Without fail there is always at least one crash filled stage in the Tour. Hopefully today’s stage was it and this will be as bad as it gets.
And it was bad. Team Radio Shack rider, Janez Brajkovic, was caught in one of the crashes, injuring his head and likely suffering a concussion by the looks of it. It looked very serious; he appeared to be unconscious initially, but was alert when he was transported by ambulance to the hospital.
There were 5, maybe 6 crashes, plus a number of mechanicals. It was a strange day; prior to sitting down to watch the recording of the stage (we rode this morning so DVR’d) I commented to my husband that I had a feeling it was a bad day. Bad indeed.
Tom Boonen, Quickstep sprinter, appeared to have a broken collarbone but somehow managed to finish the stage – hopefully inside of the time limit. That would be a travesty for them to give him the boot after struggling so hard to finish.
Defending champion, Albert Contador, crashed but appeared unscathed.
Nicki Sorensen was clipped by the photographer’s motorcycle and took a hard fall.
It might be easier and quicker to simply say who didn’t crash. It was a roller derby stage out there today. A lot like Stage 1 last year.
One of my favorite riders,Thomas Voeckler, did what he always does: broke away and went for the stage win. Unfortunately for him, he came up a bit short, couldn’t escape from the fast and furious pace of the peloton. I love the way he rides though, and know we haven’t heard the last from him at this year’s Tour.
As most expected, Mark Cavendish did win the stage. He did it on his own without his usual lead-out train. It appeared Phillippe Gilbert was going to win but Cavendish accelerated hard and beat Gilbert pretty easily. I’m sure Cavendish is relieved to have his first win, and I’m also sure it won’t be his last this Tour.
And last but not least, super-rider Thor Hushovd, finished with the pack and held on to the yellow jersey for another day. Thus far in the Tour, Hushovd has been the most impressive rider. Wish I had him on our Tour de France Fantasy Challenge team.