Side shows on center stage
With the big climbs in the middle of stages 8 & 9, there were no battles between the suspected contenders for the yellow jersey. Luis-Leon Sanchez of Banesto won stage 8 and Pierrick Fedrigo of Bogus Telekom won stage 9 by a nose.
It was the second career TdF stage win for each man, and also the second win of this Tour for Bogus Telekom, so they are having their most successful tour since Voeckler wore the yellow jersey five years ago.
In another surprise success story, Egoi Martinez took the lead in the King of the Mountains competition today as a reward for being in so many breakaways in the mountains. For the first time in many, many, many years Euskaltel has a result to brag about. This team has been a bump on a log in the peloton for years. I think that prior to Martinez getting to wear dots, the team's last success story was a stage win on Alpe d'Huez by Iban Mayo in 2003. Talk about a long drought. The goofy course (with the big climbs 50+ km from the finish line in the Pyrenees) is having the effect of delaying the yellow jersey race and warping the KoM race. No one has pulled a Richard Virenque and scooped up all the points on the early mountains to build a big lead, and the yellow jersey contenders haven't bothered to race up the mountains to gain time and pick up points as a byproduct. The result is that several different men are picking up moderate points, not big points. The polka dot jersey has been on new shoulders each of the last 4 stages. Martinez has a 19 point lead, and is likely to keep the jersey for several days now as the course turns flat, but there are still several people who can catch him in the Alps.
The other big development came in stage 8, when THOR! joined a breakaway in the mountains to pick up intermediate sprint points. He won both sprints, good for 12 points. Mark Cavendish got none, as the incline turns him into a junior cyclist. The coming week will probably determine the green jersey, as the third week is mostly mountain and time trial. THOR! has an 11 point lead, which isn't a big margin over a guy who destroys everyone on the flat sprint finish.
It was the second career TdF stage win for each man, and also the second win of this Tour for Bogus Telekom, so they are having their most successful tour since Voeckler wore the yellow jersey five years ago.
In another surprise success story, Egoi Martinez took the lead in the King of the Mountains competition today as a reward for being in so many breakaways in the mountains. For the first time in many, many, many years Euskaltel has a result to brag about. This team has been a bump on a log in the peloton for years. I think that prior to Martinez getting to wear dots, the team's last success story was a stage win on Alpe d'Huez by Iban Mayo in 2003. Talk about a long drought. The goofy course (with the big climbs 50+ km from the finish line in the Pyrenees) is having the effect of delaying the yellow jersey race and warping the KoM race. No one has pulled a Richard Virenque and scooped up all the points on the early mountains to build a big lead, and the yellow jersey contenders haven't bothered to race up the mountains to gain time and pick up points as a byproduct. The result is that several different men are picking up moderate points, not big points. The polka dot jersey has been on new shoulders each of the last 4 stages. Martinez has a 19 point lead, and is likely to keep the jersey for several days now as the course turns flat, but there are still several people who can catch him in the Alps.
The other big development came in stage 8, when THOR! joined a breakaway in the mountains to pick up intermediate sprint points. He won both sprints, good for 12 points. Mark Cavendish got none, as the incline turns him into a junior cyclist. The coming week will probably determine the green jersey, as the third week is mostly mountain and time trial. THOR! has an 11 point lead, which isn't a big margin over a guy who destroys everyone on the flat sprint finish.
posted by uberschuck at 5:53 PM
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