THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Posthuma wins at Paris-Nice; Julich in yellow
Bobby Julich (Team CSC) advanced one day closer to the most important victory of his career after safely negotiating Saturday’s potentially dangerous 184km, six-climb stage into Cannes.
Big Dutchman Joost Posthuma (Rabobank) took an impressive solo victory after dropping the remnants of the winning break on the day’s final climb at the Col du Tanneron with 20km to go.
Julich, meanwhile, rode inside the protective cocoon of Bjarne Riis’s big red machine and enjoyed a relatively easy sunny ride through France’s stunning Var region. Jens Voigt muscled up the Cat. 2 Tanneron to reel in some tepid attacks and the peloton roared into Cannes, pushed along by a brisk tailwind.
“My team rode perfectly today. I didn’t have to do much today,” Julich said after finishing safely in the bunch. “It’s been eight years since my last yellow jersey, so it couldn’t have been better for me today.”
That last run in yellow came with Julich’s victory at the Tour de l’Ain in 1997.
With just 135km standing between him and the finish line Sunday on the Promenade des Anglais, Julich is poised to become the first American to win Paris-Nice and the first stage-race winner in the new ProTour series.
If there was still any doubts following his bronze medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, Bobby J is back.
A break in the pressure
Julich’s day got measurably easier when an eight-man break slipped away just 7km into the stage. With the potentially dangerous mountainous profile, a breakaway meant Team CSC would have a much easier time marking Julich’s rivals.
Somewhat surprisingly, there was no real challenge mounted to Julich’s hold on the maillot jaune. Second-place rider Constantine Zaballa (Saunier Duval) and Alejandro Valverde (Illes Balears) kept their heads out of the wind.
“You could see Julich was very strong at Mont Faron,” said third-placed Valverde. “We’re running out of road to make up any time. Sunday’s stage presents a favorable course, but the CSC block is also very solid. I see it as difficult.”
There was some worry that the rival Spanish teams might gang up on Team CSC, but there seemed to be an unspoken cease-fire Saturday, leaving Sunday as the last chance for anyone to make a run at Julich’s yellow jersey.
“Things went perfect today for us. I was surprised some of the other teams didn’t try something more, but we still must be careful on the Col d’Eze,” said Riis.
“When the break went away for us, it was perfect. We actually sat up a little because to have the break off the front was ideal. Sunday’s stage is more complicated, but we will put four or five riders on the front of the group to control things. I am confident in Bobby. He’s riding strong and he’s very motivated, so things look good.”
Posthuma puts hammer down
Posthuma was part of the eight-man move that chugged away early on. Joining the big Dutchman was Aaron Kemps (Liberty Seguros), Thomas Ziegler (Gerolsteiner), Bram Schmitz (T-Mobile), Mark Lotz (Quick Step), Fabien Sanchez (FDJeux.com), Jorg Ludewig (Domina Vacanze) and Cyril Dessel (Ag2r).
The group worked well together in the sunny-yet-blustery conditions over a beautiful course in the rugged hills along the Cote d’Azur. The break had a four-minute advantage after coming over the Cat. 3 Col de Taillude at 35km and widened its lead to six minutes up the Col de Saint Arnoux at 118.5km.
Frank Schleck (CSC) and Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel) helped set the pace for the main bunch up the day’s main obstacle, the Cat. 1 Col de Bourigaille at 130km, to trim the break’s lead to four minutes. Ludewig was first over the climb and tried again up the Tanneron, an acceleration that fractured the break.
Posthuma passed Ludewig nearing the Cat. 2 summit and held him off the descent. Despite nearly driving off-course on the twisting downhill run, Posthuma was less than 100 yards ahead of Ludewig at the base of the climb for a pancake-flat run into Cannes.
But Posthuma turned on the afterburners and used his time-trialing skills, which earned him second place in last year’s national championship, to simply ride away from the hard-chasing Ludewig.
Looking both like a young Axel Merckx and a tongue-wagging Christophe Moreau, Posthuma chugged across the line 40 seconds ahead of Ludewig to win his first professional victory in an impressive manner.
Five riders didn’t finish, including world time-trial champion Michael Rogers (Quick Step) and sprinters Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r) and Jaan Kirsipuu (Crédit Agricole). Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Phonak) didn’t start.
Bobby J back on top
It’s rare that Americans ever get the advantage of home roads in European bike racing, but that’s just what Julich will get Sunday.
Nice has been home to Julich since 1997, and he says he won’t be surprised by anything waiting in Sunday’s 135km finale, which tackles the impressive Col d’Eze twice in the final circuits.
The course opens with a Cat. 2 early on, then scales the Cat. 1 Col de la Porte with 83km to go; this is typically a launching pad for stage hunters. The final circuit hits the Cat. 1 Col d’Eze twice before a plunging descent to Nice.
“I know every single one of the climbs tomorrow, so I am very confident,” Julich said.
The “Race to the Sun” finishes every year on the Promenade des Anglais, the wide avenue in the heart of classy Nice. It’s where such legends as Eddy Merckx, Sean Kelly, Miguel Indurain and Laurent Jalabert have stood on the podium.
If all goes well, Julich will join that company in 24 hours.
“I know the Promenade des Anglais very well. Our place is in Nice. I’d like to say it’s my home, but we travel so much with this job that I’m hardly there,” he said. “I think I can say I am half Niçois.”
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