04-07-2017, 22:28
I opened the report on yesterday's stage with Peter Sagan and today's is the very same, but for all the wrong reasons. Sagan was undoubtedly the reason why Mark Cavendish crashed into the barrier near the finish line, but it's always dog-eat-dog in these tight sprint finishes. “We decided to disqualify Peter Sagan from the 2017 Tour de France because he endangered seriously several other riders including Mark Cavendish in the final meters (sic) of the sprint which happened in Vittel”, president commissaire Philippe Mariën stated. Personally I think Sagan has been too harshly treated with his disqualification, but that's water under the bridge now.
There was a breakaway of one rider for over 180km until all the other riders swallowed him up and spat him out the back. After a great deal of manoeuvring from all the top teams, Marcel Kittel and many others including Geraint Thomas were involved in a crash less than 3km from the finish, meaning that none of them lost any time. In the final incident Cavendish and 2 other riders were brought down - and it started off so quietly. Over 200km of genteel riding and 3 km of madness.
My man, Arnaud Demare, was the strongest at the finish, beating Sagan and Alexander Kristoff. After Sagan's disqualification, Kristoff was promoted to 2nd and Andre Greipel to 3rd. In the Yellow Jersey rankings, other than Sagan disappearing and Demare appearing in 9th thanks to today's win most other positions are relatively unchanged.
Tomorrow's stage is definitely one for the climbers, having an intermediate sprint after 102.5km, followed by a Category 3 climb and ending with a 5.9km Category 1 climb of 8.5% average gradient, with the last stretch boasting a gradient of over 20%. Chris Froome won here in 2012, so must be a strong favourite this year to take the Yellow Jersey from his team-mate, Thomas. Nairo Quintana, Romain Bardet, Rafal Majka and Richie Porte all have to do well on this stage to avoid slipping well behind Froome in the first week. Because there is no form for the mountains so far, keep an eye open for Pierre Rolland and Thibaut Pinot. Neither have any chance of winning the Tour, but are both very capable of winning a stage.
Mark Cavendish might have to retire at tomorrow's start. He doesn't like mountain stages at the best of times, but will be feeling even worse than usual tomorrow morning. He'll be thinking "Is it really worth it?"
There was a breakaway of one rider for over 180km until all the other riders swallowed him up and spat him out the back. After a great deal of manoeuvring from all the top teams, Marcel Kittel and many others including Geraint Thomas were involved in a crash less than 3km from the finish, meaning that none of them lost any time. In the final incident Cavendish and 2 other riders were brought down - and it started off so quietly. Over 200km of genteel riding and 3 km of madness.
My man, Arnaud Demare, was the strongest at the finish, beating Sagan and Alexander Kristoff. After Sagan's disqualification, Kristoff was promoted to 2nd and Andre Greipel to 3rd. In the Yellow Jersey rankings, other than Sagan disappearing and Demare appearing in 9th thanks to today's win most other positions are relatively unchanged.
Tomorrow's stage is definitely one for the climbers, having an intermediate sprint after 102.5km, followed by a Category 3 climb and ending with a 5.9km Category 1 climb of 8.5% average gradient, with the last stretch boasting a gradient of over 20%. Chris Froome won here in 2012, so must be a strong favourite this year to take the Yellow Jersey from his team-mate, Thomas. Nairo Quintana, Romain Bardet, Rafal Majka and Richie Porte all have to do well on this stage to avoid slipping well behind Froome in the first week. Because there is no form for the mountains so far, keep an eye open for Pierre Rolland and Thibaut Pinot. Neither have any chance of winning the Tour, but are both very capable of winning a stage.
Mark Cavendish might have to retire at tomorrow's start. He doesn't like mountain stages at the best of times, but will be feeling even worse than usual tomorrow morning. He'll be thinking "Is it really worth it?"
Cabbage is still good for you