Key moments

Casar The Star In Angouleme

On the eve of the final time trial the peloton was content to allow four riders gain a good lead and battle it out for stage honours. The only interruption to the rather predictable script for the transitional stage was caused by a dog that crossed the path of the escape group at the 27km mark. One of the victims of the ensuing crash was Sandy Casar but the Frenchman battled on and, at one stage led the peloton by 17’30" along with Michael Boogerd, Axel Merckx and Laurent Lefevre. The youngest of the escape was also the strongest: Casar claimed a convincing win ahead of the soon-to-be retired Merckx.

The 211km 18th stage, from Cahors to Angouleme, began at 12.31pm. There were 141 riders at the sign on with no one abandoning overnight. The sun was shining on the Tour de France for what is regarded as a transitional stage on the eve of the final major test – the time trial on Saturday. The 18th stage featured four small hills – all ranked category-four. The points for the climbing classification will be contested at: Salvezou (15km), Lavercantiere (24km), Saint-Martial-de-Nabirat (39.5km) and Saint-Cyprien (70.5km). The two intermediate sprints were in Saint-Cyrprien (at 66km) and Dignac (192km).

Attack Interrupted By A Canine…
Willems (LIQ), Casar (FDJ), Boogerd (RAB) and Lefevre (BTL) attacked at the 13km mark and contested the first climb together. The peloton was 20” behind. At the top of the cote de Salvezou, Merckx (TMO) set off in pursuit of the quartet. At 27km a dog ran onto the road and was hit by Willems who crashed and brought down Casar. Willems was caught by the peloton at 31km, Casar changed his bike and was caught by Merckx soon afterwards. The peloton was 5’20” behind and led by the Discovery Channel team. Boogerd realized that the bunch wasn’t chasing so he answered the call of nature at 36km and then waited for Casar and Merckx. At the 38km mark, the peloton was 7’20” behind the four escapees. The average speed for the first hour was 42.6km/h.

Building The Lead
The best placed of the escape group on GC at the start of the stage was Boogerd (16th at 27’50”). The peloton allowed his quartet to gain a significant lead as Discovery Channel continued to set the tempo. At the fourth climb the peloton was 12’25” behind; at 103km – 14’30”; at 124km – 16’20”; at 135km – 17’10”. The maximum gain of the escape was 17’30” when the peloton was at the 152km mark.

Euskaltel Lead Pursuit…
With 40km to go the Euskaltel team moved to the front of the peloton and the advantage of the escapees began to drop immediately. With 25km to go Boogerd, Casar, Lefevre and Merckx led the peloton by 12’05”; at 20km to go – 11’00”; at 15km to go – 10’20”.

Casar Claims His Maiden Tour Victory
Boogerd was the first of the lead group to attack; he did so at the 10km to go mark but was matched by his fellow escapees. Lefevre then surged at the 6km to go mark and Boogerd led the chase and it was rendered void before the 4km to go banner. Then, with 2,800m to go, Casar launched the most decisive attack, quicking gaining an advantage of about 100m. He held this until about 1,500m to go when Boogerd led the other two to the back wheel of Casar. The four escapees raced under the ‘flamme rouge’ together. Casar remained in the lead position all the way to the line. He hit out again just 200m from the finish and claimed a convincing win ahead of Merckx, Lefevre and Boogerd. It is the Frenchman’s first victory in the Tour de France and makes up for the 7.3cm loss to Vasseur in Marseille in stage 10.
Boonen, Hunter, Zabel and Chavanel led the peloton home in a tight sprint, 8’34” behind Casar. Evans was 14th in the stage and gained three seconds on Contador who was 16th, 8’37” behind the stage winner. The Discovery Channel rider leads the Predictor-Lotto rider by 1’50” going into the final time trial. Contador will wear the yellow jersey in the penultimate stage of the 94th Tour de France.

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Marc Madiot – “He’s a good bloke…”

The manager of La Francaise des Jeux is an emotional character and today Marc Madiot had the chance to celebrate the victory of a rider he’s always believed in. Sandy Casar gave the French team a courageous triumph that his boss hopes will inspire the next generation of cyclists.

