While no one was questioning the abilities of new Tour de France yellow jersey holder Floyd Landis, doubts about his team were a hot topic in the aftermath of stage 11’s dramatic trip to the summit of Spain’s Pla de Beret, Thursday.

With 2006’s La Grande Boucle past the halfway point, Phonak has just one rider in the top 20. And outside a solid ride by Axel Merckx (22nd at 4:45), none of Landis’ teammates were anywhere near the finish line when the American received an emotional embrace from coach Robbie Ventura. No doubt the pair relished in the moment, but defending the GC lead through the Alps will test Phonak in ways it’s not faced before.

“Let’s wait and see. I can’t look in the future,” answered Merckx when his team’s abilities were questioned. “Once you have the yellow jersey it’s a totally different ballgame. I hope we are strong enough to support him. Now we have three days where there will be probably breakaways going, and hopefully the riders will be far enough away [on GC] that we don’t have to work too hard. The hard task will come in the Alps.”

Indeed, for Landis to join the ranks of LeMond and Armstrong as American Tour winners, he will need an inspired effort from a team that is already minus the two riders who were supposed to serve him the most in the mountains — Jose Gutierrez and Santiago Botero. The two Spaniards were benched by the team after their names surfaced in the Spanish doping scandal Operación Puerto.

That shifted the burden to the likes of Merckx and Swiss Alexandre Moos. But while Merckx entered Thursday’s final climb with the leaders, and is now 21st overall at 8:39, Moos slogged home in 164th place finish (second to last), at 44:20. Still, team boss John Lelangue showed little concern, claiming the day went just as planned.

“We said in the morning, on the last climb [of stage 11] we don’t need anybody [with Floyd],” explained Lelangue, whose team earned its first ever yellow jersey. “Therefore we say to the rest of the team, you can stay relaxed in the second group. Only Axel had to come a little bit, because he wanted to stay in [a good GC position]. The rest of the team did some work early, and then stayed in the gruppetto. That was the plan today.

“I say since the 20th of January at the team presentation that we are coming to the Tour to win the Tour. Those who don’t believe this are no problem for me.”

As for Landis, there may be doubts lurking somewhere in the back of his mind, but on the surface he was exuding only confidence.

“Yes,” he said flatly when asked if he thought his team would be able to control the race. “I think thing we can manage.”

Sastre jumps into contention
Despite taking a tumble on the fourth of the day’s five rated climbs, CSC’s Carlos Sastre rode into podium contention Thursday, finishing fifth, just 17 seconds behind stage winner Denis Menchov. It was a much needed boost for the Danish team that lost yet another rider when Italian Giovanni Lombardi abandoned the race during the trip up the hors categorie Tourmalet ascent. That leaves CSC with just six riders in the race. Already Ivan Basso was expelled and Bobby Julich crashed and broke his wrist.

“It’s better than the beginning [race] of course,” said team director Alain Gallopin. “Carlos crashed on the Portillon climb, but at the end he was good. We needed just 50 meters at the top of the climb to be with the top 3, and maybe he can win the stage. I think it’s good for the future in the Alps.”

After the stage Sastre explained that he simply got on the brakes too hard in a corner and lost control of his bike.

“Nothing is hurt, but maybe my head,” said Sastre, who’s now fifth overall at 1:52. “We want to step up more in this race. Landis is strong, Menchov is strong, but that’s good because I think now the race will be more controlled.”

Big Blue goes bust
Of the four potential Discovery Channel leaders team director Johan Bruyneel trumpeted early in the race, only Jose Azevedo was able to limit the damage on the Tour’s first major climbing day. The former Armstrong lieutenant was popped out of the lead group about half way up the Plan de Beret ascent, coming home 15th at 4:10.

Discovery’s other three potential Tour winners — Yaroslav Popovych, Paolo Savoldelli and George Hincapie — all had disastrous days. Popo’ was 26th at 6:25, while Il Falco and Hincapie both ceded more than 20 minutes.

“I tried to lose the minimum, but this is not a good day for me and for the team,” said a stunned Azevedo. “I don’t know what happened. It would have been better to have more guys there on the last climb, but George and Popo’ not feel so good. They tried to do the best but it happens. Not every day can go like you want. Today is not a good day for Discovery. I couldn’t follow the first guys. I don’t have legs to follow the first guys. I don’t know if we can recover.” T-Mobile also had a rough go, suffering behind the pace of the Rabobank train, but it still has three riders in the top 12. After going on the offensive on the fourth of five rated climbs, the German squad was forced into salvage mode during the run to the finish.

“I was able to stay at the front until the final part of the climb,” said Aussie Michael Rogers, looking for a bright spot on a blighted day. “But my lights just went out in the last 10k.”

Rogers is now seventh overall, at 3:22, while team leader Andreas Klöden is in sixth at 2:29. German Patrik Sinkewitz sits 12th at 5:38.

“One day goes good, one day goes bad,” continued Rogers. “Maybe we had a bad day today, but on the next mountain stage we could get time back. It’s certainly not over yet. Rabobank was very strong. When [Michael] Boogerd cranked up the pace that dropped me. They were very strong, but the whole front group was strong. I think it’s going to be a very open Tour de France.”