Reach for your recovery drink of choice, grab a little massage if you can, load up on carbs tonight, and get ready for the ultimate showdown for final Tour glory tomorrow to be contested in 41 kilometers contra la montre. I’m talking about the fans, not the riders, obviously. Because these last two days have nearly killed us.
This is anyone’s time trial. At 41km, it’s just long enough for Cadel to pull one out, and it’s just short and hilly enough for Andy to retain enough of his lead. Sure, Evans will certainly beat the Grimplette, but by how much? In last year’s final ITT, Andy almost pulled out the upset, until the wind kicked up and the youngster’s sit up and beg TT position had him more sail that sailor. It’s hilly enough to give the climbers a chance of staying in it, and the long descent to the finish will play to the fastmen against the clock.
Will his new Maillot Juane play Redbull to Andy and give him wings? Or will the scent of Yellow drag the Cadelamonster to his prize? Both Andy and Cadel know what it’s like to stand on the second step of the podium. Neither wants to stand there again. And both riders are different men than they were the last time it happened. Both have been hardened by the bitter taste of defeat that lingers long on the tongue.
I, for one, can hardly take it any more. Vive le Tour.
You know the drill, get your picks in by 5am Pacific tomorrow morning. Good luck.
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Daughter wants me to go on a ride with her right now. As in, Cadel just finished right now. Seriously?
And in a few min, we get to hear angry stomach bitch about the dangerous descents in the TT. Great Tour little guy!
I'm pretty sure I wouldn't look as bad on a TT bike as Frandy. And I've never been on a TT bike.
Such a mix of joy for EVANS: YEEAAAAH and heartbreak for the panache Andy showed over the past couple days.
Get on your TT bike, BOY!
Just knocked the top off a James Squire Stow Away IPA, cheers Cadel for making it a very sweet drop!
The Schekles just keep proving that they are not championisimos But Cadel has cemented his palmeres in Stone!
This is massiVe! Tears on the podium? Odds on.
@Ron
Cantebury is a Kiwi company and its Blundstone. But we get it. And the answer is...probably not.
From cycling news:
It's worth noting that Evans rode this course in the Criterium du Dauphine, and that may well have been telling, not just today, but throughout the three weeks of this Tour. The Australian knew that he always had a trump card waiting for him in Grenoble, and he was rightly confident that he could make up the 57 seconds on Schleck today.
@il ciclista medio
+1 absolutely! Frandy, riders of the invisible tandem.
And, completely unrelated, I'm sure, why do I find myself wanting a BMC even more now? Dunno...weird.