The last two days of the tour were both flat stages in the South of France. Somehow, Mark Cavendish managed to win neither stage, which was unusually depressing for me. However, this was offset by a gutsy breakaway ride from Thomas Voeckler of France, who wore yellow for 10 days in 2004 without winning a stage. This was his first Tour victory for him, and he absolutely deserved his moment in the spotlight.
Today’s stage featured another gutsy breakaway performance, this time from David Millar. He had a minute solo on the peleton with 10k to go, but got caught with 1500 meters to the finish. Too bad really, he was riding very strong and it would have been a great moment for him.
At any rate, the stage went to the sprinters, where, on the uphill finish, it was the strength of Thor Hushovd that prevailed over some of the more agile sprinters (such as Cavendish). Cervelo Test Team’s first victory in this year’s Tour was good to see.
Tomorrow’s mountain-top finish should be the first real test for the yellow jersey contenders. Cancellara should lose his yellow jersey, and if Contador puts in the ride we all know he’s capable of, he has a very good chance of wearing yellow after tomorrow’s stage.
Also in the mix is He Who Must Not Be Named, still 0.22 seconds behind Cancellara in the GC. We’ll see if he has the ability to keep up with Contador in the mountains. I suspect he doesn’t, but if he can, it would be a stage for the ages, as if they finish together it will be He Who Must Not Be Named who dons yellow on Saturday.
Recent Comments: