadlocks.
Eating plain white bread and bananas with sweet chai (tea), Kinjah said he had no idea the 12-year-old Froome would become a future champion, although he did recognise a steely determination.
"He was a very thin boy, nothing special," Kinjah said. "But he was not the kind of guy you could tell 'this is enough, stop it'. He always wanted to go further. He wanted to discover his own world."
A few years later, Froome moved to South Africa to study, but kept coming back during school breaks to Mai-I-Hii to ride across the Kenyan highlands with Kinjah's Simbaz.
As Froome crossed the stage eight finish line on Saturday, the young riders in Kinjah's house jumped up and cheered, aware that someone who spent years in the same room had just won the yellow jersey in the world's most prestigious road race.
"This makes me really motivated. I want to get there," said Vincent Chege, 18, who is one of around 20 boys who ride as Safari Simbaz, which means Safari Lions in Kiswahili. Some of the younger Lions watched the race with their helmets on.
"I just keep telling these boys 'look at Chris Froome'," Kinjah said. Though with no money and no support from parents, he concedes Kenyan riders stand little chance of making it.
Kinjah said Froome, who won a medal for Kenya in the All Africa Games in 2007, was right to switch his allegiance to Britain in 2008, even though it was a big loss for his country.
"He should have been a Kenyan," said Kinjah, who was nicknamed Black Lion during his stint in Italy riding for a professional cycling team in 2002. "But Chris had zero support from the Kenya Cycling Federation."
Kinjah said that for the 2006 Road World Championships Froome used official federation e-mails to enter himself, without the knowledge of officials who did not support him.
After Kinjah obtained the password for the e-mail account, Froome wrote e-mails pretending to be the chairman and entered himself for the tournament. But the move didn't quite go to plan as Froome crashed into an official.
"I still have a photo of that crash: it says 'White Lion Knocking Down The Prey'," Kinjah said, chuckling.
Kinjah and Froome have stayed close, even though Froome's ****** link to Kenya was severed when his ****** ****** away in 2008. Only last month Froome sent back his Team Sky kit for Kinjah to auction.
But Kinjah joked that Froome would not get the better of his one-time mentor even as Tour favourite. "He will never beat me, as I'm too old to race him now. He's missed his chance."

 

[Smallville22]

Kittel sprints to stage 10 success, Froome safe in yellow

Marcel Kittel took stage 10 of the Tour de France after a bunch sprint in Saint-Malo with Britain's Chris Froome comfortably keeping hold of the yellow jersey.
Argos-Shimano sprinter Kittel avoided a crash by his lead-out man Tom Veelers – who seemed to be barged by Britain’s Mark Cavendish inside the closing 200 metres – to power past compatriot German Andre Greipel of Lotto-Belisol in the closing straight.
A disappointed Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was well beaten for third, while green jersey Peter Sagan of Cannondale had to settle for fourth place after being driven wide by the clash between Cavendish and Veelers.
Amazingly, Dutchman Veelers was the only rider to hit the deck in the high-speed crash, with Team Sky’s Froome finishing the 197km stage through Brittany safely to retain his lead at the top of the general classification.
An eventful bunch sprint saw Cavendish eschew the wheel of his regular lead-out man Gert Steegmans in favour of following that of old foe Greipel, who had once again got the better of his sprint rivals earlier in the day in the intermediate sprint.
Just as Greipel jumped, Cavendish responded with a dig – but found his path blocked by the slowing Veelers, who he clipped with his shoulder. The contact was enough to send Veelers – who had strayed slightly from his line – sprawling, while Cavendish’s attempt at doubling his stage haul was also hampered.
Although Veelers claimed afterwards on French TV that Cavendish was at fault, the race commissaires have not issued any punishment for the 28-year-old Manxman. Cavendish has since apologised for his role in the accident.
Back to the finish, and Greipel's commanding lead was negated by Kittel’s blistering late surge, the 25-year-old coming from distance to roar past the German national champion in the final 100 metres to secure his second success of the race after victory on the Tour’s opening stage in Bastia.
It was Argos-Shimano’s 15th win of the season – 13 of which have come from Kittel.
Prior to the fireworks of the finale, the first day of the second phase of the race had been a largely uneventful ride through the rolling Breton hills.
Frenchman Julien Simon, whose home town of Montfort-sur-Meu was past during the course of the stage, attacked shortly after the official start in Saint-Gildas-des-Bois to ***** the day’s break, the 27-year-old from Ag2R-La Mondiale being joined by compatriot Jerome ****** (Europcar), Spaniards Juanjo Oroz (Euskaltel) and Luis Mate (Cofidis), and Dutchman Lieuwe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM).
Riding against strong headwinds but under a pleasant blue sky, the escapees quickly built up a maximum lead of five minutes, but this had been whittled down to just 2:15 by the time the riders ****** through the town of Calorguen, where five-time Tour winner Bernard Hinault bought a **** back in 1983.
The leaders did not contest the intermediate sprint 70km from the finish, but Greipel led the pack over to take the points for sixth place ahead of a resigned Sagan and Cavendish.
Westra attacked on the only climb of the day, the Cat.4 Cote de Dinan, 55km from the finish. He was soon caught before being the first of the escapees to be swept up by the pack inside the last 20km.
The remaining four fugitives held on until the last 6km, by which time serious crosswinds coming off the Breton coast had tested the teams of the race favourites.
With Saint-Malo fast approaching, Alberto Contador’s Saxo-Tinkoff outfit dropped back after some sustained pace-setting alongside Froome’s Sky colleagues. The scene was set for a mass bunch sprint – but the nasty crash somewhat diminished the spectacle.
Greipel closed Sagan's lead in the green jersey competition to 83 points, with Cavendish a further 20 points back.
Froome retained his 1:25 lead over Spain’s Alejandro Valverde on GC, with Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Belkin) in third place, 1:44 down.
Hostilities for the general classification will resume on Wednesday with the race’s first individual time trial from Avranches to Mont-Saint-Michel, for which Froome will be one of the favourites alongside German national time trial champion Tony Martin (OPQS).

