There Are No Piano Days In Le Tour

8 comments | July 15th, 2007 | Trackback

The Giro de Italia is a wonderful race. Competitive. Exciting. Beautiful scenery. Tricky roads. Fabulous finishes. There also apparently is a tradition in the Giro called “piano days.” These evidently are days mutually agreed upon by the leaders and teams sandwiched between two very difficult days when the entire field agrees to take it easy. The word magically spreads that they will enjoy a piano day and everyone is allowed to recuperate.

Apparently there will be no such unofficial respites in le Tour this year.

This continues to be an incredibly exciting, if not baffling, race. First Cancellera gave us that magnificent prologue. Then he did all the dirty work necessary to protect the Yellow Jersey for a full week. His last day in Yellow Fabian was seen at the front of the Pelaton more than once trying to pick up the pace to help his team leader.

Stage 6 produced a fabulous sprint finish won by nice-guy Tom Boonen. But first Team Astana had to be threatened with the loss of their co-leaders and GC contenders Andreas Kloeden and Alexandre Vinokourov. Both risked being unable to complete the Tour, but Vino’s injuries were everywhere, obvious, and painful.

Vino and Kloeden both rode courageously the next day. The casual observer could not help but wonder why they were not attacked vigorously while they were vulnerable. Was it courtesy? Was it respect? Was it simple over cautiousness? Who knows. But Astana survived what could have been a devastating day with only modest losses to their primary threats.

The second big story from Stage 7 had to be T-Mobile. Recently decimated by the doping scandals and benefiting from their hard-line anti-doping stand, stole the headlines. Near rookie Linus Gerdemann left the entire field behind during the Tour’s first mountain stage to claim the stage win as well as the Yellow and White Jerseys. Presumably all the team favorites had decided not to expend too much energy heading into monumental Stage 8.

I am no genius, but I knew that Rasmussen and Moreau would attack sometime on during this huge day in the mountains. I also could see that Vinokourouv was healing very rapidly and might not be in jeopardy due to his injuries after the rest day. I am a discovery fan, but I have no idea why they continue to promote Levi Leitheimer as their team leader if he is not going to take any risks or launch any attacks. My recorder stopped before the end of today’s stage, so I have not seen any interviews or read any reports. But this was the day not to lose 3+ minutes to Rasmussen or to play for a draw against Vino.

The real non-story of Stage 8 had to be Rasmussen’s ride. The ride itself was incredible. It only seems “unnewsworthy” because we have come to expect at least one huge mountain attack. The ride itself was a thing of beauty. Too bad the cameras stayed back in the pack.

Probably the biggest story of Stage 8 is the forced withdrawal of Australians Stuart O’Grady (Team CSC) and T-Mobile’s Captain Michael Rogers. I never saw what happened to O’Grady, but Rogers evidently was taken out when a Team Caisse d’Épargne rider who had flown over a guard rail. Rogers was not so lucky. He hit the rail full force, suffering some sort of injury to his wrist. The television cameras stayed on him way too long, as Rogers entered the team car in tears, unable to complete the stage after having earned the virtual Yellow Jersey.

Time will tell whether the major teams’ tactics will hurt them. Two days ago I was almost ready to count Vinokourouv and Astana out. As of today, I’d almost have to say that the smart money still should be on them. Either way, this is a very memorable Tour!