Attack then attack again was the rallying cry of the day. All that attacking made Stage 8 the most competitive stage of the Tour thus far.

From the gun, riders attacked to get in what they hoped would be a winning breakaway. It was a good plan, if a breakaway without a threat to overall GC was to get in front, the yellow jersey wearer’s team would have no reason to chase them down. Team Sky and the leader of the Tour, Bradley Wiggins had what they wanted – the race lead – and could benefit from other teams doing the work at the front to chase down a break.

Stage 8 was a day of up and down racing. There were 7 climbs in total with an average gradient of about 6% – except for the last climb which was short but steep.

Jens Voight, the old man of the Tour at 41 years of age, raced like he was 22 when he took off and managed to stay in front taking the first two climbs. Others joined him eventually culminating in a breakaway of about 20 riders – give or take a few at any one time. It was hard to keep track, partly due to the poor race coverage by NBC initially and also due to riders taking off at the front and falling off the back.

It wasn’t the smooth breakaway of 3-6 riders we’ve seen every other day, where they work together to give themselves the best chance to stay away and get a win. This breakaway was too large to form a cohesive unit taking turns pulling. Today’s was a highly disorganized breakaway all looking to break from the breakaway.

Eventually a few riders did just that. Frederk Kessiakoff (Astana) managed to catch then drop Jeremy Roy with FDJ and take the 5th climb with the peloton 3:08 back. Vincenzo Nibali and his Liquigas squad – including the sprinter that can climb – Peter Sagan went to the front to try and reduce the lead. As the chase began the peloton started picking up riders that had been dropped from the breakaway.

Team Lotto, Jurgen Vanden Broeck and teammate Vanendert came to the front of the peloton next and continued to pick up discarded riders one by one from the breaks. Kessiakoff continued to build his lead up front.

The first chase group contained Roy’s teammate – the youngest rider in the Tour – Thibaut Pinot a Frenchman who had to talk his manager into putting him in the Tour despite the fact he is young and inexperienced.  Pinot proceeded to chase down Kessiakoff, catching him with 14k to the finish then dropping him on the final climb. The one-two punch of FDJ’s was perfect with Roy doing his part earlier and Pinot bringing home the win. Kessiakoff had run out of gas having spent so much time out front on his own.

It wasn’t an easy win for Pinot. He had Kessiakoff pursuing of course, but that wasn’t his main problem. He also had the “heads of state” as Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen (the voices of cycling) like to call them – bearing down on him.

It was something to see – Evans, Wiggins, Froome, Nibali, Vanden Broeck, Menchov and Schleck, Horner, Zubelia and Gallopin from Radio Shack in hot pursuit, working together to try and catch Pinot.

Pinot’s manager in the FDJ team car was hanging out the back window screaming encouragement to Pinot to keep going. A couple of miles out, his lead was down to :38 over the elite peloton when first Vanden Broeck then Schleck attacked – hoping to gain precious seconds on Wiggins. Pinot didn’t care – he took the win – the first for the French in this year’s Tour.

Despite the fact that Evans was caught he pushed again at the line and managed to snag second place, no time on Wiggins, but it might have been a small moral victory for the reigning TDF champion. Something else that might give him hope was his teammate Tejay Van Garderen finishing in the 2nd group just 1:25 back.

The old man of the Tour, Voight, started the stage off attacking and the youngest man in the Tour finished the stage with a brilliant ride that gave him his first win in his first Tour de France. Many riders finish their careers without ever having won a stage. Pinot looks to be something special, the French must be thrilled.

Stage 9 – Individual Time-Trial Preview:

Tomorrow is the “race of truth” – the individual time trial. Indeed it will be a race of truth for anyone that hopes to win the Tor or place on the final podium. It is the 2nd of 3 time trials in the Tour this year and is a long one at 41.5 kilometers.

Who needs to win?

Wiggins needs to do well to maintain control of the yellow jersey; Evans needs to do well to narrow the time gap to Wiggins and the yellow jersey, same goes for Menchov. Tony Martin would like to salvage something from this Tour and a win here would be huge. Fabian Cancellara would like to win to show he truly is the king of the TT even those that are long. Dave Zabriskie and David Miller both of Garmin-Sharp, would love to win to bring a stage win to a team that has had nothing but bad luck in the first week of the Tour.

Those that don’t win, but want to win the yellow must stay close to Wiggins’ time and limit their losses to keep their hopes alive. To really keep them alive they need to gain time on Wiggins by beating his TT time. It won’t be easy, Wiggins is one of the best and most people would put their money on him to win tomorrow. I’m not so sure he will or maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part because I want the race to stay close and competitive.

