Stage 5

T
D
F

2
0
0
6

Back to Main Tour Index
Go to coachcarl.com Home Page

Stage 5

Day 5 Huy - Saint Quentin 215 km

Results

There was a lot of fun stuff to teach about today. This will be a good right up. Like I told you yesterday, a KOM team would keep the breaks in check until after the first KOM prime and Pineau's team did that setting him up for the prime. The attacking started after the first KOM prime and mostly riders riding just for the stage win went up the road. There was one exception, DSC sent Martinez up the road in the break in hopes of it staying away and him taking the Yellow Jersey. He barely failed and it was a good effort that moved him up to 5th on GC setting him up for another try in a few days.

Note that FDJ, being a young team, sent a rider in the break for the stage win. Expect them to continue to do this throughout the Tour and the smart coaches and riders will use this information to help them achieve their goals. It is very common for a team racing for a title to work very well and permit a rider racing for the stage win to take the stage win in order to get that rider's assistance and help your team win something more important. Know what your competition is focused on and use it to your advantage. Know who you have to beat and who you don't. Don't try to fight every fight in a stage race or you will lose your fight. Pick your fights and only fight the ones you can win.

It is very important that you learn to read race courses the way I teach in my e-book, "A Better Way To Train" so that you can set your individual and team strategies. You need to know what to do and when to do it so you don't waste energy on the wrong stages. Remember that what you do in one stage will effect every stage after that so know how to pick the stages you should race hard in and how to rest at race speed in the other stages. I teach you the details for all this stuff in my e-book.

Today, Boonen's team was on the defense and it probably cost him the stage win because it meant his team was tired for the leadout while the other sprinter teams were fresher. I told you to watch McEwen for today and he won. Other experts were saying Boonen would win today but they ignored several important facts. First, Boonen's team spent the day chasing while Robbies' team rested. Second, McEwen fell out the back of the peloton and rested yesterday because the finish was hilly and he knew he would be wasting energy against riders like Hushovd, Boonen, Zabel, and O'Grady and not win anyway while Boonen and the others fought hard through those hills. WATCH THE BACK OF THE PELOTON TO SEE WHO IS RESTING!!! I keep telling you this and even top riders and coaches keep forgetting. You know what other teams are up to when you see who is resting out the back and can take advantage of it tomorrow. (Great stuff, huh? :-) Don't you just love this sport?)

I really hated to hear today that O'Grady has suffered a hairline fracture to the lumbar area of his back. This will almost certainly put him out of the race when he reaches the mountains because the pain in climbing with a lower back injury is excruciating. He will probably DNF in the mountains because of the pain.

The sprinter teams started chasing after the second road prime and barely caught the break in the last few kilometers. Only a surge by the leadout riders caught the break. I told you there was a fairly good chance of a break winning this one and it almost happened.

Notice that, when McEwen had a mechanical and his team was chasing the break, the team quit chasing to help McEwen back to the peloton. Pro's know you don't work against team mates and will stop chasing to get one back into the peloton unless it is tactically bad for them to do so. Again, read my book.

The most important thing that happened today was that McEwen regained the lead in the Points Title. It is very important that he gain as much of a lead as possible before the mountains because climbing sprinters can gain points on stages in the lower mountains. He needs a little buffer. There are still two stages which strongly favor McEwen before the mountains; stages 6 and 9. Watch him in those two stages.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is another long stage at 225 km. There is one cat 4 climb at 10.5 km for which the KOM teams will probably hold back attacks and try to setup their riders for the prime. Watch the KOM riders try to go on the attack following that prime with the break likely to be established by the prime because there are three more cat 4 climbs later in the stage and this is another stage which could be won by a break. So watch riders like Wegman, Pineau, De La Fuente, and Hernandez try to make that break. There are only two more stages which are significant to the current KOM riders before they hit the mountains; stages 5 and 8.

There will be three road primes at about mid stage that will not have much effect on the stage unless the break only has two riders in it. Then watch for Points riders to try and get the left over points. Sprinter teams may assign domestiques to chase those points so their top sprinters can rest for the finish and other sprinters can't get those points. You have to be thinking all the time in this sport.

The end of tomorrow's stage is conducive more attacking so watch for late attacks and last minute win efforts. It should be a good and fun stage.

In only three more stages, we will see the first significant sort of top riders on GC. See you tomorrow.

Back to Main Tour Index

Top of Page