Stage 9: Gérardmer - Mulhouse

[Guest]

Stage 9: Gérardmer - Mulhouse, 171 km

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[The_Guru]

I'm pondering going to Mulhouse next Sunday to watch the stage finish (I live in Zürich, Switzerland - less than 2 hours drive away).
What time do you think I'd have to get into Mulhouse to secure a decent viewing position?

[Guest]

Are you going to the finish line?

I'd get there as early in the morning as possible. Bring a friend and chairs and scope out your spot at the finish line. If it's going to be a popular stage, plan to get there around 6- 7am. Seriously.

I went to the Giro (which is what I'm basing my thoughts around), and I would get to the finish hours early. I would get there hours early, and the finish line would already be packed with spectators. Then you're stuck there for hours trying to inch yourself into a nice position so you can have a nice photo finish and a spot for the presentation.

I'd even suggest getting a room on the French end of Switzerland if you can and leaving out at around 4am. That may be less stressful for you.

If you take pics, be sure to post them here!

Koffee

[The_Guru]

Thanks ... hrmm.. sounds like unless I'm a real groupie, I may as well watch it on TV :-)

We'll see if I can haul my pokey a** outta bed that early to drive out to France...
Of course I'll post pics if I go.

[Guest]

You HAVE to watch it live if you can. It's your duty as an European living less than 3 hours away! Now go! And get a hotel room close to the border. You'll be ok.

Koffee

[The_Guru]

You HAVE to watch it live if you can.

I can, I can! :-P

It's your duty as an European

If only ... I'm South African ... which means I'm the holder of a dodgy passport,
requiring a visa to enter any of our neighbour countries except Liechtenstein ...
and who the heck wants to go to Liechtenstein? :-)

living less than 3 hours away!

Now this, I can claim.

> Now go! And get a hotel room close to the border. You'll be ok.

I don't think my wife would be happy with me getting a hotel room to save an
hour's worth of driving .... And she'd not be able to come along with me either,
because there's no way a 7-month pregnant woman can last more than about an
hour away from a bathroom...
Perhaps I'll rally up support from other cyclists I know, and make a day trip of it..

I'm warming to the idea ... :-)

[krazyderek]

omg, stage 9 is starting at 7:30 am tomorow :eek: they've been starting at 9:30 am here so far. They're probably going to show the hole thing, not just the last 2 hours, since it's the first real mountain stage.

[Devil]

Hmm. Of course, I'm pulling for a giant Merckxian attack by Vino.. but I think it will be Valverde.. I don't know, actually. There are so many in-form guys right now, it's difficult to make a prediction.

[Bikeophile]

630am for me!! Damn eastern time zone!! 5hours of live broadcast.

[Bikeophile]

I am so interested to see if Kloden has made this "remarkable" jump into form...Perhaps this was in T-Mobile's strategy?

[Devil]

I am so interested to see if Kloden has made this "remarkable" jump into form...Perhaps this was in T-Mobile's strategy?
Maybe.. he was doing absolutely terrible before the Tour. If he is back on form, it's great news.

[Bikeophile]

Agreed

[Dolomiti]

Perhaps Valverde will win a sprint among a 40-80 rider pack.

[Bikeophile]

Well Valverde got some extra time today...If he is on form, I am sure we'll see some attacks from him as well!! I'm all giddy!!! This is great!

[TomM]

I can, I can! :-P
If only ... I'm South African ... which means I'm the holder of a dodgy passport,
requiring a visa to enter any of our neighbour countries except Liechtenstein ...
and who the heck wants to go to Liechtenstein? :-)


I want to go. Please send me your passport.

[The_Guru]

I want to go. Please send me your passport.

LOL!
Well, it's an hour from Zurich ... if ever you pass through here, let me know and I'll point you in the right direction.

BTW, FWIW I've decided not to wake up at sparrowfart tomorrow morning to trek (eh?) out to Mulhouse... 5 hours round trip driving, 5 hours sitting around waiting ... for 10 mins of action? Naah - I'll watch it on the box, from the comfort of my bed :D

[gcasillo]

I will lift my stage 1 proclamation that "it's over" if the attacks come as fast and furiously here as they did at the end of stage 8. I really want to see the peloton break the "blue train" for once.

My money is on CSC to kick it up a notch and deliver Basso to the line first. But that won't come without Ullrich, Vino, and Klöden tearing off on some of these climbs trying to open up a gap on Lance.

[waltergodefroot]

I don't think this stage will have a decisive impact on the outcome of the race. 60k from the last peak, which is not that high, to the finish. Plenty of time to chase down any escapees.