If Wiggins wins tomorrow and gains significant time on Evans, this Tour will be over for GC except to see who gets third. I for one am not ready for the drama to be over. Speaking of drama, Wiggins teammate, Christopher Froome beats his time tomorrow (he’s a great TT winner) that would provide us with a lot of drama!

Only 181 riders started the Tour de France this morning for Stage 7, that’s 14 fewer than started Stage 6. As expected yesterday, Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin) abandoned the race as did his teammate Robbie Hunter. Oscar Freire (Katusha) had to abandon with broken ribs and a punctured lung; somehow he managed to finish Stage 6. These guys are incredibly tough and courageous.

It was also reported that Andre Greipel (Lotto) suffered a dislocated shoulder yesterday but is continuing in the Tour.

Now for Stage 7 – there were no crashes, but between the brutal pace and the steepness of the last climb there was carnage amongst the peloton.

A 7 man breakaway formed just after the start with riders of teams with no hope for a high GC finish, except for possibly Quickstep who has Levi Leipheimer. There were 2 category 3 climbs with the sprint just before the first climb and then the monster last climb, a category 1.

The breakaway took the first 7 places of the sprint points, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) and Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) raced for the (peloton) sprint points with Sagan easily beating Goss and adding to his lead in the green jersey competition.

Initially teams BMC and Sky set the pace for the peloton and their respective leaders Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins.

Unexpectedly, and in my mind unexplainably, the decimated team Garmin-Sharp came to the front and set the pace for several miles with Dave Zabriskie, David Miller and Christian Vande Velde. Presumably it was for their remaining climber, Dan Martin. This is a team with 6 of 9 riders left, from a strategic standpoint it made absolutely no sense so I’m guessing it was for team morale.

When the peloton got to the base of the final climb with Sky driving a hard pace riders started coming off the back. Team Radio Shack’s Cancellara, Frank Schleck and Chris Horner lost touch as did Leipheimer, Robert Gesink, Sylvan Chavanel, and Evans’ lieutenant in the mountains, Tejay Van Garderen.

The plan for BMC was to keep Van Garderen with Evans in the mountains – he would be the last rider to support Evans before Evans had to go it alone. Van Garderen sat in 4th place at the start of the stage. Hopefully it was just a bad day because he will be key if Evans is to have a chance to win.

It could very well be that many of the riders that struggled today won’t tomorrow. The first stage in the mountains is always difficult. It’s hard for riders to go from flat, fast (accident prone) sprint stages to the mountains, and although this wasn’t the hardest mountain in the Tour it was very steep in places and before some of the riders have found their climbing legs.

One group of riders that had their climbing legs was team Sky. They looked like Lance Armstrong’s Postal train back in the day the way they drove the pace and stayed with Wiggins.

At 1.6 miles from the summit and finish there were a handful of riders besides Wiggins, Christopher Froome and Richie Porte (Sky) and Evans. Denis Menchov (Katusha), Pierre Rolland (Thomas Voeckler’s lieutenant last year, now captain of team Europcar), Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and Rein Taaramae (Cofidis) were hanging on.

When Froome went to the front for Team Sky, Rolland and Menchov were dropped. Evans made a move at about .5 miles from the finish and Froome quickly followed it and passed him like he was standing still. Froome quickly opened up a huge gap and took the win. Evans appeared to be giving it all he had to finish 2nd, Wiggins on his wheel finished 3rd, Nibali came in 4th and Taaramae 5th, 19 seconds back.

It was a perfect day for Team Sky taking the stage win and the yellow jersey. They are a strong team and that will make Wiggins hard to beat. Team BMC, other than Evans did not look good but let’s hope it was just an off day. Even Evans looked to be struggling more than expected. When Evans was out of the saddle doing everything he could to close the gap and his time loss, Wiggins sat on his wheel and seemed to pedal easily.

In addition to a change in the yellow jersey competition with Wiggins now leading, the polka-dot jersey is now worn by stage winner, Froome. The white jersey for best young rider had been held since the beginning Prologue by Van Garderen, is now in the hands of Taaramae. Super sprinter Sagan has a tight hold on the green.

The overall classification after Stage 7:

1. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) in 34:21:20
2. Cadel Evans (BMC) at 0:10
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) at 0:16
4. Rein Taaramae  (Cofidis) at 0:32
5. Denis Menchov (Katusha) at 0:54
6. Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack) at 0:59
7. Maxime Monfort  (RadioShack) at 1:09
8. Nicolas Roche (Ag2r) at 1:22
9. Christopher Froome (Sky) at 1:32
10. Michael Rogers (Sky) at 1:40

I was completely surprised at the damage done by the pace that Sky set. Usually the peloton isn’t shattered on the first day in the mountains. Maybe it’s due to the toll the crash infested first week took, certainly that’s true for Garmin, but a lot of riders went down – some multiple times – plus the related stress caused by the crashes had an impact. I don’t know, but I didn’t expect to see so many of the climbers and GC hopefuls getting dropped so soon in the first mountainous stage.

