by John Deering
You’ll be lucky, son. David Millar has won three stages of this race over the years, and riders from Britain have already won three of this year’s edition. His nous has only grown over the years since his last win here, back in 2003, and his speed has hardly diminished. Millar stays glued to the crowd barriers on his left and looks over his right shoulder, leaving no room for a surprise attack from his rival. Péraud makes his move with just 200m remaining, an all-out 100% commitment to reach the line first. The man coming off the wheel of the leader always has an advantage, though this decreases at lower speeds, as they both have to jump. For fans watching in Britain on TV there is a heart-in-mouth moment as Péraud goes round their man, but it is only a second before Millar’s long legs get on top of the gear, and from that point there can be only one winner.
The fourth British winner at this Tour de France, and this on the anniversary of the original British yellow jersey hope’s death on the brutal flanks of Mont Ventoux 45 years ago. Tom Simpson’s ghost must be looking down on this race with a proud smile.
MONT VENTOUX HAS A special place in the history of cycling, and British cycling in particular. It’s not the highest of mountains, but it sits in its own glorious isolation high above Avignon and the surrounding Provençale countryside, unencumbered by the range of brothers, sisters and cousins that make views of, say, Mont Blanc awkward to obtain. On a clear day Mont Ventoux is visible from every direction from many miles.
The weather is more likely to be clear here than in the less predictable Alps or Pyrenees, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a pleasant place to be. When riders ascend from the village of Bédoin, they are protected by a canopy of trees up to the heights of Chalet Reynard, then it is an exposed crawl across the barren white shoulder of rock all the way to the blasted outcrop on which sits the red-and-white-striped tower of the observatory that marks the summit. Exposure is the name of the game, and the mountain can be blazingly hot or perishingly cold, even in July. Not for nothing does its name loosely translate as the windy mountain. When Armstrong and Pantani rode to this summit in the 2000 Tour de France, the press were forced to decamp to the foot of the climb as it was too windy to erect the mobile salle du presse. It must have been the shortest podium ceremony in cycling history, Armstrong stiffly waving his golden stuffed lion in a pair of thermal tights then racing out of the freezing gale to the comfort of his motor home.
It was of course here in 1967 that the dreams of victory of Britain’s great Tour de France hope, Tom Simpson, faltered along with the great man’s heart. He died on these dry slopes, wedded for eternity to the cause. His famous last words echo down across the decades. ‘Put me back on my bike,’ he demanded after his first collapse on those fatal slopes. Minutes later, he was gone forever, but he will never, ever be forgotten.
Tom Simpson died for many reasons: exhaustion, the heat, amphetamines, brandy . . . Any number of factors can be brought up as the cause of his demise, but anybody who has suffered on a bicycle will appreciate that the true reason Tom Simpson died was that his will was stronger than his body. Most of us know when it’s time to give up. Our body tells us that we can’t do it any more. Stop, get off, wait, walk, or just slow down a bit, it may sound ‘soft’ but ultimately it’s just common sense. The ability to ignore those sensible warnings is what sets great champions apart from good athletes. Tom Simpson was the best there has ever been at bearing that pain, and he paid for it with his life.
The memorial to Tom on the high slopes of Ventoux is a shrine for cyclists of all types, but especially the huge numbers of people who venture south from Britain to test themselves against the mountain that claimed his life and to pay their own respects, even forty or more years after he was taken from us.
On the last day of true combat in the 2009 Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins was looking to pay his own special tribute to the memory of Tom Simpson by riding to the top of that very mountain without losing the company of the elite riders he had shadowed for three weeks. Bucking the formbook, expectation and his own lack of history in the world’s greatest race, he was determined to ride into Paris the following day as the first Englishman to finish fourth in the Tour de France.
