Stage 10: Mâcon - Bellegarde-sur-Valserine

The mountains are always the most fun part of the Tour de France. It’s where you get the uplifting performances, the heart-breaking disappointments, the surprises, the shocks and the real Tour de France. Today was a day for the surprises, some unanticipated moves and an unexpected finish keeping things fresh and interesting after a day out of the saddle.

More riders failed to make the start today, as the Tour toll rose to 23. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) pulled out after the Stage 9 time trial to try and allow his broken scaphoid to heal, while Australia’s Matt Lloyd (Lampre-ISD) lost his Tour to a broken elbow. Rémy Di Gregorio (Cofidis) left under much less savoury circumstances, arrested in a doping scandal and suspended by his team during the rest day.

Stage 10 from Mâcon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine started hard and fast, green jersey wearer Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) jumping away just two kilometres in with two companions. Apparently Sagan wasn’t a popular peloton choice for the breakaway, numerous large groups trying to chase him and Andriy Grivko (Astana) down, the third member of their trio already having been dropped. In the end it took 30 kilometres before two merged chase groups comprising 23 riders finally bridged the gap to the duo, and the race was on. With enough riders to do the pace-making, the mini-peloton out the front built up a lead of 5’55” ahead of the fast-chasing peloton.

That lead was nearer seven minutes as the 25-strong breakaway reached the first climb of the day, the Category 2 Côte de Corlier. Former polka-dot jersey wearer Michael Morkov surged forward to take top points, leading out Grivko, rouleur Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) and French favourite Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). As the peloton neared the top of the climb they were only 6’45” behind, Team Sky beginning to pull back the escapees.

A couple of punctures for leaders Sánchez and Voeckler didn’t stop them, each soon rejoining the breakaway after their respective technical difficulties. They were irrelevant, however, as the intermediate sprint approached, soon revealing the real reason why Sagan initiated the breakaway and why so many sprinters chose to join it. With Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) leading out team sprinter Matt Goss, Goss, Sagan and FDJ-Bigmat sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich raced each other to the line, Goss outmanoeuvring both to take the 20 points on offer for first, chipping another five points off Sagan’s lead in the green jersey competition. Shortly after both the Australian Goss and the Belarusian Hutarovich were seen dropping rapidly off the back of the breakaway, exercise done for the day.

They weren’t the only ones to go, the Europcar riders setting a tough pace that some in the breakaway couldn’t follow. It was a common theme with the peloton, too, where some of the big names were being shelled off the back from the pace set by Sky as they chased the now-16 man escape. The number kept going down until eventually Sanchez, Voeckler, Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) and Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) had shed every one of their breakaway companions. After several minutes of attacks, escapes and catches, Sanchez, Voeckler, Scarponi and Devenyns found themselves alone in the lead on their way up the hors catégorie Col de Grand Colombier.

One could be forgiven for thinking that it was a Norwegian national holiday from all the red, blue and white flags lining the race route up the second climb of the day. Edvald Boasson Hagen’s countrymen had turned out in force to support him as he led the peloton up the HC climb in the Norwegian national jersey, working as a domestique for Sky team leader Bradley Wiggins. The slope of the climb took its toll, though, a handful of the big favourites making it over the climb in a little group, a short way ahead of the remainder of the peloton. Vincenzi Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) led the descending peloton down the other side, Bradley Wiggins and his Sky teammates hovering in constant attendance around reigning champion Cadel Evans (BMC). Without such stringent supervision, Nibali leapt off the front of the group and caught up to teammate Peter Sagan, waiting further on down the road, as the two attempted the same manoeuvre as Andy Schleck did with teammates Maxime Monfort and Joost Posthuma last year, though without Schleck’s level of success. Sky soon wound Nibali back in as the peloton regrouped for the final 30 kilometres of the stage.