[Dolomiti]

I really doubt any GC contenders will make or lose time here (besides bonuses). That flat stretch after the final climb is FAR too long for them.

[gcasillo]

I really doubt any GC contenders will make or lose time here (besides bonuses). That flat stretch after the final climb is FAR too long for them.
Good point. I didn't look at the finish closely enough. So how will the finish play out?

Kudos to the Tour organizers for this year's route so far. Very competitive route that is giving the whole peloton something to work with.

Rasmussen will scoop up points early then fall in. I think this is a stage Valverde can make off with in that last 50km or so to the finish, particularly if it is a sprint finish.

Valverde
Botero
Karpets

[Guest]

630am for me!! Damn eastern time zone!! 5hours of live broadcast.

Thank goodness for Tivo. I checked, and it's caught the change in the times too... so I can go out and ride all morning and watch my commercial deleted Tour when I get back.

Koffee

[skinnyone]

My money is on CSC to kick it up a notch and deliver Basso to the line first. But that won't come without Ullrich, Vino, and Klöden tearing off on some of these climbs trying to open up a gap on Lance.

In addition i would like to add Landis, Botero, Valverde and Horner to the mix.... Maybe Horner will try to break.. He has been finishing pretty high for SDV. I would love Landis to make a statement someplace... What will Leipheimer do?.. Jeez this is tough to predict... I predict that Rabobank will keep the polka dot jersey.. But I really dunno...

[JamesV]

My 2-cent prediction: someone deep in the G.C. that can climb, who will be allowed to escape to win the stage. My picks, in no particular order:

Iban Mayo, Michael Rogers, Chris Horner, Franco Pellizotti

[Gustaf]

David Z abandons

[Bikeophile]

David Z abandons

Poor guy...I was really hoping that he would recover and at least finish...but it IS his first TDF...he'll be back

[Bockman]

Re: Kloden virtual GC Leader-- I wouldn't be surprised if Lance gives up the Yellow in favor of Kloden wearing it, purely for the psych purposes of causing rancor in and among T-Mobile.

[Bikeophile]

if anyone gets the Yellow off Lance today it certainly won't be Kloden. The only one who has a chance to take the Yellow is Jens Voit right now at least.

[Bikeophile]

My 2-cent prediction: someone deep in the G.C. that can climb, who will be allowed to escape to win the stage. My picks, in no particular order:

Iban Mayo, Michael Rogers, Chris Horner, Franco Pellizotti

Well you were way off the mark on WHO...but you were bang on with WHAT will happen..

[jlin453]

More Updates please!

[Longhorn]

16:20 - Rasmussen Wins An Epic!
Mickael Rasmussen has claimed the victory in stage nine. He escaped the peloton at kilometer four of today’s 171km stage and won every climb on the course. This is his first stage win in the Tour de France and Rabobank’s second successive victory in 2005.

16:23 - Moreau Takes Second Place
Christophe Moreau led Jens Voigt over the line for second place about 3’30" behind Rasmussen.

Voigt takes the Yellow Jersey.

[RonH]

Lance is 3rd in GC. Can he make up 2:18 before Paris?

[Longhorn]

16:29 - The Top 10 In Stage Nine

The top 10 in stage nine of the 2005 Tour de France is:

1. Mickael Rasmussen (DEN) RAB - 171km in 4h08’20" (41.315km/h)
2. Christophe Moreau (FRA) C.A at 3’04"
3. Jens Voigt (GER) CSC at 3’04"
4. Stuart O’Grady (AUS) COF at 6’04"
5. Philippe Gilbert (BEL) FDJ at same time
6. Antony Geslin (FRA) BTL at same time
7. Sebastian Lang (GER) GST at same time
8. Laurent Brochard (FRA) BTL at same time
9. Jerome Pineau (FRA) BTL at same time
10. Gerrit Glomser (AUT) LAM at same time

[Longhorn]

16:30 - Jens Voigt In Yellow For Stage 10

Jens Voigt’s third place finish was enough to elevate him from 2nd to fist overall. He now leads Christophe Moreau by 1’50" and Lance Armstrong by 2’18".
The German is the second rider from the CSC team to wear the leader’s jersey at the Tour de France.

[gsteinb]

Lance is 3rd in GC. Can he make up 2:18 before Paris?


oy vey

[TomM]

12:32 - Ullrich Did Crash On First Descent
Race radio has confirmed that Ullrich did fall on the first climb. He has injured his left knee but he is now back with the yellow jersey’s peloton.

How did Ullrich crash?

[Dolomiti]

Lance is 3rd in GC. Can he make up 2:18 before Paris?

