With this years Tour basically done and dusted - the race head to the Alps for three days of what turned out to be quite exciting, and excellent racing.
It all started off with the final ITT of this years race - which was, unsurprisingly, won by Chris Froome, although he did have the grace to not entirely flog the field in an embrassingly dodgy manner. Instead he won by just under 10 seconds from Alenjadro Valverde and Joaquin Rodriquez. As can be seen from the finishing podium, the race against the clock was relatively mountainous, and as a result most of the high finishers were climbers who those still high up in the overall standings. The true power men and everyone else basically just had a rest day ahead of the brutish double assault of L'Alpe d'Huez. That included Cadel Evans who is having an absolute barry of a tour and couldn't even scrape into the top 150!
Thursday saw the Queen stage of this years Tour, a 172km epic that took in two ascents of the mythical L'Alpe d'Huez. It truly was the stage of the race, and brought back memories of the epic racing of old. Up front, France got their first stage win as Christophe Riblon rode down brave long-time leader Tejay Van Garderen in the closing moments. And further down the mountain Chris Froome showed his first real weakness of the event. While main rival Alberto Contador was dropped, Froome illegaly sent teammate Richie Porte back to his team car to get food inside the final 10k (totally illegal and outside the rules). While it helped him recover to some stage, he still lost over a minute to pure climbers Joaquin Rodriguez and Nairo Quintana, who all but sealed his victory with 4th on the stage, behind young and promising Italian star Moreno Moser.
Friday was a regulation mountain breakaway result, with a large group going clear and Rue Costa proving the best of them to take his second stage win at this years tour. Andreas Kloden turned back the clock to finish second, just under a minute behind Costa while Jan Bakelandts continued to show his promise finishing third. Pierre Rolland managed to recover from his injuries enough to participate in the day's break, and as such close to within 1 point of Chris Froome for the polka-dot jersey. The main group rolled in some 8 minutes down with all of the main protagonists present.
So what is the wash up of all that. Well the only competition still up for grabs (barring crash, injury, or doping) is the King of the Mountains - with Chris Froome now holding just a 1 point lead over Pierre Rolland, with a further 3 riders within 11 points of the lead. With plenty of climbing points still available tomorrow the jersey is certainly up for grabs. I think Quintana would probably be the most deserved winner so will back him in from here. Froome leads the GC by over 5 minutes from Contador and Quintana (who leads the white jersey competition by over 10 minutes) while Peter Sagan has a 100 point lead in the Green Jersey competition over Mark Cavendish.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
Friday, July 19, 2013
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Stage 16 - Costa Crusies To Victory In Gap
Stage 16 seemed to be more about the is he/isn't he discussion about Chris Froome and doping that is going on in the background of this years Tour de France. And while those rumors simmered in the back ground, Rui Costa rode to a breakaway victory on the 168km road in to Gap. Costa broke away from his breakaway rivals on the day's final climb, and had enough in hand on the down hill finish to win by over 40 seconds. Christophe Riblon and Arnold Jeannesson made it double French dose on the podium after leading the remnants of the breakaway home.
The battle of the GC was partially lit up on the day's final climb as Katusha put the \hammer down in order to set something up for Joaquin Rodriguez. But that just resulted in Sky coming to the fore, and once they'd done their usual trick of blowing the field to pieces there was only a select group of riders remaining in the lead group. They included the current top 3, and despite Alberto Contador trying to shake off his rivals a number of times he was repeatedly chase down by first Richie Porte and then Froome himself. They all went over the top together though, and a truce had to be called on the descent, as Froome and Contador almost crashed out, bringing back memories one of the all time great tour moments when Joseba Beloki infamously hit the tarmac in the 2003 edition.
And while Froome crashing out would have really spiced up the race, sadly it wasn't to be (although Contador did hit the deck), and the group of favourites cruised home on the rest of the decent to finish over 11 minutes behind Costa. There was no change to any of the classifications - and tomorrow sees the second ITT of this years race - in which Chris Froome is sure to just add more time to his already unassailable lead.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
The battle of the GC was partially lit up on the day's final climb as Katusha put the \hammer down in order to set something up for Joaquin Rodriguez. But that just resulted in Sky coming to the fore, and once they'd done their usual trick of blowing the field to pieces there was only a select group of riders remaining in the lead group. They included the current top 3, and despite Alberto Contador trying to shake off his rivals a number of times he was repeatedly chase down by first Richie Porte and then Froome himself. They all went over the top together though, and a truce had to be called on the descent, as Froome and Contador almost crashed out, bringing back memories one of the all time great tour moments when Joseba Beloki infamously hit the tarmac in the 2003 edition.
And while Froome crashing out would have really spiced up the race, sadly it wasn't to be (although Contador did hit the deck), and the group of favourites cruised home on the rest of the decent to finish over 11 minutes behind Costa. There was no change to any of the classifications - and tomorrow sees the second ITT of this years race - in which Chris Froome is sure to just add more time to his already unassailable lead.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Stage 15 - LOL!
So, as expected, Team Sky dialed up the juice on Sunday - and just like at Ax-3-Domaines dished out a complete flogging to the rest of the peleton. Chris Froome won the stage and increased his unassailable lead in the general classification. Indeed, it is hard to decide who is least deserving of their victory - Froome, or the English cricket team. In fact I can't remember the last time I was so disillusioned with two sports as I am at the moment with cycling and cricket (maybe we should make that three given the laughable situation the AFL finds itself in with Essendon.
Anyway, back to the cycling, and as stated, the race to Mount Ventoux on Bastille Day played out exactly the same as that to Ax-3-Domaines. The black stain that is Team Sky sat on the front all day and put the hammer down one-bye-one until only a handful of riders remind. Once Richie Porte (the last lieutenant left) dropped off, Froome exploded away from Alberto Contador with the force of a hydrogen bomb. He easily rode up to breakaway leader Nairo Quintana, and after taking some time to break the plucky Colombian, finally put the nail in the coffin with a final attack under the flemme rouge. Froome's performance was so other worldly that he managed to put 30 seconds into Quintana in the final kilometre.
At the finish - Froome had 30 seconds in hand over Quintana with the rest of the main GC contenders around 1-2 minutes further back. As a result, Froome erased all the deficit he conceded on the flat stage earlier this week, and now leads the overall by an Armstrong like 4 minutes from Bauke Mollema and Alberto Contador. The Spaniard had looked like climbing to second on the podium after staying with Froome for the first half of the climb (after Mollema had been dropped), but the pace proved too much and he fell to pieces over the final kilometre (as opposed to Froome who seemed to get stronger and stronger....nothing suss). The big losers on the day where Pierre Rolland and Michal Kwiatowski who lost their leads in the polka dot jersey and white jersey competitions respectively. An injured Rolland was dropped early on the warm up climb to the Giant of Provence and scored no points on the day, allowing Froome to take the lead in the competition by earning a massive 50 points at the finish. Kwiatwoski gave up his youth classification lead after he was dropped halfway up Ventoux, with the lead passing to Quintana by over 2 minutes after he finished second on the stage. Peter Sagan (can rider) got into the days break so he could win the day's intermediate sprint and increase his stranglehold on the green jersey.
