The door was wide open. The two pre-race favorites, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, were left off their respective teams’ rosters thanks to connections with the doctor at the center of a Spanish doping sting. Americans Floyd Landis, George Hincapie, and Levi Leipheimer found themselves starting as favorites to win the general classificiation. After a week of sprinters’ stages (more on that later), today’s 52km individual time trial promised to separate the wheat from chaff in the GC. Other Americans David Zabriskie and Bobby Jullich hoped to turn in strong performances as well, though neither had much in the GC.

But the door was slammed shut. T-Mobile’s Sergui Gonchar (who’s name I saw spelled every which way by the wire services) posted the fastest time, at just over an hour. Though few had him for the stage win, Gonchar is no stranger to riding fast, having won the TT in the World Championships in 2000. The only American up to the task was Landis, who finished second, just over a minute slower than Gonchar. The others? Leipheimer proved the curse of the Dauphine is alive and well, finishing over six minutes (!) off the pace. Short of a miracle in the mountains, his Tour chances are over. A good race at this point might be a top 10 in the GC. Bobby Jullich saw his Tour end in a crash in the opening kilometers. Zabriskie could manage no better than 13th. Hincapie finished a pedestrian 24th, nearly three minutes off the pace. Hincapie, however, is only a minute and a half behind Landis in the GC, so all hope is not lost.

And the week that was. Aussie sprinter Robbie McEwen snatched three stages, and holds a ten point leader in the points standings. Tom Boonen had the best and worst week–he could not manage a stage win, but he held the yellow jersey for three days, an impressive feat in itself (it is worth noting that Boonen, the current world champ, joins Bernard Hinault and Greg Lemond as the only rainbow jersey wearers to hold the yellow jersey simultaneously). Boonen attempted a breakaway on Friday and though it was reeled in rather quickly, he showed great poise and aggression by simply trying to get away. All is not lost for Boonen, as he is second in the points standings, with one more sprinters’ stage tomorrow before Monday’s rest.

The race moves to the Pyrennes on Wednesday, and two difficult mountain stages should further refine the list of GC contenders.

Posted on 8 July 2006