Tour de France 2009 - The Yellow Jersey

The Yellow Jersey.

Lance is Back, the last 10 winners are all here, but can anyone beat Contador?

The Yellow Jersey is awarded to the man who completes the course in the fastest time. Whoever is leading at the end of each stage wears the yellow the next day. There are no longer time bonuses awarded for stage wins and intermediate sprints (they were removed last year).

Last years results for the Yellow Jersey or General Classification (GC) as it is known:

1 Carlos Sastre (ESP) 87h 52' 52"
2 Cadel Evans (AUS) + 58"
3 Bernhard Kohl (AUT) + 1' 13"
4 Denis Menchov (RUS) + 2' 10"
5 Christian Vandevelde (USA) + 3' 05"
6 Fränk Schleck (LUX) + 4' 28"
7 Samuel Sánchez (ESP) + 6' 25"
8 Kim Kirchen (LUX) + 6' 55"
9 Alejandro Valverde (ESP) + 7' 12"
10 Tadej Valjavec (SLO) + 9' 05"

notes
- Contador, Kloden, Leipheimer & Armstrong did not ride in 2008.
- 3rd placegetter Bernhard Kohl was later disqualified for doping.

2009 sees 4 men competing who have won the yellow jersey in the past
Sastre (2008)
Contador (2007)
Pereiro (2006)
Armstrong (1999-2005)

So in effect we have the winners of the last 10 tours here!

Add to that the riders who have finished 2nd
Evans (2007/08)
Kloden (2004/06)

and those that have finished 3rd
Menchov (2008)
Leipheimer (2007)

For me this is certainly the most anticipated tour since 2005 and not just because Lance is back.

The Contenders.
Here i attempt a top 10 - this is hard!
I am very confident Contador will win barring misfortune, however after that it gets quite difficult.

1. Alberto Contador.
Astana
Major Wins.
2007 Tour de France
2008 Giro d'Italia
2008 Vuelta a España
2007 Paris - Nice
2005 Setmana Catalana
2008/09Vuelta al País Vasco
2007/08Vuelta a Castilla y León

Tour de France Stage Wins: 3

One of only 5 men to have won all 3 grand tours (France Italy and Spain) and he had achieved this at the ripe old age of 25. He missed the tour last year because his Astana team was not invited - thanks to the mischievous behaviour of Alexander Vinakourov the year prior - when Contador rode for Discovery.

He is the best stage racer in the world, all his notable wins described above are in stage races. He is in ominous form, beginning the season with an overall win in the Tour of the Algarve, including a stage win in the 33.7km individual Time Trial (TT). In March he stunned everyone when beating Olympic pursuit champ Bradley Wiggins in the opening 9.8km individual TT in the Paris - Nice race. He also won stage 6 there - braining cadel in the mountains. Whilst failing to win the race overall in what as been described as a stupid error (failed to eat enough on a mountain stage and capitulated - surrendering the lead) he was a solid fourth overall. He claimed the overall victory in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco - also winning the 24km TT and just last week won the Time Trial at the Spanish Championships over 47km. His final stage race lead up was the Dauphiné Libéré - he was 3rd overall and again showed his improved TT prowess, only 8 seconds behind Evans in the opening TT, and 45 seconds behind in the second TT. Contador repeatedly stated that he was not at the the Dauphine to win, just as a training run, he pretty much just tagged Cadel wherever he went and showed Cadel on the climb to the top of ventoux that he had his measure. Clearly his results this year have shown that his TT performances have improved and far from working to limit losses from competiors, he will be taking time off most of them in the TTs. He probably has the strongest team with Lance, Leipheimer and Kloden, he is the strongest climber in the group vying for overall honours and in my opinion he will be very very hard to beat.

2. Andy Schleck
Saxo Bank
Major wins
2009 Liege - Bastogne - Liege
2nd place 2007 Giro d'Italia

A white jersey (youth classification winner) of both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia, Andy Schleck is widely spoken of as a future tour winner. When is the only question. He was 2nd in the 2007 Tour of Italy and 12th on the Tour de France last year at his first attempt. This year he won the time honoured Liege - Bastogne - Liege a gruelling 260km single day race. A week later he backed up and placed second in La Fleche Wallonne and has also had good results in the other aspring classics. In last years tour Andy basically had one bad stage, on the road to Pau in stage 10 he failed to eat and drink properly and cost himself a massive chunk of time. Otherwise he would have probably been top 5. He showed on the pivitol day of last years tour, the Climb to L'Alpe d'Huez that he can match anyone on the climbs, in fact many believe that if he had not have been riding in support of Carlos Sastre and chasing down attacks by Menchov, Evans and co with ridiculous ease he would have ridden away with that stage. Certainly for him it looked little less than a training run while all the others looked in pain. The big question will be who Saxo Bank chooses to support, Andy or Frank. But the experience of O'Grady, Cancellara, Voigt and his brother (all who have worn the leaders yellow jersey before) will mean that they will be given every opportunity and it will probably come down to tactics and who is in the right spot at the right time.