But the main theme of the stage was the laughable ease with which Chris Froome rode away from the rest of the Tour de France on one of the race's hardest mountains. As I've said earlier in the race, we haven't seen climbing performances like this since the days of Pantani and Armstrong....and you know how that turned out. I would like to give Froome the benefit of the doubt...but after the Brad Haddin's dismissal at Trent Bridge this afternoon, it seems the benefit of the doubt no longer exists in sport.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
Anyway, back to the cycling, and as stated, the race to Mount Ventoux on Bastille Day played out exactly the same as that to Ax-3-Domaines. The black stain that is Team Sky sat on the front all day and put the hammer down one-bye-one until only a handful of riders remind. Once Richie Porte (the last lieutenant left) dropped off, Froome exploded away from Alberto Contador with the force of a hydrogen bomb. He easily rode up to breakaway leader Nairo Quintana, and after taking some time to break the plucky Colombian, finally put the nail in the coffin with a final attack under the flemme rouge. Froome's performance was so other worldly that he managed to put 30 seconds into Quintana in the final kilometre.
At the finish - Froome had 30 seconds in hand over Quintana with the rest of the main GC contenders around 1-2 minutes further back. As a result, Froome erased all the deficit he conceded on the flat stage earlier this week, and now leads the overall by an Armstrong like 4 minutes from Bauke Mollema and Alberto Contador. The Spaniard had looked like climbing to second on the podium after staying with Froome for the first half of the climb (after Mollema had been dropped), but the pace proved too much and he fell to pieces over the final kilometre (as opposed to Froome who seemed to get stronger and stronger....nothing suss). The big losers on the day where Pierre Rolland and Michal Kwiatowski who lost their leads in the polka dot jersey and white jersey competitions respectively. An injured Rolland was dropped early on the warm up climb to the Giant of Provence and scored no points on the day, allowing Froome to take the lead in the competition by earning a massive 50 points at the finish. Kwiatwoski gave up his youth classification lead after he was dropped halfway up Ventoux, with the lead passing to Quintana by over 2 minutes after he finished second on the stage. Peter Sagan (can rider) got into the days break so he could win the day's intermediate sprint and increase his stranglehold on the green jersey.
But the main theme of the stage was the laughable ease with which Chris Froome rode away from the rest of the Tour de France on one of the race's hardest mountains. As I've said earlier in the race, we haven't seen climbing performances like this since the days of Pantani and Armstrong....and you know how that turned out. I would like to give Froome the benefit of the doubt...but after the Brad Haddin's dismissal at Trent Bridge this afternoon, it seems the benefit of the doubt no longer exists in sport.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Stage 14 - Marking Time
The peleton took a break from racing ahead of tomorrows crucial stage to Mount Ventoux, allowing a large breakaway group to go over 7 minutes clear up the road in what proved a completely uneventful stage. The winner on the day wast little known Italian Matteo Trentin, who recorded his first ever win as a professional (well done son!) and made it back-to-back wins for Omega-Pharma, ending a 3-year drought for Italian riders at Le Tour.
The win looked like it would go to unheralded Frenchman Julian Simon, who looked all-over the winner after riding away from the breakaway group with 10km to go. After building a 25 second league, he was sadly run down in the final kilometre, leaving 7 or so riders to fight for the winner. Trentin proved too powerful as his late surge overpowered Orica Green-Egde's Michael Albasini. Promising American Andrew Talansky filled the podium in third.
Other than that there was not much too the stage, with none of the classification standing changes ahead of tomorrow's race to the moon. Let's hope it's an absolute epic.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
The win looked like it would go to unheralded Frenchman Julian Simon, who looked all-over the winner after riding away from the breakaway group with 10km to go. After building a 25 second league, he was sadly run down in the final kilometre, leaving 7 or so riders to fight for the winner. Trentin proved too powerful as his late surge overpowered Orica Green-Egde's Michael Albasini. Promising American Andrew Talansky filled the podium in third.
Other than that there was not much too the stage, with none of the classification standing changes ahead of tomorrow's race to the moon. Let's hope it's an absolute epic.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
Friday, July 12, 2013
Stage 13 - Unlucky For Some
While Stage 13 looked like yet another dead-flat, dead-pan transitional stage, it produced the type of race that keeps the romanticism of the Tour alive and well. With wind playing havoc with the peleton, an elite group of 15 containing Alberto Contador and Bauke Mollema, but NOT Chris Froome and Team Sky, tore away from the front of the field....and Team Sky could not catch them! By the end of the day Froome had conceded over a minute to Contador and Mollema, and sure his lead in the General Classification reduced.
But this was not the only shake up to the GC. Alejandro Valverde had already been shelled after suffering a mechanical inside the final 100km. And his chase group also ended in vain, losing over 10 minutes by the end of the stage to see his podium hopes go up and smoke. While it is probably nothing more than a drug cheat deserves, it is sad to see Valverde's podium hopes end in this way, as he has always toughed it out at the top end of the GC throughout his Grand Tour career. As a result, Mollema and Contador jumped to second and third overall, and now trail Froome by around 2.5 minutes.
The win on the day was slightly overshadowed, but it proved a day of redemption for Mark Cavendish who was smart enough first to get into the winning break, and then proved easily the best sprinter of those remaining to take the stage from perennial placegetter Peter Sagan and Mollema. I guess Cav was lucky his new German revival Marcel Kittel rolled in some 10 minutes down in the Valverde Group. There was no change to any of the classifications, as both White Jersey leaders, Michal Kwiatowski and and Nario Quintana finishing in the Froome group a minute by the leaders.
Now - the big question on everyone's lips is does this materially change the race for the yellow jersey? The answer is no. Froome still leads by over 2 minutes and Sky won't be making this mistake twice. If the race is going to be a contest - Contador and Mollema have to attack Froome on Sunday's stage to Mount Vontoux....repeatedly! But with a fairly regulation stage on tomorrow, Sky are sure to get their 'program' in order and ensure Froome is fit and firing to explode on the mountain come Bastille Day. Sunday might just be the last day of reckoning at this years Tour - so it is certainly a stage worth watching one way or another.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jesrey - Michal Kwiakowski
But this was not the only shake up to the GC. Alejandro Valverde had already been shelled after suffering a mechanical inside the final 100km. And his chase group also ended in vain, losing over 10 minutes by the end of the stage to see his podium hopes go up and smoke. While it is probably nothing more than a drug cheat deserves, it is sad to see Valverde's podium hopes end in this way, as he has always toughed it out at the top end of the GC throughout his Grand Tour career. As a result, Mollema and Contador jumped to second and third overall, and now trail Froome by around 2.5 minutes.
