|
"Chute Dans Le Peloton!"
The Linda McCartney Pro Cycling Team must be wondering when their luck is going to change. Their participation in the finish to today's mammoth 245km 8th stage was brought to a premature conclusion when they were deeply embroiled in a mighty crash, almost within sight of the line.
For many miles, the road curved and twisted it's way through the lush, fragrant jungle and rainforest of southern Malaysia, with not a soul to be seen at the roadside. It was in stark contrast to the thousands of screaming happy faces lining the route on every previous day of this race. Against this lonely, humid landscape, the hero of the day was to be the valiant Koos Moerenhout of the Netherlands' Farm Frites squad. People will think twice before talking about "Dutch Courage" when Koos is around: he pressed on alone for an unbelievable 130kms, building a lead that once topped 10 minutes. There were only 6 kms remaining when his tired frame weaved into sight of the flying bunch. They hunted him down remorselessly and cast him aside to leave him in the same manner he had spent the last three hours: alone. He trailed in 8 minutes behind the winner.
Meanwhile, the peloton was lining up for another lightning quick sprint, and once again everybody wanted a piece of the action. David McKenzie mustered his troops once more, and they surged to the front of the pack. "Linda McCartney train at the front of the race," reported Radio Tour as the seething mass hurtled towards the final kilometre. The very next announcement was carried across the airwaves with urgency a split second later. It was the call that every team manager dreads: "Chute dans le peloton!"
As the 60kmh field approached the final shakedown, they had to negotiate a tricky left-hander, complicated by a traffic island. As the riders compressed into the small space available, there was a touch of wheels, a locking of handlebars, and no fewer than 30 riders met the road in a sickening cacophony of twisted metal, agonised cries and juddering bones. Ciaran Power, Bjornar Vestol and David McKenzie all came down in the bedlam, yet again that elusive stage win slipping from the team's grasp. As they picked gravel from their elbows, Ivan Quarranta was proving again that he is the fastest man in the world at the moment, taking his second win in as many days. Simultaneously, proving that cycling success is inexorably transient, the former yellow jersey Daniele Contrini was lying prone in a Melaka street with a broken collar-bone and dislocated shoulder.
After checking the riders had come through the incident with only cosmetic injuries, assistant manager Chris Lillywhite quickly turned his attention to the three yellow Principias tangled on the tarmac. "I would have been gutted if anything had happened to our bikes. They're the envy of every team in the race, and they give the riders such an injection of confidence."
Fortunately, the aluminium frames had passed their difficult test with flying colours, and the same could be said of all the componentry. The worst damage was a buckled rear wheel on Bjarnor Vestol's mount, but even that wasn't enough to prevent him riding across the finish line a few moments later. The commissaires took pity on the fallen riders and accredited them with the same time as the bunch they had been with prior to the accident, meaning that Bjornar hangs on to 10th overall. Fingers are crossed that everybody awakes supple and refreshed tomorrow after their unwanted rendezvous with the road.
Report by John Deering
|