“I’m really happy because Sandy Casar is a guy who hasn’t that lucky in his career. He’s a good bloke. I can only wish all the directeurs sportifs had a rider with his moral qualities. In Marseille, after his third second place in a stage of the Tour, I told him that the fourth would be the good one. On that day destiny was against us; but today it worked!
“I’m convinced that he will win other races.
“I’m also delighted to see that there were two French riders in the front and they worked well together. In this period, that’s important. In 10 days, I will be at a race for juniors and it’s for them that we have to keep the faith and the will to ride.”

Sandy Casar - “I thought it was all over…”

After finishing second in Marseille just seven centimeters behind Cedric Vasseur, La Francaise des Jeux’s Sandy Casar claimed his first victory in the Tour de France. He was caught up in a crash at the start of the stage but he still managed to overcome his escape companions in the finale.

“I had the worst start with a fall because of a dog and, at that moment, I thought it was all over. I really fell badly; my bike was broken and my arm was aching but I received the support of everyone in the team cars and from the fans on the side of the road. I was also lucky enough that Axel Merckx was on a counter-attack that helped me to get back into the leading group. Then, when the advantage grew, I made the best of the fact that Merckx wasn’t allowed to collaborate because the overall position of Kim Kirchen was under threat by Boogerd. The rhythm settled and I was able to recover and keep some strength for the finale. With three kilometers to go, I had an opportunity but Boogerd reeled me in with the other two escapees on his wheel.
“At the end, when I saw then others coming back, I thought it was doomed. But because I was in front, I had to stay there and I told myself, ‘For better or worse, why not attack’. I couldn’t wait for the others to do so because I had already been trapped once before – at the finish in Marseilles. This is the victory that I was awaiting.”

Tom Boonen – “It’s a battle all the way…”

After leading the peloton home behind an escape group for the first time in two days, Tom Boonen should be confident that his lead in the points classification is sufficient for him to win the green jersey. But doubt always remains in this tightly fought contest and despite a convincing advantage he still knows there’s work to be done. When asked how he felt in the, at times, bizarre atmosphere of the 94th Tour de France, the Belgian star explained that he finds contentment in the peloton…

“I’m happy and I know why: we’re getting closer to Paris! It’s a battle all the way to the finish… that’s what I said on the first day I took the green jersey and it remains the same now. As long as you’re not 48 points in the lead, you’re not safe in the knowledge that victory in the points classification is assured.
“The best place to be right now is in the peloton. I was talking about it last night with my room-mate Steven De Jongh and it’s unbelievable to be a rider in the Tour de France; you’re isolated from the world. We do the race and the only people we see afterwards are from the media. I get back to the team bus to see the same 10 people and go to the hotel. And you repeat this schedule every day for three weeks. It’s hard to know what’s going on anywhere else.
“In the peloton it’s okay. The riders who are still here are supposed to be riders who are clean and I believe it because all the positive cases have been sent home… I don’t know what’s still going to happen – if there’s something going to happen – but I hope that we can get to Paris with the riders who are now in the peloton. If they are catching more riders than previous years it’s because it’s being controlled well. I never ask questions when I see someone get a good result. Sometimes the media tries to make me say something but I know that others can also talk about me so I have to believe what I see.”

Alberto Contador – “I hope I don’t lose because of three seconds…”

There was no change to the top order of the general classification on the eve of the final time trial but Alberto Contador did lose three seconds to Cadel Evans in the frantic rush to the line at the end of a long, hot day to Angouleme. The Spaniard was frustrated by the little faux-pas and hopes it won’t cost him his yellow jersey…

“I’m not a time trial specialist but I’m going to absolutely all I can to try and not lose one minute 50 seconds. The stage today went perfectly well despite the length; we rode at a rather good pace as opposed to yesterday when it was a lot harder even though the finish was manageable. It’s really important to rest and have a tranquil day before tomorrow’s really important time trial.
“Okay, I lost three seconds [to Cadel Evans] today and it’s annoying but I just hope that I don’t lose the yellow jersey because of three seconds. I hope my legs will respond well tomorrow so I can keep the overall lead.”

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