The win on the day was slightly overshadowed, but it proved a day of redemption for Mark Cavendish who was smart enough first to get into the winning break, and then proved easily the best sprinter of those remaining to take the stage from perennial placegetter Peter Sagan and Mollema. I guess Cav was lucky his new German revival Marcel Kittel rolled in some 10 minutes down in the Valverde Group. There was no change to any of the classifications, as both White Jersey leaders, Michal Kwiatowski and and Nario Quintana finishing in the Froome group a minute by the leaders.
Now - the big question on everyone's lips is does this materially change the race for the yellow jersey? The answer is no. Froome still leads by over 2 minutes and Sky won't be making this mistake twice. If the race is going to be a contest - Contador and Mollema have to attack Froome on Sunday's stage to Mount Vontoux....repeatedly! But with a fairly regulation stage on tomorrow, Sky are sure to get their 'program' in order and ensure Froome is fit and firing to explode on the mountain come Bastille Day. Sunday might just be the last day of reckoning at this years Tour - so it is certainly a stage worth watching one way or another.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jesrey - Michal Kwiakowski
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Stage 12 - I See It But I Don't Believe It
World cycling has a new sprint star. For the first time I can remember in my Tour watching career, Mark Cavendish was delivered perfectly to the finish by his lead out team....and lost. He was defeated by three time stage winner at this years Tour Marcel Kittel, who powered over the top of the Manx Missile in the closing 50m to win his second straight photo finish. Green Jersey wearer Peter Sagan finished and ever consistent third, while fellow German Andrei Greipel was caught up in a crash in the final kilometres and failed to feature in the finish. With the crash occurring inside the final 3km, the entire peleton received the same time and there was no change to the general classification.
The win my mark a turning point in world sprinting, as for the first time Mark Cavendish appears to have a true rival for speed at the end of race. Previously, at the Tour at least, Cav has been literally unbeatable if given a fair shot at a sprint, and it has only been bad luck or poor pre-sprint positioning that has cost him victory. That was not the case today. Gert Steegmans delivered Cav perfectly to the line, leaving Cav with just 250m to deal with on his own accord. And he wasn't up to the job. After bursting clear of the field he seemed to fade badly in the last 50m, allowing Kittel to storm over the top of him and pip him on the line. It appears Cav may finally have a rival when it comes to the final sprint on the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Apart from that there was not much too a typical transitional stage with a small breakaway going clear before being reeled in by the sprinters teams. The crash was caused by Greipel's Lotto team, who were trying to move up the field aggressively in order to set up the sprint team, but only managed to wipe themselves out with the usual collateral damage that comes with a peleton flying to the finish at 45km an hour plus.
There was no change to any of the classifications, and that theme is likely to be continued tomorrow, when Kittel will get a chance to make it 4 wins at this years race.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
The win my mark a turning point in world sprinting, as for the first time Mark Cavendish appears to have a true rival for speed at the end of race. Previously, at the Tour at least, Cav has been literally unbeatable if given a fair shot at a sprint, and it has only been bad luck or poor pre-sprint positioning that has cost him victory. That was not the case today. Gert Steegmans delivered Cav perfectly to the line, leaving Cav with just 250m to deal with on his own accord. And he wasn't up to the job. After bursting clear of the field he seemed to fade badly in the last 50m, allowing Kittel to storm over the top of him and pip him on the line. It appears Cav may finally have a rival when it comes to the final sprint on the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Apart from that there was not much too a typical transitional stage with a small breakaway going clear before being reeled in by the sprinters teams. The crash was caused by Greipel's Lotto team, who were trying to move up the field aggressively in order to set up the sprint team, but only managed to wipe themselves out with the usual collateral damage that comes with a peleton flying to the finish at 45km an hour plus.
There was no change to any of the classifications, and that theme is likely to be continued tomorrow, when Kittel will get a chance to make it 4 wins at this years race.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Stage 11 - Juicy, Juicy, Juicy
Stage 11 saw Chris Froome grind more dust into what is already a dead 100th edition of Le Tour, when he smashed all but world time-trial champion Tony Martin in the race's first individual time trial over 33km in Mont Saint Michel. And the only thing that kept the juiced up Kenyan from taking the stage honours as well was a change in the wind (Martin rode the stage with a tail-wind, while Froome faced a head wind - poor chap).
Just to show how much of a joke this years event is - no other GC contendor finished in the top 10. The next best was Bauke Mollema who finished 11th almost two minutes behind Froome. Although one notable performance was the magical recovery of Richie Porte who bounced back from his catastrophic day in the Pyrenees to finish 4th - Froome still smashed him by over a minute. As a result, Froome now leads the overall standings by an Armstrong like 3:25 from Alejandro Valverde with Mollema in third. Even a proven GC time trialler like Alberto Contador could not match the black stain, and now sits in 4th almost 4 minutes back. I believe they are still looking for Andy Schleck...
Tony Martin deserves credit for an outstanding performance in what is his specialist discipline. The relatively short 33km course suited him, and with him going off early enough to ride with the assistance of a headwind he was never going to be beaten by a clean athlete. He proved a deserved champion of the world in this discipline. Another strong performance came from pole Michal Kwiatowski, who finished 5th overall, and did more than enough to win back the White Jersey from Nairo Quintana. He now holds a 34 second lead over the little Colombian and it will be a good battle between these two all the way to Paris as Kwiatowski's ability against the clock will be matched by Quintana's climbing ability.
That looms as one of the few interesting contests left in this Tour. The GC is well and truly dead and with another long ITT to come in the last week the only question is weather Froome can win by 10 minutes plus. Mythical climbs such as Mont Vontoux and L'Alpe d'Huez have been rendered irrelevant by 'The Program'. For the second straight tour, the second half of the Tour will basically be a non-event, a bit like the Australian batting line up.....sad.....but true.
Oh and in one less savory event one fan thought it might be a nice idea to throw a cup of urine on Mark Cavendish. To be fair - he probably deserved it after somehow getting away with his blatant bump on poor Tom Veelers in yesterday's sprint scot free.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michael Kwiatowski
Blood Bags - Team Sky
Just to show how much of a joke this years event is - no other GC contendor finished in the top 10. The next best was Bauke Mollema who finished 11th almost two minutes behind Froome. Although one notable performance was the magical recovery of Richie Porte who bounced back from his catastrophic day in the Pyrenees to finish 4th - Froome still smashed him by over a minute. As a result, Froome now leads the overall standings by an Armstrong like 3:25 from Alejandro Valverde with Mollema in third. Even a proven GC time trialler like Alberto Contador could not match the black stain, and now sits in 4th almost 4 minutes back. I believe they are still looking for Andy Schleck...
