TdF Commentary 7/6

Stage 3 Recap

Thor lays down the hammer, Big gains for A. Schleck and Evans, F. Schleck crashes out of Tour, Cancellara reclaims yellow

Stage 3 delivered on all the excitement that it promised, though at the expense of several riders.  An early breakaway of six riders maintained their lead throughout the first half of the stage before largely faltering as the race hit the cobblestones.  Eventually, only Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) was only able to keep the breakaway going, and while he was given the combativity prize for his efforts, even he was not able to stop the aggressive chase of Fabian Cancellara and Andy Schleck.

Nervousness pervaded the peloton as they reached the cobbled sections.  With nearly 200 riders approaching the cobblestones at the same time, chaos was inevitable, and unfortunately, what seemed to have created the initial gaps that would thin the field out was a crash in the front of the peloton that meant the end of the Tour for GC contender Frank Schleck.  Finding themselves ahead of the ensuing traffic jam, Cancellara and A. Schleck took advantage of their teammate's misfortune by powering ahead, eventually catching Hesjedal and forcing a sizable gap over Schleck's rival GC competitors.  Thor Hushovd found himself in the front group and rode along to claim an easy sprint victory and the green jersey.  The heavy pace of Hushovd's group also gave back the yellow jersey to Cancellara.  Cadel Evans, also in the front group, now sits as the highest-placed GC contender.

Back in the peloton, as the field thinned out over the cobblestones, riders were less accident-prone, but were often victims of bad luck in the form of flat tires and other mechanical problems.  Lance Armstrong had been riding comfortably in the second group before puncturing, which saw him struggling to make up ground following a wheel replacement.  Alberto Contador also had a mechanical problem very close to the finish and was dropped from a group containing his teammate Alexandre Vinokourov and GC riders Bradley Wiggins and Denis Menchov.  Andreas Klöden punctured early and had to settle for finishing with the main peloton, 2'25" behind the leaders.  However, the unluckiest man of the day (well, maybe behind Frank Schleck), was Sylvain Chavanel, who at first looked very poised to defend his yellow jersey, before puncturing at least three times.  After having to drop back multiple times for bike replacements, he ended up losing nearly four minutes, and with that, his time wearing yellow.

Thor Hushovd's stage win now puts him at a huge advantage over the field in the green jersey race.  He claimed the green jersey today and barring any extraordinary circumstances, he should hold it all the way to Paris.  The only sprinters who are even within one stage (35 pts) of Hushovd's 63 points are Robbie McEwen (38 pts), Alessandro Petacchi (35 pts), and José Joaquin Rojas (30 pts).  Mark Cavendish already seemed to have resigned in his contention for the green jersey as he coasted to today's finish, claiming just one point.  Cavendish will instead probably just aim for stage wins from here on.

Following the abandoning of Frank Schleck, Andy Schleck's Tour has just become much harder.  The team would have relied on tactics involving both Schleck brothers to try to dethrone Alberto Contador.  Instead, the younger Schleck will now have to ride in the mountains with a significantly weaker supporting cast.  Additionally, while with Cancellara's and A. Schleck's performance in this stage Team Saxo Bank claims hold of the team classification, they are essentially removed from contention in the team classification once the race hits the mountains.  Team RadioShack had a mediocre outing today on the cobblestones but should now easily dominate the team classification from the Alps on.  In the mountains, RadioShack will also have a good edge tactically, as they have their triple threat of Armstrong, Leipheimer, and Klöden at their disposal.

