After quietly ascending the general classification standings to a surprising 4th place overall heading into the first rest day of the 2010 Tour de France, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, limped through Tuesday's ninth stage through the Alps to finish 2:48 behind the leading pairing of Contador and Schleck.
The result dropped the 4th overall finisher at this year's Criterium du Dauphine down to 5th on the general classification. Van Den Broeck's disappointing stage lost him a place on the overall to Denis Menchov by 33 seconds, but it could have been much worse.
"I'm disappointed, because we had a bad day. My result today was clever, but that won't happen again. I was really bad today. I felt it from the start."
Things only spiraled downward as the race tilted upward for the Herentals, Belgium native. He managed to get through the first four categorized climbs, but like most of the favorites, met his demise on the second half of the hors categorie ascent of the Col de la Madeleine.
"The top riders were asked to give it everything on the Madeleine. I was already at my limit and could not accelerate. I was immediately confronted with my weakness. I sat at my limit, and it was not just Schleck and Contador who were able to go faster, but also riders like Samuel Sanchez, Gesink, Menchov, and Leipheimer, who were all on my heels in the standings."
From there, it was pure survival for the former Junior World Time Trial champion. He managed to limit his losses as much as possible, but still came over the top of the 2000 meter summit one minute behind Giro and Vuelta champion, Denis Menchov. There was hope from both Van Den Broeck and the Omega Pharma team that the 27-year-old could manage a terrific descent to get back on terms with Menchov. Unfortunately, things took a further turn for the worse: Van Den Broeck flatted.
Omega Pharma-Lotto manager, Marc Sergeant, was pleased with the performance of his young Belgian standout after a hard day: "When Cadel Evans was dropped, the Astana team rode a terrific pace at the front. The move had a great impact. Jurgen just missed the group with Denis Menchov. On the summit, he was one minute behind the Russian, then it happened: he flatted, a disaster."
Fortunately for Van Den Broeck, the bike change was quick, but still, the chase to get back on was desperate.
"After my flat tire, I used a lot of strength and took a lot of risks to get back. I was at my limit on the descent. I could not go faster."
In the face of what could have been a major time loss, Van Den Broeck showed terrific poise and incredible bike handling skills. Sergeant lauds his protege for his huge effort to get back on terms and defend his overall position.
"After his flat, his return to the group was high class. He risked much to catch back up to Lance Armstrong and Kevin De Weet. A rider from Cofidis [Damien Monier] attempted to follow him, but he crashed. It was amazing how close to the edge he came, but mentally, Jurgen is particularly strong. In retrospect, we did a good thing. We are now fifth overall and are taking it day by day. Everyday there is a semi-favorite that is shot out of the top ten…"
Though Van Den Broeck has vowed to keep his feet on the ground, and his team professes to hoping for only a top ten, hopes must be blooming at the possibility of more. The rider, in his second Tour de France, heads out of the Alps with a strong position on GC, and can look forward to the test of tests when the race hits the Pyrenees next week.
"I'm disappointed, not because I finished in a bad position, but because I had a bad day. Hopefully, this was my worst day of the Tour. My goal is still the top ten and that can still happen."