Tony Martin deserves credit for an outstanding performance in what is his specialist discipline. The relatively short 33km course suited him, and with him going off early enough to ride with the assistance of a headwind he was never going to be beaten by a clean athlete. He proved a deserved champion of the world in this discipline. Another strong performance came from pole Michal Kwiatowski, who finished 5th overall, and did more than enough to win back the White Jersey from Nairo Quintana. He now holds a 34 second lead over the little Colombian and it will be a good battle between these two all the way to Paris as Kwiatowski's ability against the clock will be matched by Quintana's climbing ability.
That looms as one of the few interesting contests left in this Tour. The GC is well and truly dead and with another long ITT to come in the last week the only question is weather Froome can win by 10 minutes plus. Mythical climbs such as Mont Vontoux and L'Alpe d'Huez have been rendered irrelevant by 'The Program'. For the second straight tour, the second half of the Tour will basically be a non-event, a bit like the Australian batting line up.....sad.....but true.
Oh and in one less savory event one fan thought it might be a nice idea to throw a cup of urine on Mark Cavendish. To be fair - he probably deserved it after somehow getting away with his blatant bump on poor Tom Veelers in yesterday's sprint scot free.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michael Kwiatowski
Blood Bags - Team Sky
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Stage 10 - Destruction Derby
While Stage 10 was your standard Pyrenean-Alpine transitional stage (i.e. dead flat and perfect for the sprinters), the finish was less than traditional, with the run in to Saint Malo resulting in one of the strangest Tour sprints I have seen for some time. In the end it was a German 1-2 with Marcel Kittel winning his second stage of this years tour from Andre Greipel. Mark Cavendish was third over the line but is sure to be relegated for dangerous sprinting after sending Argo's Shimano's Tom Veelers crashing to the deck in the final kilometer with a shoulder bump that would have the AFL match review panel itching to hand out a hefty suspension.
The stage itself was a drab affair (with no change to the standings in any of the competitions) so we may as well devote maximum time to what was a crazy sprint finish. It was likely the result of a ridiculous finishing line position, which appeared less than 200m from a sweeping bend. The second factor was that apart from Lotto (Greipel) and Argos (Kittel), every other team absolutely botched their sprint train, seeing the likes of Cavendish and Peter Sagan ducking and diving for wheels inside the last k. Basically chaos ensued. Cav refused to follow his final lead out man to the front of the race, and instead tried to jam his way onto Griepels wheel. Unsuccessful at that, he settled for Kittel, but in doing so absolutely hammered poor Tom Veelers in the back in trying to get Kittel's wheel. Veelers was sent skittling across the asphalt and it was remarkable no one else hit the deck. The bump from Cav was clearly a dangerous and border line dirty act which is disappointing coming from a man who has dished out plenty of advice to wayward sprinters in the past. In the end he was punished enough with his finishing position - the crash halting his momentum and preventing him from launching any realistic attempt at the win.
Up front Greipel, who had received close to the perfect lead out, had seemingly bolted away with the race, going well clear around the final bend. However, perhaps he was lulled into a false sense of security, as he seemed to have plenty in reserve, only to see Marcel Kittel (who also received an excellent lead out from his Argos team) power over the top of him from nowhere to take the victory right on the line (by less than half a bike length). Kittel had luckily unleashed his sprint just in time to avoid the Cav-induced crash, and his finishing burst was super impressive, especially in dealing with a veteran sprinter like Greipel from so far back. He looks a potential green jersey winner of the future - well at least in years when Sagan doesn't show up (the green jersey holder managed to avoid the carnage and still got home in 4th, losing little ground on his points competition rivals).
The main wash up from the stage will be weather or not Cavendish is relegated to last in the peleton from the stage (he definitely should be). Hell as much as it pains me to say it as an unabashed Cav fan, he should really be chucked out of the race given Aussie Mark Renshaw was thrown out for less (headbutting, with no resulting crash) a few years ago when riding as Cav's lead out man. Let's see what the commisaires come up with.
Tomorrow sees the first individual time trial of this years Tour - and it is hard to see any other result apart from a juiced up Chris Froome taking the win. Maybe we should just leave our screens switched to the Ashes instead.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
The stage itself was a drab affair (with no change to the standings in any of the competitions) so we may as well devote maximum time to what was a crazy sprint finish. It was likely the result of a ridiculous finishing line position, which appeared less than 200m from a sweeping bend. The second factor was that apart from Lotto (Greipel) and Argos (Kittel), every other team absolutely botched their sprint train, seeing the likes of Cavendish and Peter Sagan ducking and diving for wheels inside the last k. Basically chaos ensued. Cav refused to follow his final lead out man to the front of the race, and instead tried to jam his way onto Griepels wheel. Unsuccessful at that, he settled for Kittel, but in doing so absolutely hammered poor Tom Veelers in the back in trying to get Kittel's wheel. Veelers was sent skittling across the asphalt and it was remarkable no one else hit the deck. The bump from Cav was clearly a dangerous and border line dirty act which is disappointing coming from a man who has dished out plenty of advice to wayward sprinters in the past. In the end he was punished enough with his finishing position - the crash halting his momentum and preventing him from launching any realistic attempt at the win.
Up front Greipel, who had received close to the perfect lead out, had seemingly bolted away with the race, going well clear around the final bend. However, perhaps he was lulled into a false sense of security, as he seemed to have plenty in reserve, only to see Marcel Kittel (who also received an excellent lead out from his Argos team) power over the top of him from nowhere to take the victory right on the line (by less than half a bike length). Kittel had luckily unleashed his sprint just in time to avoid the Cav-induced crash, and his finishing burst was super impressive, especially in dealing with a veteran sprinter like Greipel from so far back. He looks a potential green jersey winner of the future - well at least in years when Sagan doesn't show up (the green jersey holder managed to avoid the carnage and still got home in 4th, losing little ground on his points competition rivals).
The main wash up from the stage will be weather or not Cavendish is relegated to last in the peleton from the stage (he definitely should be). Hell as much as it pains me to say it as an unabashed Cav fan, he should really be chucked out of the race given Aussie Mark Renshaw was thrown out for less (headbutting, with no resulting crash) a few years ago when riding as Cav's lead out man. Let's see what the commisaires come up with.
Tomorrow sees the first individual time trial of this years Tour - and it is hard to see any other result apart from a juiced up Chris Froome taking the win. Maybe we should just leave our screens switched to the Ashes instead.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
Monday, July 8, 2013
First Rest Day
A bit of reading material for the rest day from the very enjoyable Science of Sport website:
Very briefly, before this first mountain day of the 2013 Tour de France is over, some brief thoughts on the Ax-3-Domaines stage from earlier today.
