Piepoli Wins Stage Ten of the 2008 Tour de France

(From L) Frank Schleck, Leonardo Piepoli, and Juan Jose Cobo ride in the last breakaway during the Stage Ten of the 2008 Tour de France. (Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images)

Leonardo Piepoli proved to be the day’s best climber, beating everyone up the long, steep Hautacam, to take the win in Stage Ten of the 2008 Tour de France.

Piepoli was followed closely by Saunier Duval teammate Juan Jose Cobo, thus capturing the lead in the team standings.

CSC rider Franck Schleck, benefiting from excellent team support, finished third and came within one second of taking the yellow jersey.

Silence-Lotto veteran Cadel Evans really proved the depth of his heart, riding tremendously to take the yellow jersey despite having no support up the climbs.

The First Mountaintop Finish

Stage Ten of the 2008 Tour de France featured the first HC (Hors de Category—Out of Category, or too steep and long to categorize) climbs, the 17.7 km Col du Tourmalet, and then the14.4 km Hautacam. The stage also had the first real mountaintop finish There was no descent or flat for a sprint at the end; riders had to grind out a 7.2% grade right up to the finish.

The stage featured two Cat three climbs to warm up the peloton, but the real challenge was the entire second half of the course—long steep hills, that would tear up the peloton and open some big gaps in the General Classification.

As with the rest of the stages so far, the pace was abnormally high. Instead of breaking riders with repeated attacks, the strategy this year has been to push the pace so high that weaker riders couldn’t even make attacks.

The first real attack came 10 km out when a group of about two dozen made a break. By 63 km all but seven had dropped back. Oscar Freire, Jeremy Roy, Remy Di Gregorio, Markus Fothen, Fabian Cancellara, Hubert Dupont and Leonardo Duque stayed ahead until the first HC climb.

The Hills Are Harsh Tests

2.5 km up the first big climb, Remy DiGrigorio (Francaise des Jeux) attacked, but no one chased. Only Roy, Dupont (AG2R) and Ducque (Cofidis) were out ahead of the chase peloton.

Back in the peloton, CSC riders lined up to set up their leader Carlos Satsre for the stage and overall win.

Jens Voigt of CSC sacrificed himself entirely on the first HC climb. Voigt drove so hard that many of the top riders cracked. Apparently Voigt decided to sacrifice himself so hic CSC teammate Carlos Sastre would have Cancellara, and the Schleck brothers stayed near the head of the main group, but Voigt did all the work; the others were kept in reserve to assist Sastre on the second climb.

Alejandro Valverde, Oscar Pereiro and Damiano Cunego were dropped 2.5 km before the summit. Valverde was exhausted and slipped back. To add to his misery, his chain broke, dropping him even further. Damianao Cunego, another pre-race favorite, also dropped to the back. The pair struggled on together to finish, but both lost nearly six minutes in the stage, quite possibly ending their chances for an overall win.

The yellow jersey peloton of 14 riders crossed the peak of the Col du Tourmalet six minutes bebehind DiGrigorio. Thus group contained Voigt, Sastre, Menchov, Cobo, Evans, Efimkin, Kohl, Schleck, Schleck, Ricco, Piepoli, Kirchen, Vande Velde and Duenas Nevado.

The final climb up the Hautacam briefly reunited the pack; then CSC rider Frank Schleck, and Saunier Duval riders J.J. Cobo and Leonardo Piepoli attacked up the hill. Shortly they were joined by Gerolsteiner’s Bernard Kohl and AG2R’s Vladimir Efimkin.

Kim Kirchen cracked about halfway through the final climb and began dropping back, riding all alone, climbing at his own pace, riding his own race. He knew he had lost the yellow jersey, but it is still the first week of the tour—no need to panic.

There were now only six riders in the first chase group: Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto), Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Moises Duenas Nevado (Barloworld,) Ricardo Ricco (Saunier Duval), Carlos Sastre (CSC), and Christian Vande Velde (Garmin Chipotle). This group was 1:30 behind the three leaders and really showed no signs of being able to close the gap. These riders were focused on the yellow jersey and their overall times.

The Worst Terrain Brings Out the Best riders

With 7.5 km to go Cobo attacked, then Piepoli. By 5 km to go the three were back together; Kohl and Efimkin fell off.

CSC’s plans were working. Satsre was the only CSC rider left in the first chase group, and he didn’t have enough left to make his own attack. But Frank Schleck was in the lead group and racing for the stage win and the yellow jersey.

The lead group of Cobo, Piepoli, and Schleck kept accelerating, increasing the gap to nearly two minutes with three km to go.

The last 2.5 km rose up at a 10% grade, torturing the already exhausted riders, Cobo chose this moment to make an attack, bringing Piepoli with him and dropping Frank Schleck

Cobo and Piepoli were riding almost easily it seemed, energized by the knowledge that they would finish one-two. With 500 meters to go, Cobo began slowing; both riders went for the win, but at the line it was Piepoli who had the win.

At the very end, both Ricardo Ricco and Christian Vand Velde attacked. Ricco opened quite a gap over the lead chase group, while Vande Velde was only able to gain a few meters over Cadel Evans. Still it was a great showing by the young Garmin Chipotle rider, and further notice that Ricco is a serious contender.

As expected the yellow jersey changed hands, and many riders moved drastically up or down in the General Classification. Cadel Evans took the yellow, and he worked for it, driving the pace in the chase group, coming back from his crash yesterday.

