Manager Johan Bruyneel

I think it’s a very traditional course. There is a little bit less time trialing than normal but other than that there are no surprises. In the beginning the stage with the cobblestones can be tricky but other than that it is very predictable. It’s a pity that there is no team time trial. Now at least they have eliminated the TTT which I think is better than the strange rules – about the time won or lost after a TTT – that existed in the past. It’s either you have it or you don’t have it, without special rules. Now it is easy; there is no TTT. At least that is fair.

Alberto Contador

I like the course. It will be a better Tour for climbers than for rouleurs. Honestly I would have preferred a 10 K shorter time trial and a second one of 20 or 30 K, but I am really happy about the course. It will be a very difficult race to control in the first week, which is particularly difficult with the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones, but I don’t give it too much importance. The most important thing will be not to crash. I hope it will not rain there.

The Alps stages will be less hard. The Pyrenees will be twice as hard as this year, especially with the double climb of the Tourmalet, one of them with a mountaintop finish. I will recognize those stages to know more about them.

Lance Armstrong

I think it’s an interesting course. It starts exciting. The first few days will provide a lot of drama for people between the crosswinds in Holland and the hills in and around Brussels and Spa and then with of course the cobblestones when we first come into France. The cobbles themselves are dangerous but what is even more dangerous is the run into the cobblestones. The kilometers before, the nerves, the anticipation before, the positioning, that is the most dangerous part. You need obviously an all rounded team but I think you have to take some big guys who can definitely support you in that first week because with the cobble sections you have to be in the front. I remember we did those sections in 2004 and I had great support from Ekimov and Hincapie. We came in the cobble zones first. It makes a big difference.

There will be only 60 K individual time trial but the only thing that is unfortunate for us, is that there will be no team time trial. The race will technically and tactically be much different than this year. You will have more guys who will be factors in the race because of the lack of the team time trial. In 2009 the TTT eliminated half of a dozen guys.

I think the organizers like what they had this year with a summit finish so late in the race. It keeps things close, it keeps everybody guessing. It keeps the riders sharp too. The race will not be decided before the last three or four days. Two times on the Tourmalet is unique too. I like it.

I will be close to 39 years old but the goal and ambition will be to try to win. I’m excited for the whole upcoming season. I like to think that I will be better than last year but Alberto has shown that he is the best in his sport right now; he will be tough to beat.

These video’s were shot by the owners Mike Fogarty and Robert Kunz during their 10 day trip to the Tour de France.  This was a cycling trip that included many of the Tours big climbs and access to our sponsored teams Astana and Columbia.

We rode to the top of Mount Vontoux hours before Lance Armstrong and Contador proved their dominance and were welcomed with 50+ mph winds.

Big crowds during the Annecy ITT.  First Endurance takes video from the Columbia Team car following George Hincapie.

Dodi Nov, Craig Fisher, Rob Kunz and Mike Fogarty riding back to Montreux Switzerland on the rest day

Lance Armstrong coming through Col du Rommes

Our group riding back to Montreux Switzerland

Johan Bruyneel on Mount Vontoux

George Hincapie at the Annacy TT from the Team Car

Andreas Kloden talking freely about the race

The First Endurance sponsored Astana Cycling team shredded the field on the mountain top finish at  Andorre Arcalis today.  After his team mates set a blistering pace up the final climb, Alberto Contador took off on his own in pursuit of the remnants of the early breakaway.  When the dust settled, Contador had moved up to second place on General Classification with team mates Lance Armstrong in third, Levi Leipheimer in fourth, and super-domestic Andres Klöden in sixth.  Another First Endurance sponsored rider, Tony Martin (Columbia-HTC) kept his lead in the young rider competition and is now in seventy place on General Classification.

Race Recap:

A group of nine riders formed the break of the day.  The group included Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel Euskadi), José Ivan Gutierrez (Caisse d’Epargne), Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale), Nocentini, Aleksandr Kuschynski (Liquigas), Christophe Kern (Cofidis), Jérôme Pineau (Quick Step), Feillu and Johannes Fröhlinger (Milram) who built a sizable lead of more than 12 minutes over the first four climbs on the day.  Seen riding at the front were Team Astana work horses Gregy Rast, Dmitiriy Muavyev, Sergio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych and Haimar Zubeldia controlling the pace and keeping the team safe from mid-pack accidents. Armstrong appreciated the efforts of the team, saying, “The team is good.  You saw early on that the team was good, then there at the end Levi and Klöden were strong and obviously Alberto is strong.”  Laughing he finished with, “The team won’t be the problem!”

Once the leaders hit the climb the gap came tumbling down and splits occurred in the break as well as the peloton; most notable was race leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) slipping off the back to say goodbye to the yellow jersey.  Team Astana continued to drive the pace at the front, using up rider after rider as the finish line approached.   Feillu attacked his former companions with 6km to go and rode uphill at a steady pace, making a big statement about his abilities as a climber and taking a huge win in his young career.

Cadel Evans attacked at 2km to go with Contador immediately responding, as did Armstrong, Leipheimer, Andy Schleck and others, with the group reforming once again.  Then Contador attacked with a ferocious turn of the pedals that sent him soaring up the hill with no reponse from the other riders.  As teammates Armstrong, Leipheimer and Klöden sat on wheels while the rivals thought about following…..but never did.  Contador didn’t gain enough time to take yellow, but with two more days to ride in the Pyrenees and the top of the GC still dominated by Team Astana riders,  a strategic taking of the maillot jaune is probably on the drawing board at this very moment.