 

[Smallville22]

Fan 'throws *****' at Cavendish

Britain's Mark Cavendish has apparently been soaked in ***** thrown at him by a spectator during the Tour de France.
Cavendish was taking part in the 11th stage, a 33km individual time trial from Avranches to Mont St Michel, when the incident happened.
Tour organisers have confirmed that a liquid was thrown at Cavendish, but there is as yet no official confirmation that it was definitely *****. Cavendish apparently believed it was water at first until the smell and taste told him otherwise.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step team manager Patrick Lefevere said: "I regret this, I always felt that cycling fans were gentlemen, enthusiastic people.
"Mark is sad, he's not upset, just sad. I cannot blame anyone, there are 100,000 or 200,000 people on the road, and one person decided to do this."
Jerome Pineau, a team-mate of Cavendish who hails from Northern France, revealed on Twitter that Cavendish had told him what happened during the 42-minute ride.
"Yesterday I was so proud of all the local support and encouragement along the route, but today I was ashamed when my friend Mark Cavendish told me that the fans were whistling at him and even threw ***** at him during the ride. It's scandalous!"
The fact that the Manxman was targeted for ***** on Wednesday appears to be linked to the controversial end to Tuesday's stage, which saw Cavendish collide with opponent Tom Veelers during the final sprint for the line.
Veelers was outraged by what he believed was an elbow thrown his way, but Cavendish was not penalised over the incident and repeated viewings suggest that disqualification would have been very harsh.

 

[Smallville22]

Froome earns huge lead as Martin wins TT

Chris Froome tightened his grip on the Tour de France, extending his overall lead to well over three minutes at the halfway mark with a predictably brilliant performance in the time trial won by Tony Martin.
German world time trial champion Martin, who suffered a concussion and bruises in a mass crash on the race's first stage, blasted round the flat 33-km course in 36 minutes 29 seconds to take the 11th stage.
"When the doctor said I was ok to race (after the first stage), I targeted this stage," pre-stage favourite Martin, who uses an awe-inspiring 58x11 gear in the time trials, told a news conference.
Froome, adorned in the race leader's yellow jersey, was the last man down the start ramp and was two seconds quicker than Martin at the 22-km check point.
But the Team Sky rider could not maintain the pace pedalling into a headwind over the latter part of the stage and finished 12 seconds down on Martin, with Belgian Thomas De Gendt third.
Froome was the big winner of the day, though, gaining two minutes on his nearest rival in the race standings and now leads Spain's Alejandro Valverde by 3:25.
Wednesday's result will perhaps implant a nagging doubt into the minds of his rivals that there is no use in contesting for the lead anymore - better in the mountains, better in the time trials, Froome will win the Tour.
"I'm happy with how the stage went. A time trial is always a nervous day for GC (general classification) riders so I'm happy I have extended my lead," Froome told a news conference.
The Olympic time trial bronze medallist is not taking anything for granted, even though he hammered his rivals in the first mountain stage and survived an early onslaught in the second last Sunday.
"I think that we saw last weekend that other teams are going to throw everything at us and we will try to do with the best team we've got."
Bauke Mollema of the Netherlands remains third overall 3:37 back with twice Tour champion Alberto Contador fourth at 3:54 after riding a decent, yet unimpressive time trial.
"It's a big (time) difference. Things are getting complicated but, no, the Tour is not lost. No one has won the Tour yet," Contador told reporters.
Valverde, instead, seemed to be content with his second place overall.
"Two minutes (the time he lost to Froome) is a lot but you've got to look at the other riders who are fighting for a podium finish," the Movistar rider said.
"I was with the bests, I'm happy."
Cadel Evans's performance on the stage, 21st 2:30 behind Martin, confirmed the 2011 champion was past his prime.
"I did not feel bad, but not great either," the Australian, now 14th overall almost seven minutes off the pace, told reporters.
Andy Schleck of Luxembourg will effectively have to focus on a stage win as his slim hopes of featuring somewhere in the top five evaporated when he finished an embarrassing 123rd, 4:44 off the pace.
With some of his rivals, like Valverde, apparently already gunning for no more than a podium finish, Froome could use a defensive strategy in the Alps, starting with Sunday's stage up the Mont Ventoux, with the help of his team.
"Richie (Porte) slipped back from second place in GC but he showed today that he is not out of this race," said Froome, referring to the Australian's fourth place in the stage.
"I expect him to be there in the mountains with Pete Kennaugh.
"Alejandro Valverde is the rider whom I have to take care of the most," he added.
"But I think there are other guys that we will have to mark for the next week."
There was little to smile about for Mark Cavendish, however, as the Briton had ***** thrown at him on his way to the Mont Saint Michel - yet another jaw-dropping backdrop for the 100th edition of the Tour.
"Mark is one of the big characters in the sport, some people love him, others **** him, but to do this is very sad," said Froome. "It ruins the whole atmosphere. It leave a bad taste in your mouth. A bad taste in Mark's mouth."

