Chavanel races to victory in first mountains stage

Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) won his second stage of this year's Tour de France at Station des Rousses on Saturday, and completed another double, taking over the yellow jersey, just as he also did in Spa at the end of stage 2.

Unlike in Spa, however, the history books will show no asterisk against Chavanel's name after this victory - which, again, he achieved alone.

If his win in Spa carried a hollow ring, with the race neutralised behind him following the crash-marred descent of the Stockeu, at the summit of Station des Rousses, there was only acclaim and admiration after a gutsy and perfectly-timed and executed counterattack.

From Chavanel himself, there was an exuberant, fist-pumping, medallion-kissing celebration along the finishing straight, while, behind him, there were skirmishes and a minor sort out of the overall contenders, but no significant winners or losers.

"We are on a roll on this incredible 2010 Tour," said Chavenel to Letour.com. "We started with the whole team, and it has gone perfectly. What we did in the stage to Spa was extremely rare. But to do it twice - oh, it's wonderful. Now we will try to win a third!"

Indeed, a stage described as a "medium mountain" stage conformed exactly to expectations. The six classified climbs included two long category two-rated ascents towards the end - the Col de la Croix de la Serra and the Côte de Lamoura - and these saw the favourites gather at the front.

"I think next year I will no longer compete for the month of May, considering the form I've currently got at the Tour. I had legs of fire, and I knew I was on climbs that suited me very well - a gradient of four per cent, hills more than a mountain," said Chavenel to Letour.com.

But while the Croix de la Serra acted as the launchpad to Chavanel's victory, and effectively ended Fabian Cancellara's (Saxo Bank) spell in yellow, it told us very little about the climbing form of Alberto Contador (Astana), Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), Lance Armstrong (RadioShack) or Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky), with last year's top four all present, correct and looking comfortable.

"I was à bloc [flat out]. It was hot, really hot. It was too much for me, I couldn't do it," said Cancellara to AFP. "I've had some nice days in the yellow jersey, and tomorrow I'll go back to my normal one. Things will be quieter, calmer, less stress."

The 14km climb of the Côte de Lamoura, to the finish at Station des Rousses, appeared tough at the bottom, with a series of hairpins, but it proved to be no more revealing.

Contador had two Astana teammates set the pace, and, with the main group now whittled down to around 35 riders, it was enough to drop the day's darkhorse for the yellow jersey, Geraint Thomas (Team Sky). With Thomas eventually conceding more than three minutes to that group, the white jersey for best young rider passed on to Schleck.

"I am very happy to have the white jersey, I hope that in the coming days, I can get one of another color," said Schleck to AFP. "Fabian (Cancellara) was not on a good day. Now it's my turn to play. I feel fine."

At the finish, as French TV hailed the stage winner's panache, Chavanel embraced his countryman and Quick Step teammate Jérôme Pineau, who completed an outstanding day for the Belgian squad by featuring in the day's main break and significantly increasing his lead in the King of the Mountains competition.

Pineau had said, before the start, that he intended to try and score maximum points on the road from Tournus to Station des Rousses, and he almost succeeded, being first to the top of five out of the six climbs. It was Chavanel, of course, who scored double points at the stage finish, and he now sits second in the King of the Mountains competition, eight points behind Pineau.

"I had to score points to consolidate my polka dot jersey. I've been criticized at times for attacking too much, but it's been paying off at the Tour," said Pineau to AFP. "Rather than trying to make the right break, I attacked and found myself with Samuel (Dumoulin). It worked out well. On the last climb I gave it everything. When I heard that Sylvain was all alone, I picked it up to help, if even for 20 metres."

The man in polka dots first signalled his intent early, attacking in the first kilometre and being joined soon after by Christian Knees (Milram), Danilo Hondo (Lampre), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis).

By the summit of the first climb, the Côte de l'Aubépin, after 51km, they had a lead of eight minutes, 30 seconds - with Pineau first across the line, of course, ahead of Knees and Perez.

It was the Côte du barrage de Vouglans, the fourth hill of the day - and the first Cat. 2 climb of this year's Tour - that began to inflict the damage. Cancellara began to yo-yo - as, surprisingly, did Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia) - as the main group split in two, and Damiano Cunego (Lampre) bridged across to a counterattack that included Thomas Voeckler and Cyril Gautier (Bbox Bouygues Telecom), Matthew Lloyd (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Mathieu Perget (Caisse d'Epargne).

Up ahead, Pineau took off with Hondo, and they reached the top of the climb together. Knees followed, then Voeckler, Gautier, Cunego, Lloyd and Perget, with the peloton just over a minute behind.

Chavanel, meanwhile, sensed that the group containing Cunego - with the Italian widely fancied for the day's stage - was the one to join, and he set off in pursuit, bridging the gap in no time at all.

