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96th Tour de France

Stage 20 - Montelimar to Mont Ventoux - 167.0 km (103.5 mi)

25 July 2009

The searing, windy lunar upper pitches of Mont Ventoux has played a decisive role in the Tour de France for over a half century. Today, the climb featured in the race for the fourteenth time in its history. And with the finish line set at the summit, we would have a stage winner atop the Bald Mountain of Provence for just the eighth time ever in the Tour. Ultimately, after all the dust and sweat settled, it was Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) taking his first Tour stage victory. The Spanish veteran --who has previously taken two top-five finishes in the Giro d'Italia along with the mountains jersey there in 2006 -- used the final steeps of the upper slopes to separate himself from the only other remaining man from the day's breakaway, German newcomer Tony Martin (Columbia), to hold on for the victory.

The 33-year-old from Basque country has had a long, if largely unheralded, career. But today, all the eyes of the world witnessed as Garate etched his name alongside the other names on the vaunted list of former winners atop Ventoux: Charly Gaul, Raymond Poulidor, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Thevenet, Jean-Francois Bernard, Marco Pantani, and Richard Virenque. While many expected this stage to come down to the GC contenders, the favorites neutralized each other well enough to afford the attacker on the front to survive. This result is truly the zenith of a long, well-fought career for the man from Irun.

The stage started in Montelimar on a bright day, heading southeast toward the Cote de Citelle, a third-category climb that served as the first of five bumps in the road. A group of thirteen riders -- Hayden Roulston (Cervelo TestTeam), Juan Manuel Garate and Joost Posthuma (Rabobank), Tony Martin (Columbia), Christophe Riblon (AG2R-La Mondiale), Alexandre Kuschynski (Liquigas), Anthony Geslin (Francaise des Jeux), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Daniele Righi (Lampre), William Bonnet (BBpx-Bouygues Telecom), Cyril Lemoine and Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano), and Maxime Bouet (Agritubel) -- pulled away from the start to gain two and a half minutes on the peloton by the summit. A chase group consisting of the trio of Mickael Delage (Silence-Lotto), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d'Epargne) chased in no man's land, hovering 45 seconds behind the leaders and 1:45 ahead of the main field. After thirty kilometers, the chasers bridged the gap, forming a group of sixteen that were four and a half minutes clear of the rest.

By the time the break had passed through the first intermediate sprint point in Les Pilles, with Dumoulin defeating Timmer and Riblon to take the full points. In the success of this breakaway, ultimately, we were watching any green-jersey hopes that Mark Cavendish still might've harbored drift away closer to impossibility. Once they'd passed through the sprint, almost fifty kilometers into the race, they soon came upon the second climb of the stage -- the 4.8-percent, 6.7-kilometer climb of the third-category Col d'Ey. On its lower slopes a check of the time revealed a gap of eight-plus minutes on the peloton. It was looking ever more possible that this group might stay clear on the stage to reach Mont Ventoux free of the field.

Over the summit, they came down the descent into the feed zone in Eygaliers before turning right around and heading up the fourth-category Col de Fontaube. The winds were swirling around hard, with gusts pushing up to 100 km/h (62 mph) on the route. Atop the Col de Fontaube, the leaders had a ten-minute advantage on the field, though that would soon start dropping with around eighty kilometers to go. Saxo Bank started putting riders at the front to ratchet up the pace, and we even saw several riders drifting back off the peloton. Up front, the sixteen continued to work together despite the diminishing returns -- the gap had fallen to around nine minutes with seventy kilometers to go, and the riders kept the pace high both up front and in the chase as the last third-category climb of the day loomed ever closer.

By the slopes of the Col des Abeilles, the gap was still hovering between eight and nine minutes, falling and then rising slightly, as the peloton started getting serious about riding now that they were but twenty kilometers from the lower slopes of Mont Ventoux. The steep descent from the Col des Abeilles brought the riders straight down into the second intermediate sprint in Mormoiron, once again neutralized by the breakaway from having any effect in the points classification battle between Thor Hushovd and Mark Cavendish.

And then the riders reached Bedoin, 5:20 ahead of a fractured peloton being driven alternatively by the Astana, Saxo Bank and Garmin-Slipstream teams of the GC leaders. The breakaway turning eastward from Bedoin, starting the hellish climb of the incomparable Mont Ventoux. With 22.7 kilometers of ascent, this climb holds a special place in cycling lore. Its pitches have witnessed the attacks of some of cycling's greatest riders, making and breaking dreams of glory as it ramps up and down in pitch but relentlessly rises nonetheless. The contenders, ready now for the serious battling of the day to commence, continued to press the pace -- they would reach Bedoin themselves now down but four minutes on the leaders, who were starting to break up on the lower slopes.

By the time the seriously steep (9+ percent) pitches started to break riders' resolve, the breakaway was down to but three riders -- only Juan Manuel Garate, Christophe Riblon and Tony Martin were still hanging on to a three and a half minute lead as they paced one another through the woods on the lower slopes. A half-million or more people lined the route of the climb from base to summit, cheering on one and all as the cyclists huffed and puffed their way toward the defunct meteorological station and the operational telecommunications tower at the top.