Meanwhile, out the front, Voeckler had led the breakaway quartet over the final two climbs of the day, giving him enough King of the Mountain points to take the polka-dot jersey. Inside the final 20 kilometres, the four were so focussed on preparing to race each other for the stage win that they failed to notice Jens Voigt speeding up behind them, having sat in no-man’s land between the peloton and the breakaway for a large part of the day. The addition of Voigt into the mix was not a welcome one, Scarponi attacking early to try and shake the strong German off his tail before the finish line. The rest of the break caught him on the end of the descent, before being surprised as Devenyns jumped off the front. The remaining four were reluctant to chase, Voigt finally taking responsibility to allow himself a chance at the stage win.

Devenyns caught, Voeckler began coming up alongside Voigt, trying to outrace the German, but Sanchez was also coming from behind, trying to salvage a stage win after his efforts of the day. The almost comically slow sprint finish from three very tired riders ended with the combination pain-and-triumph expression so familiar on Thomas Voeckler’s face as he claimed France’s second stage win of the Tour, every effort of the victory etched in his features. As the remaining breakaway riders rolled in from no-man’s land, a black and red jersey could be seen sprinting towards the line, followed by a yellow one. Brad Wiggins refused to let Cadel Evans escape his clutches right to the finish line, chasing far more vigorously than during Jurgen van den Broeck’s (Lotto Belisol) attacks earlier in the stage to defend his yellow jersey.

Stage 11 hits the Alps, with two HC climbs as well as a Cat 1 and a Cat 2. It seems even more unlikely that a breakaway will succeed than it did today, but this is the Tour de France, and anything is possible. The most likely scenario (and a fairly exciting one at that) would have Team Sky hauling Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali, Jurgen van den Broeck and Denis Menchov, plus a few extras, through the Alps at top speed, though Evans’ and van den Broeck’s propensity for attacking will certainly keep things lively. That said, the mountain breakaway has already succeeded once, so just maybe they could pull it off again.

Has Wiggins Blinked?

It was always going to be a showdown not to be missed. Two superbly matched rivals, competing at the top of their game. Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans, vying for the Tour de France crown.

But with the first week of the Tour de France behind us, it begs the question: has Wiggins blinked already? In the silent psychological battle raging between the Briton and the Australian, has Wiggins inadvertently lost the advantage to the defending champion?

It began on Stage 1. As the teams raced towards the finish and the dangerous last few kilometres of the stage, Team Sky was nowhere to be seen, leaving Wiggins to fend for himself in the peloton and try and stay out of trouble. Wiggins was seriously displeased with his team’s lack of support and had words with them at the end of the day, causing them to be far more attentive on Stage 2. Already the team was in the black books.

It got worse on Stage 3. A crash took out Wiggins’ Sky teammate, Kanstantin Sivtsov, and suddenly Sky was one rider down with a team of eight – the first team to lose a man. It hasn’t helped that the World Champion, Manxman Mark Cavendish, is now racing for Team Sky and has been pressuring the team for more and more support in his quest for stage victories. Even Norwegian champion Edvald Boasson Hagen was too busy sprinting for stage placings or leading out Cavendish to look out for Wiggins. The team is slowly fracturing between the individual goals of its members. The line-up that was initially the most formidable in the Tour de France is now looking like Wiggins’ biggest weakness.

A touch-and-go team is one thing, but Wiggins himself seems to know that he’s already on the back foot strategically as well. On Stage 3 Wiggins employed a rather reprehensible tactic saved only for the desperate. He maintained his position in the GC that day after all time gaps in the front half of the peloton were neutralised due to a crash in the last few hundred metres of the stage. But here’s the kicker: Wiggins had nothing to do with the crash.

Wiggins was riding a fair way down the peloton and was going to lose time on rival Cadel Evans, who was racing for a placing behind Peter Sagan. So when a Vacansoleil rider crashed over to Wiggins’ left, instead of veering right to go around it, Wiggins turned his bike left into teammate Michael Rogers and forced both of them to stop behind the crash. It wasn’t an accident. Wiggins’s intention was clear. The road in front of him is open, but instead he leans left into Rogers, slows and puts his foot on the ground. The tactic worked. Commissaires deemed Wiggins and Rogers impeded by the crash and awarded them the same time as Evans.