There were a few people who wanted to stop him. Lance Armstrong’s comeback bid to win an unprecedented eighth Tour de France may have ended in failure, but the Texan still had a podium finish to hang on to, and making that safe didn’t involve helping Bradley Wiggins. Andreas Klöden was only two seconds behind Brad on GC and would love to grab back the time that Wiggins had stolen off him in the Annecy time trial. Even more dangerous was the resurgent Frank Schleck, keen to get as close to his brother as possible, and possibly shoulder Armstrong, Wiggins and Klöden all aside to join his younger brother below Contador on the podium in Paris. He had been climbing brilliantly in this final week and already had a great stage victory to his name. He needed just 23 small seconds to clamber over Brad and Klöden. Even Vincenzo Nibali, at less than two minutes, could not be disregarded on the slopes of the bald mountain.
Unsurprisingly, Frank is the first to move. He jumps out of the rapidly diminishing yellow jersey group but is comfortably countered by Armstrong, and the others regain the duo’s back wheels. Next Andy goes, not really attacking Contador – he is four minutes behind – but looking to unhitch Klöden, Wiggins and Armstrong in favour of his brother. Contador takes up long-term residence on his wheel and won’t shift until prised off it by soigneurs at the finish. Frank tries again, and this one is fierce. Klöden is hating this and regains the group by the skin of his teeth. Only Andy, Frank, Contador, Armstrong, Wiggins, Nibali and Klöden remain, and the German is in agony.
Andy attacks once more, Contador on him like flypaper. Frank and Armstrong stare each other down and let the move go, Brad following in their wheel tracks. Nibali bridges across to the front two. If they decide to go for the stage and catch Juan Manuel Gárate, the long-time leader, this could be a problem. Andy sits up though, conscious that his brother isn’t there. The group reforms.
The brothers try to go together this time. Armstrong covers, much to Frank’s visible frustration. What does he have to do? This is one acceleration too much for the brave Klöden and he finally loses his grasp on the group. Wiggins makes it, but it’s a massive effort and he is in obvious discomfort. The wheels in front start to drift away from him and his head bobs alarmingly as he tries everything to stay with them.
Bravo, Brad! screams the ghost of Tom Simpson in his ear, as he somehow finds the power to grind back up to the Schlecks, Contador and Armstrong. Klöden has blown; Nibali is struggling but still there. The final battle for this brilliant Tour will take place over this last kilometre.
Andy surges forward one more time, and only Contador and Armstrong can follow. Frank puts his head down and slowly but surely opens a gap on Brad. Frank has overtaken Klöden on GC for sure, and only needs 24 seconds to overhaul Bradley Wiggins for fourth spot.
Come on, Brad! Come on!
The cameras focus on the finish line, where Gárate hangs on for the greatest win of his career. The Schlecks, Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong cross together, the final peace treaty drawn up amid a mutual admiration for each other’s performance.
But where’s Brad? The clock is ticking. Please, Mr TV Director, show us Brad. Here he comes! Come on! Come on, Brad! It’s going to be close. Where the hell is that finish line?
Bradley Wiggins hauls himself over the line on top of Mont Ventoux in four hours, 40 minutes and 24 seconds. That is twenty seconds behind Frank Schleck. He will hold on to his fourth place in Paris. After nearly 3,500km of racing, three slender seconds separate him from Frank Schleck in fifth.
Chapeau, Mr Wiggins! says the ghost of Tom Simpson.
STAGE 13:
Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux–Le Cap d’Agde, 217km
Saturday, 14 July 2012
There is only one team in this Tour de France that is yet to place a rider in a breakaway of any kind. This is most likely because th
ey are desperately trying to control such occurrences and need all hands to the pump, especially after being reduced to eight men early in the race.
It is of course Team Sky we’re talking about. Both their main objectives – keeping the race together to protect the lead of Bradley Wiggins and getting Mark Cavendish to the end of flat stages in a position to win the sprint – require control of breaks.
However, the Spanish Movistar team director José Luis Arrieta has a different theory about the British squad’s absence in moves. It’s because Team Sky, like every other team in the Tour, can only have two cars in the race and one of them, according to Arrieta, has to be with Mark Cavendish at all times. ‘The sprinter and World Champion always requires a team car for when he gets dropped,’ Arrieta told the Spanish daily El País. This view of Cavendish as something of a prima donna is at odds with the daily shots of the rainbow jersey trekking back through the bunch to gather drinks for all his teammates then distributing them with the care and diligence of a devoted butler. But Arrieta is confident in his view that Team Sky don’t just put Bernie Eisel at Cav’s disposal, but a Jaguar and crew, too. He thinks that this personal backroom is at the root of the lack of Team Sky attacks, as there is no other car to slot in behind such a move to offer assistance. ‘Since each team has a maximum of two vehicles, and one must be with the team leader, that prevents Froome launching an attack or another like Boasson Hagen or Knees.’
