So we have another flat stage, this being a very critical stage for us. We need Farrar to outscore Greipel or else the chances of winning are very slim, but we also cant count out Freire, the spanish sprinter. We also want to avoid crashes as much as possible. Lets not lose any more time than we need to.
In the final 3km, Gavazzi, and Cardoso of Lampre and Footon, both shared a lead, but Steegmans is coming fast on the right side, and the other two aren't known for being the greatest sprinters.
Freire pulls around Cardoso and takes the lead. He looks to take the win, exactly what we didn't want to happen. Steegmans 2nd, Petacchi 3rd.
Farrar managed to finish 6th ahead of Greipel again, but now instead of Greipel having a 30 point lead, its Freire who's looked even stronger than Greipel the last few stages. But whats worse news is Martin couldn't hold on to the back of the peloton and lost lots of time today. VandeVelde is again the highest placed Garmin rider in the GC.
So its now the 2nd last flat stage before Paris, and if we want any shot of winning the Green Jersey, we will have to finish high in the rankings today. Tommorow is the climb to Prato Nevoso and the day after that its a rest day so were into the final stretch here.
With only 7km to go on an innevitable sprint stage a massive crash takes out many sprinters, and lead-out men, while Dan Martin, already dropped, passes them.
The biggest rider to crash is green jersey holder, Oscar Freire. Great news for us, but of course you never want somebody to crash.
Also at this time, I'm starting to slip off the pace. I'm obviously not in the greatest shape, but I was also feeling really bad today. It must have been the steak I had the night before.
Now going into the sprint, it was pretty much Farrar vs. Greipel with all the other sprinters either in the fall, or had the 3 small hills whipe them out.
Was there ever any doubt? Tyler perfects the stage and takes maximum points.
Great win! It's a pity for Freire to lose the green jersey like this, but crashes are part of cycling. Pretty bad Greipel finishes 2nd, but Farrar will eventually pass him, even if it's only in Paris, I'm sure
So today, we climb into Italy, and it wont be easy either. I'd say the massive climb at the start of the day will be the 2nd hardest climb of the entire 3 weeks, behind Alpe d'Huez. Today, our goal is to make sure, Christian and I dont lose much time, and that we climb better or else we wont get spots to the Tour next year, with the big name riders rumoured to be joining at the seasons end.
Goal 1 of 2: Complete! Get Farrar more points in the Green jersey competition. This was at the intermediate sprint 17km into the stage.
Its the break of the day as they climb the massive mountain on their way to Italian roads. Dan Martin and Phil Deignan are in the break, kinda cool as they're the only two Irishmen in the race, and now both in the break. Dan gets max points on the climb, and some needed green paper.
The break was eventually caught, and nobody attacked until the final few metres, where Kloden made a quick move and broke away from the others.
But on the line Andy Schleck wins! Or does he? Kloden celebrates as if he's won and the judges think so too!
Lol @ Kloden/Schleck finish. It's clear Schleck has taken it, very strange! Btw, nice pic of the breakaway, very nice with the road on the background (and what a big mountain!).
lluuiiggii wrote:
Lol @ Kloden/Schleck finish. It's clear Schleck has taken it, very strange! Btw, nice pic of the breakaway, very nice with the road on the background (and what a big mountain!).
Yeah, I think the line might have been a little before the actual white line because the 1km banner was 1.2km from the line.
Also thanks for noticing my nice screenshot. I purposely tried to have the peloton shown in the background, so I'm glad someone noticed
So we have one of my favourite stages of this years Tour, and the highest mountain pass in Europe. Can it get any better? I think it will be a great day, and of course after tommorows rest day its Alpe d'Huez so this will be a great couple days if my legs are on form. It was sad to see Martin lose his great position but I think lots of time can be made up so who knows, maybe Christian or I can get lots of time back.
The first major incident of the day, was that Tour 2nd place and Young Rider Overall leader Andy Schleck had a puncture on the first climb. His whole team except his Frankie came back to help him.
Now on to the descent back into France Andy has another crash just as he's about to reach the peloton. It seems really bad because he never made it back to the peloton and he was left isolated after a couple km's so he will likely be riding injured for the remainder of the Tour, and we could see him slip away from the great GC positino that he's in currently.
Now on the Cime de la Bonnette, Valverde makes his big acceleration, a strange move since he's in the Yellow, but anyway I followed him and rode with him for a couple kilometres just him and I.
Now Contador makes his move, as I start to fall back from Valverde, but this is my ticket back to him, so I follow Contador and we form a group as we go over the top of the climb.
On the descent, Kloden joins, and its really just a free-for-all at this point as we all take this current road gradient as a chance to recover.
No one is brave enough to start the sprint, so I try and surprise them by starting it myself with only a couple hundred metres to go. I turn the corner and see the line...
But Conta shows why he has the fastest acceleration on a mountain as he passes me in the last 100m. Its a tough way to lose, but atleast I gained lots of time back in the GC race, and I did finish 2nd today if its any consolation.
Mresuperstar wrote:
Great ride by Hesjedal! And Farrar gets closer to Greipel each stage.
Yes, thanks. Farrar sprinted at the first sprint point again.
FreitasPCM wrote:
Nice result by Ryder. Andy seems to have the best luck in the Tour.
Thanks, Ryder had a +5 day, which really helped a lot, or else he probably would have dropped back to the 2nd group on the downhill. Andy does seem to have great luck, he probably rubs Horner and Levi's head before each stage.
lluuiiggii wrote:
+1 And just like you said, 'lots of time can be made up', Hesjedal is inside the Top 15, great
Yeah thanks. With a good TT I think he might move into the Top 10, but he has to be up there on d'Huez.
Andi91 wrote:
Good job! I like your story
Thanks, glad you like it.
_____________________________
BTW I may have a surprise for you guys after the Tour is over. Thats also when I will release the signings for next year so be ready for that as well.
And Farrar gets closer to Greipel each stage.
