HARD-CHARGERS: RABOBANK CHARGES TO THE FINISH LINE WITH GIANT

With Stage 9’s long downhill run to the finish from the summit of the Tourmalet, nobody thought the two-man small break could possibly survive. But when it suddenly looked like it might stick, Rabobank was one of the only teams to respond.

Rabobank’s riders shouldered the burden of chasing, driving the pace in an effort to reel in the break. It wasn’t to be—the two breakaway riders stayed clear—but when the main bunch stormed into Tarbes it was Rabobank’s riders leading the charge at 55 km/h, smoothly threading through twisting city streets toward the finishing chute.

Nobody anticipated such a big bunch to come in together, so it was a very tight, technical finish for the main field, on narrow streets with a vicious right-hander just 200 meters from the banner. And as the field came boiling out of that last corner, Rabobank’s Oscar Freire came charging out to take the bunch sprint and third place for the day.

Although they’re standard production frames, Rabobank’s TCR Advanced SL framesets were seemingly custom-made for today’s stage. The OverDrive front end, with tapered steerer and oversize lower headset race, gives riders the perfect feedback and precision control needed to scream through the Tourmalet’s switchback descents or slot through the pack for a bunch sprint. And the PowerCore oversize bottom bracket and chainstays provide brutally efficient power delivery—just what Freire needed to show why he’s a three-time world champion when he charged out of that last turn, hammering the pedals, to dominate the sprint.