Leaving aside the moral implications of such a strategy, the real question is: why was it necessary? To put it simply, they made a mistake. Wiggins and Team Sky slipped up. Sky should have done what BMC did and moved Wiggins up to the front of the peloton, clear of crashes and time losses. Sky’s failure meant that Wiggins had to get creative in order to ensure he stayed in competition and didn’t surrender any advantage to Evans.

Small potatoes, perhaps, but this year’s Tour de France was always going to be about the small stuff. Consider Cadel Evans’ Tour de France so far: he’s raced the perfect opening week, remains as calm as the proverbial eye of the storm, and in general is looking just like the Cadel Evans we remember from last year – the Cadel who won the Tour de France. It’s true that Wiggins is making up for missed time in the second week of the Tour, dominating in the Stage 9 individual time trial and gaining precious seconds over Evans. That doesn’t change the fact that Wiggins’ opening week doesn’t look nearly as sparkly, and it’s worth asking the question – has Wiggins already made a critical mistake?

Stage 9: Arc-et-Senans – Besançon (ITT)

A time trial usually provides some good variety in the middle of a three-week race.  In this race, though, a time trial becomes a battleground, a chance for one or other of the favourites to stamp their authority on the yellow jersey. That’s exactly what it became, the 41 kilometre 9th stage from Arc-et-Senans to Besançon turning into a huge game of tug-o’-war as the world’s best time triallists tugged on the advantage of the maillot jaune.

The early starters provided no real surprise, Vacansoleil’s Lieuwe Westra holding the early lead before it was claimed by World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep).  The German had another jinxed run, a flat tyre ending his chances at a stage win, but still managing to top the leaderboard in a time of 53’40”.  Martin’s reign lasted until the ride of four-time former World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), who ousted his younger successor with a time 1’19” faster.

The locals of the département of Doubs were providing the entertainment of the day with several Nazca Lines-style patterns carved into the fields surrounding the race.  A particularly elaborate one featured one of the renowned local clocks as the rear wheel of a time trial bike complete with rider, massive in comparison to the pro cyclists passing along the road beneath.  It wasn’t until the final two and a half hours of racing that things really got exciting; the better time triallists hitting the course in the final 30 riders.  Riders like Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Denis Menchov (Katusha) lived up to their reputations, putting in top 10 performances, while Radioshack’s riders filled in the gaps, with six riders in the top 20.

The real surprise of the day came from Cadel Evans’ young American teammate, Tejay van Garderen (BMC), who caused a stir when he raced through the first time check three seconds ahead of Cancellara.  The 23-year-old was still going strong at the second time check, two seconds ahead of the dominant Swiss, and managed to maintain enough of a lead to cross the line just eight seconds behind ‘Spartacus’ and reclaim his white jersey from Cofidis’ Rein Taaramae.

Naturally it was the last few riders of the day who generated the most interest, the focus on the battle for yellow raging between Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Cadel Evans (BMC).  Evans had more to worry about than just the Briton in the yellow jersey, with Wiggins’ Sky teammate Chris Froome posting a 23-second best time at the first time check.   Evans was unable to keep up, falling outside of the top 10 at the 16 kilometre mark, but he found his rhythm in the second third of the race and placed 6^th at the 31 kilometre time check.

It wasn’t going to be enough, though, Froome second at each time check and Wiggins dominating in 1^st place, over a minute ahead of the Tour de France defending champion.  Not only was Evans sacrificing precious seconds in the race for yellow, but Froome was now jeopardising Evans’  hold on second place as well.  Though Evans managed to reach Besançon just 1’08” behind Froome, Wiggins was showing why he’s known as a specialist in the discipline, storming over the line in a stage-winning 51’24”, solidifying his lead on yellow.

The GC has been turned upside down yet again as the time triallists are catapulted up the ranking, Wiggins still leading the classification ahead of Evans at 1’53” and Froome at 2’07”.  Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Denis Menchov round out the top 5.  Tomorrow is a rest day before the race heads into the mountains again, so watch the top 5 riders as well as riders like Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and Team Radioshack-Nissan-Trek.  Cadel Evans in particular needs to make up time on Wiggins, so Stage 10 could be where we see if the Australian can seriously defend his title.