One thing is for sure, the biggest factor is Team Sky and the way they took control of not just the stage but the race. In the last several years the first stage in the mountains was about checking out your main rivals, testing the legs some, but not putting the hammer down. Sky’s tactic is the same tactic employed by Johan Bruyneel in the years Postal decimated the field, Team Sky appears to be that kind of strong.

It will be interesting to see how things unfold in the next several mountains stages (and the next TT on Monday). Right now, it looks to me that Wiggins will win unless something unforeseen occurs.

Stage 8 Preview:

There are 7 climbs tomorrow, a category 1, 4 category 2, and a 3 and 4 category. There is no summit finish nor reportedly anything as steep as today. I said this yesterday about today, but I’ll stick my neck out again, Stage 8 seems like a stage for the likes of Sylvan Chavanel, Alejandro Valverde, Sammy Sanchez or maybe even Vinokourov. Gesink and Jurgen van den Broeck will hope to make up time too. I keep wondering about Super-Sagan…

And Radio Shack-Nissan – let Horner ride for himself!

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All hell broke loose at the Tour de France today. The last flat stage for awhile before the race goes into the mountains and just like last year the final sprint stage of the opening week – there were crashes. Horrible crashes.

Crashes that cost several favorites, such as one of my favorites Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), the chance to be a contender for the podium. It also took another favorite, Robert Gesink (Rabobank) off from a potential spot on the podium or the top 5. And Frank Schleck (Radio Shack-Nissan) lost too much time to contend for a top spot as he was caught in the same crash.

The crash that was the straw that finally took Tom Danielson (Garmin) out of the Tour – he was already riding with a separated shoulder. The crash that caused Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and David Vigano (Lampre) to have to abandon the race due to injuries.

The crash appeared to have occurred towards the upper middle of the peloton with about 25 k to go (no video available). It was a massive crash, riders off in ditches on both sides of the road. Riders that couldn’t get up and riders that did but couldn’t get through the carnage to remount and ride.

Two earlier crashes involving Rabobank and Lotto riders, including Gesink and Andre Greipel were unexplainable. The roads were wide and except for a brief shower, dry. The pace of the peloton although faster than previous days wasn’t inordinately high. They were just those stupid crashes that happen in the first week.

This one damaged the hopes of riders like Hesjedal, Gesink and Schleck at a possible spot on the podium. It did away with Team Garmin’s hopes of a spot on the podium – now what will they race for?

Such a sad day for so many of the riders with aspirations for overall top 10 or top 5 finishes. Riders don’t have to be injured to lose the Tour, if they are caught in or behind the crash they can lose enough time alone to take them out of contention. Case in point: Schleck, and Hesjedal and Gesink assuming their injuries aren’t serious.

The peloton didn’t slow for the fallen riders, since it didn’t involve the top favorites, Bradley Wiggins (Sky) or Cadel Evans (BMC). In recent times pelotons have done that with Tour favorites (to win) that have been caught out. I don’t think the peloton should have been expected to wait but I’m sure there will be discussion of that by some.

As far as the racing outcome of Stage 6, the 4 man breakaway stayed away until a few kilometers from the finish. When they were about to be caught David Zebreski (Garmin-Sharp) took off which I fully expected. By then Jonathon Vaughters would have told him about Hesjedal and Danielson (and Van Summeren who was also injured) and to go for the win.

Somehow Greipel fought his way back into the peloton and had the Lotto train in front charging for the finish. Teams BMC and Sky were both at the front protecting their main men, Evans and Wiggins. Team Orica-GreenEdge’s train had sprinter Matthew Goss and was also charging for the front.

The youngster, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) was turbocharging toward the finish. He came from behind Greipel and just blew passed him to take the win. An unbelievable show of power. It was an amazing sprint.

And one deserving of yet another great victory Sagan-salute – this time the Hulk.

