Out of the Alps and on to the final race of truth

Through the lush climbs of the Pyrénées and the barren peaks of the Alps, Christian Vande Velde has proved his talents as one of the world’s best by sticking with Tour favorites like Frank Schleck, Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, and Bernhard Kohl. On the final mountain stage 17, Christian remained with the race leaders over the Galibier, the Col de la Croix de Fer and up Alpe d’Huez. Finishing 9th on the stage, Christian held on to 6th overall, 4′41″ behind Carlos Sastre.

With the time gaps still tight amongst the top six riders, the race will be decided Saturday with the final 53 km individual time trial through central France. Of the top contenders, Christian is one of the best time trialers. Only Cadel Evans beat him in the stage 4 time trial in Cholet – by 16″. Though Denis Menchov is also a strong competitor and finished 11th at Cholet, 35″ behind Christian.

However, Saturday’s race against the clock is a whole different ball game. The final time trial is 80% longer and all the riders are likely 100% more tired than they were two and a half weeks ago. But they are all also hungrier for a win with a spot on the final Paris podium the real prize. It will take far more than talent to win the final race of truth.

Popularity: 1% [?]

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 24th, 2008 at 5:49 am and is filed under Features and tagged with Christian Vande Velde, Tour de France. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.