Stage 8: Belfort – Porrentruy

When it comes to exciting in the Tour de France, it’s the mountains that deliver, and we’ve only just seen the beginning of the hills in the Grande Boucle.  Today’s stage from Belfort to Porrentruy was gripping, exciting and tantalising, and this was only a taste of what’s to come once the Tour reaches the Alps and the Pyrenees.

Today was tipped as a day for the breakaways and that certainly turned out to be the case.  The race moved east under sunny skies towards the French-Swiss border, 11 riders from various teams jumping off the front of the peloton a few kilometres in.  They hovered 20 to 30 seconds off the front of the peloton for almost 10 kilometres, until the peloton managed to reel them in.

Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), however, pre-empting the breakaway’s capture, attacked on his own and began a solo breakaway up and over the first climb of the day.  The oldest man in the Tour de France was sitting 30” ahead of the bunch as various groups of riders tried to bridge the gap to the super-domestique.  A group of eight and a group of four managed to stay away from the peloton long enough to join forces and begin attempting Voigt’s capture.  Before they could achieve it, though, the peloton surged forward to swallow them up, and instead Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank) had a try.

The theme of fluid breakaways would continue over the course of the day, as a stubborn Jens Voigt refused to be caught.  The feat was eventually achieved by a group of six riders that soon swelled to a breakaway of 11, but as the peloton once again threatened to catch them Voigt took off on his own again.  Steven Kruijswijk of Rabobank decided to join him, and the pair led a field that was split into four or five groups with riders constantly being tailed off the back. The first few groups on the road amalgamated to form a super-breakaway of 24, still only a handful of seconds ahead of the peloton.

That was when Jérémy Roy, SuperCombative rider of the 2011 Tour, decided the day just wasn’t interesting enough and bridged the gap to the breakaway and passed them, beginning a solo time trial in the lead.  The main peloton was having its own kind of excitement, as yet another crash of the kind that has defined this year’s Tour forced Euskaltel-Euskadi’s main man Samuel Sanchez to retire with a broken collarbone and hand.  Alejandro Valverde of Movistar also took another tumble, adding to his list of bad luck in this year’s Tour.

Meanwhile Roy had left France behind him altogether and entered Switzerland, leading Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar) and their group of 20 chasers over the fourth climb and into the trilingual country.  Roy was soon joined by Fredrik Kessiakoff, who had leapfrogged Kiryienka to take the lead, 3’40” ahead of the peloton.  The duo were quickly caught by four other riders, including Roy’s FDJ-Bigmat teammate Thibaut Pinot, as they made their way over the fifth climb of the day, the Category 2 Cote de Saulcy.  Having taken maximum points, Kessiakoff decided to go it alone, vaulting off the front of the leading sextet and building up almost a minute’s lead for himself.

The peloton was taking the day off, the number of escapees meaning there were no points up for grabs at the intermediate sprint.  The teams kept the pace high, though, continuing to shell riders off the back as they went up and down the Jura mountains.  The action was still on out the front, the chase on for lone leader Kessiakoff by the Frenchmen Pinot and Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek).  Pinot soon dropped Gallopin and started coming for Kessiakoff, less than a minute ahead, as the peloton fractured and died, the only group on the road a small collection of the top GC contenders, including yellow jersey wearer Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Cadel Evans (BMC) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).

Three minutes ahead, Pinot was bolting for the finish line, FDJ-Bigmat sports director Marc Madiot bellowing at him from the team car with more and more enthusiasm as Pinot raced closer and closer to home.  Though he was being chased by the elite group of GC riders and climbers who were coming ever closer, the 22-year-old Frenchman held off the hordes long enough to raise his arms in tired but exultant triumph as he crossed the line in Porrentruy, the first French victory of the Tour.  Behind him Evans and Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) were playing mind games with their enemies, Wiggins marking Evans carefully to avoid losing time to his rival.  Despite Evans’ attacks, the group crossed the line as one, Evans taking second and the previously dropped Gallopin hanging in for third.

