I was quite surprised Cancellara had the clout to pull this off. As you say, we haven’t seen this is sort of unified agreement by the peloton in a long time. Waiting to let the GC contenders regroup is one thing, but to persuade the sprinters not to contest the stage, or even sprint for points? Cancellara must have spent a lot of his political capital to get that result, imo. He surely wasn’t the only instigator, but was nonetheless the most prominent. Thor Hushovd in particular was clearly champing at the bit. In the end, the officials neutralized the points for the stage, which makes me wonder if that was part of what Cancellara was discussing with the race officials in their car near the stage end.
Happy to see Chavanel receive due reward for his patience and endurance, though.
Tomorrow’s cobblestone sectors are going to make things very interesting indeed.
I"m a big Schlecklet fan but I’ve never been a fan of this type of protest. Falling is part of the race. It’s unfortunate but it happens and you live with the consequences.
Weird day and good for Chavanel. I’ve always liked the guy and it’s always a good day when a Frenchman has the yellow jersey - even if it won’t last.
Didn’t get a chance to watch the ending of the race…but it appears Cavendish made a mistake and went out too early. Not having the best race thus far and he seriously needs to turn things around if he wants to hang with Petacchi and Hushovd for the green Jersey.
I’m amused by the obvious conclusion about Cadel Evans to be drawn from the Giro and Stage 3 of the TdF. Much as I have followed his career closely and would love to see him win a Grand Tour, I have my doubts.
Grand Tours are won in TT’s and in the mountains. Cadel is very good but not quite the best in both TT’s and the mountains but this isn’t a unique combination, so he struggles to win overall.
What he needs is a a GT that has stages that combine obstacles that he is uniquely exceptional at, and the answer, ladies and gents, is before our eyes:
Cadel needs stages with cobbled roads leading to the Tourmalet or strade bianca on the way to the Ventoux.
I suspect Cadel may be waiting a long time for his perfect TdF route…
No he hasn’t. I don’t think he’d win Paris-Roubaix. Power guys like Boonen and Cancellara win Paris-Roubaix. It’s just that as recent stages show while he may not be the best on a Paris-Roubaix style course, he’s better than other GC’ers.
Lane has looked to be laboring long before today’s stage. I suspect he realized he was done and shut it down a ways before the finish like cadel was forced to last year a couple times. It appears he’s now riding for Levi…we shall see.
I really can’t believe he thought he could compete at his age. I know some young guys win sometimes, but this is a sport for 25 - 34 year-olds. He’s well outside that cohort.