Well, let's admit it, the Leopard Trek strategy for this year was slightly less "Win the Tour" and slightly more "Beat Contador", or possibly "Whatever happens, don't be beaten by Contador".
And we did it!
"We" being all our brave riders, the L-T team, and all us fangirls (and boys, but let's be honest, mostly girls) who added virtual pushing when necessary.
Yay! Two Schlecks on the podium! Yay!
OK, it would have been nice to have had one or other of them actually win the Tour: yes, it would have been very nice indeed, and I am sure that there are some big disappointments and some broken hearts this morning, but I am really, really thrilled with this result, and I hope that all other Schleck fans are, too.
I say "this morning", by the way, as I am writing this early on Sunday before the final day - and for the benefit of those reading this who might be new to cycling, the last day is, traditionally, just a parade or club ride for the GC contenders, as they accept that whatever the result was after the TT, that's it.
It's different for the sprinters, who are contesting for the Green Jersey or Points Jersey, as they have two last chances to get more points and possibly win that jersey. However, for our guys, the race is done, all they have to do is get to the end. I suppose that if Cadel Evans fell off and broke something, and was unable to complete the race, then Andy would win, but I can't imagine for one minute that he would want that. Well, maybe for one minute, in the darkness of the middle of the night, but it is unworthy, and no-one would be happy with a win under those circumstances. It would be too much like being given last year's title if Conti were to be banned after all this time. No, we have to accept that on the day, the stronger man won, and Cadel is stronger in the Time Trial and that's all there is to it.
There's been quite a lot of speculation that they should have taken more time out of their rivals earlier in the race, particularly in the Pyrenees. They should have attacked earlier, they should have done this, should have done that. Well, maybe, but am I a DS with many years experience of road racing tactics and rider psychology and physiology? No. Are you? No? Well, shut up, then.
There are always lessons to be learned, whether from winning or from "losing" (and I put that in quotes because I don't consider two podium finishes to be "losing") and if I had to stick my neck out and say something critical, just to prove that I'm not a woolly-thinking Schlecks-can-do-no-wrong uncritical worshipper, I would say that they should have ridden their own race, to win, not having a private battle with Contador. But they can only do what the legs would allow, and this is a fantastic result for the first year of a new team - we can all be so proud of them!
In fact, I don't think any other team has come anywhere near these results in their first year - Europcar have managed to get 4th, but they were pretty much an entire team that were taken over by a new sponsor, so it was new kit but basically the same set-up. (And a huge "Well Done!" to Europcar, by the way.) Leopard were a completely new set-up, pretty much rushed into existence, with new organisation, new kit, new bikes, new sponsors, new everything: their only saving grace was having a core of how many was it? 12 or so riders all from Saxo Bank, most of whom were in the Tour squad.
So, did we enjoy the Tour? (yes, I know it's not quite over yet, but you know what I mean). Was it the best Tour so far?
"Yes!"
That's my vote. The change to the Intermediate Sprint was inspired, it made things so much better than the predictable "oh look the HTC train are at the front all day" scenario. And if Cav wins the Green Jersey, then it will prove to be the better way of rewarding the best sprinter. And if he doesn't, then it will be most exciting finish for years, so we win both ways.
Ending in an individual TT is, in my opinion, the best thing: it gives us immense tension, that builds minute by minute in an otherwise visually less-than-thrilling discipline (oh! those button mushroom helmets!) and avoids having to watch riders killing themselves in a last-ditch attempt to climb a mountain, or thunder down a dangerous descent. Knowing that there is a TT to come, they can't do that on the last mountain day, they have to hold something in reserve.
Starting without a Prologue, however, is not so good. It's just plain silly to have the winner of the first stage having the Yellow, Polka Dot and probably Green Jersey as well. It's also unfair, as it takes away the chance of a jersey from other riders. I would much prefer not to have any Polka Dot points on the Prologue, and I don't see anything wrong with starting with a TTT for producing a Yellow Jersey winner - ok, it would probably be Fabian, but what's wrong with that? - and it does give a structure to the race right from the start. Without it, as we saw this year, it's a mad free-for-all which does not go well with the traditional early-Tour nervousness.
Now here's a thought: is there a mobile sweatshop that follows the Tour around, knocking up extra clothing?
Andy only went into Yellow on Friday night, but on Sat he was resplendent in a yellow skin-suit. I can't quite believe that any team would be arrogant enough to have skinsuits made up in yellow in advance, (I mean, how many would you make? What if you made up one for someone tiny, and your biggest rider then had to wear it? Or the other way round?) so there must be someone making them up at very short notice. And Sammy Sanchez of Euskaltel won the Polka Dot Jersey (and was I the only one to scream in horror at the clash of red polka dots with their orange kit?) then appeared a day later with matching shorts. I know that that organisers provide the jerseys (the teams provide the iron-on logos) but they don't provide shorts as well!
So I reckon there's a plain, unmarked truck somewhere, from which come the sounds of a generator humming and sewing machines zizzing, all through the night......
Here's a funny photo moment: at the presentation of the Young Rider's White jersey, anyone else spot that the podium girl wasn't given the Yeti in time?
The right-hand podium girl, from our point of view, had done the double-kisses thing to Pierre Rolland, he turned to the other girl for kisses and the flowers, and our girlie had to make hand signals behind her back to get the yeti!
Here she is, having it handed to her in an oh-so-casual, no-we-didn't-really-forget-it, pretend-nothing-is-happening sort of way.
She then coolly handed it to Pierre with a big smile.
You go, girl!
I have a thought to make about the actual TT performance as well - there's always a heap of people pushing and shoving to be first to say how bad the Schlecks are at TT, how weak they are, how terrible they are, etc etc, but they both came in the top 20. That's perfectly respectable for any GC contender, and pretty damn good for guys who acknowledge that they are not TT specialists. If they were superb at every discipline, it would be dull, dull, dull..... and the ASO themselves stated that they were striving to make cycling more interesting to watch. NB after Thursday afternoon spent following the ticker and squeeing on Twitter, I think Nim would agree that if it got much more exciting, there would be fangirls passing out from stress all over the place!
You have to spare a moment's sympathy for Andy, as well: did you catch that quick glimpse of him waiting to go up the TT start ramp? He was whiter than a white thing, and looked as though he was about to throw up. When asked afterwards about the TT, "how hard was it?" he said that it's been a while since he was suffering like that.
Yet he still did a very respectable TT: at the first and second check-points, the commentators were saying that he and Frankie had the same time to within one second, but at the end, Andy's time was some 3 seconds faster than Frankie - so he didn't exactly give up and cry, as most of us would have done. Good boy, Andy! (*big pat on back*)
Oh, oh, here's the video of Andy, a little while after the TT: Andy Post Stage 20.
He can't jump in the air, he says, but the team are happy, he is happy: what a guy! "Of course, in the beginning you are disappointed, but come on," he says, "it's the Tour de France!" "I go home with my head high, I don't go home a loser. "
As someone else said, "Andy is not only an amazing athlete but also an amazing person too, even though it would be hurting him inside to be runner-up again he's shown nothing but class in defeat and shown great respect to the Tour De France."
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