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Savoldelli Successful On A Day Of Change

“The line it is drawn. The curse it is cast. The slow one now will later be fast… for the times they are a changin’”. (Bob Dylan – 1963.)
As the finish line beckoned at the end of the longest stage of the 2005 Tour de France, the slow did become fast. A period of apathy in the peloton was ignited by a long sprint over the final climb and back down to the finish in Revel. Over 20 minutes after the Paolo Savoldelli claimed his first Tour stage win, the peloton was split to pieces because of an attack by Alexandre Vinokourov.
Yesterday the champion of Kazakhstan officially announced that he would be leaving the T-Mobile team at the end of the season. And today he did what he could to prove his worth to prospective employers. He elevated himself from ninth place overall to seventh with a ferocious turn of speed that only nine other riders could match. Amongst this elite posse was the man who appears destined to claim a seventh Tour title as well as Ivan Basso, Mickael Rasmussen, Jan Ullrich, Francisco Mancebo and Levi Leipheimer – the riders ranked second to sixth in the general classification before the 17th stage – along with two more riders from the Discovery Channel team.
The line that is drawn awaits in Paris.
For Armstrong the curse is his commitment to retire even though he’s clearly in peak condition.
There are “slow” ones now who will later become stars… but they will do so without the presence of the most successful Tour rider in history.
And the fact that riders from the Discovery Channel team are now given the freedom to chase stage wins confirms the final line of Dylan’s famous song. The times, they certainly are a changin’!
Savoldelli became the second rider from Armstrong’s team to have won a stage of this year’s Tour. His team leader may have the yellow jersey with an apparently unbeatable advantage over his challengers, but Lance has not yet had the pleasure of celebrating a solo stage victory in his final race.
Perhaps that is the curse. Jan Ullrich still believes that the race has not yet been won. After yesterday’s stage the 1997 champion insisted that he still has ambitions for the yellow jersey in the 2005 Tour. He is almost six minutes behind Armstrong and the only real chance for him to get closer to his American nemesis is in the time trial on the penultimate day.
Although the mountains are a thing of the past, the challengers still hold some hope of a collapse by Lance. Eternal optimism is the driving force Ullrich and Vinokourov. Others are more realistic.
No matter what challenges are thrown at him, Armstrong has an answer. Even on a day that threatened to be dull because of a long escape by 17 riders – who became animated in the final 50km and contested the stage win – the yellow jersey had the energy to respond to an unexpected taunt from ‘Vino’ and ‘Ulle’ at the end. And, for the effort, the Discovery Channel crew netted the lead in the teams classification.
T-Mobile had been in charge after 16 stages. They held an advantage of almost 20 minutes over Armstrong’s squad but several elements changed that reality. Firstly there was the retirement of last year’s runner-up Andreas Kloden, who realized that racing with a broken scaphoid bone sustained in a crash yesterday was not an option. Then came Savoldelli’s cunning victory ahead of the remnants of the escape group. Finally, the presence of Armstrong, Yaroslav Popovych and George Hincapie in the top 23 of the stage helped elevated Discovery Channel to first place in the team rankings. The lead is, however, a slender one of just 37 seconds.
Don’t be fooled into thinking the 17th stage was dull just because there was a long period of apathy in the bunch. The escapees may have pushed their advantage up to over 24 minutes but they raced with vigor at the end and ensured the tension was high. The champion of the Giro d’Italia is now a Tour stage winner. There top order of the general classification was shuffled about once again. And the team prize is now a close contest. And this was “just” a transitional stage. Yes, the times – they are a changin’!

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