Alpe d’Huez, France (Bicycling.com): No one who knows cycling—perhaps even Thomas Voekler himself—really believed that the feisty Frenchman could carry the Tour’s sacred shirt all the way to Paris. And they were right. But no one could have anticipated how his doomed struggle would inspire a country and a sport, for a second time.
Every stage of late, Voeckler took the jersey where no one expected him to go, first through the Pyrenees, then into the Alps. But in recent days, Voeckler clearly showed signs of fatigue, losing precious seconds each day.
Showing stunning resilience, the 32-year-old even managed to hold on to the race led by a mere 15 seconds after Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck stormed to victory on the famed Galibier Pass on Stage 18.
The fact that Voeckler finally cracked on stage 19, a short and intense romp back over the Galibier, then up Alpe d’Huez, surprised no one. But it was manner in which he collapsed that will remain etched in the memory of many observers.
Bad news started for Voeckler almost immediately when three-time Tour winner Alberto Contador attacked at the foot of the first climb, the Telegraphe. When Cadel Evans and then Andy and Frank Schleck joined in, Voeckler had no choice but to follow. But while he initially managed to follow today’s Tour giants, he never looked comfortable, as he was constantly out of his saddle pushing a bigger gear.
Frank Schleck was the first to succumb to Contador’s torrid tempo. And then Evans then let a gap open, a gap that Voeckler could not close. Slowed by a mechanical, Evans opted to return to the protection of the pack. Voeckler, however, insisted to press on alone. And for next 20 kilometers, Voeckler simply refused to accept his own defeat.
When Voeckler digs deep it is never pretty, but on this day his physical riding style verged on the spastic as he constantly threw his bike back and forth.
And for that brief period in the stage, Voeckler managed to match Contador and Schleck as he held them to within a 30-second gap. Finally, however, he cracked. Worn down by the steady headwinds up the Galibier, his pedal stroke slowed as he neared the top of this 17-kilometer climb. Finally he cracked.
“When I dig I can really dig,” Voeckler said after the finish. “But when I crack, I really crack.”
French television commentators celebrated Voeckler’s last stand as heroic. And in many ways it was. But it also proved to be a tactical blunder and most likely cost him any chance of finishing on the podium.
Still in the red, he could not hold the wheel of Evans, who led the chase over the top of the Galibier. And while his Europecar teammates managed to bring him back to the group of favorites before they reached the Alpe d’Huez, he quickly folded once they attacked the mythic climb.
“I made an error. I’m not superhuman” he admitted at the finish. “I should have waited earlier, but for 15 kilometers I held Contador and Schleck at 20 seconds so I thought I had a chance.
But while he faded on the Alpe d’Huez, his teammate Pierre Rolland was suddenly transformed, catching up to Alberto Contador and then powering away to victory. Voeckler finished three minutes 22 seconds later, dropping him now to fourth place, two minutes 10 seconds behind new race leader Andy Scheck.
After the finish, Voeckler spoke of his own defeat, but also of his teammate’s victory. “Sometimes we can be very disappointed but also very happy.”
Source: http://www.bicycling.com/tour-de-france/home/voecklers-last-stand
Vernon T. Showers Elaine A. Blizzard Tammy C. Israel Beth C. Mejia Cynthia K. Austin Ana J. Edwards
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