Green and Gold for Green and Yellow?

The owners of the two most sought after colours in the coveted Tour de France are close to being finalised, can Australia’s Robbie McEwen and Cadel Evans take home the double? Or will it be U.S.A for the eighth straight year?

Yesterday saw a much needed rest day bestowed upon the 156 remaining competitors in the 93rd Tour de France, but with the French Alps beckoning, one day of rest was not enough for some as stage 15 provided some exciting changes at the top of the general classification and the sprinters jersey points race.

The finish line of stage 15 stands 1850 metres above sea level and is framed by the legendary climb up L'Alpe d’Huez, which offers a relentless gradient and an opportunity for races to be won and lost.

The winner last night was to be Fränk Schleck, the first Luxembourger to claim victory on the climb. The loser was Tom Boonen, Australian Robbie McEwen’s direct rival in the point’s classification for the Green jersey.

Boonen had problems with his breathing throughout the stage and decided to call an end to his Tour, effectively relinquishing his hold on second place in the sprinters classification, leaving the path open to McEwen to win his third Green jersey.

McEwen now has a 45-point gap between him and his closest rival Oscar Freire (Spain) in the points classification. To put that into perspective – a rider is awarded up to 35 points with a stage win and six points for scheduled sprints throughout the stage. Points are also awarded to riders who come second and third in scheduled sprints and to the first 20 riders on a flat stage (or 15 riders for a mountain finish).

McEwen’s team Davitamon-Lotto’s task is now to make sure their Green jersey hopeful can make it through the French Alps and to Paris unscathed and give him every chance to compete for his fourth stage victory of this Tour on the Champs-Elysées on Sunday the 23rd of July.

This is perhaps unfortunate for fellow Australian Cadel Evans, who rides for the same Belgian based team as McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto). With the other riders focusing on helping McEwen arrive in Paris, they are foregoing the opportunity to aid Evans in his race toward the overall lead.

Evans is therefore left to fight his own battle (currently in seventh overall +2.56min behind the leader).

There is; however, a great opportunity for Evans and fellow compatriot Michael Rogers (eighth overall +5.01min behind) to bridge the gap before the finish line.

Their chance will arise in the penultimate stage, which is a rolling time test for riders against the clock over a course that spans from Le Creusot to Montceau-les-Mines and covers 56 kilometres.

Both Evans and Rogers are touted as possible winners of this stage with Rogers being the current world time trial champion. Despite this, the question will be whether the two Australian riders can stay on track and not lose any further time in the upcoming Alpine stages.

We will all be watching the next few stages with interest, as they will certainly provide us with a greater picture of who the real chances are to win this years Tour. Can the Green and Gold bring home Green and Yellow? This is yet to be seen, but boy would it be exciting!

Related Article:

Cadel Evans States his Claim (Fri Jul 14)

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