Battling through danger, the GC favorites can’t wait to get into the mountains

Leipheimer loses 65 seconds and 17 GC places in “silly crash”

LISIEUX, France (VN) — It sounds simple enough. Just stay at the front, and stay out of trouble.

Problem is, there are 194 guys all simultaneously trying to be in the front five percent of the field. In this high-speed game of musical chairs, somebody is bound to lose out.

On stage 6 into Lixieux, RadioShack’s Levi Leipheimer found himself riding a guardrail instead of his bike with just 4km to go on the soggy stage. Although he wasn’t hurt, it was a lousy time to crash. He was just 1km away from the 3km “safety zone” where he would be given the same time as the front group. Instead, he had to chase as the group wound it up for the bunch kick. He lost 65 seconds and dropped from 14th overall down to 31st.

“It was just a silly crash. We knew there was about a kilometer-and-a-half uphill at the end, so it was important to be right at the front,” Leipheimer said. “I was trying to shoot through some gaps, and one time it just closed up on me and I was pinned against the guard rail. I kinda surfed the guardrail for like 20 meters, and thankfully that slowed me down and I just fell into the dirt.”

Leipheimer is by no means the only GC rider down on time from silly crashes. Defending champion Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) lost more than a minute on the very first stage, as did Garmin-Cervélo’s Christian Vande Velde and Ryder Hesjedal.

Vande Velde says he can’t wait until the race gets into the mountains and away from the hectic carnage of the flat and rolling stages.

Another GC favorite licking his wounds is Robert Gesink. Although he hasn’t lost time because of crashes, he has lost skin. The skinny Dutch climber hit the deck hard Wednesday and suffered through the Tour’s longest stage wondering how much longer he could hang on.

“It’s really bad. The pain in my back is the worst, and that’s where you get most of the power,” said Gesink, who started with six stitches in his right elbow. “I knew today would be hard and I made it through, but if it doesn’t improve, I don’t know how much more I can do in this Tour.”

FILED UNDER: News / Road / Tour de France TAGS: Levi Leipheimer / stage6