On the approach to the final climb Chavanel made another key decision, this time that Cunego's group wasn't going fast enough. And so he launched himself again - and so, at precisely the same time, did Pineau, dropping Hondo, and setting up a Quick Step pursuit race.

It didn't take Chavanel long to catch a spent-looking Pineau. "He tried to lead me," said Chavanel later to Cyclingnews, "but he was really tired, and it wasn't possible for him."

The climb to the finish, Chavanel admitted, was "exactly the type of climb I like." And it showed as he stormed up a gradient that averages five percent, pushing a huge gear.

"I began to think of the yellow jersey on the last climb, and I told myself that after having lost it, it was quite a coup to take it back again," said Chavenel to Letour.com.

Behind him, Pineau predictably dropped like a stone - he came in almost four minutes behind Chavanel - but Chavanel had a surprise pursuer in the form of Rafael Valls Ferri (Footon-Servetto), who chased him all the way up the climb and came in just 57 seconds down.

As Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank) - the winner of last year's penultimate stage to the summit of Mont Ventoux - came in for third, and Voeckler held on for fourth, the main group of 35 came in 1:47 down.

As well as last year's top four, the other favourites were all there - Cadel Evans (BMC), the Liquigas pair of Ivan Basso and Roman Kreuziger and Levi Leipheimer (RadioShack). In fact, the only loser among those who might be considered top 10 candidates was Armstrong and Leipheimer's teammate, Andreas Kloden, who conceded four minutes to Chavanel.

"It was very hot, it was a very hard day," said Schleck to AFP. "I was surprised by the difficulty of the stage. I am a little disappointed with myself. On the last climb, Contador and his team pushed the pace a bit too high in my opinion, because of the sudden the others would not ride with them then."

Chavanel plans to defend his jersey in Sunday's stage 8, 189km from Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz. "Tomorrow I will do everything to defend it, but I know that the battle will mainly concern Contador, Schleck and Evans," said Chavenel to Letour.com. "In the midst of it, I'll always give everything, but if I lose, it does not matter. Right now I'm on my little cloud, I'm floating and I don't know how else to describe it. But I see that I have great support on the road and everywhere. It warms my heart."

Full Results

Scott Sunderland's stage analysis

This was the first taste of the mountains for the riders and you could see that it was a bit of a shock for everyone: the guys who went on the attack and for the overall contenders who didn't.

If you consider that most of the riders arrived in Holland on the Tuesday before the Tour de France, that means that they haven't done any big climbing for almost two weeks. That's a significant factor and explains why none of the big guys really went for it. The heat was also a factor and it often is in the Jura mountains because it can be a very humid but also very hot area in the summer. It made for tough racing conditions and explains why Cancellara quickly lost contact and the yellow jersey.

Of course, none of the lack of aggression takes anything away from Sylvain Chavanel's ride. He is on form and is using it to spectacular effect. He has always been a gutsy ride and won it will again. Chapeau to him and his team for getting the stage and the yellow jersey again.

Some people thought that Geraint Thomas might have a chance of taking the yellow jersey but while it would have been nice, I think Geraint still needs to develop and gain more experience before he's got a real shot in situations like that. He's super talented but he built his week in the spotlight on his excellent ride in the prologue and then a strong ride on the cobbles. Being able to transfer that to the climbs is a big ask.

He perhaps went a little deep that he planned to this week but it was well worth it for him and Team Sky. His second place overall kept the team car in second place in the race convoy and so was quickly there for punctures, for feeding and back up. With Wiggins also under performing in the prologue, the strong ride by Thomas also kept the pressure off him and allowed him to get into the race. They are little details not everyone sees but they do make a difference. Brad looked good on the climbs and should be up their with the other contenders on Sunday. He is probably now motivated and ready for his own spell in the spotlight.

It's time for the first real show down in the Alps on Sunday and it should be a cracker. I think the last time the Tour went up there from this direction was back in 1985 when Hinault was battling with Luis Herrera. I can remember watching it.

It's a real climb and could produce a real old battle amongst Evans, Armstrong, Contador, Schleck, Basso and Sastre. They all need to be up there if they are to be true overall contenders and may give it absolutely everything because they know they have the first rest day afterwards.

I understand that Evans didn't get his BMC team to go after Chavanel because he didn't want to take the yellow jersey straight away. That's a clever move by Evans and shows he's playing an intelligent and long game. With Chavanel in yellow, it means that Quick Step will be happy to control the first half of the stage and then he can perhaps take the jersey at the finish, enjoy having it on the rest day and BMC will only have to start defending it on Tuesday after they've rested up. Decisions like that can make the difference between and losing the Tour in Paris.