Today’s stage finished with no major crashes, no bus incidents and no revelations of doping – a successful day at the Tour.
Particularly successful for one Jan Bakelants of RadioShack. Bakelants was in a group of six riders in an attack just a few kilometers from the finish who managed to separate himself from the others and then managed to hold on to take the win and the yellow jersey. I hoped the fast approaching peloton would catch him resulting in a bunch sprint, but they ran out of road.
Stage 2 was another day of frustration for the sprinters. It was a lumpy stage and except for Peter Sagan, too difficult as they were all dropped from the main group on the climbs.
French team, Europcar was very aggressive, attacking at different points of the stage with various riders, including Thomas Voeckler and Pierre Rolland. I liked their tactics and that their efforts were rewarded with the polka dot jersey for Rolland.
For the craziest, nonsensical move of the day the award goes to the guy most pick to win the Tour, Sky’s Chris Froome. For no tactical reason whatsoever Froome attacked apparently to chase down Europcar’s Gautier, why no one knows, but his attack kind of fizzled out and he was thankfully swept up by the peloton.
The winner of the Tour de France has to have patience and the ability to stay focused on the overall plan. Which means attacks come and go, but as a favorite your only true challenges come from other favorites, not riders hunting for stage wins, those you have to let go. I thought the move made Froome look silly. His riding makes him look silly too.
Stage 3 is the last day for the Tour on the incredibly beautiful island of Corsica. Another lumpy stage, it looks like the kind of day for a guy like Sagan or a one day classics kind of rider. I like the terrain of the first 3 stages, not your typical pancake flat opening stages we usually have.