The general classification received another good shake-up today, though nothing has changed between top contenders Wiggins and Evans.  Tomorrow’s time trial will certainly keep things interesting, and it’s hard to go past Wiggins or Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek).  Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Tony Martin may or may not be in the mix, depending on how well his wrist has healed up.  Watch out, too, for Cadel Evans.  Though not as good a time triallist as the other three, Evans is in superlative form and he may prove a surprise in his attempt to claim the yellow.

Stage 7: Tomblaine – La Planche des Belles Filles

There is a saying amongst the riders when the race enters the mountains – ‘The Tour begins today’.  That it certainly did, Stage 7 providing the first serious mountain climbing challenge and giving us a good idea of who will be seriously competitive in this year’s Tour de France.

It was another beautiful day in northern France, the gentle sunshine belying the carnage of the day before as the peloton rolled along from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles.  The crashes certainly took their toll, a further eight riders failing to start the day’s stage in addition to the four who withdraw during the race yesterday.  A 13^th rider, Saur-Sojasun’s Anthony Delaplace, withdrew early on in the stage after being unable to continue with a broken wrist.

With the much-reduced peloton racing along at the fastest opening speed of this year’s Tour de France, going 44km/h, the race was nearly 20 kilometres in before the day’s breakaway was formed, the biggest of the Tour so far.  Seven different teams were represented in the nine-man escape group, Christophe Riblon (AG2R La Mondiale), Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank), Martin Velits (Omega Pharma-Quickstep), Michael Albasini (Orica-GreenEdge), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank).  As we’ve come to expect, the septet raced away to build themselves a lead of up to six minutes by the 35 kilometre mark.

BMC Racing Team and Katusha Team were leading the peloton through the stunning mountain countryside of forests and lakes as the bunch approached the intermediate sprint, passed by the breakaway nearly five minutes hence with Albasini in the lead.  Orica-GreenEDGE put together their sprint train and raced away from the peloton, Peter Sagan sitting on Matt Goss’s wheel.  Unfortunately for the Australian team, Goss suffered mechanical trouble as Sagan began to sprint for the line, leaving Sagan to take eighth place along before waiting several minutes for the peloton to catch up after his huge acceleration.

BMC continued to lead the peloton as the breakaway began heading up through the mountains.  Luis Léon Sanchez had some problems with fans getting too close as they headed up the hills, appealing to the commissaires to intervene, to no avail.  Chris Anker Sorenson, teammate of points classification leader Michael Morkov, claimed the King of the Mountain points available on the first climbs to protect the Dane’s lead as the peloton began making their mountains as well.  It wasn’t long before the peloton began shedding riders; sprinters and those injured in crashes the first to go.  BMC, Team Sky and Garmin-Sharp were taking turns leading the peloton at an ever-increasing pace, trying to haul back the breakaway and set up the peloton for a stage win all in one go.

The first objective was achieved sooner than the second, but it still took a while to break the spirit of the breakaway.  As the peloton continued fracturing and some of the big names like Jurgen van den Broeck of Omega Pharma-Quickstep and Alejandro Valverde from Movistar punctured, the breakaway riders began attacking again, Fofonov and Albasini trying to escape their less mountain-inclined companions. The final climb finished off the peloton’s job, though, the seven escapees unable to cope with the high gradient of the final climb.

Riders continued going off the back as the peloton went up, some of the key GC contenders and notable climbers being the next to go.  Soon enough the ‘peloton’ was reduced to 10 or 15 riders who were able to keep up with the tempo that Sky were stamping out over the final few kilometres.  One by one the Sky riders emptied their tanks and trailed off the back, leaving both Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome alone with Cadel Evans and a handful of others, including Liquigas-Cannondale’s Vincenzo Nibali and Cofidis’s Rein Taaramae.  Froome continued to put the pressure on the leaders until the final kilometre, when Cadel Evans jumped out from behind Wiggins’s wheel and began leading towards the finish.  Wiggins was doing all he could to stay on Evans’s wheel as the Australian raced away towards the finish, allowing Froome to power up alongside him and leave both Wiggins and Evans in the dust to take the stage win.  Fabian Cancellara came over the line a little more than a minute later, putting Wiggins in yellow for Stage 8 with Cadel in second place on the general classification, just 10 seconds behind him.

