Winners
Andre Greipel
After coming up short yesterday, the German took the stage with a superb final sprint. If Omega Pharma-Quickstep got their lead out perfect yesterday, then it was the turn of Lotto Belisol to nail it today. The Belgian team held back until the very last second, letting Cavendish’s team do all of the work to drive the pace in the finale. Greg Henderson then did his best Gert Steegmans impression to give Greipel a clear lead into the final 200m, and forcing Cavendish to jump far too early. Victory for the German champion seemed to be the sprint’s inevitable conclusion.
Juan Jose Lobato
A relative unknown going into the Tour, the Spanish sprinter has now picked up two top ten finishes to add to his polka dot jersey on stage 1. The 24 year old has been achieving good results all year, but the Tour is at another level and I wasn’t expecting him to be as prominent as he is. Fifth place today put Lobato above more experienced sprinters such as Kristoff, Boasson Hagen, and Goss, and although I still can’t get used to the sight of Euskaltel mixing it with the lead out trains in the finale, Lobato’s performances are justifying the amount of team support he is receiving.
Losers
Astana
A terrible day for Astana as they last two key riders to crashes. Frederick Kessiakoff was one of the numerous victims of the crash in the finishing straight yesterday, and had been dropped early in the stage before abandoning at the feed zone, while Janez Brajkovic went down heavily with 10 km to go, and despite riding to the finish, has been forced to abandon with a knee injury. I had been tipping Jakob Fuglsang as an outsider for the top ten, but after losing Kashechkin on stage 3, the Dane has now lost two more key mountain domestiques, and Gasparotto looks like the only other man who could be of any help when the race hits the Pyrenees at the weekend.
Nacer Bouhanni
After being first down in the crash yesterday, Nacer Bouhanni was forced to abandon about half way into today’s stage. I was hoping for a good display from the 22 year old in this year’s Tour, but after getting caught behind the crash on stage 1 and crashing yesterday we never got to see him mix it with Cavendish et al. A disappointing end for a young man who narrowly missed out on selection last year, but I’m sure we’ll see him come back stronger in the future.
Tomorrow’s Stage
With four categorised climbs, including the second category Col de la Croix de Mounis, this is a classic transition stage as the race crosses the Haut-Languedoc. 6.7 km long at almost 7%, this second category climb could pose problems for some of the sprinters, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some of them dropped. However with flat roads following the climb as we enter the Tarn département and over 100 km to the finish they should have no problem getting.
The trickiest thing about tomorrow might be the narrow rural roads, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it is quite a nervous stage, perhaps with a few crashes. However, with 12 km remaining the race emerges onto wider roads towards Albi, so there should be enough for time for the sprinters’ lead out trains to get organised.
Scenario
With 10 mountain points on offer, and Pierre Rolland only holding a five point lead in the competition, expect a fast opening as Europcar try and make sure that none of Blel Kadri, Simon Clarke, or Thomas De Gendt make it into the break.
Normally this might be a stage for a breakaway, but with the Pyrenees looming tomorrow, the sprinters will be keen to contest the finish in Albi. Unless a particularly strong break gets away, I think this will be another bunch sprint. Omega Pharma-Quickstep have given Cavendish excellent lead outs in the last couple of days, so the Manxman has to be the favourite, but Peter Sagan will be keen to maintain a healthy lead in the green jersey standings, and Andre Greipel will be keen to notch up a stage win in the first week.
Stage Win: Mark Cavendish
Yellow Jersey: Daryl Impey
Student Cyclist 