Anyone have the scoop on this business of a 15 second gap being nullified off stage ten? Cyclingnews.com has a mention of it with no explanation. Presumably it was an accident in the final few km or something, was it?
Princhester,
Basically, just because. There’s a rule that allows the jury, upon review, to overturn any group time gap opened within the last three Kms. Yes there was a crash inside of that, couple of riders went into the fencing two or three turns from the finish and that caused the cut – so that might be it. The keyword being “group” gaps.
From here.
About as much as I can gather without downloading the Rules
The Columbia lead out train is really a thing of beauty. Big George takes over 1000m out, then Renshaw at 500, then Cav and it’s all over. Thor thought about having a dig yesterday but couldn’t contest it, although Farrar did well to press Cav to the line. These guys are on their own though, no other team seems willing or able to disrupt the Columbia procession in any coordinated way. A Robbie McKewan type is needed to get involved, throw the old elbows around, bit of shoulder to shoulder argy-bargy. I’m sure guys like Hincapie and Cav would give it back in spades, but right now it seems easy for them.
Think it finishes on an uphill sprint today, so maybe that will mix things up a bit.
Levi out with a broken wrist! 
Guess that changes the team dynamics for Astana a bit…
Haussler wins a snoozer today. The lack of mountain top finishes has lead to a really boring Tour this year. I still don’t know anyone’s form and we are two weeks in. If Hushovd can sprint for points in a mountain stage, there’s a problem.
It should get interesting starting on Sunday (although Monday is of course a rest day.)
All right Big George! (bites nails waiting for the peloton to finish…)
He missed it by 5 secs. Gutted. Do you reckon Columbia were too keen on the sprint? There can’t have been much in it, someone would have lead the sprint out.
Bummer! It would have been awesome to see Hincapie in yellow–what a guy.
Yeah, it seems like Columbia’s efforts to control the sprint were a bit pointless (seeing as Cavendish was relegated for cutting off Hushovd or something) and probably cost Hincapie the Maillot Jaune. I’ve seen a few commentators saying that Columbia actually was trying to delay the arrival of the peloton, however …
Ok, so it looks like AG2R and Garmin really did the chasing that cost Hincapie the yellow jersey. Cavendish’s idiot maneuver was possibly in part to slow things down at the finish. It also looks like Astana tried to help Hincapie out, but eventually AG2R and then Garmin really pushed the tempo. Weird stuff today!
Instead of looking elsewhere, Hincapie should look at himself for blame. If he wanted the yellow so bad, I’m sure he could have extracted six seconds from himself in the last 10km. Look at the way the Russian guy finished and contrast with how fresh George looked – he should have gone ITT for at least the last 5 km.
As for the rest, correct, Astana was actually on a steady tempo giving the breakway enough of a lead for the yellow as JB thought Hincapie & Columbia in jeune would be stronger for them than Nocentini and AG2R for the coming climbs – Contador even rode back to car to consult the strategy with him during the race.
Contador: “Nos interesaba que Hincapié cogiera el maillot”
Armstrong: “Fuimos despacio para que mi amigo Hincapie alcanzara el amarillo”
BTW, Garmin absolutely despises Columbia. So their efforts were no surprise. And JB promises that “they’ll pay for what they did.” Ha!
Right. Let’s just hope that tomorrow’s mountaintop finish finally brings us some excitement – other than riders getting shot at with air guns.
No kidding. I like the guy, but he’s never as opportunistic when riding for himself as he should be. His legacy will remain having been a great support rider, and nothing more.
Yeah, they won’t have to worry about who misses the GC podium. 
Tom Boonen didn’t start this morning–report is bad vomiting and diarrhea. Nasty.
Well, here comes the fun, after over a week of GC boredom. Let’s see!
Contador. Lance covered the counterattacks for a while, and managed to get into second.
No one could follow Contador.
Wow. Does this mean that Lance is going for second now or is he still trying for yellow?
My opinion is that Lance was never really trying for yellow (as I’ve stated in this thread), at least, not for yellow in Paris. He knew that Contador is the man to beat, and that Contador would not be beaten without a major collapse. How could he not know? He’s a smart guy, and he knows his limits. I still think most of the “drama” about Astana’s team leader was fodder for the press, and nothing more.
Anyway, from now until Paris, Lance will be a teammate and try to defend Contador. Period. His only remaining chance for some personal glory will be in the TT on Thursday.
Did anyone see the incident between Cavendish and Hushovd yesterday, for which Cav lost his sprint points for the stage? Cavendish seems to think it was a horrible injustice and said something to the effect that he’s now written off his chances for the green jersey. I’m curious as to whether it was a bad decision, and baffled as to why he thinks 18 points is an insurmountable lead at this stage.
Thank Og they’ve finally managed to wake me. Finally given a chance by the poor course design, Contador shows he is without a doubt the best GT rider in the world today – too bad Astana was banned last year or else he could be looking at his third TdF in a row. Whether the inside soap at Astana was true or not, this ride certainly puts an end to it. Been a while I’ve seen someone as incredibly explosive on mountain breaks. And the steeper the better. Up to 24% grades on the Angliru climb…and he flies up it.
BTW, I disagree Knorf. Lance and Kloden shouldn’t have tried to pace the group going after AC – they weren’t controlling, they were pulling. Poor form. Not that it mattered anyway as it was clear that Lance’s legs weren’t up to the task – in fact, Kloden got screwed by dragging him for the last 2 to 3 km as it was clear he could have gone with the midpackers (Frank, Nibali, Wiggins, etc.).
Yeah, kudos to Lance for maintaining that kind of shape at his age, but his ego and influence over JB and some of his teammates is not really helping the team. Still, I hope he podiums…though it won’t be easy with Andy, Wiggins and even Nibali and Sastre on his tail and the Mont Ventoux finish in the way.
Yes, bad decision. He clearly changed lanes in hopes of delaying the finish in order to get Hincapie the yellow – he should have went for the flat out sprint and beat Hush the way he did the other times.
As for almost having given up on the green jersey, it only makes sense as there is likely only one mass finish left and that at the Champs Elysees finish: and all Hush has to do there is basically not fall. Rest of the stages are in the mountains plus an ITT – thus little chance for a mass sprint with either one involved.