TDF - Cadel Watch Stage 8

The Stage

Well the 8th stage promises to be a brutal one with a distance of 165km from LeGrand-Bornand to the ski town of Tignes. But it's not the horizontal profile that's the killer, it's the vertical with 3 category 1 climbs - Cormet de Roseland (19.9km @ 6%), Montee d’Hauteville (15.3km @ 4.7%) and Montee de Tignes (18km @ 5.4%). Yikes the legs are trembling just thinking about it. Chuck in a Cat 2, 3 and 4 for good measure and we should get a good shaking out from this stage leading into tomorrow's rest day.

The Highlights

An early breakaway of 18 riders was established during the 2nd category climb up the Col de Tamie at around the 36km mark. Among them were Mick Rogers (T-Mobile) and Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) who are the leaders for their respective teams.

Cormet de Roseland

The first shudder put through the field was on the climb up the Cormet de Roseland with the irrepressible Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) exploding away from the peloton to join Michael Rogers' group and completely shattering it leaving just Rogers, Berhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner), David Arroyo (Caisse D'Epargne), Antonio Colom (Astana), Stefan Goubert (AG2R) in the lead. They would end up going over the top of Roseland 1 min 16 secs ahed of the second group of 7 containing George Hincapie (Discovery), and 5 min 06 secs ahead of what was left of the main peloton.

So even though there are 3 big names ahead of them, none of the GC riders have blinked at this stage preferring to hang tough with the safety in numbers strategy.

But, as we know, going uphill is only half the battle, you also have to go down the other side and this can be fraught with danger. Just ask David Arroyo and Mick Rogers who crashed on the descent with Arroyo disappearing into the trees on the side of the road. Fortunately both were unhurt and were able to rejoin the race pretty quickly.

Montee d’Hauteville

Sadly for Mick Rogers the earlier crash has seriously hampered his climbing effectiveness thanks to an injury to his right wrist and when Michael Rasmussen said GO, only Colom and Arroyo were able to go with him. Rogers looks at this point as though he will be lucky to survive the day...and sure enough, a few kilometers later he abandons the Tour de France in tears. (bugger) He's gone from being the virtual leader of the race to out with one misjudged corner.

Montee de Tignes

Hitting the final climb and Rasmussen puts the blowtorch to Colom and Arroyo and they crack in quick succession leaving him to ride on alone. We've seen this in past Tours but it never fails to impress.

Back down the road and the attack from the peloton finally comes, but it's Christophe Moreau that makes the move, taking with him Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne), Frank Schleck (CSC), Alberto Contador (Discovery), Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) and Cadel Evans.

Cadel Watch

Although Cadel covered moves today, like last year, he simply refuses to initiate any attacks himself. At some stage if he's going to be any chance he's going to have to try to put others into difficulty in stead of just reacting.

You could see that Christophe Moreau was getting very frustrated at the lack of help as he was trying to put a big gap on Vino and Kloden. I'm just hoping that Evans is racing to a plan that includes covering moves in the Alps and then attacking in the Pyrenees (I've got to hang my hat on something).

In a disastrous day for the Aussies, Mick Rogers abandoned, Stuart O'Grady also crashed and was taken to hospital and Robbie McEwen didn't make the time cut-off and is also gone for this year. Which prompts me to add the comment I made earlier...BUGGER!

As it was he managed to finish in 6th place for the stage, with the top 10 looking like this.

1. Michael Rasmussen
2. Iban Mayo
3. Alejandro Valverde
4. Christophe Moreau
5. Frank Schleck
6. Cadel Evans
7. Andrey Kashechkin
8. Alberto Contador
9. Denis Menchov
10. Carlos Sastre
    

The Contenders

1 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
3 Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) 2' 39"
5 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne) 2' 52"
6 Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) 2' 53"
7 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 3' 06"
8 Alberto Contador (Discovery) 3' 10"
11 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 3' 35"
12 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 3'46''
13 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 3' 53"
14 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 3' 54"
15 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 4' 00"
17 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 3' 19"
22 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 5' 23"
37 Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) 4' 32"

I've added Rasmussen and Alberto Contador to the list of contenders after this stage. Even though Rasmussen isn't a noted time-triallist he may do enough in the Alps and the Pyrenees to make that a moot point. As for Contador, wow, how much speed has he got going up those climbs? Except for a flat tyre late he would have been right up there in the top 2 or 3 for the stage. I would think he'll be the Discovery leader from here on out with George Hincapie cracking big time on the last climb and dropping right out of contention.