 

[Smallville22]

No joke as Portal appointment proves masterstroke

When Nicolas Portal was offered a sports director position at Team Sky, the Frenchman thought it was a joke, yet he is now guiding rider Chris Froome's bid for Tour de France victory.
Portal, at 34 the youngest sports director, or DS (directeur sportif) in the three-week race, took the number one position after Briton Sean Yates left the team following last year's Tour.
"When Dave (Brailsford) offered me the job I thought it was a joke, some kind of British humour," Portal, a former professional rider who ended his career with Sky after the 2010 season, told Reuters.
"I had four out of 20 in my oral test and two out of 20 in my written test at my A levels."
That was not enough for Brailsford to rule Portal out of the position and he is now the one calling the shots from the team car.
"He's got a real feeling of the race. He has ridden for big leaders, he knows the Tour de France," Brailsford told Reuters.
"I like the fact that he was French, I like the French. We're British with an international team."
Portal, who completed six Tours as a rider for the AG2R and Caisse d'Epargne teams, was not sure initially he had what it takes to succeed at Sky, where nothing is left to chance.
"How could I be a DS while I'm younger than some of the riders, I don't speak English?," he queried.
"Even Brad (Wiggins) and Chris (who both speak French) speak to me only in English. So for 15 days, I thought about it night and day before accepting.
As usual, Brailsford had it all figured out.
"If you break it down it's knowledge, skills and behaviour," he explained. "That's what you look at when you appoint somebody.
"Knowledge is something you get from experience and he's got experience. You can teach him skills, like language skills," Brailsford added, although Portal still has a thing or two to learn in that department.
"The other day I was explaining to the young guys that everything was bigger on the Tour, that they needed to recuperate as soon as they could. And I said 'when you're on the massage table, have a night cap'... I mixed it up, I wanted to say 'lie in'," Portal said.
"Chris was already smiling but I saw Geraint (Thomas) looking at me with big eyes..."
This is one of the things Brailsford liked about Portal - his fresh attitude.
"That's why we took him on board," he said.
Portal learnt the ropes with Yates, the man behind the wheel when Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour last year.
"He got along very well with Sean," said Brailsford.
"He learnt an awful lot from Sean so when Sean stopped working at the team it pushed him up the list and there he is."
Brailsford believes Portal still needs 'flying air miles' and the Frenchman got some very important ones last Sunday when Froome survived an early ambush from his rivals.
"That day I lost a year of my life in the car," Portal said.
"I really enjoyed my role as a director. It was as if I was on the bike, as if I was one of his team mates in the mountain.
"I loved that day (on Sunday). It was so intense I did not even ***** or eat. I was so absorbed. My brain was calculating everything," he added.
A rather laid-back character, Portal revels in Sky's high-tech environment.
"They are very rigorous, everyone gives more than 100 percent. It's a huge challenge for me," he said.
"I like that. All the riders listen to me. I'm not sure some French 'star' riders would listen to me. When I speak, Brad, Chris, Geraint or Peter Kennaugh listen to me. It's such a pleasure working with them."