Contador’s fan base in Spain is huge and they appeared on the roadside in full force along the route on the first day in the mountains.  The fans chant a loud “Con-ta-dor” each time they see Alberto come out of the bus, take to the start line or fly up the mountain. He’s much appreciated in his home country.

GC After Stage 7

1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
2 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 6″
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 8″
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 39″
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin-Slipstream 46″
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 54″
7 Tony Martin (Ger) Columbia-HTC

“I had issues with electrolyte consumption on the run for 2 of the Ironman races I have done. I competed in IM Coeur d Alene this year and can say I figured out the right formula! I work at Mellow Johnnys Bike Shop in Austin and have the advantage of trying out a lot of products, one that really caught my eye was First Endurance. They sponsor Astana, thus Lance uses the stuff (not bragging but he turned me onto First Endurance). I found that First Endurance’s products are loaded with a lot more electrolytes than the stuff out there. This is HUGE for me because I sweat like crazy and loose a lot of salt.

One of the products they sell is a gel flask that has 1500mg of electrolytes and 400 calories. Basically it is 4 packets of other gels but the electrolytes in it are a lot higher. I took a ’shot’ every 3 miles and at special needs I had another one in there that I took every 3 miles. I also made sure to drink 2 cups of fluid at every aid station. 1 water, 1 Gatorade. This formula work perfectly. I ran the entire marathons, something I havent done the last 2 IM’s because I blew up on the run because of dehydration. The only thing I changed was my nutrition. First Endurance is great stuff! Email me if you have any more questions: vince@mellowjohnnys.com.”
- Vince Rosetta

“I have to tell you again how great 1st Endurance supplements are!  I have continued my use of Optygen and it seems to be cumulative.  I just took 13 minutes off of my marathon PR and ran a 2:27:32  at Vermont City. I used the Pre-Race mix before and at mile 16 and felt the engine rev!  I love this stuff!”
- Justin Fyffe (La Sportiva Running Team)

“I love the first endurance liquid shot, its great. And the Optygen seems to be helping keep the energy high here in victoryville! I used it to win race two of the National Ultra Endurance Series! www.cyclingnews.com/mtb.php?id=mtb/2009/may09/mohican100_09″
- Jeremiah Bishop (Pro Mountainbiker)

The First Endurance sponsored Astana Cycling Team won the Team’s classification in the Tour of Italy. The team under the guidance of Johan Bruyneel, Alain Gallopin and Viatcheslav Ekimov had an advantage of 24 minutes and 15 seconds over Team Columbia-High Road and 27 minutes and 17 seconds over Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni – Androni.

Yaroslav Popovych finished 4th in the last stage, a 14.4 kilometer individual time trial in the historic centre of Rome, eleven seconds behind winner Ignatas Konovalovas. In the final General Classification Levi Leipheimer finished 6th, 5.28 behind overall winner Denis Menchov. Lance Armstrong was 12th. The Team had another solid performance with four riders riders finishing in the top 20.  Chris Horner was the only Team Astana  rider who abandoned due to a fracture in the lateral tibia plateau of the left leg during a crash in stage 10. At that moment he was 11th in GC.

“I am not disappointed”, said Levi Leipheimer in Rome. “Over the three weeks, there were five guys a bit stronger than me. Basically I decided to do the Giro more out of preparation for the Tour de France.  I raced here against riders that were really targeting this race. What makes me happy is that I finished the Giro a lot stronger than last year and that we rode as a real team. Lance Armstrong proved to be a good domestique, but also Steve Morabito, Andrey Zeits, Jani Brajkovic, Chris Horner, Dani Navarro , Yaroslav Popovych and Chehu Rubiera gave me a ton of support. Of course I would have preferred to win a stage. In the historic time trial of Cinque Terre I was very close to it, but already there Denis Menchov was better. Today, I preferred not to take any risk.”

“Up to the Giro, Levi was undefeated this year”, said Team Manager Johan Bruyneel. “He has to be pleased with this race and the season he has had so far. A three week Tour is very exhausting, especially on the mind”

Lance Armstrong was more than happy with his 12th place in the overall GC. “I came in open minded. I did not know what to expect, obviously because of the crash in Castilla y León, the time off the bike and the trip over here. In my view it has been a hard three weeks. In the second half of the race I showed that I was certainly getting better and I think we can take that away from here. It is promising for June and July. I may have disappointed some fans and people in the pressroom  expecting that I immediately should start winning big races. That is crazy. I am almost 38 years old. Both of my feet are firmly on the ground. It’s taking a lot of work up to this point but we might ride strong and be in the front in July.”

“The style of racing in Italy is different, but I liked it,” continued Lance Armstrong. “Despite some  dangerous stages, it was a great race. The Giro del Centenario brought us to the most beautiful places of the country. The people here are enthusiastic. In the Giro I spent more time with the fans than with the media. It was cool and fun hanging around with the tifosi.”

The next races for the Team are the Tour of Luxemburg, Dauphiné Libéré, Tour de Suisse and Tour de France. “I am hopeful and confident that we can ride those races”, tells Team Manager Johan Bruyneel. “The financial woes that left salaries unpaid are not completely resolved yet. I hope that the team sponsors will meet the deadline for the bank guarantee and the payments. Moreover the UCI now wants more guarantees about the team for the rest of the year. The UCI will decide soon about the near future of the Team. We hope to know more in the coming days. The best solution is that we can continue with our current structure. I expect that we will have a team at the start of the Tour de France.“