MAILLOT JAUNE
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Lanterne Rouge!This is quite interesting that there's only an average of 2kph between Van Hummel and Contador! Doesn't seem that much really.
Also, Cycling Weekly, in their Stage by Stage previews, had Van Hummel as one to "look out for"! Obviously not in the way they had thought as he's won all Skil-Shimano's wins this season.
Good on you Kenny - hope to see you and cheer you on in Paris!
From cyclingnews:
"Flying Dutchman hangs on
While the battle for the yellow jersey rages on, lanterne rouge Kenny van Hummel (Skil-Shimano) faces his own individual war of attrition each day in the mountains as he tries to avoid being eliminated on time. The 26-year-old Dutchman finished today's stage 34:43 down on stage winner Mikel Astarloza but kept within the time limit and remains dead last, now 3:35:54 down on leader Alberto Contador.
A quick calculation shows that while Contador has averaged 40.567 kph for the Tour's 16 completed stages, van Hummel, making his Tour debut, has raced the same distance in an average of 38.516 kph.
During today's stage in the Alps, which crossed the highest point of the race, the Col du Grand-Saint-Bernard, at 2473 metres above sea level, van Hummel once again found himself on his own, dropped by the peloton.
"I was left by the bunch on the first climb today but I stayed at my own pace and kept on going. I had to take some pretty big risks on the descent to limit my losses but I can do that. I can go downhill very fast when I have to. I can gain two minutes back, no problem," Van Hummel said with a grin, after making the cut yet again.
"On the flat part after the first climb the terrain was up and down and of course the second climb was also hard, but I could hold the speed a little bit. Once I got to the top I knew that I would make it to the finish in time."
Van Hummel has received attention from the press in this year's Tour for his style of riding, but he's doing more than just surviving, often competing in the sprints, with several top 10 places to his name already. "I just do my job," van Hummel said when asked about the media attention he has received.
"There are some better climbers than me in the race," van Hummel joked. "I'm a sprinter and generally riders like me tend to struggle in the mountains. In the Pyrenees I had a few guys with me but they've all gone home now."
With another tough day in the Alps tomorrow with five categorised climbs, the Dutchman will have do it all over again but he'll go into it with one aim - to reach Paris. "I can hear all the fans cheering me as I ride and it's spurring me on.If I can make it tomorrow then maybe I can make it to Paris. I want to sprint on the Champs-Élysées."
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Bartali
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Good man ... that's what its all about!
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SlowRower
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I liked the "I had some riders with me in the Pyrenees but they've all gone home now" bit. Classic!
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chardon
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That's one rider I'd like to see at the Champs E. He's a sprinter. He will feel at home..."Home is the sailor, home from the sea....and the rider home from the hills..." 
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Bartali
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| SlowRower wrote: | | I liked the "I had some riders with me in the Pyrenees but they've all gone home now" bit. Classic! |
 Liked that too!
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SlowRower
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He's obviously taking his challenge to win the Lanterne Rouge seriously. "You've got to be in it to win it".
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MAILLOT JAUNE
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Shame that van Hummel dropped out today.
That makes 158 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux 3:26:01 the Lanterne Rouge.
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Spoo
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| MAILLOT JAUNE wrote: | Shame that van Hummel dropped out today.
That makes 158 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux 3:26:01 the Lanterne Rouge. |
That is a shame, I like stories like this it shows that there are pros suffering much more than the guys at the front you just never get to see them. Any idea why he pulled out? Crash? Realisation he'd never make the time?
The bit about descendings interesting too, didn't Sean Kelly mention the guys in the autobus/grupetto as the best descenders in the peloton rather than the established descending specialists like Salvoldelli, Samu etc.
Whose Yauheni's nearest challenger?
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Jackov
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| Quote: | | A quick calculation shows that while Contador has averaged 40.567 kph for the Tour's 16 completed stages, van Hummel, making his Tour debut, has raced the same distance in an average of 38.516 kph. |
We need a graph showing the average lantern rouge speed of all TdF's since WWII
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MAILLOT JAUNE
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| Spoo wrote: | | MAILLOT JAUNE wrote: | Shame that van Hummel dropped out today.
That makes 158 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux 3:26:01 the Lanterne Rouge. |
That is a shame, I like stories like this it shows that there are pros suffering much more than the guys at the front you just never get to see them. Any idea why he pulled out? Crash? Realisation he'd never make the time?
The bit about descendings interesting too, didn't Sean Kelly mention the guys in the autobus/grupetto as the best descenders in the peloton rather than the established descending specialists like Salvoldelli, Samu etc.
Whose Yauheni's nearest challenger? |
Van Hummel crashed yesterday as he took risks on the downhill sections - badly bleeding knee and bit of road rash
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Spoo
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Ouch hope its not too bad, I'd imagine even if he could've carried on his appetite for slogging over a number of cols just to trail in after the timelimt wasn't there.
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MAILLOT JAUNE
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He was interviewed in the "studio" on the Dutch Sports programme on NOS last night and seemd OK, drinking wine with Mart Smeets (the anchor man) and Michael Boogard! But he did have a bandage on his elbow, but apart from that he looked fine. He actually reminds me of the cartoon character Pob! 
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Boogerd_Fan
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ahh boogie in the studio!
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MAILLOT JAUNE
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Mat him last year at lunch before the finish- got his autograph - nice guy.
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