 

[Smallville22]

Van Den Broeck out for rest of season

Lotto-Belisol rider Jurgen Van Den Broeck will miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old suffered several leg injuries in a crash during the bunch sprint finish of stage five at the Tour de France.
The surgery confirmed the original diagnosis of “a partial crack of the posterior cruciate ligament, a partial crack of the medial ligament, an injury of the cartilage, a bone bruise and a bruise of the patella tendon.”
His team confirmed: “The injury is situated at the bone above which the patella glides, Doctor Claes has cleaned the bone, repaired it again and filled it up and removed a bone flake at the inside of the medial ligament.
“Van Den Broeck ought not to set any power on the joint for three weeks. As expected he presumably won't get back in action this season.”

 

[Smallville22]

U23 champion Howson to Join ORICA-GreenEDGE

Australian World Tour team ORICA-GreenEDGE have announced the signing of Damien Howson for the 2014 season.
The 20-year-old will line up as a stagiaire for the start of Tour of Utah in early August before joining the team on a multi-year contract next year.
Howson won bronze in the 2012 U23 Individual Time Trial World Championships and ORICA-GreenEDGE's sporting director Matt White is looking forward to tapping into the youngster's potential.
“Damien has shown strong progression within our national program,” White said. “We’ve seen obvious improvements from him first with Jayco-AIS last year and then this year with the Jayco-AIS World Tour Academy.
"He’s ready to turn professional, and we’re ready to support his development.”
Howson, the Australian U23 national time trial and Oceania TT champion, has already enjoyed some success in Europe.
He won the Trofeo Alcide Degasperi and came third overall at Thüringen-Rundfahrt this year.
“This is a ***** come true,” said Howson. “Many riders ***** of racing in Europe, turning professional, riding in the World Tour and eventually getting to do races the biggest races in the world like the Tour de France. After eight years of riding a bike, I’m on my way.
“Being an Aussie on an Aussie team should help me make the jump from my U23 team to the World Tour more easily,” he added. “I also think my style of riding suits the team, and the team’s approach to racing suits me. We should work well together.”
“I’ve steadily improved over the last few years I’ve been able to deliver some big results this year, which has been pleasing. I’ve learned a lot about racing with the national team, and I’ll learn even more racing with ORICA-GreenEDGE. I hope that I’m able to use my strengths and knowledge to help the team while they help me.”

 

[Smallville22]

Trott claims first gold at Euro U23 Track Champs

Double Olympic champion Laura Trott claimed her first gold medal of the European Under-23 Track Championships in Portugal but she insists she isn't done there.
Trott, who was part of Britain's world-record breaking and gold-medal winning team pursuit trio at the London 2012 Olympics last summer, won the individual pursuit on day two in Anadia.
The 21-year-old qualified for the finals in first place with a time of 3:32.402 minutes and where she would face fellow Brit Elinor Barker, who was second less than three seconds behind.
Trott, who also won omnium gold at the London 2012 Olympics last summer, beat Barker by almost five seconds in the final however she is only just beginning in Portugal.
"It is nice to come back after the Olympics and see where I am at. It is nice to score some points towards World Championship places too," said Trott.
"From here I am doing other events, the scratch, the pursuit and the omnium, and then I will move onto the World Cup events."

 

[Smallville22]

Kirkbride draws parallels with Thomas but wants to emulate Cavendish

Ellis Kirkbride is proof that the mindset between Britain's junior and senior cyclists is minimal to none; something he's determined to show once again at the European Youth Olympic Festival.
Kirkbride was officially announced on the 44-strong British team at the start of the month, joining five other cyclists in competing in the road race and time trial in Utrecht.
The 15-year-old had to ride through the pain barrier to earn selection having fractured his clavicle at the North West International Youth Tour in May but riding on and winning stage three of five.
Kirkbride's effort echoes that of Britain's double Olympic champion Geraint Thomas, who is continuing to ride the Tour de France despite fracturing his pelvis after a crash during stage one.
And Kirkbride wants to illustrate at the European Youth Olympic Festival that he has the potential to one day follow Thomas' lead and compete at a Games for real.
"I was over the moon when I found out I was going. It's going to be the experience of a lifetime, just to be given the opportunity to compete at that level is great," said Kirkbride.
"We did the selection process over a couple of races. I performed reasonably well for the majority of the races but I crashed on one of them at the North West Youth Tour.
"I fractured my clavicle but I got back on my bike the next day and rode and got a first and a second on another stage. It gave me motivation to prove that I can still do it even if I am injured.
"At first I found cycling was just a hobby, I did not really expect to take it any further as a career. But I love it and would love to become a professional cyclist now.
"To get to go to the Olympics would be a ***** come true. It would be such a proud moment to represent Great Britain at the Olympics."
For Kirkbride in Utrecht the time trial comes first on Tuesday and the road race two days later with both taking place on the 8km closed circuit 'Het Lint' in Maximapark, Leidsche Rijn.
And, while Kirkbride's path to earning European Youth Olympic Festival selection draws parallels with Thomas, it is 2011 world champion Mark Cavendish who he looks up to most.
"Mark Cavendish is my inspiration. He is a sprinter like me. The thing is he gets so much bad press at times but he just focuses that aggression into his performances," he added.
"I try and learn from that and do the same myself. The racing part of it has definitely got to be the best part. I like the emotions you get from it and knowing you have done the best you have done."

