Break with Schumacher, Fedrigo and Ballan
Stage 19: Roanne – Montlucon
Carlos Sastre in yellow and Oscar Freire racing in green
There was an early break with Martinez, Fedrigo, Schumacher and Ballan. Sylvain Chavanel finally won a Tour stage today so the French are happy.
I had a lot more energy today so I stopped in a small colorful town called Chatel Montagne. It was only 37k from the start. I knew it would be difficult to get around in this region so I stopped early. It took 2-1/2 hours to get to the finish and I didn’t think I’d make it. The road from Chatel Montagne was at least 60k to the autoroute and non-stop curves so it was hard to get up enough speed. I finally got to the autoroute and then there were so many traffic jams. The autoroute passed over the route of the race just before I reached that intersection so there was a lot of extra traffic. Then the exit from the autoroute to the finish line was longer than it looked and of course I was stuck behind slow trucks and local traffic. When I finally reached the next jam it was mostly press cars and a team bus, so I figured I would have time to find a parking place and get to the finish, and I did.
Tomorrow is the time trial and then a long long drive to Paris.
