Savoldelli Successful On A Day Of Change

Savoldelli Successful On A Day Of Change

“The line it is drawn. The curse it is cast. The slow one now will later be fast… for the times they are a changin’”. (Bob Dylan – 1963.)
As the finish line beckoned at the end of the longest stage of the 2005 Tour de France, the slow did become fast. A period of apathy in the peloton was ignited by a long sprint over the final climb and back down to the finish in Revel. Over 20 minutes after the Paolo Savoldelli claimed his first Tour stage win, the peloton was split to pieces because of an attack by Alexandre Vinokourov.
Yesterday the champion of Kazakhstan officially announced that he would be leaving the T-Mobile team at the end of the season. And today he did what he could to prove his worth to prospective employers. He elevated himself from ninth place overall to seventh with a ferocious turn of speed that only nine other riders could match. Amongst this elite posse was the man who appears destined to claim a seventh Tour title as well as Ivan Basso, Mickael Rasmussen, Jan Ullrich, Francisco Mancebo and Levi Leipheimer – the riders ranked second to sixth in the general classification before the 17th stage – along with two more riders from the Discovery Channel team.
The line that is drawn awaits in Paris.
For Armstrong the curse is his commitment to retire even though he’s clearly in peak condition. | The rest of story |