Inside Triathlon interviewed First Endurance for their Bio Tech featured article in their November/December issue.  This article highlights a few nutrition companies that chose to focus on science rather than marketing gimmicks to develop products that didn’t just look good on paper, but had a solid foundation of research that’s specific to the endurance consumer.

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First Endurance rider Levi Leipheimer (Astana) broke his right wrist after a crash in the 12th stage of the Tour de France and has been successfully operated on Friday, July 17th. The doctors joined the two parts of the broken scaphoid with a 22 mm titanium Herbert Screw. The operation was done in the Centre SOS Main Nancy (Hôpital Jeanne d’Arc) in Dommartin-lès-Toul.  Leipheimer will return to the United States as soon as possible to begin his recovery. Leipheimer, three-times on the podium in Grand Tours, was obviously very disappointed to not be able to take the part in the 13th stage departing from Vittel.

“My wrist hurts a lot but it doesn’t compare to the pain of watching the Tour leave me behind and not be able to ride the Tour with my teammates.  We’ve had a big battle so far and we’re the favorites and I wanted to be part of that.  For sure I wasn’t the biggest favorite, but it was a tactic that we could play. If  I went up the road, the others would have had to chase. A day like today would maybe have offered possibilities for me,” Leipheimer concluded.

About the crash he said, “The turn came upon me fast. I started to brake and slide a little bit and ran out of room and touched another wheel. I was sliding and saw the curb coming and I put my hand out…that’s where I  broke my wrist.”

“The recovery can take a while. I’m afraid I will not be able to do big races any more this year, maybe only some US events,” he replied about the remainder of his racing season.

The reaction of Johan Bruyneel came with, “He had a bad night, so we went to the hospital this morning where they saw the fracture. He is out now. For us it changes a lot. He was in fourth place. He was one of the guys who could potentially win the Tour. Strategically it will make a difference.”

Teammate Alberto Contador added, “Levi was a key person in our team. The Tour is still long and despite the fact that the team did a superb job without him today, we will miss him in the coming week. I hope he will recover soon and wish him all the best.”

And teammate and friend Lance Armstrong also commented on the loss of Levi to this year’s Tour: “It’s a serious blow for our team. We had a nice four-headed approach there.  Twenty-five percent of it is gone now. Not only does it hurt us, it helps the others. It turns their morale. They’re maybe thinking that the team is weakened. It’s unfortunate but it’s part of bike racing.”

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

Alberto Contador, Andreas Klöden, Levi Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong took 2nd, 4th, 6th and 10th, making Team Astana the winners for the Team classification, a clear sign that the boys in blue are feeling healthy and ready to fight for a Tour win.  The first yellow jersey went to Cancellara as well, after suffering a tough early season but recently turning things around with a win at the Tour de Suisse.  Contador was first at the halfway check point on the summit of the climb, earning him the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey which he will wear on stage two Sunday.   Overall it was a smashing opening-day success for Astana Cycling Team, a position the team intends to improve on during the next 20 stages. “The mountain jersey is very nice, but I prefer to change the color in a few weeks,” smiled Contador.

After the race Contador said, “I am very glad with the result. I didn’t come here to win the stage but to go as fast as possible. I knew Cancellara would be to hard to beat. In the Tour of Switzerland he was already flying. I took not much time on the favorites for the GC but this is good for my confidence.” Asked about leadership for the team, he continued, ” I don’t want to talk about who is leader now in our team. Most importantis that I saw that I am in good shape.”

Starting just seventeen minutes into the event was Lance Armstrong, making his much-anticipated return to the Tour a reality at last.  Straight out of the blocks and up out of the saddle, Armstrong gave it full effort right from the start.  Showing steady rhythm and power on the bike, he looked entirely comfortable on his time trial machine as he methodically went about setting the best time in the early part of the stage, stopping the clock at 20:12 on the finish line along the port of Monaco.   But his top position didn’t last long as just behind him Columbia-High road rider Tony Martin (who’s also sponsored by First Endurance) quickly took over the top slot with a finish time of 20:05.

After the race Armstrong talked about the course saying it was “very technical, hard to find the rhythm but I am happy with the ride. I had no real racing after the Giro. It was a tough way to start but I am content about it.” Commenting on his ambitions coming to the race, Lance said, “I didn’t have big illusions. I didn’t expect to win or take the jersey. I was nervous which is logical. It’s been a long time since I was on a ramp of a TT in the Tour.” He continued, “I am happy and having fun. I really wanted to be here. What a beautiful setting here in the Principality. The people were great.”

Leipheimer then established the new time to beat at 20:02, making the top three Levi, Tony Martin and Lance in the opening hour of racing. Levi’s time held up for well over an hour until teammate Klöden became the first rider to go under the 20-minute mark with a time of 19:54, showing that he is another card the team can play in the three-week Tour.  Later in the stage Wiggins displaced Klöden with a new best-time of 19:51.

Alberto Contador set the fastest time at the top of the only checkpoint.  Riding for the first time in his Spanish national Time Trial kit won last week, Contador looked truly fast to the naked eye as he pushed over the pedals and chased Cancellara.  But the Swiss champion dominated his specialty once again and claimed the spoils in the opening stage of this year’s Tour. Other team riders rode well too, with Sergio Paulinho taking 33rd at 1:15 off the winning pace.

Top Ten Results

1870 days after his last victory in professional cycling, the Tour de France 2005, Lance Armstrong did win again a professional road race. Before an estimated crowd of 20,000 racing fans, Armstrong captured the top spot at the finish line in the 49th Nevada City Classic (California, USA), one of the most historic and challenging professional races in the United States.  Armstrong finished the 40-lap race that winded around a 1.1-mile circuit through the historic mining town in 1 hour, 28 minutes and 20 seconds, sprinting away from the peloton with about six laps to go on the hilly course. The seven-turn route traveled up and down steep hills, making it one of the more challenging single-day cycling races in the country.

Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) finished second, 21 seconds behind. Three-time Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer (Team Astana) finished third, 22 seconds behind.

“What a great race”, said Lance Armstrong after his first victory in his return to cycling. “It was hard. And the crowds? Electric…The last celebration lap, people were running in the streets. This definitely makes my father’s day.”  Lance Armstrong returned afterwards to Aspen, Colorado for his last trainings before his next race, the Tour de France (July 4th-26th).