Result: Cadel Evans rode the time trial of his life to win the Tour de France as the Schleck brothers have to settle for second and third.
Here’s how it happened: There were two battles going on during today’s stage. There were the time trial specialists fighting it out for the stage win. But with the Tour de France on the line there was also the three-way contest between Cadel Evans and the Schleck brothers.
The multiple time trial world champion Fabian Cancellara was a favourite to win the stage but having worked endlessly for the Schlecks for the past three weeks he was understandably below par and managed to finish eighth on the stage.
Eventually the stage was won by Tony Martin who set the fastest time of 55’33″ over the hilly 42.5km course early on in the day and it was never beaten.
But the identity of the stage winner was very much a footnote on a day where one of the greatest ever Tours de France was decided. After yesterday’s showdown on Alpe d’Huez, Andy Schleck was in the yellow jersey, 53 seconds ahead of his brother Frank and 57 seconds ahead of Evans.
Between the two brothers, Andy is considered the better time-trialist, so Evans knew if he beat Andy by 58 seconds, then he would win the Tour de France. With four split-time checks around the course we were kept up to date of their progress throughout.
It was expected to be extremely close, but at the first checkpoint after just 12km, Evans was ahead of Frank by 34 seconds and ahead of Andy by 36. Andy Schleck’s grip on the yellow jersey was slipping fast as Evans was putting in an incredible individual performance.
By the time they had all passed the second checkpoint, Evans was in the virtual lead and didn’t look like slowing down. He was 1’42″ ahead of Andy on the road and a further second ahead of Frank which meant he was leading the Tour by 45 seconds.
Evans actually almost ended up winning the stage finishing just nine seconds behind Tony Martin. But Evans won’t care about that as he took back more than double the 57 seconds he required over Andy Schleck to become the first Australian to win the Tour.
The Big Winner: Cadel Evans, obviously. His superior ability against the clock ultimately proved to be the difference. Time and again in the mountain stages of the Tour he doggedly fought to keep the Schlecks under control and he reaped the benefits of that effort today.
It is a fantastic achievement for Evans, who at 33 is the fourth oldest winner of the Tour de France.
The Big Losers: The Schleck brothers. We always knew they were bad at time-trialling and today they proved it once again. Andy Schleck began shipping time today almost immediately and never looked like clawing any of it back.
Andy will finish the Tour in second and Frank will be in third. Andy is the first rider ever to take second place in the Tour de France three years in a row. The brothers have always said their dream is for them both to finish on the Tour podium, but this is probably not what they had in mind.
What about the Irish? Nicolas Roche finished in 114th place on the stage, 6’29″ behind Tony Martin. Time trialling has never been Roche’s strongest attribute and his performance today has seen him drop from 25th overall to 26th
After this year’s Tour, although he came into it recovering from an injury, he’ll need to seriously reconsider whether he wants to continue on his quest to become a solid G.C. rider. Or whether he would be better served trying to win stages and leaving the G.C. for others to worry about.
So what happens tomorrow then? The riders will breathe a collective sigh of relief as the Eiffel Tower finally comes into view and the Tour comes to an end. For most of them, the final stage of the Tour is a celebration and a procession, but not for the sprinters.
Mark Cavendish will be aiming to be the first rider to win the final stage on the Champs Elysées three years in a row. And there’s also the small matter of the green jersey to be settled, which Cavendish still holds and will be expected to defend against the challenge of Jose Joaquin Rojas.
