Stage Two: McEwen 2, Petacchi 0
Nothing makes me happier than Petacchi losing a sprint. But let's get to that in a second.
Flat stages are kind of a drag, and they usually follow a traditional a time-honored formula: early breakaway, followed by a chase group. At most, there's one rider you've heard of in those front groups. Then, the peleton slowly catches the breakaway as the riders at the front turn on one another. End with a sprint finish. Oh yeah, sprinkle in a crash or two.
Stage One matched this profile and Stage Two was no different. Here was the breakway group:
Moreno Di Biase (Selle Italia), Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner), Phillippe Schnyder (Selle Italia), Freddy Bichot (Francaise des Jeux), Roy Sentjens (Rabobank), and Bram Schmitz (T-Mobile). A real collection of stars, I know. I can't imagine how the peleton managed to reel them back in.
There was a particularly nasty crash. Alberto Lopez de Munain (Euskatel) clipped tires with a rider and went headfirst into the guardrail on the side of the road. Had he not been wearing a helmet, its quite likely he'd be dead right now, so it's actually good news he broke his collarbone and a few ribs. Much better than cracking open your skull.
So, the peleton caught the breakaway and we had our sprint finish. And this time, Paolo Bettini didn't ruin it for everybody, we got a legit sprint. Once again, Fassa did all of the work and made the lead out, and McEwen took advantage. Zabel also punctured, so he was a total non-factor in the final sprint. McEwen won the sprint over Isaac Galvez Lopez and Robert Forster, not exactly powerhouse sprinters. Petacchi finished fourth, just ahead of Cooke. So, not only is McEwen in pink, he has the sprint lead by 15 full points, which is huge this early.
Petacchi better find his form soon, or he'll have to drop out earlier than usual.
Flat stages are kind of a drag, and they usually follow a traditional a time-honored formula: early breakaway, followed by a chase group. At most, there's one rider you've heard of in those front groups. Then, the peleton slowly catches the breakaway as the riders at the front turn on one another. End with a sprint finish. Oh yeah, sprinkle in a crash or two.
Stage One matched this profile and Stage Two was no different. Here was the breakway group:
Moreno Di Biase (Selle Italia), Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner), Phillippe Schnyder (Selle Italia), Freddy Bichot (Francaise des Jeux), Roy Sentjens (Rabobank), and Bram Schmitz (T-Mobile). A real collection of stars, I know. I can't imagine how the peleton managed to reel them back in.
There was a particularly nasty crash. Alberto Lopez de Munain (Euskatel) clipped tires with a rider and went headfirst into the guardrail on the side of the road. Had he not been wearing a helmet, its quite likely he'd be dead right now, so it's actually good news he broke his collarbone and a few ribs. Much better than cracking open your skull.
So, the peleton caught the breakaway and we had our sprint finish. And this time, Paolo Bettini didn't ruin it for everybody, we got a legit sprint. Once again, Fassa did all of the work and made the lead out, and McEwen took advantage. Zabel also punctured, so he was a total non-factor in the final sprint. McEwen won the sprint over Isaac Galvez Lopez and Robert Forster, not exactly powerhouse sprinters. Petacchi finished fourth, just ahead of Cooke. So, not only is McEwen in pink, he has the sprint lead by 15 full points, which is huge this early.
Petacchi better find his form soon, or he'll have to drop out earlier than usual.
posted by Poseur at 10:03 PM
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