He might make it up before the final climb on the next stage.

The question of course is whether or not his GC rivals can make up the time on him. There is a huge amount of racing to come.

More Updates please!

In case you didn't know, letour.fr and cyclingnews.com have live text updates during the stages. letour.fr also has live updated time gap profiles. They're really cool, even when watching on TV because sometimes you don't get all of the details on TV.

[cydewaze]

He might make it up before the final climb on the next stage.
Not to mention the next ITT.

[Dolomiti]

Not to mention the next ITT.

Well yeah, after about four other serious climbing stages ;)

[fishigan]

I wonder if Mickael Rasmussen will do it again on the next stage? One more run like that and he'll be able to take it easy for the rest of the tour.

[kokodeselavy]

What a bittersweet stage. Goodbye, Dave. Fantastic ride by Rasmussen...he kept it on "11" the whole way in. Great teamwork by Voigt and Moreau, and nice tribute to Moreau by Voigt in his post-stage interview.

[classic1]

Rasmussen, I think that was probably the ride of 2005.

[gmason]

How did Ullrich crash?
Flat in front. Just a few nicks and scratches it appears.

[gmason]

Moreau waited for Voigt when he had his flat - great sportsmanship. The two chatted briefly after that - Jens shook his head "yes", which may have been how Moreau finished second without a sprint.

[krazyderek]

nice performance by Rasmussen indeed, i too am worried about 2-3 min advantage on lance though...

[gmason]

nice performance by Rasmussen indeed, i too am worried about 2-3 min advantage on lance though...
I am not the world's biggest LA fan, but seeing him, and remembering his past performances, I have to think that in 11 more stages (not counting the last, of course), and barring the always possible disaster, he will not have a lot of trouble making that up. The others just do not look that strong in comparison. IMHO, that is. :p

And the rest of the team responded well today, but Tuesday and Wednesday will be more of an indication of how valuable that will be.

But ... I have a question for you gurus: LA is a pretty formidable descender in his own right, so was the addition of Savoldelli in any way related to gaining possible advantage in that domain?

[Dolomiti]

But ... I have a question for you gurus: LA is a pretty formidable descender in his own right, so was the addition of Savoldelli in any way related to gaining possible advantage in that domain?

The amount of energy that would be needed for him to try to attack like that early wouldn't be worth it in comparison to saving it for a final climb. Though if he is down and despirate late in the race, I'm sure he may try to go early on stage 15. Also if he finds himself in a very small group at the top of a pass and each rider wants to stay away, LA and whoever he is with may go all out on a downhill.

If he feels like his chances are comfortable, I doubt he would go on the downhill. He has always shown to be cautious and slower on the downhills when he didn't need to go all out, in the last 6 years. Like last year, a bunch of riders including Ullrich attacked on the descent before the final climb to La Mongie... Armstrong stayed back, on the wet roads, and him and his team blew most of those riders away on the final climb.

I see stage 15 as being possibly important for descending. Major attacks and selection may come early... it's brutal. Recall 2001 that same stage where LA and Ullrich were mostly alone descending (when Ullrich crashed)

Oh and in regards to the deficit to Rasmussen and Voigt... they are great riders, but I'd be extremely suprised if those two are ahead of Armstrong on GC even only after the next stage. I'm guessing some of you don't remember when Armstrong was about 40 minutes behind in 2001.

[TysonB]

In case you didn't know, letour.fr and cyclingnews.com have live text updates during the stages. letour.fr also has live updated time gap profiles. They're really cool, even when watching on TV because sometimes you don't get all of the details on TV.

dailypeloton.com also has live commentary that is hilarious at times.

Tyson
Cushing, Oklahoma

[gmason]

BTW - had Moreau not waited for Voigt when he had his flat, he just may have had the stage win himself. Hard to tell, but the delay cost him at least 10-15 seconds as I saw it. He was still riding, but slowly. At that, it took Voigt around 45 seconds to catch up.

[gmason]

because sometimes you don't get all of the details on TV.
You are watching the wrong TV. :D

[acrafton]

Was this a grand strategy to neutralize Basso going intot the key climbs? Consider that now that CSC/Voigt is in Yellow, Basso cannot attack and try to take time out but now must work in support of Voigt - Bjarne Riis would not allow this and will make the whole team work to protect / support Voigt (much like they had to serve Zabriskie).

Disco could have EASILY caugh Voigt if they wanted to as they were super strong today but chose not to go after him on purpose. Now Lance can go into the two next big climbs only worry about Vino/Ulrich AND making CSC do all the work. . .he can no go on the attack at will.

Thoughts?
Adam