The Plateau de Beille is the scene for the drama today, and it will be a very tough test for those that have just been clinging onto to the tails of others, for as Bernard Hinault says "the third day in the mountains finds you out".
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Off to the high mountains again and the famous Col du Tourmalet is on the menu today. It will probably be the key climb of the stage and it will be a good launching pad for ambitious moves by the contenders who are looking to make up for lost time.
The first big mountain stage of the Tour, which will cull the non-climbers from the GC top ten, and give the riders the first chance to show their form on a proper climb. The winner at the top will also take on the mountains jersey as well.
The first bloc of racing at this year's Tour ends with a Team Time Trial over a medium length course. Whilst unlikely to be the difference between winning and losing on the GC, it will nonetheless shake up the pecking order among the contenders for the GC, and shape the race.
The Mur de Bretagne has only two appearances at the Tour de France, most recently in 2011, when Cadel Evans foreshadowed his future success by beating Contador in a sprint from a small group. It will be interesting to see if this trend of identifying future Tour winners continues.
A day for sprinters today, especially given the lack of enthusiasm that teams have for the breakaway at the moment.
Maybe a good day for the breakaway here, with lots of climbing sprinters either having crashed out, or being in teams with other objectives. Expect a vigorous effort to get into the break today, more so than previous days, and perhaps a surprise winner.
For those that thought that this would be a quiet sprint stage, think again, as here again the weather gods have decided to make things particularly tough. Winds as strong as stage 2 will assail the peleton, and though the terrain will offer a bit more shelter, there are still some sections of the race which will be hit.
Carnage in an eventful Stage 2 in some horrific weather for the riders. Greipel put down the power in an impressive sprint after Cavendish was left on the front too early, Greipel and Sagan came over the top, with the German winning by a few centimetres. Splits were inevitable once the weather rolled in, and Froome, Contador and Van Garderen made over a minute on their rivals in the race for yellow. Cancellara proved his smarts and his sprinting legs are still around, as he sprinted to third to take yellow.
Today is the Fleche Wallonne stage, which features the exact same finish as the Ardennes classic race. That race was dominated this year by Alejandro Valverde, but 3rd and 4th place getters Michael Albasini and Joaquim Rodriguez are here as well to turn the tables on the Spaniard. The cobbles day is back, for the second year in a row, after the fireworks in the equivalent stage of last year's Tour, when Vincenzo Nibali laid his stamp emphatically on the race, taking 3rd on the stage behind Lars Boom, who soloed to victory.
It was a tough day for the peleton on Stage 3, with a huge crash at high speed causing all sorts of carnage, several riders quitting the race as a result. Perhaps the biggest talking point was the strength of Chris Froome, distancing the other favourites on a punchy climb where he normally wouldn't be favoured. He took on the yellow jersey, and though he'll probably lose it today, he looks a good bet to be wearing it at the end of the Tour. |
AuthorI'm Jamie Finch-Penninger, better known as Fishy, the best DS to ever sit a couch. Anything which I don't cover for a bigger site will be up here. Archives
October 2015
CategoriesCome here for the previews of all the World Tour races this season, plus any Pro Continental/NRS/tricycle races that take my fancy. Along as it's pro cycling I'll have some sort of opinion on it. I'm Australian, so be prepared for a healthy Orica-Greenedge bias. Please feel free to request any changes or previews, and stay up to date on Twitter and Facebook.
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