 

[Smallville22]

Dutch race bans Cavendish over Veelers crash

Organisers of the Boxmeer Criterium race in the Netherlands have told Mark Cavendish he is not welcome at their event.
The ban is linked to the end of Tuesday's 10th stage of the Tour de France, which saw Cavendish collide with Dutch rider Tom Veelers during the final sprint for the line.
Veelers was outraged by what he believed was an elbow thrown his way, but Cavendish was not penalised over the incident.
The Boxmeer is due to take place on July 22nd – the day after the Tour de France – but the Omega Pharma-Quickstep British rider has been told he is not welcome.
"We may be looking for a sprinter, but Cavendish is not that. I have seen the TV images of the sprint together with the board and I decided to take him off the list," said Twan Poels who is on the organising committee and a former rider himself.
"Simply put, we find his actions not very good. The jury may think he is not responsible for the fall of Tom Veelers – we absolutely believe otherwise."

 

[Smallville22]

Cavendish loses out to Kittel again in stage 12

Britain's Mark Cavendish was pipped again in a bunch sprint as Germany's Marcel Kittel won his third stage of the 2013 Tour de France in Tours.
The Manxman, normally such a deadly finisher, hit the front several hundred metres from home after a strong lead out by Omega Pharma-Quck Step team-mate Gert Steegmans, but found himself overhauled by a rampant Kittel of Argos-Shimano, who won by half a wheel's length.
Green jersey Peter Sagan (Cannondale) was third ahead of Norway’s Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) and Italian Roberto Ferrari (Lampre-Merida). Yellow jersey Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished safely in the pack to retain his large lead on the general classification.
The long, flat 218km ride through the Loire Valley from Fougeres to Tours was marred by yet another big crash which ended the hopes of Kittel’s fellow German Andre Greipel. The stage six winner was one of a dozen riders involved in a nasty pile-up inside the final three kilometres, taking the formidable Lotto Belisol train out of the equation.
After his run-in with Argos-Shimano’s Tom Veelers on Tuesday and his unsavoury experience involving a disgruntled fan and a bottle of ***** during Wednesday’s time trial at Mont-Saint-Michel, Cavendish looked certain to have put his recent travails behind him with a second win of the race.
But Kittel powered through from behind to secure his hat-trick and Germany’s fifth stage of the race. Following Kittel’s victory on Tuesday and Tony Martin’s ITT success on Wednesday, this is the first time in the history of the Tour that Germany has won three consecutive stages.
“I’m speechless. I feel really good. I would like to dedicate this win to my team – especially Tom Veelers, who had to fight today just to finish,” said 25-year-old Kittel.
“They say good things happen in threes and that has happened for me today.”
Cavendish, who won stage five in Marseille in the opening week of the race, was stoic and gracious in defeat after his latest setback.
“He [Kittel] was just a bit too quick for me,” he told reporters after the stage. “My team did such a good job again but I just didn’t have the legs.”
Britain’s Froome narrowly missed coming down in the large pile-up and then had a number of dicey moments in the last two kilometres as he rode near the front in a bid to avoid any spills.
“It’s always like that in the final before a sprint,” said the 28-year-old race leader. “Today there were some crashes and that’s always a scare. It’s hard because there are crashes all over the place.”
Froome’s Norwegian team-mate Edvald Boasson Hagen was one of the riders who fell heavily in the large pile-up towards the finish. Although Boasson Hagen crossed the line holding his left shoulder, Team Sky manager David Brailsford told the press that he had not broken his collarbone.
Other than the feisty finale, stage 12 was a rather monotonous affair whose main highlights came more from the glorious chateaux of the Loire valley than any action on two wheels.
A break of five rode clear of the peloton after the Italian Francesco Gavazzi (Astana) attacked three kilometres from the start at Fougeres.
Gavazzi was joined by follow Italian Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida), Spaniard Juan Antonion Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM) and French duo Romain Sicard (Euskaltel) and Anthony Delaplace (Sojasun), the five fugitives building up a maximum lead of nine minutes under bright blue sky.
This advantage was whittled down to just three minutes by the time the leaders ****** through the intermediate sprint 50km from the finish. The sprint at Savigne-sur-Lathan offered a rare moment of action in the peloton, with green jersey Sagan shaking his fist at Belgian Kris Boeckmans after the Vacansoleil-DCM rider appeared to box in Cannondale’s Sagan beside the road barriers.
Sagan nevertheless finished in the wheels of Cavendish and Greipel to consolidate his green jersey points haul. There was no let-up for the teams of the sprinters who, once the intermediate gallop was done, re-grouped in pursuit of the escapees.
Flecha was the last of the break to be caught by the pack, the Spanish veteran reeled in with 6km remaining after a gutsy attempt to stave off the inevitable.
Canadian veteran Svein Tuft crashed on the front of the peloton after the Orica-GreenEdge veteran entered a roundabout 4km from the finish with too much speed.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step came to the front alongside Argos-Shimano – and Lotto Belisol were just forming their train when the pile-up happened 2km from the finish, effectively ending their chances of guiding the German national champion Greipel to his own second win.
By not placing in the final sprint, Greipel lost ground in the battle for the green jersey, with Slovakia’s Sagan now leading Cavendish by 96 points, and the German dropping to third place a further 16 points in arrears.
There was no change in the overall standings, with Froome retaining his 3:25 lead over Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Belkin) is third at 3:37 and Spain’s Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) is fourth at 3:54.
The Tour continues on Friday with the flat 173km stage 13 from Tours to Saint-Amand-Montrond – a chance for Cavendish to get a belated second win, or perhaps for Kittel to take a historic fourth victory.

