Stage 2: Thunderstruck
Thor is a bad man.
I have an unabiding man crush on Thor Hushovd. I didn't pick him to win the Green Jersey this year mainly because I didn't want to pick the guy I was openly rooting for. It clouds my judgment. But, I should've picked him because he is the God of Thunder. And he is awesome.
It's been tough going for the sprinters. Instead of nice flat stages ending in a bunch sprint, we've had really difficult hilly stages which have favored the roulers instead of the sprinters. So, of course, a sprinter won anyway. But of the major Green Jersey contenders, only a few finished in the top 10: Hushovd (1st), Hunter (4th), Zabel (5th), and Friere (7th). It's hard to say that the other guys won't be contenders, but those are the sprinters who managed to show some all-around ability to be in the final sprint. Another stage out of the points, and Cavendish and McEwen can pack up and go home.
But what is Kim Kirchen doing? He's in green right now and finished second at the line. He even had a lead out. Is he trying to contest the sprinters jersey? Or is he just trying to show he is a contender? Or just trying to grab a stage win? I don't really know. But he's been one of the most interesting riders over the first weekend save Thomas Voeckler.
I have an unabiding man crush on Thor Hushovd. I didn't pick him to win the Green Jersey this year mainly because I didn't want to pick the guy I was openly rooting for. It clouds my judgment. But, I should've picked him because he is the God of Thunder. And he is awesome.
It's been tough going for the sprinters. Instead of nice flat stages ending in a bunch sprint, we've had really difficult hilly stages which have favored the roulers instead of the sprinters. So, of course, a sprinter won anyway. But of the major Green Jersey contenders, only a few finished in the top 10: Hushovd (1st), Hunter (4th), Zabel (5th), and Friere (7th). It's hard to say that the other guys won't be contenders, but those are the sprinters who managed to show some all-around ability to be in the final sprint. Another stage out of the points, and Cavendish and McEwen can pack up and go home.
But what is Kim Kirchen doing? He's in green right now and finished second at the line. He even had a lead out. Is he trying to contest the sprinters jersey? Or is he just trying to show he is a contender? Or just trying to grab a stage win? I don't really know. But he's been one of the most interesting riders over the first weekend save Thomas Voeckler.
posted by Poseur at 2:29 PM
1 Comments:
Photo credits: we lifted that from Graham Watson at velonews.com.
On the points race, clearly the little hills near the finish lines in Brittany have inhibited the pure sprinters. Usually at this point we're saying McEwen is the one who has posted an early lead and left the other guys with little margin for error, but now it's Thor & Freire.
I think we'll see odd names like Valverde and Kirchen at or near the top of the points standings for a while because the schedule is abnormal. Instead of a lot of flat stages early, the first two "flat" stages have had these minor hills to screw things up. Stage 4 is a time trial. Stages 6 & 7 have more hills. We may not see the points race take form until the three flat stages in the second week.
Oh, and Soler is suffering badly. Time isn't the problem, as it doesn't affect his KoM race, but if his wrist injury lingers into the mountains, it might threaten his chances to win the dots.
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