While Juan Manuel Garate broke clear of his companions to take the stage victory, the promised fireworks began lighting off behind in the group containing the six or seven contenders for a podium position. First Vincenzo Nibali was dropped by the accelerations of the Schleck brothers, who were driving a one-two punch in hopes of knocking off the Astana trio. Nibali would catch back up with the sextet, but Andreas Kloden would soon be dropped himself, whittling one from the Astana ranks. He would claw back on for a moment before fading once again and riding his own pace to the finish.

Andy Schleck, doing his damnedest to form a separation much like the Stage 17 gap created on the last Alpine climbs of the race, continued punching the pedals in an effort to pull clear. But Alberto Contador, proving why he is referred to as the best current climber in cycling, stayed affixed to his wheel with every speed increase. And rather than helping his brother Frank to gain time on the general classification, it was just Andy and the maillot jaune who eventually would stay clear of the rest to the summit. Proving why they are without a doubt the best two riders of this Tour de France, Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador would end up pulling back all but 38 seconds on Garate by the finish. Three seconds behind, Lance Armstrong crossed the line, and two seconds later it was Frank Schleck making his way in.

After all the hype, the overall standings changed little. The most that came of the effort was that Frank Schleck vaulted one spot over the flagging Andreas Kloden to move into the top five on the standings. Contador will sip champagne with Bruyneel a second time, giving the Belgian team director a ninth Tour de France victory in management of a team. This will likely be the last moment these two share together, as Bruyneel has cast his lot with Lance Armstrong when he moves to the new Radio Shack-sponsored team in 2010. Andy Schleck will arrive in Paris having replicated his Giro d'Italia performance of two years ago, looking ever more like he will prove to be the biggest challenger to Contador's dominance in years to come. And Lance, returning after three editions absent, has proven still far stronger than most in riding to third place at 37 years old. In his comeback, he has certainly acquitted himself well and silenced the detractors who said that anything but victory would taint his legacy.

So as the riders come down off Mont Ventoux with the general classificaiton settled, they now head on the high-speed train toward the Parisian outskirts to Montereau-Fault-Yonne for tomorrow's race finale. With the yellow jersey determined, all eyes will turn now toward Cavendish, Hushovd and the rest of the sprinters as tomorrow affords one last chance for a stage victory on the most famous boulevard in cycling. Everyone from Contador to lanterne rouge (last-placed rider) Yauheni Hutarovich of Francaise des Jeux have earned praise, surviving the past three weeks to arrive for their cobblestone coronation along the Seine. Another edition winds down to the finish, another year cast into the annals of Tour lore...

RESULTS - STAGE 20

1. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) 4:39:21
   
2. Tony Martin (Columbia) +0:03
3. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) +0:38
4. Alberto Contador (Astana)
   
5. Lance Armstrong (Astana) +0:41
   
6. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) +0:43
   
7. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) +0:46
8. Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) +0:56
   
9. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) +0:58
   
10. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream) +1:03

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 81:46:17
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) +4:11
3. Lance Armstrong (Astana +5:24
4. Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream) +6:01
5. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) +6:04
6. Andreas Kloden (Astana) +6:42
7. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) +7:35
   
8. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) +12:04
9. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) +14:16
10. Christophe Le Mevel (Francaise des Jeux) +14:25

POINTS CLASSIFICATION

1. Thor Hushovd (Cervelo TestTeam) 260
2. Mark Cavendish (Columbia) 235
3. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) 148
4. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Caisse d'Epargne) 126
5. Nicolas Roche (AG2R-La Mondiale) 122
6. Oscar Freire (Rabobank) 119
7. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) 110
8. Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) 104
9. Alberto Contador (Astana) 101
10. Andreas Kloden (Astana) 89

KING OF THE MOUNTAINS

1. Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) 210
2. Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 135
3. Alberto Contador (Astana) 126
4. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) 111
5. Pierrick Fedrigo (BBox-Bouygues Telecom) 99
6. Christophe Kern (Cofidis) 89
7. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) 88
8. Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) 86
9. Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) 86
10. Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux) 84

BEST YOUNG RIDER

1. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) 81:50:28
2. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) +3:24
3. Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) +10:05
4. Pierre Rolland (BBox-Bouygues Telecom) +33:33
5. Nicolas Roche (AG2R-La Mondiale) +34:09
6. Brice Feillu (Agritubel) +37:03
7. Peter Velits (Milram) +42:24
8. Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank) +45:36
9. Tony Martin (Columbia)  +50:53
10. Yury Trofimov (BBox-Bouygues Telecom) +1:04:50
    

TEAM CLASSIFICATION

1. Astana -- 243:56:04
2. Garmin-Slipstream -- +22:35
3. Saxo Bank -- +28:34
4. AG2R-La Mondiale -- +31:47
5. Liquigas -- +43:31
6. Euskaltel-Euskadi -- +58:05
7. Francaise des Jeux -- +1:01:48
8. Cofidis -- +1:05:34
9. Katusha -- +1:13:57
   
10. Agritubel -- +1:20:38