3. Lance Armstrong
Astana
Major wins
1999-2005 Tour de France
2002/03 Dauphiné Libéré
2001 Tour de Suisse
1996 La Flèche Wallonne
1995 San Sebastián Classic
1993 World Champion

Tour De France Stage Wins: 22

What can we say about Lance that has not already been said? The greatest Tour rider of all time, the cancer survivor, the world champion, the philantropist. After a 3 year abscence he is back. But there is a new king and Lance will be working along with his Astana team mates for Alberto Contador, they declared last week that Contador was leader. Lance is here to promote cancer awareness, his bike and helmet will be different to those of his teammates and he will stand out. He is going to get heaps of air time and he is going to promote his cause. Can he win the Tour de France? On current exposed form - probably not. Can he scare a few people? Hell Yes! Remember Lance used to train with one goal specifically in mind, he revolutionised the way people prepared for this race by ignoring everything else just for Le Tour. After he placed 12th in the Giro, not long after a broken collar bone and with limited miles in his legs, a few riders publically stated that they were scared - Ivan Basso - "He will go like a beast....I think he will win the Tour." Denis Menchov - "lance will do something special at the tour". Whether he is in a position to launch an all out assault on the tour is yet to be seen. He rode in Support of Leipheimer in the Giro and towards the end of the three weeks certainly looked stronger than his team mate, he dropped back to help more than once. Maybe he stays in contention just in case somethiggn happens to Contador? Maybe its all just a ruse and Lance is the team leader? Maybe he just goes for a stage win or two - lets just say he might have been training the last month specifically for the opening days TT - imaging that! Lance returns, 1st stage, wins, stands on the podium in the yellow jersey......... you cant buy PR better than that! Cancer will be all but cured! Well maybe winning the whole thing would do the trick but that remains to be seen. The money has poured in around the world this week and he is into second fave. You never write off a champion. Strongest team, champion, great all rounder, brilliant tactician - never ever say never.

4. Denis Menchov
Rabobank
Major Wins
2005/07 Vuelta a España
2009 Giro d'Italia
2004 Vuelta al País Vasco

The form cyclist. Comes into this years tour on the back of an excellent performance in the Tour of Italy where he collected 2 stages (would have been 3 if he did not fall in the final ITT) as well as the overall win. This sits nicely with his 2 wins in the tour of spain, a 3 time Grand Tour winner who is in form and will have a team built around supporting him. Last year he was elevated to 3rd in the Tour after Kohls disquallification. He was somewhat unlucky last year, he lost a minute on stage 3 when caught up in a crash but then set about fixing that with consistent results that put him in contention. On stage 15 to Pravato Nevoso (won by aussie Simon Gerrans) he attacked the lead group and only Andy Schleck could go with him, he looked capable of stealing a break on Sastre & co but slipped and fell, regaining his composure to get back finish with the group, it could have been much different. The man can climb, he can time trial. I believe he is less vunerable than evans when he finds himself isolated, if he was riding for a slightly stronger team then he would be the biggest threat however the stronger teams might be able to break him. Rabobank have a solid squad, they dont have the strenght of Astana, Saxo bank or Columbia but with the likes of brilliant young debutant Gesink to support him Menchov is going to be in it for a long way

5. Cadel Evans Silence Lotto
Major Wins
2006 Tour de Romandie
2nd place Tour de Frace 2007/08
Tour de France Stage Wins: 1



