Cycling Safari

Stage 3: Esch-sur-Alzette to Valkenburg, 216.5 km / 134 mi

- by Cathy Mehl

Although the race is called the Tour de France, we didn’t see any French roads on Stage Three as today’s ride began in yesterday’s finish town, and rolled through Luxembourg, Belgium and ended the day in the Netherlands. Many of the roads were familiar to the cyclists as they were the same ones used in the spring Classics of Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Amstel Gold, including the climb up the Cauberg, 2 km from the finish in Valkenburg. If a rider could get away on the final climb, victory would be his.

A group of five riders moved off at 16 km into the race, and stayed away for most of the day. This group was initiated by Jens Voigt (CSC), a true powerhouse rider that is known for his strong, solo rides to victory. Joining Voigt were Jose Luis Arrieta (AG2R), Unai Etxebarria (Euskaltel), Jerome Pineau (Bouygues), and Christophe Laurent (Agritubel). This group gained a maximum gap of six minutes before the peloton began to close it down.

Arrieta broke away from the leading group and fought to maintain a lead of over a minute as he approached the Cauberg. As the sprinters’ teams organized themselves on the front, Arrieta gave it full gas to stay away but to no avail as he was caught on the climb. Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile), still stinging from yesterday’s catch at 50 meters before the line, popped off the front and cranked it up all the way to the finish line. Up and over the Cauberg, the visions of being so close to the win the day before drove him toward the line. He crossed in front of teammate Michael Rogers and Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital), giving T-Mobile a one-two punch for the stage.

The yellow jersey changed backs once again, as Tom Boonen (Quick Step) came in ahead of Thor Hushvod and snatched the lead by one second over Rogers. Boonen hasn’t managed to get his sprints right or win a stage, but he’s now in yellow and will enjoy his day in the sun on Stage Four, wearing the Maillot Jaune as the race rolls out of Huy, Belgium and returns to the roads of France by the day’s end.

It was a hot, hot day with temperatures nearing the 100F mark, as riders tried to stay hydrated over the many climbs of the day. An accident at 54 km to go brought down American rider Fred Rodriquez (Davitamon-Lotto) and Erik Dekker (Rabobank). Fast Freddy had been Robbie McEwen’s lead-out man in his win yesterday and was sure to do more work for McEwen in the stages to come. Both are out of the Tour with broken collarbones. A second crash with 19 km to go took down top GC contender Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears), with what looked to be a collarbone injury as well. Stuart O’Grady might have been involved in that same accident, as he came riding in slowly by himself at the end of the stage. The road took its toll on the peloton today.

* Tour history has Discovery Channel’s Director Sportiff Johan Bruyneel winning a stage into Liege in 1995, beating five-time Tour winner Miguel Indurain to the line. When Indurain attacked and Bruyneel followed, another rider recognized the move as the winning one and tried to cross over to the twosome. That rider was none other than seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong.

* Luxembourg is a cycling-crazy nation, but has had only one winner in the history of the Tour. Charly Gaul hailed from Luxembourg and raced during the 1950s and ‘60s. He was nicknamed “The Angel of the Mountains” for his ride in the 1955 Tour when he left his rivals 15 minutes behind him on his way to claiming the KOM jersey. He won the Tour in 1958 and remained a true cycling hero in his home country until his recent death in December at age 72.