2014 Tour de France Stage 3: Cambridge – London: 155km, flat

[glassmoon]

Costa chatting with Jose Mourinho

 

[glassmoon]

I think he will be saved by the 3km rule.

he is 1:21 down acording letour general after 3rd stage
(so much for comeback )

 

[JRanton]

Here are your two crash victims. Thankfully it was a very isolated incident.

190. SIMON Julien - COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS 03h 42' 30'' + 04' 00''

191. GARCIA ECHEGUIBEL Egoitz - COFIDIS, SOLUTIONS CREDITS 03h 42' 30'' + 04' 00''

 

[Eyeballs Out]

Vino on Eurosport

 

[wirral]

Who crashed in the last km?

 

[murali]

Vino on Eurosport

whts he saying?

 

[ILovecycling]

3k rule on Konig and Schleck won't be applied?

 

[kingjr]

Who crashed in the last km?

Simon again, and Egoitz Garcia.

 

[Dutchsmurf]

3k rule on Konig and Schleck won't be applied?

Always takes some time to apply that one. Check again in an hour or so.

 

[Eyeballs Out]

whts he saying?

Vino said
- happy to be back in london where he won the gold
- Nibali great win yesterday, they wanted to win that stage because it was the birthday of Astana / Kazakhstan (?)
- Said he was surprised how good Nibali looked compared to the Dauphine but winning the Tour has always been the aim

 

[manafana]

Kittel just too damned good not going pass him. Greipel mechanical or not was badly spotted just avoided the crash it seemed.

 

[Netserk]

Will be 'fun' to see (some of) the GC riders 'sprint' at the end of the stage today and tomorrow to get a good car placing for the cobbles. So far the standings of the 21 riders in GC:

Nibali 35 +29

...

Sagan 6 +2
GVA 15 +18
Albasini 16 +15
Froome 25 +28
Mollema 29 +31
JVDB 31 +43
Contador 35 +35
TJVG 41 +42
Fuglsang 41 +46
Valverde 41 +33
Machado 41 +62
Rui Costa 45 +59
Bardet 46 +30
Zubeldia 48 +71
Porte 49 +72
Péraud 51 +52
Nieve 68 +47
Gallopin 119 +65
Kwiatkowski 189 +16
Talansky 201 +48

If only there was a prologue so GC riders wouldn't need to finish so high up in the flat stages...

Updated with today's placings:

Nibali 64

...

Sagan 8
Albasini 31
GVA 33
Froome 53
Mollema 60
Contador 70
Valverde 74
JVDB 74
Bardet 76
TJVG 83
Fuglsang 87
Péraud 103
Machado 103
Rui Costa 104
Nieve 115
Zubeldia 119
Porte 121
Gallopin 184
Kwiatkowski 205
Talansky 249

Not much of a change today, probably the same tomorrow.

 

[Warhawk]

- Nibali great win yesterday, they wanted to win that stage because it was the birthday of Astana / Kazakhstan (?)

Astana, according to Wikipedia, which states that July 6 is "Capital City Day", and also the birthday of the first president.

 

[indianfanboy]

Lotto and OPQS should quit pace making and ask Giant Shimano to do some work before the 2km to finish mark

Giant always come up in the last 2km and they dont do any work before

Cheng Jie was the only Giant rider i saw in the stage before the 2km mark

 

[trevim]

Flawless lead out from Giant with a monster pull from Degenkolb. Nobody was even close. I hope they work for Degenkolb in the cobbles because he deserves some support there.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

So Lotto doing most of the work at the business end, just to have Giant emerge and take control with 2km to go.

Dominant win by the big man.

Same recipe on stage 4 or will we see a stronger break?

 

[Amsterhammer]

Flawless lead out from Giant with a monster pull from Degenkolb. Nobody was even close. I hope they work for Degenkolb in the cobbles because he deserves some support there.

Absolutely. Every new Giant success just reminds me of the Rabobank's years of epic failure.

 

[Rollthedice]

Sagan drafting behind Kittel got him more than a bike length to third place.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Absolutely. Every new Giant success just reminds me of the Rabobank's years of epic failure.

I really do not want to be the Rabobank defender on here. But seriously, they had some good years too you know. Freire did win a bunch of stages and the green jersey when at Rabobank...

It was after they were done with Menchov/Freire and wanted to go for all the Dutch riders, that they had some real years of failure. But that says more of the Dutch riders capabilities at that time...

 

[Jspear]

So Lotto doing most of the work at the business end, just to have Giant emerge and take control with 2km to go.

Dominant win by the big man.

Same recipe on stage 4 or will we see a stronger break?

Definitely the same recipe. It's not too often that "classic" sprint stages get taken by a breakaway group at the TdF. Of course this is cycling and there is a chance anything could happen.

 

[wirral]

Indeed. When did the term "Rabofail" come into common usage? I think it was in the Dutch era as you say.

I am not completely following Amsterhammer's point. Is he referring to the clinical finishing of Germans versus the "choking" (panic-stricken decision-making at critical junctures) of Dutch?

 

[BeagRigh]

So Lotto doing most of the work at the business end, just to have Giant emerge and take control with 2km to go.

Kittel is so dominant I think the other teams need to call Giant's bluff and refuse to chase.

... or try and get someone in the break. They probably won't be allowed but it might wear the Giant guys out a bit if they have to police and chase the initial break. Would be good fun if Lotto, Cannondale and OPQS just kept launching new attacks each time one got caught. There are enough riders down on time they could keep trying with people Astana don't really care about going up the road.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

Definitely the same recipe. It's not too often that "classic" sprint stages get taken by a breakaway group at the TdF. Of course this is cycling and there is a chance anything could happen.

The only thing which can disrupt the script is Kittel/Giant's dominance.
Why would/should other teams help Giant chase and then get beaten to pulp anyway?

So I think the competitors needs to play more cards during these flat stages.
Anyway we shall see tomorrow in France.

@BeagRigh: My thinking too, but posted late.

 

[Jagartrott]

I want to see Greipel vs. Kittel tomorrow in a real contested sprint for a change.

 

[BeagRigh]

The only thing which can disrupt the script is Kittel/Giant's dominance.
Why would/should other teams help Giant chase and then get beaten to pulp anyway?

So I think the competitors needs to play more cards during these flat stages.
Anyway we shall see tomorrow in France.

@BeagRigh: My thinking too, but posted late.

I'm really hoping for some different tactics from the other teams tomorrow, OPQS in particular have options to play with, but I'm not sure we'll see anything other than a repeat of today.