THE RACE LIVE

The film of the stage

McEwen vs Boonen: The Battle Continues

The non-time trial stages of the 2005 Tour de France have run to a similar formula: a group of escapees gets clear early, around the mid-way mark the Davitamon-Lotto and Quickstep-Innergetic teams come to the head of the peloton and begin the pursuit of the fugitives and set up a bunch finish. Tom Boonen then blasts into the lead. There was, however, a variation to the theme today. Robbie McEwen maintained his composure and followed the green-clad Belgian up the finishing straight. In the last 25 meters the Australian champion moved left, pounded down on his pedals and pushed himself ahead at the crucial moment.
The man who won the first two road stages of the 92nd Tour was in the prime position in the dying moments of the stage. Boonen received the perfect lead-out from Stefano Zanini and Guido Trenti in the finishing straight. He was the first of the sprinters to hit out on the slightly uphill finale. It took no time at all for Boonen to get into the lead but today he had a fast-moving shadow.
Fuelled by the frustration of being relegated from third to 186th place in stage three, McEwen refused to concede defeat to the leader of the points classification. As the line loomed Tom ran out of gas and Robbie swooped.
The Davitamon-Lotto team sprinter admits that defending the green jersey which he won in 2002 and again last year, is a big ask because of the race jury’s decision two days ago. Although he won the stage, he is still well behind in the points tally because of Boonen’s consistency. “The best I can hope for now is stage wins,” said McEwen. “Today I proved that I’m the fastest rider in the peloton but the win is bittersweet.
“I should have had third-place points from the sprint in Tours but the ‘commissaires’ didn’t agree.”
It’s hard to win the green jersey in the Tour de France. And it’s even more difficult against a formidable opponent like Boonen. As we saw today, however, McEwen doesn’t give in easily. Although he claims that the points classification is out of reach, he’s destined to make another challenge in the stage to Nancy tomorrow. Before that happens, however, we can expect to see another group of opportunists scamper ahead to absorb the intermediate sprint points. This is the scenario of stages two, three and five.
The rouleurs today were Juan Antonio Flecha (FAS), Salvatore Commesso (LAM), Laszlo Bodrogi (C.A) and Kjell Carlstrom (LIQ). They fought hard to stay ahead but the sprinters’ teams simply toyed with the escapees allowing them to linger ahead until the final 10km. This is when the traditional jostling for position began and, once again, the Quickstep and Davitamon teams proved their ability to find the front at exactly the right time.
Expect a similar scene in stage six. Egos are on the line. Can Robbie match Tom’s tally of stages this year? He’ll certainly try.
This is the Tour de France and anything can happen. One thing is almost certain in July; Lance Armstrong will wear the yellow jersey. But this was something that almost didn’t happen today. In a sympathetic gesture for Dave Zabriskie, the rider who lost the overall lead because of a crash at the end of the team time trial, Armstrong refused to don the coveted jersey at the start of the stage.
He didn’t believe he’d earned the right to wear yellow because of the unfortunate circumstances that surrounded his inheritance. In the neutral zone, Lance wore his Discovery Channel jersey but the race organizers insisted that the peloton stop at the site of the official start. They had to coax Armstrong into yellow. He eventually succumbed to their wishes and racing got underway, albeit five minutes after the expected departure time.
Once the action began, the riders quickly set about making up for lost time. Flecha covered no less than 52km in the first hour. And by the finish, McEwen’s average speed was an impressive 48.584km/h making today the seventh fastest stage in the history of the Tour.
The conditions have obviously been favorable for the average speed after 663.5km is 48.242km/h! This is bound to drop once the race reaches the mountains. But until then, expect to see the two main sprinters plying their trade at the front of the peloton. Tom versus Robbie – it’s already a familiar theme and it’s one that’s likely to continue through to Paris.

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