Seven years ago, little-known Frenchman Thomas Voeckler caught the eye during a 10-day spell in the lead of the Tour de France, before finally handing the yellow jersey to Lance Armstrong.
During the 14th stage on Saturday, retired seven-time champion Armstrong was backing the Frenchman to stun the cycling world by continuing to hold off more authentic champions.
“If Voeckler makes it to the finish with the leaders today then we have to say he can win the TDF [Tour de France],” Armstrong said in a Twitter message during the grueling 168.5km ride from Saint-Gaudens to Plateau de Beille.
If anyone knows the climb to Beille, it is Armstrong.
He won the stage there in 2004 ahead of Italian Ivan Basso the same day Voeckler, on his second participation, raced his heart out to save the yellow jersey by a handful of seconds.
On Saturday, a far more convincing Voeckler had the French dreaming of celebrating a first homegrown winner since the legendary Bernard Hinault in 1985.
As the Schleck brothers Andy and Frank launched a series of accelerations early on the 15.8km climb in a bid to drop their rivals, Voeckler remained defiant.
With the support of Europcar teammate Pierre Rolland, the former French champion countered and, further on, even appeared to threaten an attack when the battle reached a stalemate.
In the end, Voeckler came over the finish line in the company of Australian Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador of Spain and Frank Schleck at 48 seconds behind stage winner Jelle Vanendert of Belgium.
Voeckler has spent the past three days in the Pyrenees saying he expects to lose the jersey to one of the big pre-race favorites.
However, even the Schlecks are beginning to take notice.
“Voeckler is not a surprise,” Andy said. “We were counting on him to be strong. We know he is good and the yellow jersey only makes him better.”
“He’s a great rider that races with a lot of panache. We fully expected him to be with top contenders at the finish today,” Frank added.
Voeckler still had a lead of 1 minute, 49 seconds on Frank Schleck ahead of yesterday’s mostly flat 15th stage from Limoux to Montpellier, which was set to finish in a bunch sprint.
Today’s rest day precedes three consecutive days in the Alps, and if they do not separate the contenders from the pretenders, the stage 20 penultimate time trial should.
However, despite his current form, Voeckler said the legs he has now would have been no match for Armstrong in 2004.
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