Just as an aside, because Im currently busy working, and I have only got 4 votes, I'm going to save this stage until about 8pm, so something to look forward to, and more chance for those who havent yet, to get the votes in
My internet is so slow i can't even move from one picture to the next in photobucket, the report is being written at the moment though, not exactly sure when it'll be up, depends on the internet here i guess :/
Today is the final stage before the first of the rest days. 38 relatively flat kilometres await the riders, and will not be a sight the pure climbers such as Grajales, Romero and Zanasca will enjoy.
The route itself travels North East from Arc-Et-Senans to the town of Belfort, where the riders will be able to get off the bikes ahead of a well-earned Day off.
The Race
He's more known for his work on the track, but IG-Sigma Sport rider Steven Burke set a powerful early time today, clocking in at 56'45. The first time on the clock, which looked like it might threaten the stage.
Not long after the Brit finished, came the team mate of Maillot Jaune Huub Duyn. Yori Havik was able to shave a full 17" off the time of Burke to move into the provisional lead.
Not long after Havik, came the fan favourite, Maggie Beckstedt. He put in a solid ride to shave another 4" of the lead time. Great performance by the older Swede.
No sooner had he finished however, than the frenchmen Benoit Jarrier put in the first ride of the day which would make an eventual top10. A full 15" quicker than Beckstedt, and good enough for a final 7th.
IG have several strong Time Triallists, and will have been hopeful of a stage win today. Lampier was their strongest performer, finishing 5th on the day with a time of 56'07.
The Mexican TT champion, Bernardo Colex was a very outside bet today, though he puts in a stunning performance, and makes it onto the podium, after riding home in 56'00 dead.
The Luxembourger riding for Differdange, Christian Poos has what it takes today, he rides at incredible pace, enough to take the stage victory! Now the eyes of the viewers can turn away from the stage, and towards the final few riders who are setting off, those guys fighting for the GC.
The GC Contenders...
The first of the GC guys today, was WiT leader, Zanasca. The Italian is a stronger climber than he is in the TT, so losing just 1'28 is a reasonable result for him.
Next up is the Vorarlberg leader, Vrecer. He comes home in the same time as Yori Havik, just 48" behind the stage winner Poos. great effort by him!
The Cuban Romero comes home not long afterwards. He's not the worlds best TTist, but loses just 11" to Rival Vrecer, he'll be pleased with that performance, setting himself up well for a shot at the top GC places.
Considering he will have been looking to pick up time on his rivals today, The RaboCT rider Goos doesn't give a very strong ride at all! He's a minute down on Poos, and does no better than several better climbers than his self.
Stevensons all round abilities left hi as one of the bookies Top3 favourites here at the Underdog Tour, He's the new fastest of the GC men today, 6" quicker than Vrecer, in a time which will surely be pleasing for him, that's the perfect springboard for the alps!
Going into today, Lawson Craddock found himself in 2nd place ahead of his team mate and supposed leader, Joe Dombrowski. Joe's shown just how strong he's looking with consecutive stage wins over the past 2 days, but of the guys in with a shot at GC fame, it's Craddock who sets the world alight today, finishing in 2nd place on the stage, just 12" behind Christian Poos' time.
It shows just how different the styles of the Top2 favourites are, that Dombrowski was able to catch the rider he followed off the ramp. Grajales knew he was going to suffer today but even so will be disappointed to lose 2'31" to Craddock, a lot of work to do if he's intending to pose a serious threat upon the GC then!
Meanwhile the American comes home in what finished as 13th place, 28" behind his team mate.
The last rider off the ramp today, is Dutchman Huub Duyn. News will have filtered through to him about Craddocks time, and he can lose no more than 20" today if he wants to keep hold of the jersey into the rest day tomorrow.
Can he do it? Yes! He rides a magnificent final sector, to finish just 13" behind the Maillot Blanc. That means that the Cycling Team De Rijke rider, will keep hold of his jersey for at least another few days, fantastic performance by him!
The third competition saw just 3 entrants once again, despite the chance to score big points. Daggen stretches his lead over Jesleyh, whilst SSJ2Luigi slides slightly further away, though still holding a big margin over fourth place.
Everyone was able to collect 3 points, after picking Lawson Craddock, though no one had him in his eventual finishing spot of second, all favouring him for the stage win.