Team Sky would like to win today’s stage, but they’re not planning on doing it via the medium of the long breakaway. They have a Plan A and also a Plan B, but first the day’s primary objective must be achieved: the security of the yellow jersey.
Sean Yates and Dave Brailsford prepare the team for the day’s tribulations behind the blacked-out windows of the Team Sky bus with as much care as any day. ‘The big issue today is going to be crosswinds. There’s a run in to the Cap along the coast that’s a big open area. Forecast will be for cross-headwinds, so be aware. Don’t get caught in the wrong part of the bunch if it splits,’ warns Yates.
The crosswinds are perennial issues on days like today. An alert HTC squad led by Mick Rogers famously put the cat among the pigeons during Lance Armstrong’s comeback Tour de France in 2009. The old stager was cagey enough to sense what was about to happen as the peloton was struck by some heavy winds and the entire HTC squad moved to the front and put the pedal to the metal. His ‘co-leader’ and defending champion Alberto Contador was less astute, as Rogers and his HTC hitmen pulled the race apart and caused not only a split in the field but a split in the Astana team camp. By the finish – naturally won by Mark Cavendish to make it mission accomplished for HTC – Armstrong was claiming that his newly won lead over Contador ought to make him the more privileged and protected Astana rider.
The danger with the wind is that when one rider loses contact with the wheel in front, it quickly becomes extremely difficult to bridge that gap. If that happens to several riders at once, as is often the case, there can suddenly be four or five groups on the road. A rider can lose time without getting dropped, just being caught in the wrong group. Awareness is everything, hence Brailsford and Yates’s attempts to drum the message home and their close examination of the day’s parcours.
When the race meets the coastal strip, just a little way along the seafront from that day in 2009, Team Sky are all diligently in their places near the front. It’s been a relatively easy day for the troops so far, as Orica-GreenEDGE have once again taken up much of the chasing to hunt down the day’s break. They’ve got nothing out of this race so far, and with Simon Gerrans their highest-placed rider in the GC, a lowly 62nd, a stage win is imperative. Matt Goss has come close a couple of times. He’s a great sprinter from a group, but it remains unproven as to whether he can really beat the fastest guys on a level playing field. However, today’s route features a short but sharp little climb along that stretch of coast and the Orica-GreenEDGE boss Neil Stephens is working on the assumption that many of the fastest finishers will be shelled out of the rear of the race by the high speeds and gradient.
Another Australian with action on his mind is the proud champion Cadel Evans. Normally, a transitional second-week stage in the Tour between the Alps and Pyrenees would see the favourites biding their time, conserving their energy and waiting for something to happen. In his earlier days, Evans was considered a conservative rider, but we had to rip up that view of him after his daring attack to win the 2009 World Championships at Mendrisio in Switzerland. The devastating move to crush an elite lead group of hitters surprised everyone and the rainbow jersey brought a transformation in the previously ‘boring, boring Evans’. It was this new attacking Cadel Evans who won the 2011 Tour de France rather than the Mk 1 serial second-and-third-placed Evans.
So, it shouldn’t surprise us when he makes his move approaching the small climb of Mont Saint Clair, punctuating the coastal route between Montpellier and Le Cap d’Agde, but there is a stirring of excitement nevertheless. Neil Stephens’s prediction is correct, and several fast men slip away from the front group. Bradley Wiggins and his men cruise up behind the adventurous Evans without any great hardship, but Team Sky’s Plan A for today is in tatters, as the rainbow jersey of Mark Cavendish is one of the many distanced by the reduced peloton as it flies up the hill at the sort of pace that most of us reserve for coming down the other side of such obstacles.
