Quick Step’s Sylvain Chavanel won back the yellow jersey with his second stage victory in the 2010 Tour de France, attacking on the final climb of Stage Seven, the first medium mountain stage, to retake the overall lead he lost due to repeated punctures on the pavés of Stage Three.
If Chavanel’s ride in Stage Two, where he won the yellow, was a brave effort, today’s ride was monumental. Chavanel outclimbed all his pursuers, including the determined Bbox riders Cyril Gautier and Thomas Voeckler, who came into the stage announcing their intent to get into a successful break.
“I think next year I will no longer compete for the month of May, considering the form I’ve currently got at the Tour, Chavanel told LeTour.fr. “I had legs of fire, and I knew I was on climbs that suited me very well—a gradient of four percent, hills more than mountains.
What we did in the stage to Spa was extremely rare. But to do it twice… oh, it’s wonderful. Now we will try to win a third!
I began to think of the yellow jersey on the last climb, and I told myself that after having lost, it was quite a coup to take it back again.”
Chavanel acknowledged that the “maillot jaune” may not be his for much long, but the thought doesn’t worry him.
“Tomorrow I will do everything to defend it,” he said, “but I know that the battle will mainly concern Contador, Schleck, and Evans. In the midst of it, I’ll always give everything but if I lose it does not matter.
Right now I’m on my little cloud, I’m floating and I don’t know how else to describe it. But I see that I have great support on the road and everywhere. It warms my heart.”
If Chavanel’s ride in Stage Two, where he won the yellow, was a brave effort, today’s ride was monumental. Chavanel outclimbed all his pursuers, including the determined Bbox riders Cyril Gautier and Thomas Voeckler, who came into the stage announcing their intent to get into a successful break.
“I think next year I will no longer compete for the month of May, considering the form I’ve currently got at the Tour, Chavanel told LeTour.fr. “I had legs of fire, and I knew I was on climbs that suited me very well—a gradient of four percent, hills more than mountains.
What we did in the stage to Spa was extremely rare. But to do it twice… oh, it’s wonderful. Now we will try to win a third!
I began to think of the yellow jersey on the last climb, and I told myself that after having lost, it was quite a coup to take it back again.”
Chavanel acknowledged that the “maillot jaune” may not be his for much long, but the thought doesn’t worry him.
“Tomorrow I will do everything to defend it,” he said, “but I know that the battle will mainly concern Contador, Schleck, and Evans. In the midst of it, I’ll always give everything but if I lose it does not matter.
Right now I’m on my little cloud, I’m floating and I don’t know how else to describe it. But I see that I have great support on the road and everywhere. It warms my heart.”