The difference then was how people collected their remaining points, Luigi and Jesleyh both score twice for Top10 riders (Sybrandy and Duyn) whilst Daggen was able to select a second member of the top 5 (Poos) enabling him to slightly increase his lead!
Edited by baggieboys32 on 21-01-2013 17:13
Well, here we are. Today see's the riders enjoying a much needed day off, in the french town of Macon. Today we're going to give you a look back at the standings in the competitions which are being fought out in the Underdog Tour, as well as a few interviews where we've managed to catch up with some of the big names here with us racing.
Competition Maillot Jaune
1
Huub Duyn
Cyclingteam De Rijke
40h49'33
2
Lawson Craddock
Bontrager - Livestrong Team
+ 7
3
Joseph Dombrowski
Bontrager - Livestrong Team
+ 39
4
Michael Stevenson
Team Concordia Forsikring – Himmerland
+ 52
5
Robert Vrecer
Team Vorarlberg
+ 57
6
Chad Beyer
Competitive Cyclist Racing Team
+ 1'01
7
Luis Alberto Romero
Jamis - Sutter Home
+ 1'08
8
Marc Goos
Rabobank Continental Team
+ 1'18
9
Luca Zanasca
Team WIT
+ 1'41
10
Tommy Nankervis
Competitive Cyclist Racing Team
+ 1'42
11
Dan Craven
Team IG - Sigma Sport
+ 1'47
12
Dirk Müller
Nutrixxion Abus
+ 1'58
13
Sergey Rudaskov
Itera - Katusha
+ 2'00
14
Guillaume Malle
Veranda Rideau - Super U
+ 2'13
15
Thomas Rabou
Competitive Cyclist Racing Team
+ 2'35
16
Robert Retschke
Team Eddy Merckx - Indeland
+ 2'36
17
Jaroslaw Dabrowski
Amore & Vita
+ 2'41
18
Nikola Aistrup
Team Concordia Forsikring – Himmerland
+ 2'43
19
Kevin Denis
Veranda Rideau - Super U
+ 2'47
20
Cesar Grajales
Competitive Cyclist Racing Team
s.t.
The current standings are lead, by Huub Duyn of Cycling Team De Rijke. He collected the jersey on the end of our first French day, the fourth stage, from Roubaix to Bolougne-Sur-Mer. The Dutch are surely hoping that he'll hang in there, but despite a good performance in yesterdays TT, it does seem likely that he'll suffer in the bigger mountains to come, an unlikely pick then for overall Victory.
Turning our eyes back to pre-tour, 3 names were given by the bookies as the overall favourites. First of these, came Joe Dombrowski. Joe has more than lived up to his label so far, with 2 stage wins on the difficult stages that started week 2, he's backed that up with a strong TT and is looking strong for the GC.
The other 2 of those 3 were Grajales and Stevenson. The Colombian is a very strong climber, but the course doesn't suit him, he'll be hard pressed to come back after yesterdays losses, and we still have an even longer TT to come, I suspect a podium is the best he'll manage.
Stevenson meanwhile finds himself sat just behind Joe in the GC, and will be ready to pounce if Joe does begin to fade in the final week, he can all but match the American on every terrain, so he's in with a great chance at overall victory.
Meanwhile, outside favourite Lawson Craddock actually leads the way, and people are starting to label him as the Wiggins to Dombrowski's Froome. He's on paper the strongest TTist and can climb up there with the best. If Bontrager place there focus around this lad, he may well go home in far more than the Maillot Blanc!
The cycling news team were lucky enough to be treated to an interview with the American Duo, after yesterdays Time Trial, there thoughts on the Underdog Tour are below.
CN: Wow, perfect start for the team, 2-3 on the GC, and you're both looking great!
JD: We knew coming in that we'd got a very strong squad, both myself and Lawson came hoping to do well, and we're lucky enough to have a strong enough squad to keep looking after both of us
CN: So is that the feeling then? Joint leadership between you?
LC: It wasn't exactly the original plan, we knew Joe would be right up there, and the plan was to put him in the Jaune. Of course, I've been fortunate with some good legs so far, and the team have got eyes on both of us now I think.
