First Endurance spent some time with Astana discussing the unique nutritional requirements of endurance athletes and unconventional product development process.  Over the past two years, First Endurance  partnered with Astana to provide racing and training supplements for the riders.  Team riders and doctors worked with First Endurance to develop OptygenHP, PreRace and the soon-to-be released new & improved OptygenHP formula.  During that time, the team won the Giro d’ Italia, Vuelta a Espana, Tour de France, the Tour of California (twice) and a number of other Protour races.

http://www.astana-cyclingteam.com/fresh_brew/fe.html

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.

Team Astana manager Johan Bruyneel interview at Tour de France.

Part 1

Part 2

By Cathy Mehl

 In the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe, First Endurance rider Alberto Contador (Team Astana) held up two fingers on each hand to signify his second Tour de France win in what played out to be a near-perfect ride for the young Spanish champion. Contador took both a mountain stage and time trial win, along with the victory for the team time trial, making for a well-rounded Tour from the world’s current best stage racer.  After almost 85-hours of racing, Contador’s gap to second place was a dominant four minutes, satisfying even nay-sayers that his repeat performance at the top of the podium in Paris is not a fluke. Coming in 4:11 behind Contador was Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and rounding out the podium was seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong in his return to the sport after a four year retirement.  Team Astana also took the win in the Teams classification, a testament to the hard work put in by 6th place finisher Andreas Klöden, Sergio Paulinho, Yaroslav Popovych, Haimar Zubeldia, Gregory Rast, Dmitriy Muravyev and Levi Leipheimer to put two men on the podium.

Champagne, pats on the back and plenty of animated chatter among the riders was the scene in the early part of today’s stage. After a casual ride from the countryside into the city of Paris on a beautiful summer’s day, Team Astana rode first on to theChamps Élysées, led by hard-working Rast at the front of the group, the boys in blue lined up behind him with Contador in yellow safely tucked behind Armstrong.  Then the peloton went into over-drive with several groups going off the front, including a strong seven-man break that included Thomas Voeckler (Bbox-Bouygues-Telecom) and Fumy Beppu (Skil-Shimano).  Columbia-HTC made sure they rode hard at the front to keep the break from staying away and methodically shut it down by the last lap.

 During the bell lap as the peloton approached the half-way point on the lap, Garmin tried to outfox the Columbia-HTC team by going to the front early, but they arrived one man short and had a little too far to go to make it stick.  Under the 1km to go red kite George Hincapie held court at the front of the peloton with Mark Renshaw and Mark Cavendish lined up just behind.  Coming into the final corner onto the Champs Élysées Renshaw and Cavendish hit it first with everyone else having to slow to get back on the line.  That was all the two in front needed to get First Endurance rider Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HCT) ramped up and speeding for the finish line, horizoning all other sprinters, far enough ahead that his lead-out man Renshaw captured second on the stage. 

This win makes nine Tour wins for General Manager Johan Bruyneel…that’s nine in 11 years for the master strategist who relishes the challenge of winning the Tour…again and again and again. Not to be over-looked are the other Tour sports directors: Alain Gallopin, Viatcheslav Ekimov and Dirk Demol. And of course congratulations to all the hard-working staff as well. Well done!

First Endurance rider Mark Cavendish and teammate Mark Renshaw (both Columbia-HTC) blasted to first and second place in the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris on Sunday.  Cavendish and Renshaw broke away from the head of the pack on the final corner, with Cavendish celebrating his sixth stage victory and first ever finish in the Tour de France.

The Columbia-HTC rider’s victory came on the Champs Elysées in the heart of the French capital, on a finishing circuit for the Tour’s final stage which is often classified as the sprinters’ World Championships.  “Winning here in Paris is one of the most spectacular moments any sprinter can have,” Cavendish said afterwards.  “But it’s one thing to do that sprint and another thing to execute it, and I’m always put in the best position possible by my team.  I’ve got the most talented group of individuals I could ask for helping me to do that. It takes a lot of special people to make sure everything is done perfectly and that’s what the guys do.  I always said with that pressure on me, there’s no excuse for not winning so I have to do it.”

Cavendish has now netted stages two, three, ten, 11, 19  and 21 of the Tour de France this year. Sunday’s first place is the 19th victory of his season and the tenth Tour stage  of his career.

“I  said before I came the Tour de France that I wanted the stage win and a finish and anything else would be a bonus.  Having taken six wins and finished in Paris as well, I can’t go away from this Tour disappointed with what I’ve achieved.”

Following Cavendish’s latest win, Columbia-HTC Men’s Team has now taken 61 victories this season, the highest tally for any professional team.