Tomorrow is a lumpy stage with one Category 4, one Category 3, four Category 2s and a Category 1 climb leading into a downhill finish.  This is a perfect stage for a breakaway to stay the distance and take the stage, but with so many riders injured, the move may well come from Team Astana, which has the most uninjured climbers.  Simon Gerrans from Orica-GreenEDGE and Nicki Sorenson from Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank are other possibilities for mountain breakaways that can hold out against the peloton.  It will also be worth watching Team Sky to see how they go defending Bradley Wiggins and the yellow jersey.

Stage 6: Épernay – Metz

The Tour de France ended today.  For a lot of riders, it did, in one way or another.  Stage 6 from Épernay to Metz takes the Drama Award for the Tour de France so far – and maybe the Decisive Stage Award as well, mixing up the race in a way that really wasn’t expected and could be telling in the days to come.

The day started before it started, so to speak.  A crash in the neutral zone took out Lotto Belisol’s Jurgen van den Broeck and Sky’s Richie Porte.  With no serious injuries, everyone was soon back on their bikes and heading towards the official start of the stage.  Today’s ‘eager beaver’, hovering off the front of the peloton, was the American David Zabriskie, famously the first man to ride the Tour de France on a vegan diet. He was soon joined David Malacarne (Europcar), Romain Zingle (Cofidis) and Karsten Kroon (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank), the quartet making slow but steady progress into the distance.

The peloton was not destined to have a good day.  Though the time of the breakaway only seemed to concern the leading Radioshack-Nissan-Trek team, the four-minute lead of the escapees putting Malacarne in virtual yellow, what concerned the other riders far more was the crash at 35 kilometres from the start.  André Greipel headlined a short list of names that hit the tarmac at the very beginning of the stage, none too damaged to continue riding, though the race doctor was forced to ply his trade on a few bleeding knees and elbows.  The crash took the pressure off the chase for a while, allowing the breakaway to stretch their gap to a peak of 6’50”.

The weather seemed content to play along as the peloton rode along at a leisurely 42km/h, no sun, but only a few spots of rain to disturb the day’s ride.  Lotto Belisol and Orica-GreenEDGE were leading the chase, promising another exciting showdown between Lotto Belisol’s sprinter Greipel and the Australian, Matthew Goss.  The average pace of the peloton slowly increased as they passed through the feed zone, the approach of the intermediate sprint clearly enforcing that they wanted to catch the breakaway before the final kilometre this time.

For once the intermediate sprint brought some surprises.  The teams set up as usual, Sky providing a small train for Mark Cavendish.  As the final Sky leadout man swung off, Matt Goss launched himself into the sprint from behind Cavendish.  The green colours of Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan were visible behind the pair, but the real battle was just between Goss and Cavendish, Goss holding half a wheel’s advantage on Cavendish as they crossed the line.

Today’s King of the Mountain point passed without incident, ‘Captain America’ of the time trial, Dave Zabriskie, taking the single point on offer as they rode under the trees.  It wasn’t so uneventful for the peloton, who seemed to have learnt nothing from the crashes of the past few days.  Another crash sent André Greipel to the ground for the second time today, along with Garmin-Sharp sprinter Tyler Farrar.  As a result of his injuries, Lotto Belisol team manager Herman Frison said Greipel wouldn’t sprint for the stage race, as the German was still trying to rejoin the peloton.  Things were definitely looking up for Matt Goss, itching for the stage win.

The focus was on a few riders beginning to drop off the back of the peloton, notably Katusha fastman Oscar Freire, when the big drama of the day occurred.  Yet another crash rocked the peloton, but this one looked to be a lot more decisive than the previous ones.  Only 50 or so riders escaped the carnage just 26 kilometres from the end of the stage, and if you weren’t part of Orica-GreenEDGE, BMC Racing Team, Euskaltel-Euskadi or Team Sky then chances were you weren’t one of the lucky ones.  A number of the big names faltered, including Frank Schleck (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), Robert Gesink (Rabobank), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Mark Cavendish, and ended up losing between two and eight minutes to the front peloton.  Some riders were destined never to see the front peloton again, riders like Tom Danielson of Garmin-Sharp, Davide Viganò of Lampre-ISD and Mikel Astarloza of Euskaltel-Euskadi pulling out of the race for good.