The Saunier Duval team made a brilliant race, capitalizing on the hard work of Jens Voigt and Fabian Cancellara of CSC, and leaving CSC hopeful Frank Schleck, out on the rode with superior climbing ability. 

Stage Ten Results
Place	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1.	Leonardo Piepoli	Saunier Duval	4h 19' 27”	+ 00' 00”
2.	Juan Jose Cobo	Saunier Duval	4h 19' 27”	+ 00' 00”
3.	Frank Schleck	CSC	4h 19' 55”	+ 00' 28”
4.	Bernhard Kohl	Gerolsteiner	4h 20' 33”	+ 01' 06”
5.	Vladimir Efimkin	AG2R La Mondiale	4h 21' 32”	+ 02' 05”
6.	Riccardo Ricco	Saunier Duval	4h 21' 44”	+ 02' 17”
7.	Carlos Sastre	CSC	4h 21' 44”	+ 02' 17”
8.	Cadel Evans	Silence-Lotto	4h 21' 44”	+ 02' 17”
9.	Denis Menchov	Rabobank	4h 21' 44”	+ 02' 17”
10.	Christian Vande Velde	Garmin Chipotle	4h 21' 44”	+ 02' 17”

General Classification
Place	Rider	Team	Time	Gap
1.	Cadel Evans	Silence-Lotto	42h 29' 09"	0
2.	Frank Schleck	CSC	42h 29' 10”	+ 00' 01”
3.	Christian Vande Velde	Garmin Chipotle	42h 29' 47”	+ 00' 38”
4.	Bernhard Kohl	Gerolsteiner	42h 29' 55”	+ 00' 46”
5.	Denis Menchov	Rabobank	42h 30' 06”	+ 00' 57”
6.	Carlos Sastre	CSC	42h 30' 37”	+ 01' 28”
7.	Kim Kirchen	Columbia	42h 31' 05”	+ 01' 56”
8.	Juan Jose Cobo	Saunier Duval	42h 31' 19”	+ 02' 10”
9.	Riccardo Ricco	Saunier Duval	42h 31' 38”	+ 02' 29”
10.	Vladimir Efimkin	AG2R La Mondiale	42h 31' 41”	+ 02' 32”

Team Standings
Place	Team	Time	Gaps
1.	Saunier Duval	127h 29' 48"	0
2.	CSC Saxo Bank	127h 34' 28”	+ 04' 40”
3.	AG2R-La Mondiale	127h 39' 17”	+ 09' 29”
4.	Gerolsteiner	127h 49' 37”	+ 19' 49”
5.	Caisse D’epargne	127h 52' 22”	+ 22' 34”
6.	Rabobank	127h 53' 12”	+ 23' 24”
7.	Euskatel-Euskadi	127h 55' 22”	+ 25' 34”
8.	Lampre	128h 02' 43”	+ 32' 55”
9.	Columbia	128h 04' 31”	+ 34' 43”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the base of the final climb Di Gregorio led by 40”. The chase group was composed of 24 riders - The CSC team dominated the chase and ruined Di Gregorio’s chances. Once the capture happened Saunier Duval took control with Cobo attacking and splitting the lead group. Eventually it became a battle between stage hopefuls Piepoli and Cobo who were joined by Frank Schleck at the front of the stage the GC hopefuls Evans, Menchov, Vande Velde and Sastre who rode together most of the way up the final climb. Kirchen was dropped early on the climb and would finish the stage in 15th, 4’19” behind. Evans set the tempo of the GC group most of the way, swapping turns with Menchov but they couldn’t get near the Saunier Duval duo who claimed the win for Piepoli while Cobo celebrated second place and the team’s third victory this year.
Evans would finish 2’17” behind the stage winner and take the overall lead with an advantage of just one second on a valiant Schleck who claimed third in the stage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Team Standings
Place	Team	Time	Gaps
1.		114h 24' 23”
2.	Caisse D’epargne	114h 27' 52”	+ 03' 29”
3.	Saunier Duval - SCOTT	114h 29' 10”	+ 04' 47”
4.	Gerolsteiner	114h 29' 44”	+ 05' 21”
5.	AG2R-La Mondiale	114h 30' 35”	+ 06' 12”
6.	Columbia	114h 32' 25”	+ 08' 02”
7.	Rabobank	114h 32' 35”	+ 08' 12”
8.	Lampre	114h 33' 51”	+ 09' 28”
9.	Barloworld	114h 34' 52”	+ 10' 29”

 

1.	SAUNIER DUVAL - SCOTT	127h 29' 48"
2.	TEAM CSC SAXO BANK	127h 34' 28”	+ 04' 40”
3.	AG2R-LA MONDIALE	127h 39' 17”	+ 09' 29”
4.	GEROLSTEINER	127h 49' 37”	+ 19' 49”
5.	CAISSE D’EPARGNE	127h 52' 22”	+ 22' 34”
6.	RABOBANK	127h 53' 12”	+ 23' 24”
7.	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	127h 55' 22”	+ 25' 34”
8.	SILENCE - LOTTO	128h 02' 43”	+ 32' 55”
9.	LAMPRE	128h 04' 31”	+ 34' 43”
10.	TEAM COLUMBIA	128h 07' 07”	+ 37' 19”