The man most likely for the last 2 years now faces a field that is going to cause him some grief in comparison to the last 2 years. Team CSC tore Cadel and his Silence - Lotto mates to shreds last year, they showed how important a strong team is to winning this whole thing - only the untouchable Eddy Mercyx could do it all by himself - hell he won the yellow, green and polka dot jerseys all in one year! Unfortunatley you still have CSC (now racing as Saxo Bank) but now you get Astana on top of that. Sadly Cadel will just not have the man power to chase down attacks from these other 2 teams, they hired last years 3rd place getter and king of the mountains Bernard Kohl - but he tested positive. So it looks like another year of pain for Cadel trying hard to chase down attacks in the mountains after he team mates have been broken. He lacks the explosiveness in the hills that Contador & Schleck have. We know he is an A grade Time trialler but he is not going to win on that this year. His best chance is if his competitors have overlooked him and he gets the chance to attack and gain some time. My opinion though - he lacks the balls. Cadel was in the lead of the Dauphiné Libéré a few weeks ago - Valverde attacked on the climb to Ventoux and Cadel could not go with him. He then complained after the stage that no one would help him chase down the attack - he obviously still lacks a basic understanding of cycling. You wear the leaders jersey, you do the chasing, no one helps, everyone works to isolate you and there is no point crying about it. Back in the Armstrong years the T-Mobile heavies of Ulrich/Vinokourov/ Kloden attacked Armstrong again and again and again after his team mates had dropped off - what did the isolated armstong do? He attacked them and broke them one by one. No point waiting Cadel, no one is going to hand the tour to you and certainly this year it is not going to be won defensively. Lets hope Cadel has learnt a few lessons, grown some balls and decides to attack - because that is the only way he is going to win this thing.

6. Michael Rogers
Columbia - Highroad
Major Wins
2004/05/06 World Time Trial Champion
2003 tour of Germany
2002 Tour Down Under
2009 Australian National TT champion

The forgotten man of Australian Cycling, a 3 time world champ who is in the elite of world cycling. He does not have the wins on the board like other racers but is a solid performer.

2 years ago he was the virtual leader on the road during stage 8 (ie. if they had of stopped the race then and there he would have been wearing yellow) but a crash and a broken collar bone ended that. Last year he missed because of illness. He was 9th in 2006 as team leader for T-Mobile. This year he finds himself witha very solid support crew, Kim Kirchen spent 4 days in yellow last year (but has stated he is riding in support of Rogers), George Hincapie, Tony Martin and Maxime Monfort have been included in the the team which strikes a balance for a Columbia who has intentions to support both Rogers winning overall and superstar sprinter Mark Cavendish wining the Green Jersey. A solid 8th without really threatening in the Giro last month said to me that Rogers was saving plenty tp be primed for a big effort here, a very strong team in support that can withstand the Astana/Saxo onslaughts that will no doubt come, i think Doger is up for a big performance.

7. Levi Leipheimer
Astana
Major Wins
2007/08/09 Tour of California
2006 Dauphiné Libéré
2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León
3rd 2007 Tour de France

Tour de France Stage wins:1

Leipheimer is a great all rounder, a brilliant Time trialler, very strong with out being explosive in the mountains He is a stage winner in the Tour and also in the Vuelta, he has actually been on the podium in both races (2nd in the Vuelta 2008 behind Contador, 3rd in the tour of France 2007 - behind Contador) He was 6th overall in the recent Tour of Italy the highest ranked Astana Rider. He is always going to finish near the leading group, he is always going to be around the mark in time trials. He is not going to win the tour but Top 5 is certainly possible again, certainly top 10. With Armstrong will form Contadors main support when the roads get vertical.

8. Carlos Sastre.
Cervelo test team
Major Wins
2008 Tour de France
3rd 2006 Tour de France

Tour de France Stage wins: 3
Last years winner, a man who has always been consistent in the mountains (has won mountain stages on all 3 grand tours) but suprised last year by taking the initiative when others could not. Not a good time trialler (except for his amazing final TT last year!) he is let down in this area as well. He won the race last year because he had the best team with the best tactician leading it. this year he is riding for a first year team without the experience, without the riders and quite frankly without the brains required. They left super domestique Simon Gerrans out of their squad, a tour de France and Giro stage winner - in the hills in the last 12 months. A man who teams were bidding over to get his ability on their side. Instead they chose a 40yo spaniard who is not ranked in the top 200 in the world. i hope they all crash and burn. In reality I don't see Sastre finishing on the podium this year although he could surprise, he will sit quiet, bide his time and if he sees a chance will take it.