I will try to get that detail done tomorrow, when I'll look at the various segments of the climb for Chris Froome.
For now, three parting thoughts:
Very briefly, before this first mountain day of the 2013 Tour de France is over, some brief thoughts on the Ax-3-Domaines stage from earlier today.
I will try to get that detail done tomorrow, when I'll look at the various segments of the climb for Chris Froome.
For now, three parting thoughts:
- It was fast, very fast. The 23:14 ascent of Ax-3-Domaines puts Froome in third on the all-time list for the climb, behind only Laiseka and Armstrong in 2001. The VAM of 1715 m/h converts to a power output of 6.3 W/kg (Ferrari method) and about 6.5 W/kg with other models (CPL, rst). Very fast.
- Before today's performance is instantly condemned as proof of nefarious pharmacology in the sport, keep in mind what I've tried to emphasize many times over the last few years, which is the context of the climb and variability around performance. For example, this climb was done in Stage 12, 13 and 14 of the 2001, 2003 and 2005 Tours, respectively. The earlier placement in week 1 as the first climb of the Tour may affect performance. Also, variability in conditions (particularly wind and heat) make it impossible to make 'guilt by performance' proclamations. Let's wait to analyze the entire Tour, the collection of climbs, and then compare to history's known dopers. The problem when you get too close in is a kind of "performance pixelation", so step back and see the whole screen. That will happen in time.
- Having said that, what was noteworthy today were the enormous gaps created on the final climb. That's because with the exception of Froome and perhaps Porte, the rest of the peloton performed in a manner that is typical of cycling over the last few years. Their performances were consistent with post-biological passport levels, and matched or even fell short of the prediction models. It was only Froome and Sky who exceeded them. Therefore, skepticism is normal, and failing to appreciate that will come only from extreme naivety or patriotism. History has taught us the value of some healthy cynicism, and if this level continues for three weeks, it makes for an uncomfortable Tour, of that there is no doubt.
Either it is one exceptional individual, or...well, we know the rest, we have seen this movie too often in the sport.
But, this is something only time will tell, as it always does.
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Stage 9 - Reality Check
Obviously there was only enough product left in the Sky Team bus to service Chris Froome overnight after the teams dominant display in Stage 8. As a result, the entire Sky Team was shelled on the opening cat-2 climb of stage 9, leaving Froome to ride without support for the remaining 130km to Bagneres-de-Biggore. He managed to so so successfully, and the fact that none of his rivals, many with much more team support, were not able to put him in difficulty or gain time on him at any stage goes to show why this years Tour is pretty much done and dusted. However, Richie Porte paid for his efforts off the previous day, and saw his podium hopes go up in smoke, after failing big time and losing over 10 minutes on this stage. That has seen Alejandro Valverde move up to second, and Bauke Mollema move up to third, after both finished with the main group of favorites which included Froome (and Cadel Evans).
The win on the day went to Dan Martin, who broke away with Jakob Fuglsang on the days final climb, and managed to maintain their lead on the descent to finish 30 seconds ahead of the, extremely depleted main bunch. Martin is a hardworking Irishman who is one of those riders who is super talented but just lacks that X factor to be a top 10 tour rider, so it was good to see him win the stage. The only jersey change was mountains classification, with Pierre Rolland getting into a mid-race break and scooping up enough points to retake the polka dot jersey from Chris Froome.
It was good to see the Sky team absolutely capitulate after yesterday's 'out of this world' performance, although it must be still concerning that Froome was able to stay with all the favourites with what seemed consummate ease. Still I presume the Sky boys will be in 'recovery mode' on tomorrow's rest day, and with a decent break now until the next major mountains clash they are sure to be fresh and ready to go by the time we get to Mount Ventoux. I did find this comment on the cycling news website quite amusing though:
"OK Porte, we gotta turn down the heat on us, so I need you to finish 15 minutes back, just roll in with the grupetto, and then everyone can believe in us again". LOL, Sky are bad actors as well as bad cheaters!
The win on the day went to Dan Martin, who broke away with Jakob Fuglsang on the days final climb, and managed to maintain their lead on the descent to finish 30 seconds ahead of the, extremely depleted main bunch. Martin is a hardworking Irishman who is one of those riders who is super talented but just lacks that X factor to be a top 10 tour rider, so it was good to see him win the stage. The only jersey change was mountains classification, with Pierre Rolland getting into a mid-race break and scooping up enough points to retake the polka dot jersey from Chris Froome.
It was good to see the Sky team absolutely capitulate after yesterday's 'out of this world' performance, although it must be still concerning that Froome was able to stay with all the favourites with what seemed consummate ease. Still I presume the Sky boys will be in 'recovery mode' on tomorrow's rest day, and with a decent break now until the next major mountains clash they are sure to be fresh and ready to go by the time we get to Mount Ventoux. I did find this comment on the cycling news website quite amusing though:
"OK Porte, we gotta turn down the heat on us, so I need you to finish 15 minutes back, just roll in with the grupetto, and then everyone can believe in us again". LOL, Sky are bad actors as well as bad cheaters!
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
OK Porte, we gotta turn down the heat on us, so I need you to finish 15 minutes back, just roll in with the grupetto, and then everyone can believe in us again". LOL, Sky are bad actors as well as bad cheaters!
OK Porte, we gotta turn down the heat on us, so I need you to finish 15 minutes back, just roll in with the grupetto, and then everyone can believe in us again". LOL, Sky are bad actors as well as bad cheaters!
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Stage 8 - Nothing Suss
Throughout the recent history of cycling, when one team has completely dominated and obliterated the peleton in a race, it has usually been the result of having a team-wide, fully planned doping program. So when Team Sky's Chris Froome and Richie Porte powered away from the field as if they were standing still on the road to Ax-3-Domaines forgive me for thinking the whole thing is a complete and utter joke. Mapei in Paris-Roubiax, and US Postal/Discovery and Saunier-Duval in Le Tour all flogged their rivals, only to be found to be benefiting from the use of performance enhancing drugs. And I can't see why it is any difference here.
After completely dominating last years race Sky's laughable dominance went a step further in Stage 8 as Chris Froome powered away up the final climb to win by over 50 seconds from teammate Richie Porte. Ex-doper Alejandro Valverde was third a further 20 seconds back. Froome didn't even wait until the final few km's to make his move - exploding with well over 5km to go in a move eerily similar to that of Lance Armstrong in his prime. Sadly this means, pretty much like last year, the race has been killed as a contest with Froome now leading the overall standings and taken the yellow jersey. Froome leads by 58 seconds from Porte, with Valverde in third. Contador is 7th having lost over 2 minutes, while Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans are gone after completely blowing up and losing 3 and 4 minutes respectively. Porte and Froome can both time trial so it seems we will be faced with a Sky 1-2 for the second straight season. I'm not sure if Sky will ever be caught for whatever program they are implementing, but despite the sycophantic British press lapping, they deserved to be punished for virtually killing off the greatest cycling tour on earth for the last two years.