Stage 6 results:

• 1. Peter SAGAN, Liquigas-Cannondale, in 4:37:00
• 2. André GREIPEL, Lotto-Belisol, at 0
• 3. Matthew Harley GOSS, Orica-GreenEdge, at 0
• 4. Kenny Robert VAN HUMMEL, Vacansoleil-DCM, at 0
• 5. Juan José HAEDO, Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, at 0
• 6. Greg HENDERSON, Lotto-Belisol, at 0
• 7. Alessandro PETACCHI, Lampre-ISD, at 0
• 8. Luca PAOLINI, Katusha, at 0
• 9. Daryl IMPEY, Orica-GreenEdge, at 0
• 10. Brett LANCASTER, Orica-GreenEdge, at :4

GC  after Stage Six
1. F. Cancellara
2. B. Wiggins at 0.07"
3. S. Chavanel 0’07"
4. T. Van Garderen 0.10"
5. D. Rusmenchov 0.13"
6. C. Evans 0.17"
7. V. Itanibali 0.18"
8. P. Sagan 0.19"
9. A. Kloden 0.22"
10. M. Monfort 0.22

There was no change in the jersey competitions: Cancellara in yellow, Sagan in green (extending his hold with the win) and Michael Morkov in the polka-dot. The yellow jersey could change hands tomorrow and for sure the polka-dot jersey will with this year’s first foray into the mountains.

TDF Fantasy Cycling Challenge:

Stage 6 results aren’t in yet, but 4loveofbikes team collected 191 points in Stage 5 (and left none on the bench – very irritating when one of the bench riders ends up getting points). I’ll post points for Stage 6 when they’re up. We should have a high number since our team captain, Peter Sagan won the stage! *Update – 232 points for the team .

Stage 7 Preview:

I’m having a hard time focusing on tomorrow’s stage and not the mess of today’s stage. I don’t know if you’ve seen any of the crash pictures of Garmin’s Ryder Hesjedal, Tom Danielson or Van Summeren but they are awful. Such a rotten end to a promising Tour. I hope they can salvage something with Zabriskie or Daniel Martin, or maybe David Millar. Best of luck to the argyle squad.

The race for the GC begins tomorrow. Stage 7 is the first stage in the mountains, not the high mountains, but a very steep summit finish that could shake things up a bit. Wiggins, Evans are in good shape, Denis Menchov (Katusha) could be the quiet assassin. He is taking care of business and keeping a low profile. He currently sits in 5th place. I can’t see Wiggins or Evans going for it tomorrow, they will simply ride defensively and check each other out I believe. It’s possible Frank Schleck, Alejandro Valverde or possibly Gesink could try for the win tomorrow. If Thomas Voeckler’s knee was okay I would pick him. Tomorrow is the kind of stage he loved to attack on. Levi Leipheimer could give it a try but I think it’s more likely to be someone more under the radar. 

Tomorrow is the kind of stage for a guy that is a good climber but not in contention for a top GC finish. I think Sylvan Chavanel will give it a go but I’m not sure he can handle the steepness of the last few kilometers. I’ve also got a feeling that the fabulous Fabian Cancellara may still be in yellow tomorrow evening.

No wonder the Dutch newspaper picked today to print their story regarding the USADA investigation of Lance Armstrong’s still alleged doping – Stage 5 was so boring the story, fiction or not, was bound to get more attention than the race – and it has.

Rumor has it (to quote Adele) that George Hincapie, Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde received six-month bans after admitting to doping and agreeing to provide evidence against Armstrong. The USADA in response to the story stated that no case against any individual has been finalized… and that the bullying or intimidation of witnesses will not be tolerated.

My statement: Yawn.

Let’s get back to the race. The finish of Stage 5 was exciting. I had one of my TDF Fantasy Cycling Challenge riders, Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) in the 4 man breakaway and it looked like he just might make it to the finish in time to get me some points. Ultimately the charging peloton led by sprinter Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge) passed him.

The crash du jour occurred when Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) touched the wheel of a Lampre rider and went down. Stage 5 winner, Andre Greipel (Lotto) was bumped by the falling Farrar (that may become his nickname, he’s gone down in the last 3 stages) but managed to keep his footing (by using the body of Farrar to put his foot to steady himself) and win the stage.

Unfortunately, Peter Sagan (Liquigas) wearer of the green jersey was caught in the crash du jour melee and finished with the main group. Sagan is also on my team.

Stage 5 results:

• 1. André GREIPEL, Lotto-Belisol, in 4:41:30
• 2. Matthew Harley GOSS, Orica-GreenEdge, at 0
• 3. Juan José HAEDO, Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank, at 0
• 4. Samuel DUMOULIN, Cofidis, at 0
• 5. Mark CAVENDISH, Sky, at 0

I picked Cavendish to win the stage, his team even worked for him and yet he came in 5th. It didn’t seem to me that he challenged full-out at the line. Historically if he knows he’s beaten he doesn’t waste his energy. I’m not saying he didn’t race, he did, but he just didn’t seem to be as hard charging as he usually is. Maybe due to fatigue or pain sustained in yesterday’s crash. He did race for the interim (peloton) sprint finishing first there.

