Today's stage: A possible sprint
before the rest day, unless the breakaway were to get away.
Who won today's stage? Pierrick
Fedrigo (FDJ) beat Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp) in a two-up
sprint after the two of them attacked from a six man breakaway that
won the stage by over 10 minutes.
What matters in the GC race? No
changes. Breakaway and a bunch finish behind it means no changes and
a half day of relaxing and restful riding. Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky)
and Chris Froome (Team Sky) still lead the field.
What matters in other competitions?
Green Jersey (Points) – At the
intermediate sprint, the Green Jersey was officially conceded to
Peter Sagan (Liquigas). Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) and Matt Goss
(Orica-GreenEdge) were in the bunch and didn't bother to contest him
for the intermediate sprint points.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the
Mountains) – No changes again. There were only a few points
available so Fredrick Kessikoff (Astana) takes the spots into the
rest day and then the two major Pyrenees stages that follow.
White Jersey (Best Young Rider)
– No changes here either. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) still leads over
Thiabult Pinot (FDJ).
Team Classification (Calculated by
adding the three best times on each team each day) – No changes
here, that is for the mountains and Time Trials. RSNT still leads
Team Sky by over 12 minutes.
Biggest surprise: No sprint
today. This day seemed like a day tailor made for sprinters,
especially with a rest day tomorrow. Still, there are only four big
sprinters left in the race and none of their teams were working.
Sagan's Liquigas and Mark Cavendish's Team Sky didn't work for
obvious reasons. Lotto-Belisol briefly chased, but backed off when
they had no help. And Orica-GreenEdge just didn't bother. I don't
blame them since nobody ever helps them whenever they go to the
front. Today, they put the onus on others to chase and the others
didn't chase.
Biggest disappointment: The
final sprint from the breakaway from was... underwhelming. Vande
Velde is not a sprinter at all and it showed. Behind the sprint, the
four other members of the breakaway were unable to organize and let
the race win ride away from them. While Fedrigo was a deserving
winner,, he won more by being the guy who played to his strengths
tactically.
Other items of note: There was a
whole host of abandons in the heat today. The biggest name was
Sylvain Chavanel (OPQS)... There was an interesting tactic played by
Saxo Bank to get Nikki Sorenson into the break. At the time, the
break had five riders and Sorenson was attempting to bridge to it. He
was likely not going to succeed until Saxo Bank put the team on the
front to chase the break down. The message was clear: either let
Sorenson bridge to the break or we will chase you down. The break let
Sorenson catch on and then rode away with the stage victory.
What is coming tomorrow?
Tomorrow is rest day in Pau, a favorite rest day stop for the Tour de
France. After that comes the high mountains. Wednesday's parcours
include the massive Col d'Aubisque and the near annual climb over the
Col du Tourmalet before finishing on a descent (close enough to the
line to matter for once in this Tour) from the Col de Peyresourde.
Tomorrow's prediction: 1.
Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) 2. Tejay van Garderen (BMC) 3. Chris
Froome (Team Sky)
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