Daryl Impey remained the leader of the Tour de France yesterday, resplendent in yellow and draped in the praises of the Rainbow Nation after the seventh stage of the 100th running of the race.
Two days in the most famous colour of any sport in the world has surpassed the most basic dreams of Impey and South African cycling.
Hanging on to the leader’s jersey of the tour was no mean feat as the race ebbed and flowed in a most peculiar way during yesterday’s seventh stage, as it wound a 205km path from Montpellier to Albi.
He was all too aware that today may be his final day in yellow in the centenary of the Tour France, as the race heads to the mountains for the first time after a week of flatland fun and a warm-up over the most gentle slopes of Corsica and the south of France. And yet, as he prepared to suffer through the mountains of the Tour, Impey’s thoughts were with the man who made his participation in international cycling possible.
“It’s a strange time to be a South African,” said Impey. “We are celebrating so much that is good about our country and there is such sadness that Madiba is in hospital. I wish him and his family all the best and hope that he recovers, and is back to health soon.”
Impey had managed to stay with the main bunch during a frantic run in to Albi, where Mark Cavendish was left behind. He was protected by his Orica-GreenEdge team, but at the end was trying to repay the favour that Simon Gerrans, his teammate, had done for him in passing on the yellow jersey to the South African.
“It’s amazing,” said Impey. “Gerro knew how much it meant to me and worked for me. That’s how great this team is.
“We work for each other no matter what. The guys are so close. It’s so special to be with people who are so aware of what things mean for their teammates and are willing to sacrifice for that.
“We came into the sprint and it was a little sketchy, so things didn’t work out the way we wanted to.”
Impey may return to a South Africa that regards cycling in a new light since his successes.
Yesterday was declared “Yellow for Impey” day by many on Twitter as South African cycling celebrated its greatest day since Robbie Hunter won a stage in the Tour de France in 2007.
Impey paid tribute to Hunter, saying that the man from the West Rand of Johannesburg had done much to promote his career.
Impey said that he was proud to pick up the baton from Hunter at the Tour de France.
“Robbie’s probably one of the most influential guys in my career. He’s been carrying the flag for many years and I’m starting to carry it too,” said Impey.
Impey will, in all likelihood, not be able to defend his jersey beyond today.
The Tour de France heads into the mountains today and Impey, while a decent climber, knows he cannot hold on to the lead. There is a chance, though, that the first stage of the Tour in the Pyrenees could see another South African interest take the yellow jersey in Chris Froome.
“I’m going to give it a full go, but we’re not optimistic,” said Impey yesterday. “Those guys have been waiting for seven days for the mountains, and guys like Chris Froome will be looking to show what they can do.”
Slovakian Peter Sagan dominated a bunch sprint to win yesterday’s stage, reports Sapa-AFP.
Sagan, last year’s winner of the race’s green jersey points competition, surged in the final 150m to claim his first win of the 100th edition.
Germany’s John Degenkolb (Argos) and Italian Daniele Bennati (Saxo) finished a bike- length behind in second and third respectively.
It ends a frustrating first week for Sagan, who despite wearing the green jersey for the race’s points competition has narrowly missed out on sprint wins on four occasions.
“The team did an incredible job and I want to thank them all,” said Sagan.
“I hope today’s win gives an answer to all the fans who had criticised me and the team on the internet. Now the pressure is off.”
A day before the eighth stage takes the peloton into the Pyrenees, a combination of the climbs on stage seven and the pace in the peloton proved too much for sprinters Cavendish and Andre Greipel.
Both were dropped in succession on the second of the day’s four small climbs, and when the news filtered through to Sagan he put his troops on the front of the main bunch and ordered them to hit full gas.
It left Cavendish and Greipel, who won stages five and six respectively, in a large group of delayed riders which flirted with missing the time cut-off limit.
They eventually came over the finish line nearly 15 minutes in arrears. - Independent on Saturday