Take nothing away from Lance's imperial and deserved showdown success, but how stupid is Bianchi directeur sportif Rudy Pevenage???
In addition to totally unnerving his charge (particularly after Ullrich stacked it in a corner), by following way too closely, he removed a huge chunk of the benefit of the strong following tailwind. Sort of a "reverse draft" effect.
Ullrich spent the last 15 km or so repeatedly motioning Pevenage to back the hell off -- even those repeated motions cost him time. Not enough to make a huge difference, but your d.s. is supposed to help you, not hurt you. And certainly not kill you if you go down and he has to lock up the brakes and hydroplane.
Is it any coincidence that Ullrich stopped putting time into Jan (he gained ~5 seconds in the first 2-3 km) about the same time as the Bianchi car slotted in behind him?
In addition to totally unnerving his charge (particularly after Ullrich stacked it in a corner), by following way too closely, he removed a huge chunk of the benefit of the strong following tailwind. Sort of a "reverse draft" effect.
Ullrich spent the last 15 km or so repeatedly motioning Pevenage to back the hell off -- even those repeated motions cost him time. Not enough to make a huge difference, but your d.s. is supposed to help you, not hurt you. And certainly not kill you if you go down and he has to lock up the brakes and hydroplane.
Is it any coincidence that Ullrich stopped putting time into Jan (he gained ~5 seconds in the first 2-3 km) about the same time as the Bianchi car slotted in behind him?