Seroiously, I am still fuming at the serious joke that this race has become, and as anyone that has read Tyler Hamilton's book would attest to - when something is to good to be true something is probably up. I think it's time to drag out David Millar's quote from the year that Riccardo Ricco was thrown out of the race for doping after slaughtering the field in a manner similar to what Chris Froome did today:
"When something is to good to be true, something is probably up....and he was pretty f**king good"
And with Peter Sagan having pretty much wrapped up the points competition, it seems the only classification to provide any excitement from here will be the battle for the Polka Dot Jersey. Froome has taken the lead on 31 points after winning the mountain finish, tied with Pierre Rolland who led the peleton over the days other major HC climb. Porte is third, while the most likely winner now looks to be 4th paced Nairo Quintana, a Colombian who glided up the HC Col de Pailheres in a style more attractive than anything then Tour has seen for some time (and even he was no match for Froome's 'kick'). Quintana however did take the lead in the youth classification, a competition he now leads by just under a minute.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
After completely dominating last years race Sky's laughable dominance went a step further in Stage 8 as Chris Froome powered away up the final climb to win by over 50 seconds from teammate Richie Porte. Ex-doper Alejandro Valverde was third a further 20 seconds back. Froome didn't even wait until the final few km's to make his move - exploding with well over 5km to go in a move eerily similar to that of Lance Armstrong in his prime. Sadly this means, pretty much like last year, the race has been killed as a contest with Froome now leading the overall standings and taken the yellow jersey. Froome leads by 58 seconds from Porte, with Valverde in third. Contador is 7th having lost over 2 minutes, while Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans are gone after completely blowing up and losing 3 and 4 minutes respectively. Porte and Froome can both time trial so it seems we will be faced with a Sky 1-2 for the second straight season. I'm not sure if Sky will ever be caught for whatever program they are implementing, but despite the sycophantic British press lapping, they deserved to be punished for virtually killing off the greatest cycling tour on earth for the last two years.
Seroiously, I am still fuming at the serious joke that this race has become, and as anyone that has read Tyler Hamilton's book would attest to - when something is to good to be true something is probably up. I think it's time to drag out David Millar's quote from the year that Riccardo Ricco was thrown out of the race for doping after slaughtering the field in a manner similar to what Chris Froome did today:
"When something is to good to be true, something is probably up....and he was pretty f**king good"
And with Peter Sagan having pretty much wrapped up the points competition, it seems the only classification to provide any excitement from here will be the battle for the Polka Dot Jersey. Froome has taken the lead on 31 points after winning the mountain finish, tied with Pierre Rolland who led the peleton over the days other major HC climb. Porte is third, while the most likely winner now looks to be 4th paced Nairo Quintana, a Colombian who glided up the HC Col de Pailheres in a style more attractive than anything then Tour has seen for some time (and even he was no match for Froome's 'kick'). Quintana however did take the lead in the youth classification, a competition he now leads by just under a minute.
Yellow Jersey - Chris Froome
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Chris Froome
White Jersey - Nairo Quintana
Friday, July 5, 2013
Stage 7 - Clincal Cannondale
The Cannondale team delivered one of the finer team performances I can remember on Stage 7, a 205.5km journey from Montepellier to Albi. After realizing sprint Kings Mark Cavendish and Andre Greipel had been dropped from the group on the cat-2 Col de la Croix de Mounis, they put the hammer down for what seemed close to 120km to make sure they would not get back on. As a result, their teammate and green jersey leader Peter Sagan finally got his breakthrough victory in this year's event after a frustrating run of minor placings in the first week. With no real sprint rivals of his calibre left at the finish, Sagan won relatively easily from John Degenkolb and veteran Italian Danielle Bennatti. Daryl Impey finished in the main bunch and retained the Yellow Jersey.
The team rider brought back the days of Team Lotto chasing down breakaways for Aussie speedster Robbie McEwen, and Cannondale were brutal in the power which they hammered out to keep Cav and ze-German from getting back on board once they had been dropped. While one esteemed London based bond trader suggested they had got the tactics, as the points jersey is decided on points (obviously) not time, they in fact got their tactics 100% correct. Not only did Sagan take the stage honours, he also ensured Cav and ze-German got no points at the intermediate or final sprint, and as a result has basically locked up the Green Jersey competition inside a week. As long as he makes it all the way to Paris he will, deservedly, win the title for a second time. He is clearly the best all round rider in the race. In the end, after leading for over 100km, the Cannondale team nearly coughed up the race in the final one, messing up their lead up train and allowing Degenkolb to get on the last wheel of the Cannondale lead-out men. But Sagan was far too powerful, waiting for the final 200m to pounce over the top of Degenkolb and easily take the stage. Cav and ze-German arrived over 14 minutes later.
One classification that did change hands was the King of the Mountains jersey which passed to Biel Kadri, who set out in the day's break with Jens Voight and manage to capture enough mountains points to take a one point lead over Pierre Rolland. Australia's Simon Clarke remains in third in that competition.
Yellow Jersey - Daryl Impey
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Biel Kadri
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
Tomorrow we enter the mountains.....GAME ON!
The team rider brought back the days of Team Lotto chasing down breakaways for Aussie speedster Robbie McEwen, and Cannondale were brutal in the power which they hammered out to keep Cav and ze-German from getting back on board once they had been dropped. While one esteemed London based bond trader suggested they had got the tactics, as the points jersey is decided on points (obviously) not time, they in fact got their tactics 100% correct. Not only did Sagan take the stage honours, he also ensured Cav and ze-German got no points at the intermediate or final sprint, and as a result has basically locked up the Green Jersey competition inside a week. As long as he makes it all the way to Paris he will, deservedly, win the title for a second time. He is clearly the best all round rider in the race. In the end, after leading for over 100km, the Cannondale team nearly coughed up the race in the final one, messing up their lead up train and allowing Degenkolb to get on the last wheel of the Cannondale lead-out men. But Sagan was far too powerful, waiting for the final 200m to pounce over the top of Degenkolb and easily take the stage. Cav and ze-German arrived over 14 minutes later.
One classification that did change hands was the King of the Mountains jersey which passed to Biel Kadri, who set out in the day's break with Jens Voight and manage to capture enough mountains points to take a one point lead over Pierre Rolland. Australia's Simon Clarke remains in third in that competition.
