Stage 10 -- July 11: Mâcon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, 194.5 km (120.9 mi)
You'll be hard pressed to find a cycling fan that wasn't pleased with today's result. Thomas Voeckler became a fan to millions for the way he rode last years Tour de France, defending the Yellow jersey as though his life depended upon it and riding above and beyond his natural talent levels to keep it right up until the final days in the mountains. Not many being realistic believed he could repeat such a feat this year for he would be a marked man from the beginning but we never got to find out for sure when he ran into a number of first week accidents that left him well down the overall standings.
It meant that when the first climbing stages arrived and even the time-trial he didn't have the need to bust a gut to stay with the overall contenders, instead he allowed himself to recover from injuries and save himself for a day like today.
When I first seen that he was one of the cluster of hopefuls who had gone up the road early in the hopes of stealing a stage win, I knew he'd be the man to win it. Voeckler has the kind of steel about him that few humans possess, and when he got the scent of victory in his nostrils, nothing was going to stop him.
Behind him the race for the GC positions -- one Voeckler no doubts wishes he was still a part of, though today's win will surely make up for that disastrous first week -- was heating up nicely. With a downhill run to the finish there was always going to be a big group coming in, but given the damage Sky had done over the last several days and given how commanding Brad Wiggins's Yellow jersey lead was looking, his rivals had to try something on the climbs.
Cadel Evans preferred to follow Wiggins today, perhaps with an eye on tomorrow's mega tough climb, but Vincenzo Nibali decided every stage that pointed up was an opportunity to break the Englishman and went on the attack. Wiggins didn't panic and neither did his team. They rode steady and they hauled Nibali in just shy of the top of that final climb. It must have been dejecting for Nibali, and for the rest it was yet another show of strength of Team Sky.
Nibali wasn't happy. Not about being caught, but by the reaction of Wiggins once he was. According to Nibali, Wiggins stared him down and at the finish he waved at him as if to say, 'look, I'm still here.'
"If he wants to be a great champion he has to have a little bit of respect for his rivals, because sometimes, to look at someone like that in the face is offensive," blasted the Liquigas rider. ""I'm talking about respect amongst the cyclists. Riders have never kicked or punched each other as they do in football. There's always just been a lot of respect for rivals. So, for me, there's this respect. To turn and look a rival in the face, as he did, that's not very great in my opinion." We'll see tomorrow who has the last laugh.
Of course, no stage of the 2012 Tour would be complete without the press conference of Brad Wiggins in his Yellow jersey. After hitting out at those who asked him if you had to dope to win the Tour a few days ago, he hit out at those who think he has come from nowhere this season.
"I'm not some s**t rider who has just came from nowhere. I've been three times Olympic champion on the track. People have to realise what kind of engine you need to win an Olympic gold medal as an individual pursuiter." And he's right. Wiggins has had a hell of a career and anyone thinking he has come from nowhere here in 2012 is either new to the sport or has watched little outside the Tour de France. Wiggins has achieved a lot and he's worked hard to adapt his style to become the rider we're seeing today.
Still, I hope the akward questions continue for it makes for entertaining listening when Wiggins picks up the mic to respond.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I didn't lose my cool, I just said what I think. It's completely different. If I'd lost my cool, this table would've been on the floor down there. That's the difference.” -- Bradley Wiggins (again, yes, I know!) on the belief by many that his profanity laced press conference earlier in the week was a case of him losing his cool.
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ACTUAL TWEET OF THE DAY
@TweeterSagan Mr Twiglet absolutely right: he not some shit rider who come from nowhere. He come from Ghent, Belgium. -- A parody Twitter account based on Peter Sagan.
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FAKE TWEET OF THE DAY
@TVoeckler You all so lucky I had bad first week. I should be man in Yellow. #MoralVictory
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ABANDONMENT'S
Nobody abandoned today, but three men failed to start. Matthew Lloyd, the Australian from the Lampre-ISD team was one and Tony Martin -- suffering from his first week injuries and hoping to recover before the Olympics for the time-trial, was another. The third was Remy Di Gregorio who was removed from the race by his team and suspended after being arrested by French police in a doping probe, the first and only of the Tour thus far.
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STAGE 10 RESULT
1. Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Europcar in 4h 46' 26"
2. Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre- ISD at 3 sec
3. Jens Voigt (Ger) Radioshack- Nissan at 7 sec
4. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Rabobank at 23 sec
5. Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step at 30 sec
6. Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Bigmat at 2-44
British
13. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky at 3-16
18. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky at st
52. Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing 11-41
59. David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp 15-04
162. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Sky at 31-55
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 10
1. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Team Sky 43h 59' 02"
2. Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing at 1-53
3. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky at 2-07
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 2-23
5. Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha 3-02
6. Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Radioshack-Nissan at 3-19
7. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan at 4-23
8. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto-Belisol at 4-48
9. Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at 5-29
10. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing at 5-31