The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile)

Team Leader : Rabobank

TDF - Cadel Watch Stage 7

It's Bastille Day and the first day in the Alps, although it's expected to be more of a feeling out day than a make or break defining stage of the Tour. The course for the stage includes just the one Category 1 climb over the Col de la Columbiere which comes around 14km from the end of the 197.5km stage.


The Highlights

As pretty much expected an early breakaway was made with a group of 15 riders (probably a little bigger than would normally be comfortable) getting as much as 8'10'' in front.

The composition of the breakaway was Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse D’Epargne) Linus Gerdemann (T-Mobile) Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) Martin Elmiger (AG2R) Inigo Landaluze and Ruben Perez (Euskaltel) Fabian Wegmann (Gerolsteiner) Dmitriy Fofonov (Credit Agricole) Egoi Martinez (Dicovery Channel) Laurent Lefevre and Jerome Pineau (Bouygues Telecom) Benoit Vaugrenard (Francais De Jeux) Bram Tankink (Quickstep) Paolo Savoldelli (Astana) David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval).

Interestingly it was down to the Predictor Lotto to initiate the chase. Obviously with no-one in the break and thinking of Evans' chances in the GC they are being very attentive to the big moves. Here's what the directeur sportif of the Predictor-Lotto squad had to say when the chase began : “Today we have a decent size lead group and although there are no real top riders present, we can’t let them take 15 minutes, that’s why, together with CSC, we have decided to control the peloton because neither team has anyone in the escape. The idea is to try and get the leaders to within about four or five minutes before the start of the Col de la Colombiere and then we’ll let Cadel show what he’s got."

Out of the breakaway emerged Linus Gerdemann, Inigo Landaluze and David de la Fuente who all attacked on the early slopes of the Col de la Columbiere. Guerdermann then marked himself as a real talent to which reaching the top of the Cat. 1 climb 23 seconds ahead of Landaluze and then descended brilliantly to extend the lead to win the stage by 40 seconds from Landaluze and de la Fuente held on for 3rd at 1'39.

The peloton of favourites came in 3'38'' behind the winner with just about all the big names present.

But it's all about Gerdemann today who takes the yellow jersey with the win with Landaluze and de la Fuente taking up 2nd and 3rd (1'24'' and 2'45'' behind respectively).

Silvain Chavenal has kept the Polka Dot Jersey but Michael Rasmussen has begun to pick up points over the bigger climbs and I expect him to pick up a few more tomorrow. It should only be a matter of time before Rabobank has themselves that one.

Cadel Watch

Cadel Evans did everything that was expected of him today sticking with the main pack and has positioned himself nicely for the very hard stage tomorrow. His effort today has moved him up to 13th place overall 4 min 02 secs behind the leader. The big question will be who will be able to back up tomorrow for an even harder effort. The real race has begun...

The Contenders

6 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 3'39''
14 Michael Rogers (Team Mobile) 4' 03"
15 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 4' 03"
16 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 4' 06"
17 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 4' 06"
18 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne) 4' 09"
21 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 4' 15"
27 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 4' 22"
29 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 4' 23"
31 Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) 4' 26"
37 Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) 4' 32"
44 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 5' 16
54 George Hincapie (Discovery) 7' 15"

Review : Gospel by Sydney Bauer

Title : Gospel
Author: Sydney Bauer
Publisher: Macmillan Australia
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13 : 9781405038027
Sub-Genre: Legal / Political Thriller
Protagonist : David Cavanaugh




A daringly shocking conspiracy to murder an incredibly popular politician is the premise behind Sydney Bauer's second deeply compelling political / legal thriller Gospel. This is an ambitious thriller that tackles a crisis of monumental proportions and delivers an unforgettable story that is as unpredictable as it is enjoyable.