Yellow Jersey - Daryl Impey
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Biel Kadri
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
Tomorrow we enter the mountains.....GAME ON!
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Stage 6 - Greipel Gets His Groove Back
The sprinters continued to take turn in the 2013 Tour de France, with Stage 5 the day for Andre Greipel to take his chance and rack up a first win at this years Tour. Another generic sprint stage, saw Peter Sagan rack up another minor placing with his 3rd second, while Marcel Kittel finished third. Mark Cavendish was a fading 4th, but it was a fine effort nonetheless after he hit the deck with 40kmn to go. Sadly for Australia, Darly Impey inherited the Yellow Jersey from Simon Gerransafter finishing ahead of him on the day's stage, but the Jersey at least satays with the Austalian Orica-Green Edge team.
In reality, the race was delivered on a platter to Greipel. He had a charmed run throughout the stage and was delivered to the finish on a platter by his Lotto team. Neither Sagan or Kittel had the power to go past him, and Cav ran out of energy in the final 500m after chasing to get back onto the peleton after his crash, and then being blocked for a run by one of Greipel's lead out men who dangerously swung off the front of the train in the closing stages. I would not be suprised if he we heard a few harsh words from Cav about that move in the post race interviews. Still Greipel held them all easily in the end and was probbly the deserved winner on the day (although I still think he is a bit of a douchebag). It should also provide a golden double victory for Germany unless Sabine Lasicki chokes away her winning position in her Wimbledon semi (currently doing a good job of that as we speak).
Sadly for Simon Gerrans, the peleton split by a few seconds on hectic run into the finish, and this saw South Africa's Daryl Impey take the maillot jaune off his soldiers - the first African to wear the Yellow Jersey, and a rare bright spark in what has been a recent difficult period for the Saffers. Edvald Boasson Hagen is now second overall at 3 seconds, while Gerrans is 5 seconds back in third. There was no major time lost by the GC contenders.
Tomorrow might see an outside chance of a breakaway succeeding with a cat-2 climbing appearing halfway through the stage into Albi.
Yellow Jersey - Darl Impey
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski (provisional)
In reality, the race was delivered on a platter to Greipel. He had a charmed run throughout the stage and was delivered to the finish on a platter by his Lotto team. Neither Sagan or Kittel had the power to go past him, and Cav ran out of energy in the final 500m after chasing to get back onto the peleton after his crash, and then being blocked for a run by one of Greipel's lead out men who dangerously swung off the front of the train in the closing stages. I would not be suprised if he we heard a few harsh words from Cav about that move in the post race interviews. Still Greipel held them all easily in the end and was probbly the deserved winner on the day (although I still think he is a bit of a douchebag). It should also provide a golden double victory for Germany unless Sabine Lasicki chokes away her winning position in her Wimbledon semi (currently doing a good job of that as we speak).
Sadly for Simon Gerrans, the peleton split by a few seconds on hectic run into the finish, and this saw South Africa's Daryl Impey take the maillot jaune off his soldiers - the first African to wear the Yellow Jersey, and a rare bright spark in what has been a recent difficult period for the Saffers. Edvald Boasson Hagen is now second overall at 3 seconds, while Gerrans is 5 seconds back in third. There was no major time lost by the GC contenders.
Tomorrow might see an outside chance of a breakaway succeeding with a cat-2 climbing appearing halfway through the stage into Albi.
Yellow Jersey - Darl Impey
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski (provisional)
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Stage 5 - Return To Normalcy
An early tumble presaged one of the great comebacks today, but while Juan Martin Del Potro, looking on the verge of default in the very first game of the match, came back to ominously defeat David Ferrer in 3 sets and book a Wimbledon semi-final berth, the Tour de France was going through the motions in Stage 5 - a 228km trek from Cagnes-sur-mer to Marseille.
The stage followed the standard script of a Tour de France sprint stage, with a breakaway group allowed to go some 10-12 minutes clear before they where reeled in inside the final 5km. Thomas de Gendt was the biggest name in the group, and while a breakaway win did look possible as late as 30km, in the end the peleton timed their chase to perfection.
This left plenty of time for the sprint trains to set themselves up, with Mark Cavendish's Omega-Pharma and Andrei Greipel's Lotto looking the main protagonists. But with 500m to go the Omega-Pharam team had pulled clear, and with Cavendish on second wheel he was never going to lose. He powered clear to defeat the fast finishing Edvald Boassan Hagen, while green jersey wearer Peter Sagan finished third (his third minor placing in as many flat stages) as Andre Greipel faded into 4th. The fact is, if Cavendish is anywhere near the top 6 or 7 riders with a kilometer to go he just wins - simple as that - and so it proved again today. A pile up at the 200m halted much of the peleton in the closing kilometer, but at time of writing there was no major contender injured.
The sprinting paradise looks set to continue, and Simon Gerrans will enjoy another day in Yellow, with tomorrows dead flat stage into Montpellier.
Yellow Jersey - Simon Gerrans
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
The stage followed the standard script of a Tour de France sprint stage, with a breakaway group allowed to go some 10-12 minutes clear before they where reeled in inside the final 5km. Thomas de Gendt was the biggest name in the group, and while a breakaway win did look possible as late as 30km, in the end the peleton timed their chase to perfection.
This left plenty of time for the sprint trains to set themselves up, with Mark Cavendish's Omega-Pharma and Andrei Greipel's Lotto looking the main protagonists. But with 500m to go the Omega-Pharam team had pulled clear, and with Cavendish on second wheel he was never going to lose. He powered clear to defeat the fast finishing Edvald Boassan Hagen, while green jersey wearer Peter Sagan finished third (his third minor placing in as many flat stages) as Andre Greipel faded into 4th. The fact is, if Cavendish is anywhere near the top 6 or 7 riders with a kilometer to go he just wins - simple as that - and so it proved again today. A pile up at the 200m halted much of the peleton in the closing kilometer, but at time of writing there was no major contender injured.
The sprinting paradise looks set to continue, and Simon Gerrans will enjoy another day in Yellow, with tomorrows dead flat stage into Montpellier.
Yellow Jersey - Simon Gerrans
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Stage 4 - Green With Envy
The green and gold tinge at the centenary Tour de France was maintained on Tuesday after Orica Green-Edge won the 25km team time trial in Nice, as Le Tour returned to the French mainland. In doing so, the team also delivered the Yellow Jersey to yesterday's stage winner, Simon Gerrans, a deserving winner of the maillot jaune if ever there was one.
The stage had been billed as a match race between Omega Pharma and Garmin, and when Garmin failed to better Omega Pharma's early mark it seemed the Belgian team had a stranglehold on the stage, a win which would have given white jersey wearer Michal Kwiatowski the yellow jersey. But Orica Green-Edge, knowing a win would be enough to put their own man in yellow, produced a performance eerily similar to that put down by Credit Agricole in order to keep Stuart O'Grady in yellow over a decade ago.
