CyclingRevealed's First Impressions '06

Stage 18, July 21st, Morzine to Mâcon, 197 km

Grand Cru

The very name of Burgundy has a ring of richness about it. It is said in France that if Paris is France's head then Champagne is her soul and Burgundy is her stomach. This most famous of France 's ancient duchies was known for its wine long before Christianity came to the country. However this large region is fragmented and, like this year's Tour, offers very unpredictable wines. To the north lies Chablis, to the south Beaujolais and between them lie the Cote de Nuits, Cote de Beaune, Cote Chalonnaise and Mâconnais. Grand Cru (the highest rated quality) wine permeates these famous appellations. If you are lucky enough to be traveling in this region you will experience traditional long meals of Charolais beef (from the west) or Bresse chicken (from the east) washed down with some of the world's best Grand Cru wines.

Racing through Burgundy the Tour received a Grand Cru reception.

Lying right at the heart of this wine lovers paradise is today's finish town, Mâcon. Unfortunately for the local wine growers their wines are probably the least distinguished of the Burgundy region. Their reds are only just Burgundian in nature and their whites, although a true Burgundy , are without frills.

After the dramatic passage through the Alps this Tour is definitely Grand Cru. Today's stage by comparison was like Mâcon. It produced good solid racing, without frills, but still very satisfying.

Early on a break away of 15 riders established a solid lead which grew in excess of five minutes. One of the few teams to miss out was Saunier Duval and it seemed as though their manager, livid at this error, sent all of his boys to the front. They spent almost the entire race flogging away at the front and seemingly unable to make any impression on the break. About three quarters of the way through the race we had the unusual sight of Robbie McEwen sprint to the head of the Saunier Duval train. Up front he suddenly started waving his arms in great agitation at the TV motor bike who he believed was providing pacing to the hard working Saunier Duval team. His issue was that his teammate Mario Aerts was in the break and thus in with a chance to win.

For McEwen himself, the job of defending his Green Jersey had become a non-issue. His sole remaining serious challenger, Oscar Friere, withdrew from the race today with bronchial problems. McEwen's Grand Cru is his soon to be third victory in the points competition which he will no doubt hope to top off by winning the final sprint into Paris on Sunday.

As the road closed in on Mâcon a series of vicious attacks out of the leading group took place. Eventually Matteo Tosatto (Quick.Step), Christian Moreni (Cofidis) and Ronny Scholz (Gerolsteiner) made the decisive split and finished in that order about one minute ahead of the weary break. Tosatto is normally one of Tom Boonen's most important lead out men. Now, with the World Champion now long gone from this race, he saved Quick.Steps Tour with a stage win of his own.

Boonen's most important leadout man sprints to a well
earned stage win [ Image ©: www.gazzetta.it ]

For the Tour's most important overall contenders (Pereiro, Sastre, and Landis), today was a perfect way to ‘recover' for tomorrow's final challenge. The seriousness of Landis's resolve was again visible as the bunch rolled into Mâcon. Almost his entire team was surrounding him at the front of the bunch to keep him out of harms way. What will most likely be a three-way battle in tomorrow's ‘race of truth' will top off a Grand Cru Tour. The winner will become a Tour legend.

Tomorrow: Le Creusot to Montceau les Mines, 56 km ITT. Do not miss our report here on CyclingRevealed.

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