It’s hard enough trying to watch Le Tour when you’re only attempting to balance watching a decent amount of the racing with not falling asleep at your desk during the day – nevermind trying to write a bit about it as well when your PCs are falling over faster than Team Sky riders…
So what have I missed passing comment on? Well, Team HTC was finally given a proper flat sprinters stage and gave us, in return, a text book example of how a lead-out train should be done. I’m sure “Super” Mario Cipollini was watching from a beach somewhere with approval as history repeated for Mark Cavendish in Chateauroux.
Team Sky followed up the high of their debut stage win with the lows of Wiggins crashing out with a busted collar bone and Thomas losing his White Jersey waiting for him at the roadside. Then just when they looked to be getting their morale and focus going again with some quality aggressive riding from Flecha, he was taken out by a TV car while Hoogerland hit him and then a barbed wire fence…perhaps those considerate-of-cyclists European drivers are a myth after all. Hoogerland’s bravery has at least written himself a place in Tour legend.
Sad to see such a nasty end to Vino’s tour with a broken femur, first reports were a broken pelvis so not quite as bad as it could have been. Hitting a tree hurts, even round Woodhill at low speeds…ploughing off a road at high speed like that, really doesn’t bare thinking about.
We’ve had the first proper hills and the first taste of Schleck v Contador, so far so much shadow boxing as they both appear to be content to watch each other and keep half and eye of Evans before we hit the Pyrenees…Stage 12 over the Col du Tourmalet to Luz Ardiden should see the first fireworks and I’m in agreement with Ozy Mandias that Stage 18’s three Hors Category climbs is a must-watch…you can’t not watch the next day’s trip over the Galibier again with an ascent of Alpe d’Huez either, and thankfully that will give us a Saturday to recover give or take the demands of small children.
Don’t bother looking around the Sky guide for tonight’s stage, it’s rest day. Make sure to move your alarm to the normal time and I’ll hope to see you back here following the stage to Carmaux. The winner? Well it could be anyone, I think the break will stay away again…
1 comment:
Great post James; the incident with the TV car would have been funny had the consequences not been so nasty.
It's certainly "game on" now that they've left the flat-lands; from now on it gets gripping. The challenge now is to clear the MySky disc enough to give room for both the TdF AND the Open Championship coverage when it starts on Thursday night!
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