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Tour de France, France

Stage 9, Gérardmer - Mulhouse, 171K

10 July

The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
A Rabobank King of the Mountains...?

Stages and Maps, The Dust Devil's Daily Wrap

Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) took full advantage of the opportunity to rack up a full complement of KOM points today in Stage 9. The waif-thin Dane joined a select group of Danish Tour de France stage winners. He is probably the most serious candidate for a final Polka-Dot jersey the flat Scandinavian country has ever produced. And speaking of Danish Tour stage winners, Rasmussen makes the Bjarne Riis of 1996 look morbidly obese! This guy is thin! But apparently Rasmussen is strong as well. One man being able to hold off the likes of Jens Voigt (who actually counts as two men) and Christophe Moreau is more than just lucky. He was lucky, however that he pulled his escape off the day before the first rest day, because after an effort like that, he's going to be cooked tomorrow!

Rabobank is certainly enjoying a successful Tour thus far. Typically this flat land Dutch squad has a quiet Tour de France, occasionally sneaking away with a stage win if they're lucky. Two stage victories back to back, on hilly terrain to boot! And they've held the polka-dot jersey between three different riders for most of the race up to this point. True, the race hasn't been to the "real" mountains yet. But hey, they have to be lovin' it!

Now, I'm a little skeptical about Team CSC's plan to send Jens Voigt on the attack today. Sure, he was just about guaranteed the yellow jersey at the finish (the beginning of CSC's second stint in Yellow), but at the exorbitant price of massive energy expenditure. With the serious mountains around the corner on Tuesday, CSC will be the team now expected to ride on the front and control the race in order to defend the jersey. Sure, Jens Voigt isn't a serious long-term candidate for the overall, but he's in yellow now and the pressure begins for his team. And with the abandonment of Zabriskie today, they're down one man. If CSC has a plan, I'm not seeing it. It looks like they are sacrificing long-term goals for the immediate gratification of having the yellow jersey today. I hope that's not the case. I would love to see this team push Discovery Channel hard when the race hots up in the Alps and Pyrenees. But to the DD it looks like Discovery Channel has CSC eating out of their hands.

The thing that has crossed my mind after Stage 8 was that Armstrong was bluffing the whole issue about his team failing him and leaving him isolated. Obviously, that's what it looked like when you watch the footage. But, normally he keeps his cards VERY close to his chest, and reveals nothing of his insecurities or weakness in press interviews. It just seems to me he was being suspiciously forward with all the "I suffered" info.

Armstrong is a world class poker player, and I think that was a bluff to lead his opposition into a false sense of optimism. He's in a cushy spot, he doesn't need to wear the yellow jersey today. He's retiring in two weeks and Discovery Channel's budget is secure. Every single other rider in this race would sell his soul for a day in yellow. Riders looking for contracts for next year, teams needing to attract potential sponsor interest so they can continue, etc. He can bide his time and sit back while everybody raids the all-you-can-eat buffet, he's going to be having steak and lobster later! Remember Alpe d'Huez in 2001? The cameras showing Armstrong riding at the back the whole stage grimacing in faux pain while Telekom rode on the front doing the work? Then Armstrong blew Ullrich into outer space at the foot of the Alpe.

Finally, I think Armstrong could possibly be amusing himself by toying with his opponents. He won't be satisfied by just winning over and over again. I think a personality like his needs to discover new ways to conquer.
- The Dust Devil