It’s worth mentioning that Greipel didn’t race for points at the interim sprints in Stage 4 or 5 saving his energy for the finish. Seems to be working.

There was no change in the four jersey competitions – Fabian Cancellara retains yellow, Sagan the green (although that race is a lot tighter), Tejay Van Garderen white for the best young rider and Michael Morkov keeps the polka-dot jersey. Cancellara has won 27 yellow jerseys in his career which is a record for number of yellow jerseys without winning the Tour. Congratulations to Cancellara!

Overall GC results after Stage 5:

• 1. Fabian CANCELLARA, RadioShack-Nissan, in 24:45:32
• 2. Bradley WIGGINS, Sky, at :9
• 3. Sylvain CHAVANEL, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, at :9
• 4. Tejay VAN GARDEREN, BMC Racing, at :12
• 5. Edvald BOASSON HAGEN, Sky, at :13
• 6. Denis MENCHOV, Katusha, at :15
• 7. Cadel EVANS, BMC Racing, at :19
• 8. Vincenzo NIBALI, Liquigas-Cannondale, at :20
• 9. Ryder HESJEDAL, Garmin-Sharp, at :20
• 10. Andreas KLÖDEN, RadioShack-Nissan, at :21

TDF Fantasy Cycling Challenge: Stage 4 was the first race stage for the challenge. The 4loveofbikes team collected 244 points. The guys rode well, following my instructions to a T.

Stage 6 Preview:

Stage 6 will be another sprint stage featuring just one climb, a category 4. Expect a day like today except Cavendish takes stage and Sagan is in the top 5, along with Greipel (maybe winning, he looked strong today), Goss and maybe Farrar is he can stay out of harms way. Good luck to him.

Stage 4 began with 195 of 198 riders, 3 riders unable to start due to injuries sustained in the carnage of Stage 3. It was announced this morning that Maarten Tjallingi (Rabobank) had suffered a fractured left hip yesterday and wouldn’t start Stage 4. Keep in mind that he finished the stage!

There are no tougher athletes than professional cyclists.

Tony Martin (Quickstep) is nursing a broken bone in his hand, Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) has a broken wrist, Tom Danielson (Garmin-Sharp) has a separated shoulder and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) aggravated a knee injury and lost 7+ minutes yesterday. He had an incredible Tour last year (finished 4th) so wouldn’t be allowed to get in a break, but since he’s 7+ minutes back he’ll be free to get away and I for one expect to see him in one when we get into the mountains.

A 3 man breakaway got away just like yesterday. The peloton allowed them to get a 7 minute lead but no more. Radio Shack-Nissan drove the peloton at a relatively easy pace. Jens Voight blogged that the Tour this year had been unusually slow, and no one is challenging the breaks so the first one usually goes – this is very unusual.

Mark Cavendish (Sky) took the interim sprint and 13 points. Peter Sagan (Liquigas) took 4th, he needs to work on his positioning, but the power is there to challenge most sprinters. He’s only 22 so he’s still learning – must be a frightening thought for the other riders being as he’s won 2 of the 3 stages so far.

Although there weren’t crosswinds as there often are along the coast, there was rain. No problem with narrow roads thankfully.

Just like yesterday however, there was a crash within 3 kilometers of the finish (so they received the same time as peloton). It appeared to be caused by a touch of wheels as the sprinters and lead-out’s were lining up.

In the melee, Cavendish went down hard, Superman Sagan managed to stay upright and finished 5th on the stage.

 
With Cavendish not a factor, Andre Greipel (Lotto), Matthew Goss (Orica-GreenEdge), Allesandro Petacchi (Lampre) contested for the win, with Greipel finishing first and Pettachi finishing 2nd. Cavendish’s helmet was cracked, jersey torn but like all good racers he soldered on (this time on his own with no teammates) and finished. He was obviously angry and I’m sure will have plenty to say about it.

Sagan has a sizeable lead on the Green jersey, Fabian Cancellara also avoided going down in the crash and maintained the overall lead and the Yellow jersey and Michael Morkov (Saxobank) the Polka-dot jersey.

Stage 5 Preview:

If I was a betting person I would put my money on Mark Cavendish tomorrow. The stage is truly flat and he’s an angry, very fast man. Look for the green jersey hunt to tighten and for Cancellara and Morkov to keep their yellow and polka-dot jerseys, respectively.