Tour De France, 2007, Stage 13 Preview: The First Race of Truth

It's been two weeks since Tour de France cyclists last challenged a time trial - and that, of course, was the July 7 prologue in London. It was opening day and a less than 10-minute ride to determine who wore the race leader's yellow jersey for stage 1.

But now the strongest individual riders will likely come to the forefront and the overall standings will likewise be shuffled in the stage 13 individual time trial in Albi.

While riding in reverse order of the standings, the field will individually pedal 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) on a hilly, narrow and technical loop. The majority of riders will begin on a starting ramp with two-minute intervals; The top-20 riders will depart with three-minute intervals.

The top-10 riders - leader Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) of Denmark to 10th place Mikel Astaroloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) of Spain - are separated by only 5 minutes and 20 seconds.

And a lot can happen over the course of 33 miles on a time trial bike and the the event often called "The Race Of Truth."

David Zabriskie (CSC) of Salt Lake City, the only American to win stages in all three Grand Tours (Tour de France, Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain) and Australian Michael Rogers (T-Mobile), a former three-time world time trial titlist, would have been prohibitive stage 13 favorites. But neither is still in the race.

As such, with three mountains stages left in the Pyrenees, what strategy will the remaining top time trial riders use?

Has Rasmussen, who's not known as a superior time trialist, improved? Will Australian Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) or American Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) ride to their top form and improve form their current respective 4th and 8th positions?

It will take about an hour of individual ridinng spread over a five-hour span to find out.

Albi, the birthplace of artist Toulouse-Lautrec, has previously hosted Tour de France stage finishes eight times, most recently in 1999. That year, Italian Salvatore Commesso won a road stage to Albi over compatriot Marco Serpellini after a long two-rider breakawaway.

As for individual time trials, in nearby Cap Decouverte, German Jan Ullrich, the 1997 race winner, was victorious in 2003 over Lance Armstrong, the eventual race winner, and Kazakhstan's Alexander Vinokourov.

The 2003 time trial was also notable because Armstrong, suffering from dehydration, lost more than a minute of his race lead to a revitalized Ullrich on a scorchingly warm day.

And likewise, the 13th stage Saturday, which finishes with a downhill and likely fast 10 miles, is also expected to be contested on a particularly warm day with temperatures approaching 100 degrees.