| | By Andrew Hood
ABC Sports Online
LIMOGES, France -- Solo breaks don't happen very often in the Tour de France for a very good reason. It is perhaps the hardest thing to pull off in racing.
It's one rider throwing everything into a run for the finish; one rider against the whole peloton. It's 180 engines versus one pair of legs. They usually don't work, but occasionally they do.
| |
 |
| |
Christophe Agnolutto withstood a grueling pace on Friday. |
Just like much in the Tour de France so far this year, the unexpected happened again in Friday's 205-kilometer (127-mile) seventh stage from Tours to Limoges.
Christophe Agnolutto, a French rider on the AG2R team, pulled away from the peloton 75 kilometers into the stage and squeaked in 1 minute, 11 seconds ahead of the main bunch after riding alone for 128 kilometers (79 miles). His win is the first by a French rider in the Tour de France since 1998.
"It was so long and hard in the saddle," Agnolutto said. "I had to think about my friends and my family and other things to take my mind off the pain. It was really close. I am not a strong climber and the final kilometers were quite hilly. I didn't know if I was going to make it."
Three things usually need to happen for a solo break to succeed. First, the rider off the front has to be a type of rider that has no chance of winning the overall title. Second, the peloton has to be distracted or disinterested enough to let him go for broke. And thirdly, the breakaway rider has to be willing to suffer like he's never suffered before.
All three things happened Friday. At 31, Agnolutto has only won a handful of races in his career and he's not going to beat Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich in this year's Tour. He started the day in 82nd overall more than 11 minutes back. Plus, the big teams -- Postal, Deutsche Telekom and ONCE -- were busy watching each other and saving their legs for the first mountain stage on Monday.
So away he went and the suffering began.
"The wind today was horrible. Heavy crosswinds really made it difficult. I
just put my head down and pedaled," Agnolutto said.
Three breaks early in the race were checked by the peloton. Agnolutto went out with four other riders early. When the break was reeled in, he said he felt great and figured he'd try it alone.
Agnolutto's no stranger to solo breaks. He pulled one off in the 1997 Tour du Suisse, winning the second stage by 12 minutes. The gap was so big, he won the overall title.
In Friday's stage, the gap was just enough to win. With 48 kilometers to go, he opened up the lead to eight minutes. Then it got hilly and the other teams started nipping away at his margin. With 20 kilometers to go, his lead was down to 3:52. With 10 kilometers to go, he still had more than three minutes on the pack and he knew he was home clear.
"I've waited two years for another big win, so a Tour de France stage is just fantastic. I haven't won anything big for two years, it's great," he said. "It's not so easy to escape alone. It's even harder for me since the Tour du Suisse. They always watch for me."
The last major solo breakaway victory in France was pulled off by Cedric Vasseur in 1997. Vasseur, now a teammate of Armstrong's on the U.S. Postal Service team, rode alone for 147 kilometers and won the stage in La Chatre.
On Friday, Armstrong crossed the line 19th with the main bunch. He remains 12th overall, 5:54 behind race leader Alberto Elli, an Italian on the Telekom team.
Heavy winds and narrow roads made it another long day in the saddle for Armstrong.
"These stages are so nervous. Everyone is ready to get to the mountains,"
Armstrong said. | |
ALSO SEE
Dekker takes Tour's 8th stage; Armstrong looms
Armstrong returns to Limoges
Hincapie Diary No. 5
Stage Seven results
|