9. Frank Schleck
Saxo Bank
Major Wins
2006 Amstel Gold race
Tour de France Stages: 1

He wore the yellow last year and if his Team had not decided to send Sastre up L Alpe d'Huez first he may well have come out the winner. Frank was wearing yellow at the start of the stage, Sastre attacked up the big hill first, the plan was that when the big guns caught Sastre half way up, Frank (who won up L'Alpe d'Huez in 2006) and Andy would then attack, Frank would extend his margin and ride off with the yellow jersey. Funny thing was they never caught Sastre, the rest is history. Had a solid year, Stage wins in the tour of California, placed second in the Paris- Nice, Won Tour de Luxembourg, two time national time trial champ. He has the mix, he has the team to support him. Many think his younger brother is now the better rider, but Im guesing Saxo Bank will be sending them both out to win and tactics and positions on the second last day will decide who they back to win.

10. Roman Kreuziger
Liquigas
Major wins
2004 Junior World Champion
2008 Tour de Suisse
2009 Tour de Romandie

This is my Bolter - a youngster who was 2nd in the White jersey last year behind Andy Schleck. He has had good results to start this year and will lead his team with support from Pelizotti (3rd in this years Giro) and Nabaldi. He is a great climber, a very good time trial rider. I like that Basso and Pelizotti rode the Giro and this young gun was saved for the tour. If it all goes well Kreuziger, Pelizotti and Nabaldi could have a really good race (as a team) and Kreuziger could sneak into the top 10. It just remains to be seen who the team leader is, but im betting the former Junior World champ fits the bill.


Others who will shape the race for the yellow Jersey............

Damiano Cunego (SCRATCHED - NOT RIDING)
Lampre
Major Wins
2004 Giro d'Italia
2004/07/08 Giro d'Lombardia
2008 Amstel Gold Race
2006 Tour de France White Jersey

At 22 he won the Giro, he was White Jersey winner at Le Tour in 2006. Last year he crashed when ranked 14th and had to abandon. At this years Giro he just was not good enough. He seems to be a one day specialist now and at the time of writing im not even sure if he is lining up. Sure has the talent so it will be interesting to see if he comes to support World Champ team mate Ballan or stays home to think about next years Giro?

Samuel Sanchez (SCRATCHED - NOT RIDING)
Euskaltel - Euskadi
Major Wins
2008 Olympic Road Race
3rd 2007 Vuelta d Espana

6th last year on the Tour, placed in the Vuelta, multiple placings in spring classics, olympic Gold.
An all rounder who is a very good climber, on his day can stay with the best of them, problem is consistency and he wont be able to sneak away to gain time like he has in the past, he will be marked. The men from Euskaltel - Euskadi dont do flat stages, all 9 will be there for climbing, break aways and when they are in the pyrenees it will be action stations as the team hils from the Basque region. Much stronger field this year but if he continues good results can figure in top 10 again.

Christian Vandevelde.
Garmin - Slipstream
Major Wins
2006 Tour de Luxembourg

I think he slipped under a lot of peoples guards when he finished 5th last year on the back of some good climbing offorts and a solid TT. This year he wont be getting by unnoticed, he won a stage of Paris-Nice and was part of the team that took on the Giro this year although a fall with some broken ribs casued him to withdraw. Could sneak into the top 10 here.

Andreas Kloden
Astana
Major Wins
2000 Paris - Nice
2000 Vuelta al País Vasco
2008 Tirrenno-Adriatico
2nd overall 2004/06 tour de France

A very strong all rounder who has twice stood on the podium, Kloden will find himself working hard, chasing down attacks and looking after his team mates and getting into break aways to try and nullify them. Just being there will result in a high finishing position.

Oscar Pereiro
Caisse d'Epargne
Major Wins
2006 Tour de France

Tour de France Stage wins:1

With his team mate and team leader Alejandro Valverde not competing, Pereiro becomes team leader by default. A fairly strong team who goes well in the mountains Pereiro is no chance of winning but look for his team to try and get him and team mate Arroyo into a breakaway and look for stage wins or King of the Mountain points.

Kim Kirchen
Columbia Highroad
Major Wins
2008 La Flèche Wallonne
2008/09 Luxembourg TT Champion
2004/06 Luxembourg Road Race Champion

Tour de France Stage wins: 1

7th in 2007, 8th in 2008, wore the green and Yellow last year. A solid performer who time trials well, can chase results on the flat and is competitive without threatening in the mountains. It has been stated that he will be helping Rogers but if he gets a chance on the flat or intermediate stages will go all out, might findhimslef higher up the GC and then could take over as team leader.