All that being said, it took me a little while to get into the flow of the story with plenty of preliminary ground to cover in setting up the various disparate threads. Once we are introduced (and reintroduced for those who've read Undertow) to the characters and caught up with their inter-relationships with each other, the story fairly races ahead.

David Cavanaugh is a Boston defence attorney and is asked to represent the man he considers he dislikes most in the world. Professor Stuart Montgomery has just been accused of murdering Vice President Tom Bradshaw and his wife has turned to Cavanaugh for help. Karin Montgomery hasn't spoken to David Cavanaugh since she walked out on their marriage without a word of explanation. Cavanaugh has to somehow put his personal feelings aside so that he can represent a man who he honestly believes is innocent. He also has to somehow break the fact that he has taken the case on to his girlfriend.

We know that the Vice-President has been murdered by a power-packed gang of 4. The conspirators have taken the codenames Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and have set themselves a dual-edged goal of gaining money and power in extreme proportions. Their meticulous planning looks as though at least 1 of them is destined to reach the most powerful position in the country.

Once a drug addict, the murder is made to look as though the Vice President has succumbed to his addiction again and has accidentally overdosed. But this is quickly discarded for the more damning possibility that his physician has administered a deadly dose of Oxycontin knowing it would kill him.

Despite a solid case against Montgomery put together by FBI Assistant Director in Charge Antonio Ramirez, detectives with the Boston Police Department have their doubts. Lieutenant Joe Mannix - friend of David Cavanaugh's - leads the doubters and is forced by his own peace of mind to open a parallel, secret inquiry.

The VP is only the first in a series of murders to take place around the country, all of which can be connected with his death and the plot of the Gospel IV as the conspirators have come to be known. Being seen to be connected to the case suddenly becomes dangerous to your health and no-one appreciates this more than David Cavanaugh.

Building from the shock of the opening murder we are given time to digest the fallout that is to come. Past relationships form an important part of the emotional turmoil surrounding the case and Bauer takes her time in impressing how difficult it is on all concerned. But the careful lead up pays huge dividends with a back half of monumental proportions that manages to take every idea that you've formed and turns it on its ear.

At times the dialogue struck me as overly melodramatic with turns of phrase scattered here and there that I simply couldn't imagine being used anywhere in the real world and this impacted enough to be annoyingly distracting. But the story is so well plotted and came together with such impeccable timing that it overshadows any of those small quibbles.

No legal thriller would be complete without its share of gripping courtroom scenes and, while the quantity of such scenes is not high, the quality most certainly is. One show-stopping witness follows the next in what turns out to be a very entertaining evidentiary hearing.

This is a legal thriller with a myriad pleasing aspects that makes it unique and fresh. The book is blessed with complex and interesting personal relationships, villains that are assholes just begging for a good kick in the teeth (lets face it, we all love to hate the bad guys and these bad guys make it easy to do). To top it all off, the ending is well worth waiting for with a series of ingenious twists thrown in for good measure.

TDF - Cadel Watch Stage 6

The Stage

The 6th stage is a relatively flat one that allowed the riders to get over the fun and games of the previous day and prepare for tomorrow's biggie. At 200km long they took off from Semur-en-Auxois, travelled through the Burgundy region and finished at Bourg-en-Bresse which is situated between Lyon and Geneva at the foothills of the Alps.

The Highlights

So, with 3 tortuous days through the Alps ahead of you, what would be the single most suicidal thing to try? Hmmm, perhaps a lone breakaway that would last the best part of 200km on the warmest day of the Tour so far. But surely there's no-one crazy enough to try that... Oh yes there is and his name is Bradley Wiggins.

Yes that's right Madly Wiggins took off, opened up a 17 minute break, picked up every sprint and mountain bonus and then was caught and spat out the back 7km from the finish line.

It all came down to a final day for the sprinters before they go into hiding and Tom Boonen proved too strong winning the stage and the Green Jersey. He was too strong for Oscar Freire and Erik Zabel on the line.

Silvain Chavenal extended his lead for the Polka Dot Jersey a tad more -- but expect this competition to take on a whole different look over the next few days. No surprise that Mad Brad (Wiggins) was given the honour of sporting a nifty set of red numbers for his combativeness and the White Jersey for Best Young Rider has moved across to Romain Feillu of AG2R.