 

[Smallville22]

Boasson Hagen out with broken shoulder

Edvald Boasson Hagen has been ****** to pull out of the Tour de France after fracturing his scapula during stage 12.
The TeamSky rider was involved in a high-speed crash moments before the peleton broke for the bunch sprint.
The Norwegian was able to remount and complete the stage despite showing obvious signs of pain. However, subsequent medical checks have revealed a fractured scapula which has ****** the 26-year-old to pull out of the remainder of the Tour.
"After the crash Edvald was taken to a local medical centre for X-rays which revealed he had a fracture of his right scapula," TeamSky doctor Alan Farrell said.
"Fortunately this doesn’t require surgery but Edvald will return home to Norway for further investigation and treatment and we look forward to seeing him racing again sometime over the summer.

 

[Smallville22]

Cavendish wins as Froome lead is slashed

Mark Cavendish won an extraordinary stage 13 of the Tour de France as a successful breakaway saw Chris Froome's race lead cut by over a minute.
Exceptional work by Alberto Contador's Saxo-Tinkoff team allowed a breakaway containing several GC contenders stay clear of yellow jersey Froome and a fractured peloton, while Cavendish outsprinted green jersey Peter Sagan to take his second stage win of this year's race – and the 25th Tour scalp of his career.
Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam, the Dutch duo from Belkin, were also in the decisive break, as Froome's Team Sky support imploded on a blustery day that had been expected to provide a run-of-the-mill bunch sprint finish.
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde was the big loser of the day after picking up a puncture just as the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team of Cavendish ****** the first splits in the peloton.
Second on GC after stage 12, Valverde was distanced in a group alongside triple stage winner Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) with more than 85km remaining, the Movistar rider eventually coming home a massive nine minutes and 53 seconds in arrears to drop out of the top ten and see his chances of a podium place in Paris disappear.
German national champion Andre Greipel (Lotto Belisol) led the main pack over the line 1:09 down on the Saxo-fuelled breakaway as Froome saw his lead at the top of the standings cut to 2:28 on Mollema, who finished the stage in third place behind Cavendish and Sagan.
Contador, whose Saxo-Tinkoff team-mates ****** the late break 32km from the finish, rose to third on GC, 2:45 down on his rival Froome. The Spaniard’s Czech team-mate Roman Kreuziger is fourth, at 2:48, while Ten Dam is now fifth, at 3:01.
Played out under another bright blue sky, Friday’s 173km stage from Tours to Saint-Amand-Montrond looked like the usual transitional fodder as a group of six escapees broke clear from the outset and built up a maximum lead of three minutes over the peloton.
But fierce crosswinds in the Indre region of central France completely changed the dynamic of the race after Omega Pharma-Quick Step piled on the pressure with over 110km still left to race.
The first break was swept up as numerous splits occurred in the peloton and the in-form Kittel was among the riders dropped.
What started as a means to rid the main pack of the man who beat Cavendish in Tours the day before soon took on a different complexion when Valverde punctured on the exposed road shortly after the only categorised climb of the day.
The veteran Spaniard was surrounded by five Movistar team-mates – and although they rode to within 12 seconds of the main pack, the combination of winds and the arrival of Belkin alongside OPQS saw that gap balloon to over a minute.
Soon Valverde rode alongside Kittel in a main chasing group, with another grupetto minutes further back.
Just when it seemed that Valverde was to be the only big name casualty of the day, Saxo-Tinkoff took advantage of a slight split on the front of the pack to blow life back into the 2013 Tour.
Instigated by former Team Sky rider Michael Rogers, six Saxo-Tinkoff riders edged ahead and were joined by around a dozen others – including Cavendish and Sagan.
“The opportunity arose for us and we took it and rode as hard as we could,” a shattered Rogers said after the stage. “We decided in a split second. I said to the boys, ‘let’s go, we have nothing to lose’. This race is not over yet.”
Over rolling terrain as the race approached the finish, the gap slowly increased just as Froome’s support got thinner and thinner. One by one, the likes of Kanstantsin Siutsou and Ian Stannard dropped back, leaving Froome badly in need of the injured Edvald Boasson Hagen, who was ****** out on Thursday with a broken right shoulder.
Meanwhile, on the front of the race Contador rallied not only his team-mates but also the rest of the break, reminding Mollema and Ten Dam just how much they too stood to gain.
As the leaders approached the centre of Saint-Amand-Montrond, Cavendish and Sagan – the two danger men for the stage victory – rode on the back in anticipation of the final sprint.
Nicki Terpstra led OPQS into the final kilometre before handing over to Sylvain Chavanel. Cavendish then roared forward, and although Sagan rode in his rival’s wheel, the Slovak sensation did not have the speed to challenge for the win.
“It’s was incredible,” Cavendish said after his 25th win on the Tour. “When echelons start you have just five seconds to react or it’s too late. It's like falling through ice - you have five seconds of it's over. I almost missed the Saxo split but just made it on. The whole team rode out of their skin today.”
Cavendish’s second victory of a troubled Tour sees the Manxman cut Sagan’s lead in the green jersey standings to 84 points.
Meanwhile, Froome retained his overall lead but the 28-year-old’s grip on the yellow jersey looked increasingly vulnerable at the hands of Saxo-Tinkoff and Belkin’s combined efforts.
“These kinds of stages often look simple on paper but that’s not always the case,” he said. “I was feeling comfortable but I missed the split. After that, it wasn’t easy for anyone.
“Tomorrow is lumpy and then we have the Ventoux. It’s going to be a very exciting weekend of racing.”