Meanwhile the front group were oblivious to the drama they’d avoided, all concentration on catching the renegades ahead of them in time for the sprint finish.  Simon Gerrans, pulling for GreenEDGE on the front, was having a hard time recouping those last 15 seconds as the breakaway and its chasers raced under the banner of 10 kilometres to go.  As soon as Lotto Belisol stepped up to help the pacemaking, however, the numbers began ticking down and heartrates began ticking up.  Was Lotto Belisol lining up for Greipel’s leadout man Greg Henderson to take a shot at the victory, or was the effort for Greipel himself?

Lampre-ISD also jumped on the front and lent a hand with the pulling, hauling in two of the three riders, Zingle having dropped off long ago after a flat tyre.  Zabriskie, on the other hand, apparently wanted to be the hero of the day, and with two kilometres to go he was attempting a solo time trial 150 metres ahead of the bunch.  A racing peloton, however, is as inevitable as karma, and Zabriskie was caught with a kilometre left for the sprinters.  Lotto Belisol were powering down the straight as usual, Peter Sagan’s green jersey on Greipel’s wheel and Goss on the end of his own train.  For a moment or two it looked like it was between Goss and Greipel, but just as Goss fell behind Greipel’s wheel, a green bullet shot up the side and across the line before anybody could say ‘Sagan’, leaving Greipel with another second and Goss with another third.

The rest of the riders filtered through over the next hour, in varying spirits and states of shabbiness with assorted amounts of skin still attached to elbows and backsides.  The jersey wearers remain the same, with Zabriskie claiming the red number for Fighting Spirit, but the GC has certainly received a shake-up today, one which will likely decide the Tour de France.  As for tomorrow, we’ve left the sprinters’ stages behind, but with Stage 7 finishing on the never-before-seen climb to La Planche des Belles Filles, we’ve entered the stages of medium mountains, where breakaways have the chance to succeed.  Orica-GreenEDGE are becoming desperate for a stage win, so keep an eye out for Simon Gerrans or Michael Albasini, who’ll be looking to join any moves that form, as well as climbers like Alejandro Valverde, who lost a lot of time today that he’ll be looking to get back.

Stage 5: Rouen – Saint-Quentin

The flat stages in the Tour de France are usually the least action-packed of the Tour, but that’s not to say that they’re boring.   Far from it, in fact – Stage 4 kept us guessing right up until the last minute and had us jumping out of our seats at the very end.  The classic French scenery, some very clever tactics and some truly world-class riding showed us why we stay up until all hours of the morning for this magnificent race.

Today’s stage left the town of Rouen, rolling across the Somme valley of central northern France to Saint-Quentin, a region of great significance to many Australians because of its World War I connections.  Frenchman Mathieu Ladagnous (FDJ-Bigmat) had other things on his mind today than history, setting up the day’s successful break soon after the départ réel with Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis), Julien Simon (Saur-Sojasun) and Pablo Urtasun Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) for company.

The quartet of the day disappeared into the distance, building up a nice little lead of nearly six minutes after 30 kilometres, the peloton having a leisurely ride at 39km/h.  For the third day in a row there was a birthday in the bunch – BMC’s Philippe Gilbert turned 30 as he rode along with teammates in the peloton.

But not everyone was having such a happy day.  Marcel Kittel, the Argos-Shimano sprinter who was expected to be the revelation of this year’s Tour, finally pulled out of the race after a nasty bout of gastroenteritis left the German too physically drained to continue.  Despite Kittel’s indisposition, Argos-Shimano has remained competitive in the sprints, Kittel’s chief leadout man Tom Veelers managing to claim a few top-10 finishes in his friend’s absence.
The peloton – and the breakaway, cruising three minutes ahead – continued to roll through the greenified Somme, passing any number of beautiful historical buildings dating far beyond the First World War.  The peloton left the escapees alone for a while, focusing on the sprint point, which the unconcerned breakaway rolled right through.  Sadly, though, the intermediate sprint point was becoming fairly predictable, and despite the various sprint trains establishing themselves, FDJ-Bigmat weighing in this time for Yauheni Hutarovich, it was once again Mark Cavendish (Sky) who took a very narrow victory over Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss.

