06-07-2017, 19:16
Again there was a fine strong finish for the sprinters, with Marcel Kittel finding a clear run up the centre of the road to win from Arnaud Dumare, who forced his way through a gap that was barely there, and Andre Greipel, with Alexander Kristoff just holding off Nacer Bouhanni. Just my opinion of course, but the commissaire's decision to disqualify Peter Sagan is leading to some riders crying "Foul" to get opponents penalised. Dumare was aggressive when he went for the gap, but that's what sprinters do!
Anyway, Kittel's 50 points cut his deficit in the Green Jersey competition to 27 points, after Dumare scored 13 points in the intermediate sprint and 30 at the finish. Sagan was indeed missed in the intermediate sprint as he would have been in the breakaway to get the 20 points, instead of accepting 4th as Dumare did. None of the leaders' positions in the other classifications really changed, so I'll not waste any time going over them.
On to tomorrow, where the 213.5km stage from Troyes to Nuits-Saint-George will probably turn out exactly the same, with the usual breakaway being caught in the usual manner. The most exciting thing I can say about the stage is that it will move from Champagne country to Burgundy country, with the wine being an ideal accompaniment to the local Charolais beef.
I'm looking from a big move from somebody to liven up the stage long before the finish, but a repeat of today's heat might knock that on the head. (Come on Steve, you know what I'm looking for.) Ben Swift should get himself into the breakaway for intermediate points and both Michael Matthews and Andre Greipel have been knocking at the door in the sprints, so a wee bit extra might bring big rewards in the Green Jersey competition. The stages on Saturday (3 climbs) and Sunday (7 climbs!!!) go up, up and away, where we might see a bit of movement in the Yellow Jersey competition.
Anyway, Kittel's 50 points cut his deficit in the Green Jersey competition to 27 points, after Dumare scored 13 points in the intermediate sprint and 30 at the finish. Sagan was indeed missed in the intermediate sprint as he would have been in the breakaway to get the 20 points, instead of accepting 4th as Dumare did. None of the leaders' positions in the other classifications really changed, so I'll not waste any time going over them.
On to tomorrow, where the 213.5km stage from Troyes to Nuits-Saint-George will probably turn out exactly the same, with the usual breakaway being caught in the usual manner. The most exciting thing I can say about the stage is that it will move from Champagne country to Burgundy country, with the wine being an ideal accompaniment to the local Charolais beef.
I'm looking from a big move from somebody to liven up the stage long before the finish, but a repeat of today's heat might knock that on the head. (Come on Steve, you know what I'm looking for.) Ben Swift should get himself into the breakaway for intermediate points and both Michael Matthews and Andre Greipel have been knocking at the door in the sprints, so a wee bit extra might bring big rewards in the Green Jersey competition. The stages on Saturday (3 climbs) and Sunday (7 climbs!!!) go up, up and away, where we might see a bit of movement in the Yellow Jersey competition.
Cabbage is still good for you