 

[Smallville22]

Sky look forward to better days as Saxo ******

Chris Froome's Team Sky were full of fighting talk despite the Tour de France leader taking a blow to the jaw, losing more than a minute of his advantage in Friday's 13th stage.
Froome lost one minute nine seconds to Spain's double champion Alberto Contador and Dutchman Bauke Mollema after a brilliant tactical move from the Saxo-Tinkoff team.
"We'll see how it goes once the road goes uphill again and once we get to the time trial as we thought there are opportunities to gain time and there are opportunities to minimise time losses," Sky's team principal Dave Brailsford told reporters, putting on a brave face.
"We knew there were crosswinds out there, we were two guys down (after Vasil Kyryienka and Edvald Boasson Hagen abandoned).
"Our view was to try and limit the losses."
Froome still leads second-placed Mollema by 2:28 with Contador in third, despite Team Sky being caught off guard on Friday.
The peloton divided into two after the Omega Pharma-Quick team created an echelon, riding in diagonal formation, to counter crosswinds and split the bunch after 56 kilometres.
With some 30 kilometres left in the 173-km stage, Contador's Saxo-Tinkoff team mates sensed weakness and accelerated.
"Obviously Quick Step went and we were right on it and just as Saxo was going, I was stuck behind a few people and so was Froomey and (Ian) Stannard was stuck on the left," Sky's Geraint Thomas explained.
"(That) was enough for the gap to open. Once that happens it's tough to close it," the Welshman added.
Thomas was the first rider to talk to the media after a warm down session on a stationary bike, while sports director Nicolas Portal went straight into the team bus and stayed there for at least half an hour.
"It's disappointing for sure. You don't want to give away time but we had a quite decent advantage going into today so we lost a minute but have still got a healthy lead," said Thomas.
Team Sky are likely to put the hammer down in Sunday's stage ending at the top of the Mont Ventoux, a 20.8-km uphill drag that should suit Froome's abilities.
The Briton has already showed his potential superiority as a climber in last Saturday's first mountain-top finish.
"I still have an advantage of over two minutes and there is a difficult weekend coming up with the mountains," Froome told a news conference.
Brailsford added: "Belkin emptied the tank today, Saxo emptied the tank today."
This year's Tour has been a spectacularly offensive race with Sky and rival teams trading blows at every opportunity.
"In many respects it's fantastic for the race. The suspense is there," said Brailsford.
"Whoever is going to win this race is going to deserve it."