Cadel Watch

Cadel Evans was able to stay out of trouble today and chose the wise option of steering well clear of the final sprint - smart move. He's in 16th place, still 56 seconds behind the leader. So little change today but all the big guns would have been keeping their powder dry for stage 7. The Tour is about to go vertical!!!

The Contenders

2 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 33 secs
6 George Hincapie (Discovery) 43 secs
18 Michael Rogers (Team Mobile) 57 secs
19 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 57 secs
22 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 1 min
23 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 1 min
36 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 1 min 9 secs
47 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 1 min 16 secs
49 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 1 min 17 secs
53 Iban Mayo (Saunier) 1 min 20 secs
63 Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) 1 min 26
81 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 2 min 10 secs

TDF - Cadel Watch Stage 5

The eyes are bleary but once again I am lovin it, lovin it, lovin it. The Tour de France is well underway with Stage 5 completed and we’re only a couple of days away from the first mountain stage in the Alps.

Because I’m putting in the hard yards every night and things are just starting to get serious, I hope you will indulge me as I enthuse over each stage and track the progress of the leader of the Predictor Lotto team, Cadel Evans. My hope is that he can maybe, just maybe, improve on his 5th placing from last year.

The Stage

Stage 5 was a 182km bump-fest from Chablis to Autun. Along the way the field of 185 riders had to overcome 3 category 4 climbs, 3 category 3 climbs and a 2nd category climb. But it wasn’t the uphill riding that caused the major problems, it was the descending and simply surviving in the pelaton.

The Highlights

There were a few crashes that affected some of the GC riders, most of them overcame their mishaps with just a few cuts and bruises. One who didn’t though was Alexander Vinokourov who came down inside the 20km to go mark and despite the best efforts of his team ended up losing 1:21 to the pelaton. To make the news doubly worse for the Astana team, Andreas Kloden who was runner-up in 2004 also crashed and although he remounted and finished the stage has since been diagnosed with a hairline fracture of the coccyx…nasty.

The winner of the 5th stage was Filippo Pozzato of the Liquigas team who came with a strong burst to beat out Oscar Freire (Rabobank) and Daniele Bennati (Lampre).

Fabian Cancellara retained the yellow jersey crossing the line in 12th place after a hair-raising final descent that saw him ride off the road behind one of the Discovery Channel riders.

Sylvain Chavenal (Cofidis) took maximum points in every climb until the last of the day to take a commanding lead in the King of the Mountain. This not surprisingly also earned him the Combativeness award for the stage and a set of red numbers for tomorrow.

The sprinters jersey has moved from the back of Tom Boonen across to the old man of the tour, Erik Zabel with Robbie McEwen hanging in for 3rd place.

Cadel Watch

All importantly, Cadel Evans looked to be riding comfortably at the front of the pelaton up the last 2 climbs when the pace really got going. There was a moment of madness at the end though when he must have begun channelling his team-mate Robbie McEwen and decided to contest the sprint. A brush with disaster when he brushed wheels with Daniele Bennati reminded him that he was there for the vertical, not the horizontal, racing.

Nevertheless, he picked up 11th place for the stage which has moved him from 21st to 15th overall, 56 seconds behind the maillot jeune. Just quietly, the other outside GC contender from Australia, Michael Rogers isn’t doing too badly at all sitting in 17th place just a second behind Evans.

The Contenders

2 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 33 secs
5 George Hincapie (Discovery) 43 secs
17 Michael Rogers (Team Mobile) 57 secs
18 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 57 secs
22 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 1 min
23 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 1 min
36 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 1 min 9 secs
47 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 1 min 16 secs
49 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 1 min 17 secs
53 Iban Mayo (Saunier) 1 min 20 secs
63 Juan Miguel Mercado (Agritubel) 1 min 26
81 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 2 min 10 secs

Around the Traps #6

Karen over at Aust Crime Fiction has given the thumbs up to Amongst the Dead by Robert Gott, revelling in the obnoxious failings of the books main character, William Power.

Over at the Page 99 Test, Appeal Denied by Peter Corris has been placed under the microscope.


Barry Maitland's Spider Trap is given a bit of a touch up at Euro Crime ahead of the US release next month.