JD: I don't know about that, we always knew that you were going to go well over this terrain mate, you can't deny that! But yeah, a shared leaders role would be a fair description now i think, I'll certainly have no qualms with working for Lawson in the mountains if he's got the legs, he's a great rider and if we can put both of us up near the top, then why not go for it!
CN: The fans are talking about you two as the Underdog Tours Wiggins-Froome combo, how do you feel?
LC: When people make references like that, there's only one thing you can be, honoured. In reality I suspect it's more a reference to our styles than anything, but I'd never be anything but grateful for a comparison like that!
CN: Okay guys, well enjoy the rest of your day off and good luck for the rest of the race!
VN: After a slow start, you seemed to gain some momentum later in week 1, have you left it too late?
RW: It's not over until its over. Maybe Jonas has a nasty fall (obviously not something I would ever wish on him) or maybe Flahaut can't handle the mountains. You never know
VN: You have GC man Vrecer in the side as well as yourself, how does that affect the teams goals?
RW: he managed a good result in yesterdays ITT, so focus will probably be on his battle for the Maillot Jaune. I hope he does well and goes on to win at least one stage.
RW: How're you enjoying this longer version of racing, how do the legs feel?
RW: Well I'm actually feeling better every day and I think it shows. I hope I can take third or maybe even second place in the maillot vert.
VN: Will you be able to win any more stages?
RW: I hope so. At least one more.
VN: Thanks for your time and best of luck in the underdog tour
RW: Thanks
Now, we've heard from one of the outsiders, now its time to get an overview of the competition, see who are the names on peoples lips when it come to the fight for the Maillot Vert.
Thoughts on the favourites:
The course should favour riders who can survive at least one mountain and then pick up the intermediate sprint points but pure sprinters should not be counted out due to three flat stages and one semi flat.
The biggest favourite is probably Jonas Ljungblad. The semi flat stage will absolutely benefit him. He will also be able to take points in the hilly and mountain stages from the intermediate sprints.
The thing that speaks against him is that he doesn't have the fastest sprint.
Jonas will probably take the jersey but I think he will loose it. I think Flahaut is to strong for him.
Another big favourite is Denis Flahaut. The Frenchman will probably take the flat stages or at least be among the top five. The thing that's speaks against him is that he doesn't look to keen on the intermediate sprints.
I will be very surprised if he doesn't take second or even first. Whatever happens he can look back on a very successful tour.
The outsiders:
Going down to a half outsider half favourite. Andreas Stauff is a fast sprinter riding for Eddy Merckx - Indeland. He is one of the fastest sprinters in the race but he hasn't been collecting too many points.
And, again he is a rider who don't handle hills very well.
I think he will take third. I would be very surprised if he doesn't beat Stauff.
So there you have it, a run down of the big favourites for the Maillot Vert!
Rick Zabel is the youngest of the sprinters and he shouldn't be completely counted out. Of course he doesn't have too many points but he will no doubt hang in for the fifth place. This guy might take the semi flat stage.
What's to come...
In the next 5 days, the riders are faced with 3 .HC climbs, 4 Cat 1 climbs and 4 Cat 2 climbs. Along with this, one of the only 2 major summit finishes.
Expect to see the real GC fight kick off tomorrow as we have our first day in the alps, including the Col Du Gran Colombier! For now, the riders will enjoy the remainder of a hard earned rest day.
The damn autocorrect 
Steven Burke set a powerful early time today, clocking in at 56'45. The first time on the clock, which looked like it might threaten the stage.
Huub Duyn. 
Maggie Beckstedt. He put in a solid ride to shave another 4" of the lead time. Great performance by the older Swede.
Bernardo Colex was a very outside bet today, though he puts in a stunning performance, and makes it onto the podium, after riding home in 56'00 dead.
Christian Poos has what it takes today, he rides at incredible pace, enough to take the stage victory! Now the eyes of the viewers can turn away from the stage, and towards the final few riders who are setting off, those guys fighting for the GC.
Zanasca. The Italian is a stronger climber than he is in the TT, so losing just 1'28 is a reasonable result for him.
Vrecer. He comes home in the same time as 
Romero comes home not long afterwards. He's not the worlds best TTist, but loses just 11" to Rival 
Lawson Craddock found himself in 2nd place ahead of his team mate and supposed leader, 
Grajales knew he was going to suffer today but even so will be disappointed to lose 2'31" to 