*****

Notable Stage Results

1	Thor Hushovd	Cervélo TestTeam	4h49'38"
2	Geraint Thomas	Team Sky	+ 00'00"
3	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 00'00"
5	Andy Schleck	Team Saxo Bank	+ 00'00"
6	Fabian Cancellara	Team Saxo Bank	+ 00'00"
8	Bradley Wiggins	Team Sky	+ 00'53"
10	Alexandre Vinokourov	Astana	+ 00'53"
11	Denis Menchov	Rabobank	+ 00'53"
13	Alberto Contador	Astana	+ 01'13"
19	Roman Kreuziger	Liquigas-Doimo	+ 01'46"
32	Lance Armstrong	Team RadioShack	+ 02'08"
43	Ivan Basso	Liquigas-Doimo	+ 02'25"
54	Carlos Sastre	Cervélo TestTeam	+ 02'25"
64	Levi Leipheimer	Team RadioShack	+ 02'25"
78	Andreas Klöden	Team RadioShack	+ 02'25"
85	Tony Martin	Team HTC-Columbia	+ 02'25"
95	Sylvain Chavanel	Quick Step	+ 03'58"
-	Frank Schleck	Team Saxo Bank	DNF
-	Christian Vande Velde	Garmin-Transitions	DNS

*****

Notable GC Standings

1	Fabian Cancellara	Team Saxo Bank	14h54'00"
2	Geraint Thomas	Team Sky	+ 00'23"
3	Cadel Evans	BMC Racing Team	+ 00'39"
6	Andy Schleck	Team Saxo Bank	+ 01'09"
8	Alexandre Vinokourov	Astana	+ 01'31"
9	Alberto Contador	Astana	+ 01'40"
13	Denis Menchov	Rabobank	+ 01'49"
14	Bradley Wiggins	Team Sky	+ 01'49"
16	Roman Kreuziger	Liquigas-Doimo	+ 02'24"
18	Lance Armstrong	Team RadioShack	+ 02'30"
21	Tony Martin	Team HTC-Columbia	+ 02'35"
24	Levi Leipheimer	Team RadioShack	+ 02'53"
29	Andreas Klöden	Team RadioShack	+ 03'01"
48	Carlos Sastre	Cervélo TestTeam	+ 03'19"
49	Ivan Basso	Liquigas-Doimo	+ 03'20"

*****

Notable Points Standings

1	Thor Hushovd	Cervélo Test Team	63 pts
2	Geraint Thomas	Team Sky	49 pts
3	Sylvain Chavanel	BMC Racing Team	44 pts
4	Robbie McEwen	Team Saxo Bank	38 pts
7	Alessandro Petacchi	Lampre-Farnese	35 pts
9	José Joaquin Rojas	Caisse D'Epargne	30 pts
35	Edvald Hagen Boasson	Team Sky	12 pts
54	Gerald Ciolek	Milram	4 pts
55	Tyler Farrar	Garmin-Transitions	4 pts
121	Oscar Freire	Rabobank	2 pts
137	Mark Cavendish	Team HTC-Columbia	1 pt

*****

Stage 4 Preview

After a chaotic last several days comes a sigh of relief in the form of a stage that is just about as simple as you can get.  We can only speculate if the events of the first three stages have taken their toll on some of the group, but regardless, this stage is so flat and straightforward that it's really hard to see any outcome other than a bunch sprint.  As of yet we have not yet had a traditional bunch sprint finish, and if things go tomorrow as planned, we may finally get an idea of who's the best pure sprinter on Tour.

This stage should be a great opportunity for sprinters like Mark Cavendish, Tyler Farrar, Oscar Freire, Gerald Ciolek, and Edvald Hagen Boasson to get some significant points under their belt and try to chip away at Thor Hushovd's lead.  Hushovd's lead may already be considered insurmountable, however, in which case other sprinters would just have to be satisfied with just going for stage victories.

I don't have much to say about this stage other than to just expect the standard long breakaway - chase - bunch sprint format that is common on the flat stages.  With that said, the most obvious prediction is a stage victory for the hungry Mark Cavendish.

*****

For full Stage 3 results and overall standings, more complete info on Stage 4, and live newsflashes on race day, visit the official TdF website.  Footage of tomorrow's stage can be seen on the Versus channel live in the morning or on tape delay in the evening.  The stage begins at 8:00 AM (ET) and TV coverage on Versus starts at 8:30 AM (ET).  Overall the stage should be rather uneventful until the expected chase and bunch sprint, which should begin around 11:00 AM (ET).