Intermediate sprint over, the peloton could focus on bringing in the breakaway, former teammates Stuart O’Grady (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) conferring at the front of the peloton on how to bring the escapees home.  With the help of Lotto Belisol the pair continued to chip slowly away at the quartet’s lead, down to 2’15” at 50 kilometres from Saint-Quentin.  It seemed likely that the peloton would be caught well within the next 40 kilometres, allowing plenty of time for the usual posturing between teams preparing for the sprint.

But it wasn’t the case.  As Stéphane Augé, sports director of Ghyselinck’s Cofidis squad, had said, around 25 kilometres from the end of the stage the four breakaway riders suddenly turned up the gas and kept on moving.  As they raced through a series of small French towns, streets packed five-deep with cheering locals and fans, the four wily escapees kept the racing peloton at bay with their high speed, five kilometres faster than their average for the rest of the day.

At first the peloton appeared annoyed that the leading four were forcing them to prolong the inevitable, but as the clock continued to tick down and the distance counter ticked down faster, irritation turned to concern.  The peloton began to turn into a rainbow as teams grouped together for a sprint that might or might not eventuate – Team Sky on the left in the black-with-blue-stripe was leading out for Cavendish (while keeping leader Bradley Wiggins out of trouble), on the right in red and black was BMC protecting Cadel Evans, in between splodges of orange for Euskaltel-Euskadi, navy for Movistar, and a line of hot pink for the Lampre-ISD boys readying Petacchi for the sprint.  The breakaway was just keeping hold of its advantage as the rainbow quilt bore down, but when the leaders still had one minute at the 10 kilometre banner, things suddenly started looking very interesting.  FDJ breakaway rider Ladagnous had led a nearly-successful breakaway in the Tour before and claimed 11^th – was this his belated take-two?

Four kilometres from the finish and the breakaway was barrelling down a dead straight road, the peloton breathing down their necks just 25 seconds behind.  Loyalties in the break were beginning to fracture when they were given the distraction they needed.  A crash in the front part of the peloton took off the pressure for just a few seconds as teams established where their leaders and sprinters were and tried to regroup.  The serious contenders were clear of the drama, though, Sky, BMC and the sprint trains holding the key front positions that spared them involvement, and the diminished peloton continued at a rip-roaring pace down the rue de Paris.

But the tenacity in today’s lead group was at a premium, Jan Ghyselinck launching a perfectly-timed attack 1.4 kilometres from the end, flying away from his companions and towards the finish as though he had wings, dreaming of the stage victory.  But the five-or six-second gap wasn’t going to keep him safe, the peloton rounding the second-last corner and appearing on his heels.  Even a last-ditch dash by Pablo Urtasun Perez couldn’t salvage a breakaway stage win, and suddenly the escapees were absorbed by the peloton just 600 metres from the finish, and suddenly the sprint was on.

Though their train seemed to be invisible, Orica-GreenEDGE once again managed to deliver Matt Goss to a perfectly-lined-up stage win, the Tasmanian going hell-for-leather towards his first Tour de France victory.  But perfect just wasn’t good enough on this stage, Lotto Belisol’s André Greipel managing to pip him by a bike length for a second consecutive stage win, leaving Gossy in second with Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank’s Juan José Haedo claiming third.

Stage 6 will be the final flat stage before some serious hills kick in on Stage 7, meaning we can expect another good sprint tomorrow.  This is likely Cavendish’s last sprint stage of this year’s Tour, and he’ll be looking to go out with a bang, but green jersey Peter Sagan has missed the last two sprints from delays in crashes and will be equally hungry.  Right now, though, it’s André Greipel who dominates the sprints, and there’s also Matt Goss, desperately trying to find the power to convert thirds, seconds and intermediate firsts into a stage win.  This may well be the deciding stage in a fierce green jersey competition, so definitely one not to be missed.