 

[Smallville22]

Trentin ends Italy's wait with stage 14 win

Matteo Trentin won stage 14 of the Tour de France in Lyon from a breakaway to end Italy’s three-year drought on the world’s biggest bike race.
Omega Pharma-Quick Step youngster Trentin proved the strongest of an 18-man breakaway, coming from behind to out-sprint Switzerland’s Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge) and American Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Sharp).
Usually spotted leading out British team-mate Mark Cavendish in the big bunch sprints, 23-year-old Trentin was left to his own devices during the hilly 191km stage to become the third Omega Pharma-Quick Step rider to win on the 100th edition of the race after Cavendish’s double and Tony Martin’s victory in the individual time trial at Mont-Saint-Michel.
In his debut Tour de France, Trentin became the first Italian to win on the Tour since veteran sprinter Alessandro Petacchi won stage four of the 2010 race in Reims.
Yellow jersey Chris Froome (Team Sky) finished safely in the peloton seven minutes and 17 seconds in arrears to retain his race lead ahead of Sunday’s Bastille Day showdown on Mont Ventoux.
Julien Simon (Sojasun) – one of four Frenchmen in the leading group – looked on course for the victory after an audacious solo ****** off the back of the final climb of the day, 10km from the finish.
But Simon was swept up just underneath the kilometre-to-go banner after a big effort from Marcus Burghardt of BMC. Albasini and Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) looked most likely to fight for the win, but Trentin’s late surge took them by surprise.
“I’ve always had a good sprint and working with Mark [Cavendish] has seen me pick up a thing or two,” said Trentin, whose Belgian team rode hard on Friday’s stage 13 to set up Cavendish for a second win amid the crosswinds of central France.
“Yesterday we worked so hard for Mark and so today I tried to conserve my energy on the climbs,” said Trentin. “But it wasn’t easy towards the end with Simon’s ******. I thought we had missed our chance.”
“It’s the fourth stage win for my team and the first for an Italian this year and for three years so I’m really happy,” he added.
The group of 18 escapees also included stage two winner Jan Bakelants, his RadioShack-Leopard team-mate Jens Voigt, French national champion Arthur Vichot and young Americans Talansky and Tejay van Garderen (BMC). It formed when an initial four-man break instigated by German veteran Voigt was joined by 14 chasers around 145km from the finish, ahead of the first of seven categorised climbs.
Combining well over the undulating roads of the Loire and Rhone, the leaders nevertheless struggled to open up a significant gap with Euskaltel, Lampre-Merida and Vacansoleil-DCM – who all missed the break – riding hard to reduce the gap.
With 100km remaining – and the gap just one minute for the leaders – Team Sky came to the front and urged the peloton to sit up. As a result, the escapees were given their ticket to ride off into the sunset.
Clearly angered by the decision, Dutch national champion Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil), Italian veteran Damiano Cunego (Lampre) and Spain’s Juanjo Oroz (Euskaltel) attacked on the third climb of the day, 80km from the finish.
Oroz did not last long, but Hoogerland and Cunego managed to reduce the gap until the Dutchman rode clear of his fellow escapee on the next climb in solo pursuit of the leaders. Hoogerland managed to get within one minute of the front of the race before throwing in the towel and rejoining Cunego, with the break by now five minutes ahead of the main pack.
Both riders rode along in no-man’s land before being swept up by the peloton on the penultimate climb of the day, 15km from the finish.
Voigt, the oldest man in the peloton at 41, was the first of the 18 escapees to crack, followed shortly by Britain’s David Millar (Garmin-Sharp).
Van Garderen , Blel Kadri (Ag2R-La Mondiale) and Albasini were all chomping at the bit on the penultimate climb, but it was Simon who caught the leaders napping with an unexpected ****** just after the summit of the urban climb on the outskirts of Lyon.
With Kadri in pursuit, Simon built up a lead of 28 seconds before Bakelandts, Lars Bak (Lotto Belisol) and Burghardt combined to reel him in on the long 2.5km home straight.
But having taken a back-seat in the break, Trentin was able to use his comparatively fresh legs to take a memorable victory in his first Tour de France.
The focus shifts to the battle for the yellow jersey on Sunday with the longest stage of the race, a 242.5km slog to Provence which culminates on the fearsome Mont Ventoux.
Froome leads Dutchman Bauke Mollema (Belkin) by 2:28 on GC, with Spanish rival Alberto Contador (Saxo-Tinkoff) in third place a further 17 seconds back.
The Team Sky leader was happy about the way his team controlled the peloton on a relatively straightforward day on Saturday.
“It was a hard start to the stage before the break formed but once they went ahead my team took charge of the peloton and it was fine,” he said.
Sunday’s queen stage will be an entirely different prospect: the legendary Ventoux is the longest climb of the Tour and comes at the end of the race’s longest stage – and on it’s open slopes there really is nowhere to hide.