BMC Racing Team’s Cadel Evans maintained his second place overall Wednesday at the Tour de France while teammate Tejay van Garderen held onto his lead in the best young rider competition but slipped to 10th in the general classification.
Bradley Wiggins wasn’t fazed by the attacks from Nibali. The attitude of the Sky team was that he can’t possibly attack every day. Voeckler won the stage after staying away in a break with Scarponi, Deveyns and Sanchez. Voeckler says his years of experience served him well today.
Few Opportunities for BMC
On a day when the overall contenders let a 23-man breakaway roll up the road, gain an eight-minute advantage and Thomas Voeckler (Team Europcar) take the stage win, Evans tried to keep his closest competition within sight. But when Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) attacked on the day’s longest climb, Evans said he was feeling a bit of pressure. “He (Nibali) went away and I was a little bit hesitant,” Evans said. “Maybe it was a missed opportunity or something.” But Nibali couldn’t escape the chase of Team Sky and race leader Bradley Wiggins. “Sky really has the team for this course and this situation,” Evans said. “So it leaves the opportunities few and far between. And with the wind and the climb that far from the finish, it was a bit difficult today.”
Looking Ahead
Evans finished 12th on the stage, arriving at the finish 3:16 behind Voeckler, in a group that contained nearly every rider in the top 10. Thursday, the race enters the Alps, with four categorized climbs in 148 km. Evans said he will be looking to chip away at his 1:53 deficit to Wiggins. “You have to make opportunities for yourself,” the defending champion said. “Tomorrow, I think the attacking riders will be more rewarded. But we’ll have to see how the other teams react to the race.”
‘Tough Day’ For Van Garderen
Van Garderen lost contact near the top of the Col de Richemond, the last of three categorized climbs on the 194.5-kilometer route, but fought back to keep the white jersey on his shoulders. “It was just a tough day,” he said. “I was struggling out there. I got dropped on the last climb of the day and had to fight back on the descent to make sure I could be there to shelter him (Evans) a little bit more at the end. Coming up this one kilometer climb (at the finish), I pretty much hit my limit.” Van Garderen finished 27th, 17 seconds behind Evans’s group, to drop from eighth to 10th.
