Ivanov solos into Besançon

Tipped to be unpredictable, the fourteenth stage of the 2009 Tour turned out to be exactly that. Out of a 12-man breakaway that saw Columbia-HTC’s George Hincapie in the maillot jaune virtuelle for much of the afternoon, only to be denied the real thing by a measly five seconds, Katusha’s Serguei Ivanov proved strongest among a dangerous dozen and found glory Saturday in Besançon.

It was Ivanov’s second victory in La Grande Boucle, his first coming on the ninth stage of the 2001 Tour from Portarlier to Aix-les-Bains. "Fifty kilometres before the finish, everybody knew there would be attacks and that it would be hard in the final because of the headwind," said Ivanov.

"I waited until the moment – the moment everybody feels tired and pain in their legs. I just had a feeling about that moment. I gave all my energy – even more – to push at the front. I only looked behind 200 metres before the finish, because I didn’t want to lose even half a second," he told Cyclingnews. His attack, 11 kilometres from the line, came off the back of at least three previous countermoves by the 12-strong breakaway in the closing 12 kilometres, where he finished 16 seconds ahead of Nicolas Roche (AG2R) and Hayden Roulston (Cérvelo TestTeam).

"After my victory in Amstel Gold, I was more relaxed and I knew I could do a lot [more]. Maybe that’s why the next victories came. I’d been trying to get in breaks since the first [road] stage of the Tour," Ivanov said, rating his two Tour stage wins and last year’s Amstel Gold Race as his equal finest moments.

Hincapie gets a slap in the face

The virtual leader for a good two-thirds of Saturday’s 199 kilometre journey from Colmar to Besançon, and leading a second push 35 kilometres out in an attempt to motivate his fellow escapees – almost the catalyst that broke the peloton’s back – Hincapie gave himself every chance to don cycling’s most famous tunic. Watching expectantly on television for the peloton to come in, the American from Greenville, South Carolina, was met with a slap in the face when the group containing overnight leader Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2R finished 5:36 behind, led home by Columbia-HTC’s Mark Cavendish.

The quadruple stage winner, however, was later disqualified for irregular sprinting after arch-rival Thor Hushovd (Cérvelo TestTeam), who finished directly behind in 14th place, put in a protest. It was accepted by the race commissaires, bumping the Norwegian into Cavendish’s previous spot, the latter later recorded as finishing at the back of the pack, thereby extending Hushovd’s lead in the points classification by a margin of 18.

If Hincapie was Maxwell Smart in the 1960s TV series Get Smart, he might have said, "Missed it by that much".

But it was no laughing matter – particularly when Hincapie saw a few jerseys from rival American squad, Garmin-Slipstream, involved in the chase-down along with AG2R, Astana and Silence-Lotto, although Garmin riders nor their sport director Matt White could not be reached for comment at the finish. To now stand second overall on the classement generale, five seconds off Nocentini, is little consolation for the hard-working American, who no doubt feels certain the leader board is set for a significant re-ordering following Sunday’s mountain-top finish to Verbier in Switzerland.

Sunday Nocentini’s last stint in yellow?

Nevertheless, it left Nocentini a bundle of smiles, set to enjoy his eighth consecutive day in the maillot jaune when he departs Pontarlier Sunday morning. "Tomorrow’s going to be a really tough day to keep my maillot jaune, but I’ll do my best and see what happens," said Nocentini.

"It was normal for my team not to work at the beginning [of the stage]. With 25 k’s to go, it was a difficult moment; [the peloton] stopped chasing, but then Columbia started helping out. I don’t know why, but they certainly helped a lot. I also don’t know why the Garmin team helped out; we didn’t speak with them at all. But three riders [from the Garmin team] came up to help in the last 10, 15 kilometres, and that certainly helped out and worked for us."

Levi Leipheimer’s departure on Friday, the result of a fractured wrist, left his fourth place overall vacant and moved those behind him up a rung, Hincapie and another member of Saturday’s successful escape, Christophe Le Mevel (Française des Jeux), have created a slight re-ordering. Astana’s dynamic trio of Alberto Contador, Lance Armstrong and Andréas Klöden are now third, fourth and seventh, respectively; Le Mevel is fifth; and Bradley Wiggins (Garmin-Slipstream), Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC), Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream) and Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) are sitting sixth to tenth on general classification.

But once again, it’s worth repeating: Sunday’s 15th stage to Verbier, at the end of 207.5 kilometres, will undoubtedly force a serious reshuffle.

From Colmar with love

For the second day running, it was another wet start, though the residents of Colmar turned out as if the sun was shining, the kids were playing, and the birds were singing – such is the pull of the Tour de France. Smack-bang on the French-German border, 164 lads set off for what would be an undulating run to Besançon, well known as a port of call at Le Tour, having visited here 17 times before Saturday.

Fourteen kilometres in, a heady 13 left the premises of the peloton for what would be the day’s main move, the bunch at first unwilling to let them go. Insistent on their decision, however, the latter eventually conceded, leaving the following names in the move: Roulston (Cervélo TestTeam), Jens Voigt (Saxo Bank), Martijn Maaskant (Garmin Slipstream), Hincapie (Columbia HTC), Roche (AG2R La Mondiale), Daniele Bennati, Frederik Willems (Liquigas), Le Mevel (Française des Jeux), Sebastian Minard (Cofidis), Daniele Righi (Lampre), Ivanov (Katusha), Gerard Ciolek (Milram) and Albert Timmer (Skil Shimano).

After 60 km the escape enjoyed a 2:23 led, Voigt’s puncture and a slow change of wheels shortly thereafter failing to see the tenacious German rejoin. Fourteen kilometres later with the break’s lead at 5:50, Columbia-HTC’s Hincapie, 5:25 behind Nocentini at the start of the day in 28th place, became the maillot jaune virtuelle. On the first of two Cat. 3 climbs, Willems led Timmer, Ivanov and Ciolek over the summit of Lebetain (km. 90.5), the peloton 5:30 in arrears.

Twenty kilometres later and over the Blamont (km. 111.5), the second and final categorised ascent, Minard, Ciolek and Willems were the first names across the line, their advantage to the peloton reaching a maximum 8:50 after 120 km, even though Roche was doing no work, acting as a marker for maillot jaune Nocentini. When was AG2R going to chase?

Entering the stage’s back half, rain eventually gave way to hazy sunshine, and the jerseys of AG2R and Astana came to the fore; it seemed neither was too keen to let Hincapie don the maillot jaune, which the American was beginning to get a real taste of. But 60 clicks from the finish, this dangerous dozen held an 8:30 lead. Quite clearly, the Golden Fleece was in Hincapie’s sight.

Still 6:45 ahead 25 clicks from home, his final destiny would not be known till the line, the American unlucky as one can get, missing out on yellow by a lousy five seconds. 5:36 before that, Ivanov’s attack 10.7 km out resulted in a completely different set of emotions when he crossed the line 16 seconds ahead of his former companions, wrapped in both agony and ecstasy.

 For images of stage 14 click here