The teams of the big names performed well for the most part, with Chris Froome's Sky and Alberto Contador's Saxo Bank just 3 and 9 seconds down respectively. You would expect Froome would be disappointed he has not put more time into Contador as the Spaniard is the superior climber, and most of Bradley Wiggins damage last year was done in the race against the clock. Cadel Evans BMC, and Alejandro Valverde's Movistar were also within 30 seconds so in effect the stage was largely neutralised from a GC perspective.
Other than that there is not much to say about what was a stock standard TTT stage - and it might be a while yet until we see further fireworks with a few stages lined up for the sprinters over the remainder of the week.
Yellow Jersey - Simon Gerrans
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
The stage had been billed as a match race between Omega Pharma and Garmin, and when Garmin failed to better Omega Pharma's early mark it seemed the Belgian team had a stranglehold on the stage, a win which would have given white jersey wearer Michal Kwiatowski the yellow jersey. But Orica Green-Edge, knowing a win would be enough to put their own man in yellow, produced a performance eerily similar to that put down by Credit Agricole in order to keep Stuart O'Grady in yellow over a decade ago.
The teams of the big names performed well for the most part, with Chris Froome's Sky and Alberto Contador's Saxo Bank just 3 and 9 seconds down respectively. You would expect Froome would be disappointed he has not put more time into Contador as the Spaniard is the superior climber, and most of Bradley Wiggins damage last year was done in the race against the clock. Cadel Evans BMC, and Alejandro Valverde's Movistar were also within 30 seconds so in effect the stage was largely neutralised from a GC perspective.
Other than that there is not much to say about what was a stock standard TTT stage - and it might be a while yet until we see further fireworks with a few stages lined up for the sprinters over the remainder of the week.
Yellow Jersey - Simon Gerrans
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rolland
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
Corsican Carnival
While The Falcon has been globetrotting around the Basque country for the weekend, the Tour de France seemingly got off to a low key start on the island of Corsica.
Stage 1 will forever be remembered for the Orica Green-Edge team bus getting stuck under the finish line because it was too tall, an organisational oversight more reminiscent of the high school athletics carnival than the greatest annual sporting event on earth. The result was a laughable decision by the organisers to bring the finish line forward 3km with just 10km ago. The ensuing panic in the peleton caused the mother of all crashes which took out most of the races top sprinters. And after all that they finally managed to move the bus and again change the finishing post back to the original location. Andre Greipel looked to be the only main sprinter to have missed the pile up, but amazingly punctured within the final kilometer, allowing another German Marcel Kittel to take his first Tour de France victory and the race's first yellow jersey.
Stage 2 was a rather more standard and hilly affair, with most of the top sprinters again shelled off the back. This left the stage seemingly at the hands of last year's Green Jersey winner Peter Sagan, but he was eventually denied by little known Belgium Jan Bakelants, who jumped clear in the final kilometers and held off the Sagan led peleton by a single second (Sagan was soon to have deja vu in Stage 3). Chris Froome put in a little tester, attacking on a late climb but most of the favourites were soon to respond and the group eventually finished in the bunch. However, Bakelants win was enough to see him take the Yellow Jersey off the Kittel.
Stage 3 was a day for the Aussies, as Billanook College's finest, Simon Clarke, got into the day's break and was one mountain from taking the lead in the King Of The Mountains classification, before France's best rider Pierre Rolland denied him with a stinging surge on the final climb. Clarke has the ability to win this classification (having won the equivalent jersey at the Vuelta), but will have a major rival in Rolland, who seems to have put all his eggs in this basket, having seemingly wasted a lot of energy trying to pick up cheap points in the first few days. The day was topped off by a win for Simon Gerrans, nabbing Green-Edge's first ever Tour stage win with a perfectly timed sprint to hold off the fast finishing Sagan, who was forced to settle for second for the second straight day. He did however take the lead in the points classification and with Mark Cavendish a virtual no show at this years Tour so far, you could almost already declare him the winner. The main packed finished together allowing Bakelants to maintain his hold on the Yellow Jersey.
That is all likely to change tomorrow though when the Team Time Trial is sure to shake up the top of the GC - christ I hope Sky don't win.
Yellow Jersey - Jan Bakelants
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rollande
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
Stage 1 will forever be remembered for the Orica Green-Edge team bus getting stuck under the finish line because it was too tall, an organisational oversight more reminiscent of the high school athletics carnival than the greatest annual sporting event on earth. The result was a laughable decision by the organisers to bring the finish line forward 3km with just 10km ago. The ensuing panic in the peleton caused the mother of all crashes which took out most of the races top sprinters. And after all that they finally managed to move the bus and again change the finishing post back to the original location. Andre Greipel looked to be the only main sprinter to have missed the pile up, but amazingly punctured within the final kilometer, allowing another German Marcel Kittel to take his first Tour de France victory and the race's first yellow jersey.
Stage 2 was a rather more standard and hilly affair, with most of the top sprinters again shelled off the back. This left the stage seemingly at the hands of last year's Green Jersey winner Peter Sagan, but he was eventually denied by little known Belgium Jan Bakelants, who jumped clear in the final kilometers and held off the Sagan led peleton by a single second (Sagan was soon to have deja vu in Stage 3). Chris Froome put in a little tester, attacking on a late climb but most of the favourites were soon to respond and the group eventually finished in the bunch. However, Bakelants win was enough to see him take the Yellow Jersey off the Kittel.
Stage 3 was a day for the Aussies, as Billanook College's finest, Simon Clarke, got into the day's break and was one mountain from taking the lead in the King Of The Mountains classification, before France's best rider Pierre Rolland denied him with a stinging surge on the final climb. Clarke has the ability to win this classification (having won the equivalent jersey at the Vuelta), but will have a major rival in Rolland, who seems to have put all his eggs in this basket, having seemingly wasted a lot of energy trying to pick up cheap points in the first few days. The day was topped off by a win for Simon Gerrans, nabbing Green-Edge's first ever Tour stage win with a perfectly timed sprint to hold off the fast finishing Sagan, who was forced to settle for second for the second straight day. He did however take the lead in the points classification and with Mark Cavendish a virtual no show at this years Tour so far, you could almost already declare him the winner. The main packed finished together allowing Bakelants to maintain his hold on the Yellow Jersey.
That is all likely to change tomorrow though when the Team Time Trial is sure to shake up the top of the GC - christ I hope Sky don't win.
Yellow Jersey - Jan Bakelants
Green Jersey - Peter Sagan
Polka Dot Jersey - Pierre Rollande
White Jersey - Michal Kwiatowski
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