This is great news for Orica-GreenEDGE, who continue to not only seek to position Matt Goss for the finish, but also throw the lively Michael Albasini on the attack. A sight that won’t have pleased Stephens’s men quite so much is the line of Lotto Belisol riders taking over the pacemaking at the head of the race. That can only mean one thing: Andre Greipel has not suffered the fate of Cavendish, and he is still in the front group. That’s not all . . . The green jersey of Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan is also spotted hanging in at the business end of affairs. Goss could well have done with seeing the back of them. To be brutal, all he’s done is see the back of them as they cross finish lines just ahead of him for the last week or two.
For Team Sky, it’s time for Plan B. The crosswinds are at their stiffest along this last stretch of rather grim industrial coastal strip towards Agde. It’s like the Camargue but in some Ballardian post-apocalyptic future, with power lines and the occasional warehouse standing in for white bulls and flamingos. We can see a Team Sky rider in a white jersey holding his place in their line as they cruise along with the faster teams at the front, but it’s not the pattern of the rainbow around it, it’s the flag of Norway, and Edvald Boasson Hagen is wearing it.
As the bunch snakes its way at silly speeds into the narrow streets and corners of the last couple of kilometres, Team Sky hit the front to stretch the race to its limits for the Norwegian. But it’s not a black, blue and white Team Sky jersey on the front, or even the Norwegian Champion’s top. Incredibly, it’s the race leader himself, Bradley Marc Wiggins in the yellow jersey and yellow helmet, his stealthy black Pinarello wearing yellow detail in honour of his status, leaving the whole Tour de France gasping for breath as they attempt to follow his acceleration in aid of his teammate.
Boasson Hagen blasts off his leader’s wheel in search of the line with a mighty effort, but it’s not quite enough to beat those pesky sprinters. Greipel and Sagan finish one and two, with Boasson Hagen taking a fine third place behind them to add to his brace of second spots in the opening week. For all Orica-GreenEDGE’s superb efforts to take the race by the scruff of the neck, they have to settle for Daryl Impey’s fifth in the sprint.
Greipel is particularly pleased by his win due to his scaling of Mont Saint Clair with the main field when many of his rivals, Cavendish being the most notable, were unable to follow. It may not have proved that he is the fastest sprinter, but he would argue that he is the better cyclist. It is an argument that won’t be settled today, but this win is a tick in his column without a doubt.
At Team Sky, there is muted satisfaction with the day. Moral
e is on a high after everybody’s efforts for the popular Edvald Boasson Hagen and the leader’s show of strength to set up a valued teammate has set the media purring. Bradley himself is coy about his ride that recalls his DS Yates in his juss-doin’-me-job heyday.
‘It was just the last kilometre, slightly downhill,’ he said dismissively of his big lead out for Boasson Hagen. ‘It was the safest place to be and I just wanted to repay a friend of mine.’
Sean Yates reflected on the quiet contentment in the camp. Speaking to the Team Sky website, he said, ‘It was a technical finish with a few roundabouts. Brad had to be at the front in case it split, which we actually saw heading into the 3km mark. Froomey was right there too so all in all it was a good performance. It was nice to see Bradley leading out Edvald at the finish,’ he added with a touch of personal pride for a job well done.
Brad reiterated the team’s professionalism and commitment to the job in hand. ‘You have to pay attention to every single day, even a day like today because of the bends in the last 400m. You have to be careful every day until Paris.’
GARMIN-SLIPSTREAM AND BRADLEY WIGGINS followed up his superb 2009 Tour de France ride in belligerent fashion, silencing the whispers about his perceived leap in performance by openly publishing his blood tests for the whole of 2009. They clearly displayed the level, even results one would expect to see in an athlete untainted by chemical stimulus.
They were trying to reinforce the point that Brad’s improvement was based upon simple hard work, weight loss and improved confidence. For the first time in his career he was a total road racer and had seen a complete turnaround in his performance as a result.
‘I don’t want there to be any suspicion or doubt that what I did was natural. I have nothing to hide and I want this transparency,’ explained Brad in the post-Tour scrum of attention, asking that the team publish the ‘blood passport’ that all riders need to demonstrate their lack of doping.