Stage One: It's On
First off, Versus' TdF commericals are simply depressing. Exactly what advertising agency came up with the idea of promoting the Tour by playing a mournful acoustic song while showing images of doping cyclists in reverse. Wow. I'm pumped up.
Secondly, we've lost our first rider: Herve Duclos LaSalle of Cofidis. He was taken out by a feed bag. Which is just a crappy way to get knocked out of the Tour.
Soler also crashed today and I don't have his time losses yet, but it looked to be significant. As long as he's not injured, this is actually a good thing for Soler. Now, he is even less of a threat in the GC and will be allowed out on a breakaway to contest the dots. Let's be honest, he's not concerned about time at the end of the day.
Voeckler's in dots. Every Frenchman is having warm fuzzy feelings about his ride in 2004 right now.
But the big story is Valverde. He came around the final turn and just slingshot past Kim Kirchen like he was standing still to win the stage. The common wisdom is that the favorites don't want the Yellow in the first week, but there is something to be said for winning on the first day to make a bit of a statement. Valverde told every rider in the field that he is willing to attack and that he is in the strongest form. He's staking his claim as the favorite. Typical to his style, Evans rode in the winning group, but not contesting the finish. We could be seeing this happen over and over again.
Secondly, we've lost our first rider: Herve Duclos LaSalle of Cofidis. He was taken out by a feed bag. Which is just a crappy way to get knocked out of the Tour.
Soler also crashed today and I don't have his time losses yet, but it looked to be significant. As long as he's not injured, this is actually a good thing for Soler. Now, he is even less of a threat in the GC and will be allowed out on a breakaway to contest the dots. Let's be honest, he's not concerned about time at the end of the day.
Voeckler's in dots. Every Frenchman is having warm fuzzy feelings about his ride in 2004 right now.
But the big story is Valverde. He came around the final turn and just slingshot past Kim Kirchen like he was standing still to win the stage. The common wisdom is that the favorites don't want the Yellow in the first week, but there is something to be said for winning on the first day to make a bit of a statement. Valverde told every rider in the field that he is willing to attack and that he is in the strongest form. He's staking his claim as the favorite. Typical to his style, Evans rode in the winning group, but not contesting the finish. We could be seeing this happen over and over again.
posted by Poseur at 10:18 AM
1 Comments:
Times are posted. Soler lost 3 seconds. I thought it would be more given the break in the field and his struggle to get back into the back. But the Tour organizers said it was just one big group finish, so Soler loses no significant time.
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