Levi Leipheimer of RadioShack won the 2011 Tour de Suisse with a brilliant performance in the Individual Time Trial, making up two minutes on Lampre’s Damiano Cunego over the 32-kilometer course.
After 1236 kilometers of racing over nine days, the American RadioShack rider’s margin of victory was only four seconds.
Leipheimer started the day in fourth place, with a good chance to finish second; he is a stronger time trialer than the two riders who were ahead of him, Rabobank’s Steven Kruijswijk and Leopard-Trek’s Frank Schleck. The RadioShack rider was only 23 seconds out of second and 18 out of third.
Leipheimer surprised everyone by turning in the third best performance of the day, only 13 seconds behind the stage winner, time trials giant Fabian Cancellara. This is a huge victory for the American, who looks to be one of the prime threats for a podium in the Tour de France.
RadioShack riders swept the top four places in Stage Nine. Andreas Klöden finished second, nine seconds of the pace, and Nelson Oliveira came home fourth, 25 seconds behind. This gave RadioShack the team victory over Leopard-Trek,
Damiano Cunego looked to have a lock on the Tour de Suisse after no one was able (or willing to) challenge him in the final two mountain stages. Apparently Cunego’s efforts in the mountains drained his legs; the Lampre rider finished 39th in the stage.
Steven Kruijswijk held on to third with a 19th-place effort, 1:38 behind Cancellara.
Most riders treat the Tour de Suisse as a tune-up for the Tour de France, a chance to find weak points and test strengths. Leopard-Trek’s Schleck brothers showed that in both strength and in strategy they have a lot of work to do.
Andy Schleck showed he is not nearly on form for the Tour de France. He rode badly for the first several days, did alright in Stage Six but faded fast, and rode well in Stage Seven to capture King of the Mountain points, and finishing second. But his Time Trial performance was dismal; he lost two and-a-half minutes to finish 46th, 19th in the GC.
Frank Schleck showed that he definitely should have challenged Damiano Cunego in Stage Seven.
Maybe Schleck was saving his legs for the time trial—but his time trial performance was even worse than brother Andy’s, three minutes of the pace in 60th place.
Schleck would have been far better off attacking in the mountains—he is not known to be a great time trailer, and nothing he could have done to his legs on the climbs could have hurt him much worse.
Schleck did hold on to seventh overall, but that must be a huge disappointment after starting third.
HTC-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish picked a poor event to tune up for the Tour—this year’s Tour de Suisse didn’t have a single sprint finish. The Manx Missile got dropped on every stage which had even a hope of a bunch sprint. He will head to France having no idea what shape his legs are really in.
Looking at the Tour de Suisse, the Tour of California, and the Giro d’Italia, it doesn’t seem that any one will seriously challenge Saxo Bank star Alberto Contador in the Tour de France. Any rider who wants to, has only two weeks to prepare
After 1236 kilometers of racing over nine days, the American RadioShack rider’s margin of victory was only four seconds.
Leipheimer started the day in fourth place, with a good chance to finish second; he is a stronger time trialer than the two riders who were ahead of him, Rabobank’s Steven Kruijswijk and Leopard-Trek’s Frank Schleck. The RadioShack rider was only 23 seconds out of second and 18 out of third.
Leipheimer surprised everyone by turning in the third best performance of the day, only 13 seconds behind the stage winner, time trials giant Fabian Cancellara. This is a huge victory for the American, who looks to be one of the prime threats for a podium in the Tour de France.
RadioShack riders swept the top four places in Stage Nine. Andreas Klöden finished second, nine seconds of the pace, and Nelson Oliveira came home fourth, 25 seconds behind. This gave RadioShack the team victory over Leopard-Trek,
Damiano Cunego looked to have a lock on the Tour de Suisse after no one was able (or willing to) challenge him in the final two mountain stages. Apparently Cunego’s efforts in the mountains drained his legs; the Lampre rider finished 39th in the stage.
Steven Kruijswijk held on to third with a 19th-place effort, 1:38 behind Cancellara.
Most riders treat the Tour de Suisse as a tune-up for the Tour de France, a chance to find weak points and test strengths. Leopard-Trek’s Schleck brothers showed that in both strength and in strategy they have a lot of work to do.
Andy Schleck showed he is not nearly on form for the Tour de France. He rode badly for the first several days, did alright in Stage Six but faded fast, and rode well in Stage Seven to capture King of the Mountain points, and finishing second. But his Time Trial performance was dismal; he lost two and-a-half minutes to finish 46th, 19th in the GC.
Frank Schleck showed that he definitely should have challenged Damiano Cunego in Stage Seven.
Maybe Schleck was saving his legs for the time trial—but his time trial performance was even worse than brother Andy’s, three minutes of the pace in 60th place.
Schleck would have been far better off attacking in the mountains—he is not known to be a great time trailer, and nothing he could have done to his legs on the climbs could have hurt him much worse.
Schleck did hold on to seventh overall, but that must be a huge disappointment after starting third.
HTC-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish picked a poor event to tune up for the Tour—this year’s Tour de Suisse didn’t have a single sprint finish. The Manx Missile got dropped on every stage which had even a hope of a bunch sprint. He will head to France having no idea what shape his legs are really in.
Looking at the Tour de Suisse, the Tour of California, and the Giro d’Italia, it doesn’t seem that any one will seriously challenge Saxo Bank star Alberto Contador in the Tour de France. Any rider who wants to, has only two weeks to prepare
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