And here we are again ... with yet another dead-flat stage which is perfect for the sprinters, and, well, breakaways, it seems. Would the sprint teams finally get themselves together, or will they once again let the breakaway go and miss out on lots of points for the sprint jersey?
It started off like the two previous sprint stages have been -- with a strong 10-man-breakaway: Mazur, Gardeyn, Samoilev, Coyot, Marichal, Mangel, Astarloa, Hinault, Ratto and Carpecchi. Again, with all these riders, they are about just as strong as a chasing peloton -- will they stay away like the two previous stages?
The stage isn't very long, so obviously the peloton would have to start chasing soon. But it didn't seem like they would. With 70 km to go, the gap is still 7'26 and increasing. In fact, it seems like the peloton will have a complete off-day once again. However, shortly after, they finally got themselves together and started chasing -- and the gap decreased dramatically. With 30 km to go, the gap was now down to 2'41 - but then, it seemed like they got tired, and the break managed to increase the gap once again. It became clear that they would manage to stay away (again, again!), and that also meant the tactical fight in the break could begin: Mangel, Samoilev and Marichal try to attack, and it seems like they are getting a gap -- until the supposedly very strong Astarloa goes to the front and takes responsibility. They are caught, and the sprint can begin:
Astarloa takes this! He was the best sprinter based on stats, and his two main rivals, Gardeyn and Hinault, were caught behind and had no chance at all.
