Yes, that was a surprise. But Contador's just a baby. He did phenomenally today considering - think how this guy will rule the tour when he's a little more seasoned.
Rasmussen takes Stage 16
By VeloNews.com
Rasmussen extends his lead with a stage win
Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) won the 16th stage of the Tour de France on Wednesday, a 218.5 kilometres ride from Orthez to the Col de l’Aubisque.
Rasmussen also extended his lead in the overall standings - he leads Spanish rival Alberto Contador (Discovery Channel) by 3 minutes and 10 seconds. Third-placed Australian Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) lost more time and is now 5:03 adrift.
The Dane, impervious seemingly to the furor over his racing here after receiving four warnings for missing out-of-competition doping ccontrols over the past two years, came home 24 seconds ahead of American Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) while Contador took third at 35 seconds back.
Rasmussen said he had opted to use a different strategy than the one he had employed in Monday’s 15th stage, when Contador had given him endless problems by constantly attacking and trying to break his resistance.
Leipheimer takes second
photo: AFP
“On Monday I was finding it tough to follow him,” said Rasmussen. “So I decided to use a different strategy today (Wednesday) and go at my tempo.
“It worked perfectly because he blew up.”
Rasmussen added that he hoped now more Danes would believe he could see the task through and stand atop the podium in Paris on Sunday - a poll had suggested that a majority of those asked did not believe he would.
“Maybe some have changed their minds after this stage,” he said. “I have over a three minute lead over Contador and I would look to extend that in Saturday’s time trial.”
The stage had begun with a protest by eight teams, six French and two German, over the persistent doping scandals, which saw Alexander Vinokourov thrown out of the race on Tuesday after failing a test for blood doping. His team, Astana, withdrew after a request from the race organizers.
When racing finally got under way, Spaniard Carlos Sastre (CSC) had launched an attack from a long way out way out from the finish, along with compatriot Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir) and king of the mountains leader Mauricio Soler (Barloworld).
They caught the early leaders, but Sastre, who was continually the more aggressive of that trio, was reeled in on the final climb by Rasmussen, Contador, Evans and Leipheimer.
Contador did try to attack on several occasions but never succeeded in distancing himself from either Rasmussen, while Leipheimer successfully came back to the other two 5km from the summit - however, neither he nor the Spaniard had any answer to Rasmussen’s final burst.
Stage 16
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 6:23:21
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery Channel, at 0:26
3. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, at 0:35
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 0:43
5. Juan Mauricio Soler (Sp), Barloworld, at 1:25
Overall
1. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 76:15:15
2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery, at 3:10
3. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, at 5:03
4. Levi Leipheimer (USA), Discovery, at 5:59
5. Carlos Sastre (Sp). CSC, at 9:12
http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/details/articles/12929.0.html