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He arrived exhausted and sweaty. Salt stained his jersey and his sunken eyes told the story of the climb. The ascent up to Verbier was fast, brutal and hard for Nocentini. The Yellow Jersey had been on his shoulders for 8 days and the fatigue I saw at the top of the climb was not only from one simple 8km climb but from the hundreds of kilometers ridden before in defense of a title that many were determined to take. At the top of the Verbier climb the team souigneer, Sabeno, sat ready and waiting with everything needed for the riders. He had bags full of drinks, food, warm clothing, and directions on how the riders could find the hotel at the bottom of the climb. Sabeno wasn’t nervous and he wasn’t sad that the yellow had been taken away by the incredible ride of Alberto Contador. Sabeno knows cycling and he knows that the team had dug deep this past week and has had a very successful Tour despite a week left of racing. Any results now would just be icing on the cake.

At the finish I watched Nocentini unzip his Yellow Jersey and take it off. It was almost like it was his everyday AG2R jersey and not the symbol of success that 180 riders dream of having. The Yellow Jersey was stuffed in a bag that day retired from his shoulders. Just after the arrival of Nocentini the rest of the AG2R riders came pouring in. The altitude made the wind cool but you wouldn’t have known that by seeing the riders soaked in perspiration crossing the finish. One by one the riders received their warm clothing and took a bottle to drink before they headed down the hill to their hotel. There were no signs of fault and no signals of failure on the day. The team was realistic and knew this would be the end to their reign. Perhaps some were happy to see the extra work load of riding on the front disappear and some would miss the power that comes with defending the lead.

This next week will be tough for the AG2R riders. The effort they spent to defend the jersey could come back and haunt their legs in this brutal final week of the Tour. There is a big difference between sitting in the peloton and riding on the front of the peloton. The AG2R team had to use a lot of muscle and dig into their reserves to keep the yellow jersey for eight days. The energy used last week is energy that won’t be present to help them get through the next few mountain days. The team will have to change its focus and goals for this final week and quite frankly it just might be about making it to Paris.
-Frankie