The Barb said:
I really hate to be the guy who brags about a winning bet but I hardly ever bet this much (let alone on a 60-1 chance) and I'd planned to back Tony for this stage the first time I saw the course, so forgive me if I'm a little bit pleased with myself.
Oh man! Watching the last few KM must have been crazy for you! That's quite the windfall, congrats.
General comment - I agree with what carols said about the stage. It all ended up a wash, GC-wise, but whatever. 'Indistinguishable from a mass sprint stage' is a pretty different description from the reality of what I watched. GC guys on the limit trying to close gaps, classics guys playing the dual role of trying to stay fresh for a stage suited for them and also trying to shepherd their GC guy along... it was great visually to pick out who was positioned where, who was moving up, who was too far back, etc. It's fun when things break up and stay broken up, for sure, but that's an obvious thing to celebrate about cycling. I enjoy stages like this because I have to pay attention to what is going on, and that (along with constant uncertainty about what is going to happen next) is exciting to me, at least to the same degree of excitement I get from looking at what time everyone finished with. Way different than a stage where everyone rides together and the GC guys stay at the front in the exact same places for the whole time until 2k left to go on the mountain or something. So yeah, good stage, no crashes, no real mechanical issues deciding GC. I'm happy with it.