CYCLING - Tour de France:FOR MANY the Tour de France does not really start until it hits the mountains, and for others it ends. After last week's skirmishes in the molehills of the Massif Central, yesterday's ninth stage saw the race enter the Pyrenees, and the rider who calls himself the Cobra, hero-worships Marco Pantani and rides uphill with the same panache as the late Italian, offered a masterclass in attacking climbing.
Riccardo Ricco waited until the upper slopes of the Col d'Aspin before launching an attack so devastating that the other race favourites did not even bother trying to respond. More remarkably, he sustained the effort all the way to the summit and over the final 20km to claim his second stage, following his success in the uphill finish at Super-Besse last Thursday.
The Cobra's move carried unmistakable echoes of Pantani, whose similarly naff nickname was "the Pirate". Hands gripping the drops of the handlebars, he appeared oblivious to the gradient and accelerated as if he were Mark Cavendish unleashing his finishing sprint.
Behind him the chasing group, containing all the favourites, eventually organised themselves but made no headway, and Ricco's celebration as he crossed the line, more than a minute ahead, said it all: he kissed the tips of his index fingers before pointing them at his chest, in an "I'm the man" gesture.
Whether he is the man for the yellow jersey is another question, possibly made more complex by a crash suffered by the overall favourite, Cadel Evans, who tumbled 114km into the stage, before the climb of the Col de Peyresourde, apparently due to erratic riding from a member of the Basque Euskaltel team.
The Australian came down heavily, with his elbow and thigh badly affected, and although his team paced him back to the peloton, he later dropped back to the doctor's car for a lengthy inspection of his shoulder.
It was a busy day for the doctor, who was later called on to dress the old wounds of another of the favourites, Alejandro Valverde.
Unlike Evans, who lies second overall, and Valverde, Ricco insists he is not here for yellow, yet the scary thing for his rivals is that yesterday provided a relatively gentle introduction to the high passes.
Today's stage, featuring the hors-category Tourmalet and a summit finish at Hautacam, should be even more to the Italian's liking.
"I'm not here to win the Tour," repeated Ricco at the finish. "There are other riders who've prepared better and based their whole season around the Tour. I'm here for experience and to win stages."
In today's stage, he added, he will ride for his team-mate, the veteran Italian Leonardo Piepoli, by "forcing the pace to try and launch him to the stage win".
And if such über-confidence sounds ominous, then so does Ricco's caveat that, if the yellow jersey suddenly does become a possibility between the Pyrenees and Paris, "I won't hold back".
Ricco has been a target of the drugs testers in the first week. Another rider reportedly targeted was Manuel Beltran, expelled on Friday after testing positive for EPO, but Ricco said yesterday that his case is complex.
The 24-year-old races with a certificate issued by the International Cycling Union to prove his haematocrit level is naturally in excess of 50 per cent, but the testing at the Tour is being undertaken by the French anti-doping agency (ALFD), who may not have access to the documentation concerning Ricco's unusual blood values. This may explain their apparent interest in collecting samples - four in the first week - from him.
While the mountains signal the start of the race for Ricco, for others, such as Saturday's winner Cavendish, they can mark the beginning of the end. The British sprinter was dropped on the first climb, but found sanctuary in the grupetto of non-climbers, who cajoled each other to the finish, arriving 28 minutes after Ricco.
Guardian Service
RACE DETAILS
Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre, 224km
1.R Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval 5hrs 39mins 28secs, 2. V Efimkine (Rus) AG2R +1:04, 3. C Dessel (Fra) AG2R +1:17, 4. D Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole, 5. C Knees (Ger) Milram, 6. M Monfort (Bel) Cofidis, 7. A Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne, 8. R Kreuziger (Cze Rep) Liquigas, 9. D Cunego (Ita) Lampre, 10. Y Popovych (Ukr) Silence - Lotto, all same time.
General classification:1. K Kirchen (Lux) Columbia 38hrs 07mins 19secs, 2. C Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto +6, 3. C Vande Velde (US) Garmin - Chipotle +44, 4. S Schumacher (Ger) Gerolsteiner +56, 5. D Menchov (Rus) Rabobank +1:03, 6. A Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne +1:12, 7. S Devolder (Bel) Quick-Step +1:21, 8. O Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne, 9. S Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel +1:27, 10. C Sastre (Spa) Team CSC +1:34, 11. F Schleck (Lux) Team CSC +1:56, 12. A Schleck (Lux) Team CSC +1:58, 13. B Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner +2:03, 14. M Monfort (Bel) Cofidis +2:07, 15. D Cunego (Ita) Lampre +2:09, 16. M Astarloza (Spa) Euskaltel +2:16, 17. T Valjavec (Slv) AG2R +2:19, 18. R Kreuziger (Cze Rep) Liquigas +2:20, 19. C Knees (Ger) Milram +2:31, 20. M Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre +2:33.
Sprinters:1. K Kirchen (Lux) Columbia 123pts, 2. O Freire (Spa) Rabobank 119, 3. T Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 105, 4. A Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 96, 5. E Zabel (Ger) Milram 92, 6. M Cavendish (Brit) Columbia 86, 7. R Hunter (Rsa) Barloworld 82, 8. R Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval 75, 9. R Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 64, 10. C Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto 62.
King of the Mountains:1. D De la Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval 61pts, 2. S Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner 57, 3. R Ricco (Ita) Saunier Duval 50, 4. LL Sanchez (Spa) Caisse dEpargne 31, 5. V Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 30, 6. S Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 27, 7. T Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 27, 8. B Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner 22, 9. A Kuchynski (Bel) Liquigas 22, 10. N Jalabert (Fra) Agritubel 19.
Teams:1. Team CSC 114hrs 24mins 23secs, 2. Caisse dEpargne +3:29, 3. Saunier Duval +4:47, 4 Gerolsteiner +5:21, 5 AG2R +6:12, 6. Columbia +8:02, 7. Rabobank +8:12, 8. Lampre +9:28, 9. Barloworld +10:29, 10. Liquigas +11:37.
