Today's sprint finish to St Malo was a little different to that which was expected. The lead out trains really couldn't control the outcome and in the end the strongest and fastest guy won. Cavendish was left without support, Greipel was well led out by Henderson but had to commit to the sprint early before the last corner and Kittel was smart and good enough to follow the wheels and get to Greipel as he was fading to snatch a very good second stage win.
There was much debate tonight in our room as my Belgian room mate (ex Pro Eric De Clercq) watched the Belgian TV coverage and listened to Tom Steels commentate (Steels was a top sprinter in the late 90's). Did Cavendish cause the Argos rider Veelers to crash? The consensus all round was "that's just sprinting", and neither of them are Cavendish fans so that I found that interesting as I thought Cavendish definitely moved off his line and rode into Veelers?
There is no change to the GC and it will be interesting to see if the notorious cross winds of the Brittany coast can upset the Top 10 GC standings during tomrrow's Time Trial. I think that all eyes will be o Contador to see if he can hold or better his position. It seems the consensus is that Froome will easily defend his Yellow and may even take some time out of a number of the non TT specialists in the Top 10.
My First 10 Days - Cote d'Azur & Corsica.
Part 3 - Nice TTT and start at Cagnes Sur Mer
We arrived back in Nice from Corsica on the day of the Team Time Trial and were lucky enough to get up close and personal with OGE and BMC as they warmed up and rolled to the start line. The final result for OGE was a complete but exciting surprise to us all and it was fantastic to be able to cheer Simon Gerrans on as he led the peloton out from Cagnes the next day, clad in the Yellow jersey.
There was a reasonable Aussie crowd to cheer OGE on as they rolled out of Cagnes Sur Mer and the team responded with waves and smiles. The balance of the crowd were a supportively clapping the riders but were nowhere near as vocal as the Aussies!!
There was much debate tonight in our room as my Belgian room mate (ex Pro Eric De Clercq) watched the Belgian TV coverage and listened to Tom Steels commentate (Steels was a top sprinter in the late 90's). Did Cavendish cause the Argos rider Veelers to crash? The consensus all round was "that's just sprinting", and neither of them are Cavendish fans so that I found that interesting as I thought Cavendish definitely moved off his line and rode into Veelers?
There is no change to the GC and it will be interesting to see if the notorious cross winds of the Brittany coast can upset the Top 10 GC standings during tomrrow's Time Trial. I think that all eyes will be o Contador to see if he can hold or better his position. It seems the consensus is that Froome will easily defend his Yellow and may even take some time out of a number of the non TT specialists in the Top 10.
My First 10 Days - Cote d'Azur & Corsica.
Part 3 - Nice TTT and start at Cagnes Sur Mer
We arrived back in Nice from Corsica on the day of the Team Time Trial and were lucky enough to get up close and personal with OGE and BMC as they warmed up and rolled to the start line. The final result for OGE was a complete but exciting surprise to us all and it was fantastic to be able to cheer Simon Gerrans on as he led the peloton out from Cagnes the next day, clad in the Yellow jersey.
There was a reasonable Aussie crowd to cheer OGE on as they rolled out of Cagnes Sur Mer and the team responded with waves and smiles. The balance of the crowd were a supportively clapping the riders but were nowhere near as vocal as the Aussies!!
ah, I found that very interesting Pete too as it looked as if Mark went off his line and bumped shoulders on purpose - however he was vindicated, felt for Veelers as he certainly had some skin off..
ReplyDeleteFab pickie OGE at TTT all lined up like that and others, too.. watching Gabrielle Gateau and French lamb from Mt St Michel.
No doubt you are tasting some too! take care, Shaz.xx