Stage 4

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Stage 4

July 8 Charleville-Mezieres - Saint-Dizier 160 km

Before I start with today's write up, there is something I want to discuss in order to help you as athletes in making decisions about coaching and also in making tactical observations. The reason I did not include Tyler Hamilton in my top ten guess this year is because of the following information and analysis.

Last Spring, Tyler got sick, had to rest to recover, and then had to rebuild. I had assumed that he probably just had a cold and would recover well so I included him in my analysis based on his performance the prior year. In the Tour, we found out that his performance was off significantly with him finishing outside the top ten when he should have been a top five finish.

Normally, what you do when a rider has a problem like this, you work with that rider to determine the cause of his illness so you can take steps to minimize the potential for it happening again. This will often include changes in the rider's training and racing program for the following season.

This Spring, again, Tyler got sick, had to rest to recover, and then had to rebuild. This would raise a really large red flag with me. The first thing I would do is to identify the cause of this problem. By this time, it would include the athlete seeing a doctor to make sure nothing medical is wrong as was the case with Armstrong having cancer. I regularly send athletes with any chronic problem to doctors to get better information for me to work with.

As a coach, I personally cannot be happy until I know why a rider is having a chronic problem. As soon as I know why the rider's problem is chronic, I can work to help them either prevent the problem or get the most from their training in the event the problem is permanent such as a genetic or hormone problem.

As a rider, I cannot be happy until I know why I am having the chronic problem and can either stop the problem or make the best of the problem. If I had a problem like this the first time, I would get together with my coach to identify the cause and, if possible, come up with a solution knowing that there are problems for which medicine just doesn't have a solution yet. I would give my coach a fair opportunity to resolve the problem as best as is possible.

If this problem occurred again, during the second season, and my coach still could not identify the cause and/or provide me with any possible solution, I would either see the doctor on my own or find another coach to help me.

For tactical reasons, you need to be able to see potential problems other riders are having. For example, I noticed a slightly below normal performance by Armstrong in the Dauphine this year with him losing time in the mountain stages and not destroying Mayo in the time trial. This could mean nothing, it could mean Mayo is in much better shape than last year posing a significant threat to Lance, it could mean that Lance was not going so hard either for tactical reasons or because he may be losing his mental edge, or it could mean that Lance is either overtrained or has developed a medical problem.

I have noticed that most people just say, "Oh, that probably doesn't mean anything", and just forget it. I couldn't count the times this attitude has led to a disaster. I can't do that and must at least catalog it in the back of my mind to keep an eye on it. If it means nothing and I watch it, then I was safe. But, if it means something and I was not watching, it could cost me an opportunity to win the race.

Then when I see another little red flag flutter just a little like Lance finishing a little off in form in the Prologue at the Tour, I put that little notice in the back of my mind to watch this thing in bold print. It has now become something that is important to watch.

If I were his competition, I would see this as a potential opportunity to make a kill later in the race. I would be looking for the first waver in his performance ready to pounce before he could recover or his team could cover for him. I have found that such opportunities appear quickly and briefly. If you are not ready and anticipating their appearance, you will almost always miss the opportunity. This is another one of those little things you have to be watching to get the right big picture.

If I were his coach, I would be talking to him and watching him to see what is going on. If the problem persists during the Tour, in consideration with his past medical history, I would have him see a doctor immediately after the Tour. Then I would sit down with him and find out what is going on. As soon as I find out what is going on, then we can make the decisions required.

But during the Tour, I would have already worked up potential strategies to use in the event we can't use the original strategies. A weaker rider can't use the same strategies that a stronger rider can.

Today

The racing started out fast and aggressive today and stayed that way all the way to the finish with a variety of strategies being used. First, was the mad dash for the KOM points I told you would happen with Mengin getting just enough points to extend his lead and hold on to the KOM Jersey.

You have to understand that getting or keeping a points related title and jersey today had more meaning than any other day of the Tour except for the last day because you will be guaranteed that you get to keep it for the next two days because no points can be won for these titles tomorrow in the team time trial. So, if you finish the day in a jersey, you, your team, and your sponsors reap the benefits of keeping the jersey for the next two days. This means you can get two days benefit from one day's hard riding so they rode even harder.

Plus have you realize that, after they hit the mountains, many of the riders who have a chance to wear one of these jerseys will be so far behind in points that there will be no hope for them to wear it again for another year. These riders only have two more days of flat racing to grab one of these jerseys before they are out of reach. This means the competition will be much stiffer for the next few flat days.

Again, you MUST understand the significance of wearing one of these jerseys for just one day. It can change or propel your cycling career to a higher level over night. It will move you up the ladder on your team or get you a better position on another team. This will increase racing opportunities for you in the future. These jerseys open doors for people's careers. They will race very hard for them and that hard racing will effect the race for the Yellow Jersey.

