Tour de France Stage 5 - Greipel repeats win from yesterday

Today's stage: A long procession to a bunch sprint. Same as yesterday. Not even with a categorized climb along the way.

Who won today's stage? Andre Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) won his second sprint in a row, catching the breakaway and overtaking Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) in the final 100 meters to take the stage.

What matters in the GC race? Nothing, again. 3 km rule after a crash, again. Fabian Cancellara (RSNT) still leads overall. This is unlikely to change tomorrow either as there is another sprint stage.

What matters in other competitions?

Green Jersey (Points) – The bonus Peter Sagan (Liquigas) got yesterday when Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) crashed is gone. Sagan was caught in Tyler Farrar's (Garmin-Sharp) 4^th crash of the race. He still leads the green jersey competition, but Goss, Greipel and Cavendish are a whole lot closer now.

Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – With no climbs today, Michael Morkov (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff) retained the jersey. He will retain the jersey as long as he finishes tomorrow as well with onlt one category 4 climb on the route.

White Jersey (Best Young Rider) – Tejay van Garderen (BMC) retained his white jersey finishing with the main group. Boasson Hagen remains second after also finishing with the group. Barring a crash this won't change until stage 7 with a mountain top finish.

Team Classification (Calculated by adding the three best times on each team each day) – The 3 km rule being applied also means there was no change here, not that it was likely with a bunch sprint finish.

Biggest surprise: The breakaway nearly held on. There was a four-man breakaway seemed doomed all day long. For the whole race, they never got a huge lead. Still, the peloton let them hang on the vine and nearly paid for it as the break was in tact with under 1 km to go and got to the final 100 meters before being caught.

Biggest disappointment: Sagan was collected in the crash. The finish was slightly uphill today which suits Sagan and would possibly limit some of the top end speed that can neutralize him in a bunch sprint. That was all for naught for Sagan after being collected in the Farrar crash.

Other items of note: Argos-Shimano sprinter Marcel Kittel was forced to abandon the race today. He was unable to recover from his various stomach ailments that have limited him all tour long. For his team, it was second guessed when John Degenkolb was left at home and it looks worse now even though Tom Veelers had done decently in the sprints thus far... Team Sky interestingly came to the front and gave Cavendish a bit of help today for the first time all race. I wonder if that will be the case tomorrow with a mountain stage on Saturday.

What is coming tomorrow? One last sprint day before the mountains. There is only one categorized climb tomorrow. Like today, I feel sorry for whoever ends up on breakaway duty.

Tomorrow's prediction: 1. Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) 2. Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) 3. Mark Renshaw (Rabobank)

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Giro d'Italia Daily - Another Cavendish sprint win

Today's stage: Sprinty sprint, though the small category 4 climb near the end was a lot more difficult than anyone thought it would be.

Who won today's stage? Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) was still around for the sprint. Cavendish did not crash. Therefore Cavendish won the stage, his second of the race. Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge) was second, his second time in second to go with his stage victory.

What matters in the GC race? Nothing much. Ramunas Navardauskas (Garmin-Barracuda) still leads and none of the GC contenders were dropped on that climb today. Among the GC men, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Barracuda) and Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) lead.

Biggest surprise: 20+ riders got dropped on that climb. It wasn't that bad and those getting dropped there have big problems ahead. This is the Giro after all and despite the early easy stages, the mountains will still be hard even if it's not last year's absurd climbing spectacle.

Biggest disappointment: Nobody has emerged to challenge Cavendish and Goss in the sprints. The former teammates finished 1-2 both today and in stage 2 and Goss won stage 3 where Cavendish crashed.

Other items of note: Among the riders dropped were sprinters Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Barracuda), Thor Hushovd (BMC) and Theo Bos (Rabobank). Considering Cavendish and his awful climbing won the stage, this isn't a good sign for their respective forms on the bike.

What is coming tomorrow? The first category 2 climb of the race, the Passo Della Cappella is on the route tomorrow, but midway through the stage. There are also three category 3 climbs along the way. Expect the stage hunters to give it a go, but I expect a sprint from those sprinters who have some climbing legs. Goss looks good for this one if a sprint does occur.

Giro d'Italia Daily Stage 3 - Major crash mars yet another sprint

Today's stage: Another long (190 km), flat stage ending in a sprint. There really isn't much else that can be done in Denmark.

Who won today's stage? Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge) bettered his second place from yesterday by winning today over JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank) and Tyler Farrar (Garmin) after yesterday's winner Mark Cavendish (Team Sky) was collected in a crash (more on that later).

What matters in the GC race? Nothing in the grand picture. In the short term, current leader Taylor Phinney (BMC) was contesting the sprint and got collected in the crash. He finished in an ambulance and may not continue in the race, but he keeps the leaders jersey for now as the crash happened inside the last three km during a sprint meaning he gets the same time as everyone else.

Biggest surprise: Goss was going to win the stage over Cavendish even without the crash. Cavendish's team didn't do a great job of setting him up resulting in a late start to his sprint. That was the main reason he was collected in the crash and even without it likely could have only reached 3^rd place.

Biggest disappointment: The crash itself was just stupid riding from Roberto Ferrari (Androni-Giacatolli) who jumped right looking for a gap that wasn't there (or even close to being there) and took Cavendish's front wheel out. From there the pile up was on collecting numerous other riders including Phinney.

Other items of note: Riders paid tribute to Wouter Weylandt, killed in a crash during stage 3 last season. His number (108) has been officially retired by the race... Tonight is the longest transfer in Giro history with everyone traveling to Italy to get the real fireworks started.

What is coming tomorrow? Tomorrow is a rest day because of the long transfer. Then it's Team Time Trial day on Wednesday. The TTT is always interesting and nearly always eliminates someone from GC contention because his team is awful in this discipline. The question is who that will be.