Tour de France Team Talk Stage 16

A tough day in the mountains - Cyril Dessel (AG2R) won over the highest road in France as Denis Menchov (Rabobank) loses time on the GC. Otherwise the race leader Frank Schleck (CSC/Saxo Bank) was not challenged - report

The team rode at the front all day and a number of riders who had hitched a ride with the breakaway later dropped back to help out. It was a master class in team work

Fränk Schleck - "Carlos (Sastre) had everything well under control. He said to us to take it easy when the various rivals started to attack. He has a tremendous experience so we had faith in the fact that he knew what he was doing."

"There were tough headwinds at the end of the climb so it was more or less suicide to go solo at that point. It was a big help when Jens Voigt let himself fall back to the group and pulled for a while. But Andy was also fantastic again today. Everyone in the group was in the red zone so no one was capable of attacking," explained Fränk Schleck.

Sports director Kim Andersen said - "It's good that we managed to split the peloton again today even though it was under difficult conditions with that wind. Once again the team deserves big credit for a tremendous effort. Everyone worked hard out there and did an excellent job. Of course tomorrow we'll have to get out there and make a difference and I'm sure it'll be a very exciting stage to Alpe d'Huez."

Andy Schleck - “We didn’t feel so good today. It wasn’t the right stage to really attack. Cadel knows that his opportunity will come to take time out of us but today wasn’t the right time to attack. Tomorrow is the hardest stage and we’ll try and make the race as difficult as possible for the others.”

Frank also said - “I absolutely have to attack tomorrow (Alp d'Huez stage ) and try and break the others. We tried it today but I have to give a big compliment to Carlos Sastre who made a really good decision at the beginning. He said, ‘OK, we’ll let everybody go and we’ll just have to keep the team together."

Fränk Schleck still has seven seconds on Bernhard Kohl (Gerolsteiner) and eight on Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) and Carlos Sastre is fourth with 49 seconds up.

DS Christian Henn said - "An excellent day for us", we achieved our targets."

Bernhard Kohl said - "I felt excellent today and that's why I wanted to give it a shot. It's a pity that it wasn't quite enough. During the last climb it was particularly the head wind that made life difficult for me. Nevertheless it's quite something to receive the red jersey number."

"This was a really good day for me. I defended the jersey (KOM), and I proved how strong I am in the mountains. I have managed to put a little distance between me and some of the time trial specialists. These minutes and seconds may well come in handy in the not too distant future."

“The descent was dangerous but it’s only what you make of it. You’ve just got to try and limit the risk and be wary; the good thing from the downhill is that Denis Menchov lost 30 seconds in the general classification and that buys me a bit of time. It’s an important 30 seconds."

John-Lee Augustyn went over the massive Cime de la Bonette-Restefond, the highest road in France, in first spot only to crash on the descent.

"In the downhill I tried to stay in Popovich's wake, but I chose a bad trajectory and went down the hill." "It was pretty frightening - continued Augustyn - fortunately some supporters helped me to get back on the road, but I had to wait for a new bike though, since mine was way too down to recover it. I am satisfied with my performance anyway, as I demonstrated I can be a protagonist on the mountains, even if I know I missed an important chance."

Damiano Cunego was in the breakway group and despite dropping back was able to finish with the race leaders - “I’m satisfied because I showed that I can attack and because I tried to realise something good. My condition is not at the top, but I showed that I still have something and I will end the Tour in a positive way.

Team manager Erik Breukink said of the 30 seconds Denis Menchov lost on the descent of Cime de la Bonette-Restefond - "I have talked to him in the meantime and he told me that he had made a couple of navigation mistakes during the more technical parts of the descent. That is when a gap was created. The others then of course blasted ahead full steam. This obviously is very bitter. It would have been great had Flecha, as was the plan, also made it to the top. Then Menchov would have at least had somebody with him for the descent. It is 35 seconds of time loss too many."

"Menchov will already be able to make up for this on the Alpe d'Huez. That is when the battle will break loose. Indeed, it is an absolute necessity for Menchov to go on the attack but the same still goes for many others with Cadel Evans so close in the ranking. It is going to be difficult now, very difficult."

Christian Vandevelde lost time on the descent of the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond sliding out on a corner.

DS Matt White said - “He is fine and just got up and continued full throttle down to the finish.”

Cyril Dessel had animated the break over the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond and then swooped into Sausiers to win the stage.

“From the outset, the tactic was to put myself in the escape". "On the climb to the top of the Bonette, one which I already have done with my father at the age of 14, I saw the rider from Barloworld attack and I have given everything to try and reel him in but I didn’t succeed. I’m good on the downhill but I also knew that, with Popovych there, it would be very difficult to attack on the descent, in the last kilometers I waited for the right moment to go. I saw Arroyo shaping up to go and went. I was told that I had won 50 metres before the line but I wasn't going to raise my arms.”

Herve Duclos Lassalle, Cofidis - stage 1 - crash
Angel Gomez, Saunier Duval - stage 3 - crash
Maurico Soler, Barloworld - stage 5 - injuries from an earlier crash
Aurelien Passeron, Saunier Duval - stage 6 - failed to start (Hit a spectator the previous day)
Magnus Backstedt, Garmin Chipotle - stage 7 - outside time limit
Lilian Jegou, FD Jeux - stage 7 - crash
Christophe Moreau, Agritubel - stage 7, bad back
John Gadret, AG2R - stage 7
Mauro Facci, Quickstep, - stage 7
Manuel Beltran, Liquigas - stage 7 - failed dope test and thrown off race
Yury Trofimov Bouyges Telecom - stage 10 - withdrawn before start
Paulo Longo Borghini, Barloworld - stage 11 - crash
Felix Cardenas, Barloworld - stage 11 - crash
Moises Duenas Nevado, Barloworld - stage 11 - failed dope test and thrown off race
Leonardo Piepoli, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Josep Jufre, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Jesus Del Nero, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
David De La Fuente, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Juan Jose Cobo Acebo, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Rubens Bertogliati, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - team withdrew
Riccardo Ricco, Saunier Duval - stage 12 - failed dope test and thrown off race
Baden Cooke, Barloworld - stage 12 - crash
Nicholas Jalabert, Agritubel - stage 14 - abandoned
Stijn Devolder, Quickstep - stage 15 - abandoned
Mark Renshaw, Credit Agricole - stage 15 - abandoned
Mark Cavendish, Team Columbia - stage 15 - didn't start and went home
Oscar Pereiro, Caisse d'Epargne - stage 15 - crash
Sebastien Chavanel, FD Jeux - stage 16 - abandoned
Francesco Chicchi, Liquigas - stage 16 - outside the time limit

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