A number of attacks launched after the KOM prime with the riders hoping for the long rides of the previous stages and earning points or time towards one of those valued jerseys. Finally, after the first road prime, a break with Etxebarria, Cruz, and Hary headed up the road and looked like it might stay for a while but some one didn't like what they saw. FDJ had Cruz up the road to pick up prime points and force other teams to chase while the FDJ riders could rest in the peloton for the lead out in the final sprint. BLB probably had Hary up the road to win a stage and anything else he could get while Euskaltel probably had Etxebarria up the road as a control to save their team's legs for tomorrow's team time trial because they have lost their leaders over five minutes in the team time trial for the last two years. All three riders were being used as a control on the peloton to force other teams to chase while their teams rested so this was a control break looking for extra goodies known as jerseys and stage wins.

But somebody didn't like the mix up the road and/or had other intentions. AG2r started the chase to get the break back in early so they could have fresh legs to lead out Kirsippu for the Yellow Jersey or to get him time bonuses in the road primes to move up on GC. DEL had the strategy of getting the break back before the last two road primes so their rider, Nazon could pick up more time bonuses in the last two primes in an effort to get the Yellow Jersey.

The two teams succeeded in getting the break back before the second road prime and Nazon succeeded, with the help of his team, in obtaining the time bonuses required to grab the Yellow Jersey. DEL succeeded and AG2r didn't but still effected the outcome of the stage.

Following the last road prime, the peloton permitted a solo rider to escape up the road as a control to stop the attacking and take a rest. I quickly looked at my standings and saw that the young rider up the road posed a threat to FDJ, AG2r, and Ban for the White Jersey and FDJ and Cof for the Yellow Jersey. He also was playing havic with Del's strategy to get the Yellow Jersey before the team time trial tomorrow when Nazon will probably fall out of reach of getting it. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this solo rider would not be permitted to stay. He was interfering with the plans of too many teams.

Sure enough, DEL jumped on the front and ran the rider down with 15 km to go. At this time, the teams moved their sprinters up front and began dancing for position. This time, Fassa got their way putting Petacchi across the line for his second stage win in the last three stages. This second win will guarantee Petacchi that he will remain the top sprinter for another year and probably get a pay increase of at least a few hundred thousand dollars per year.

By the end of the day, Nazon (DEL) got the Yellow Jersey, Cooke (FDJ) protected the White Jersey, McEwen (LOT) protected the Green Jersey, Mengin (FDJ) protected the KOM Jersey, and Finot (DEL) protected the Combativity Title. The Green, KOM, and Combativity Jerseys can't change hands for two more stages because of the team time trial tomorrow.

There are some notes I need to make about today's racing. First, a news item today confirmed what I told you about Hamilton staying in to help his team in the team time trial tomorrow. He is reported to having said that he may stay in longer but he will have to see how it is going. Considering that he got dropped in both yesterday's and today's stages because of the pain and knowing how much stress he will have to place on that collar bone when climbing, I seriously doubt that he will be able to stay past the first day in the mountains if he does continue after the team time trail. I expect him to blow his legs out early, get dropped, and not make cut off because leaning forward on those aerobars will be extremely painful.

The crashes are really taking a toll in this Tour. There have been a number of crash victims sliding out the back when the peloton got going fast. Expect quite a few injured riders to drop out during or after the team time trail.

Learn to read the bottom of the standings because that tells you which top riders and GC riders have been relegated to riding as domestiques. That is because they will bust butt for the team and, since they are not concerned about their own time, fall out the back to rest their legs for future stages causing them to lose a lot of time. As a racer and as a coach, this will quickly show you which riders the other teams are not riding for so you can concentrate your efforts against those they are riding for and not waste energy.

And then there is the thing about Beloki's toe nails. If your toe nails get too long, especially for longer stages, they will push against the front tops of the shoes as you push down pulling the nails up and away from your toes. After about 50 miles or more of this, the pain will be so intense that you can't even push down and you will quit. ALWAYS make sure your toe nails are properly clipped before any races or long rides. You will enjoy your racing so much more without all that pain. :-)

Tomorrow

Tomorrow will be what I call the first significant sort of the race. The top riders will be sorted out based on the strength of their teams as a whole. This will be one of those stages where riders don't really gain time but you can sure lose it quickly. The basic strategy here is to ride your butt off to make sure your team and team leader don't lose more than one minute to the top team.

Positions for the Yellow and White Jerseys will shift radically by the end of the day and we will know which riders don't have a prayer in riding for the Yellow Jersey and will be relegated to riding for a top placing, other jersey, stage wins, and/or as a domestique. This will be the first significant stage of this Tour for the timed titles. It wont matter for the points related titles.

After tomorrow, almost all of the sprinters will shift their focus to racing for the Points Jersey and stage wins. It will be interesting to see who the best teams are with some of the changes that have taken place this last year. I expect to see USP, Bianchi, Rabobank, Gerolsteinere, and CSC at the top and am waiting to see how ONCE, Saeco, and Euskaltel finish. The big question will be, "Who will lose too much time?"

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