Tour de France Stage 3 Wanze - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 207km

[Anonymous]

I know TFF, I have been here all year.

Reported. Several times

I just didn't know if you caught that yet. Not trying to be snippy with you at all.

 

[khardung la]

In stage 3 last year some riders were near the front when a break jumped out from the peleton as they hit different wind conditions. Contador wasn't there. For those that were, it was good strategic riding to take advantage of it. It bears absolutely no resemblance to a puncture on cobbles, which is essentially a random misfortune.

Some good riders lost time today because of events beyond their control. It happens, but it sucks to see significant time gaps among GC contenders determined that way.

Yeah, but last year Astana attacked the Astana leader....You put it like it was a normal happening

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Gesink fell again btw, this time on the other hand

 

[icefire]

I just hope Fabo and Andy crash somewhere in the coming stages to get the help they really deserve from other teams.

 

[woodburn]

Andy will have to mark the others near the top on his own, but Cance will hammer the pace up to the base of the climb and Jens will bury himself from the base as long as he can. It is not ideal, but they are a couple of awesome guys to have riding for you.
The Sørensens have not been called on yet, they are going to have to do more now. but Saxo are not out of it yet.

They also have Fugelsang in the mountains.

 

[Anonymous]

Agreed and then some. Jeers to the Tour organizers for today's stage. They created significant gaps between GC contenders for reasons that had little to do with riding prowess and much more to do with who punctured and where. The stage also took out a major GC contender in Frank Schleck. The organizers wanted the novelty of the cobbles and they got it, but at the expense of the riders.

Terrible stage. It shouldn't have been part of the Tour.

Okay, only someone who only watches the Tour would write something like that. It was great stage, and an exciting race to watch. I suggest maybe watching some more cycling, then you will understand why this was a great stage.

 

[Big GMaC]

Yup. Too random. It is sad that a rider like F. Schleck's season goal is destroyed by a crash that might not have even been his fault. Any GC hopeful could have crashed or punctured at the wrong time. Contador was lucky that his problem did not occur a few kilometers earlier.

I think the strade bianche is more fair than the cobbles.

Yeah, but I would take that over a boring snoozefest followed by a sprint

 

[alberto.legstrong]

I know TFF, I have been here all year.

Reported. Several times

Just wondering if it isn't Carbon Crank, same initials, just saying. Not that I spend a lot of time trying to decipher gradations of terd.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

My thought is that the Astana team car radioed Vino to drill it to the end and told Contador to make sure they know he had a flat tire. That way Contador gets the same time as the group.

We'll see. In any case, very alert move by Vino.

 

[Anonymous]

Farrar finished the stage. Chapeau

Amen. Too bad he won't be able to contest a sprint for a few days. Even then, he will not be able to pull up hard enough. Still, tough ride and rider.

 

[Big GMaC]

I just didn't know if you caught that yet. Not trying to be snippy with you at all.

Ok, yeah, I had seen it and reported it before you mentioned. How long before he is back?

 

[Arnout]

Interesting stage. Time gap between Andy Schleck and Evans on the one hand and Contador, Menchov en the rest on the other hand created by Frank Schleck. Good tactics there by Saxo, Frank Schleck won't survive a three week event without crashing and losing time at some point anyway. Better for Andy as well, now he can ride without having to wait for his brother.

Contador and Armstrong both very unlucky at some point during the stage, but both showed courage.

Conclusion is that nearly all the differences between the important riders were due to one crash and some punctures. Lottery feeling...

 

[auscyclefan94]

Strade Bianche still owns the cobbled stage.
Cadel's song of the day imo

Birds flying high you know how I feel
Sun in the sky you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by you know how I feel

It's a new dawn
It's a new day
It's a new life
For me
And I'm feeling good

 

[Kwibus]

Yup. Too random. It is sad that a rider like F. Schleck's season goal is destroyed by a crash that might not have even been his fault. Any GC hopeful could have crashed or punctured at the wrong time. Contador was lucky that his problem did not occur a few kilometers earlier.

I think the strade bianche is more fair than the cobbles.

It was quite clear that it was F Schleck own fault imo.

 

[sometriguy]

I just hope Fabo and Andy crash somewhere in the coming stages to get the help they really deserve from other teams.

I hope that is sarcasm

 

[BroDeal]

Yeah, but I would take that over a boring snoozefest followed by a sprint

True dat. The reason I started disliking the Tour was the editions that spent ten days on the flat before the first mountain.

Stage 3: Not very fair but fun to watch.

 

[goober]

Okay, only someone who only watches the Tour would write something like that. It was great stage, and an exciting race to watch. I suggest maybe watching some more cycling, then you will understand why this was a great stage.

TFF I actually agree with you! I guess this can only happen outside the clinic . Can't wait to see this tonight on TV!!!!

 

[sportzchick]

They also have Fugelsang in the mountains.

Add Stuey in the mix and you do have the best team in cycling ATMO

Still the team to beat but as today proved anything is possibe

 

[Big GMaC]

My thought is that the Astana team car radioed Vino to drill it to the end and told Contador to make sure they know he had a flat tire. That way Contador gets the same time as the group.

We'll see. In any case, very alert move by Vino.

I am interested to see how it pans out.

It was so close to the end I don't really know what else the could have done

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

Cadel is showing excellent guts and form. He's been absolutely stellar this year.

 

[RdBiker]

Dude, they showed the replay when he crossed the line, his tire was flat.

Could someone please post a link when they find a piece of news confirming Contador's mechanical in the last 3Ks. I somehow missed the replay on Eurosport and letour.fr has Contador at +1.13

 

[Anonymous]

Dude, they showed the replay when he crossed the line, his tire was flat.

Dude, if you did anything more than post snarky bait, you would know that he is the biggest troll here...you know, the guy you look up to.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Okay, only someone who only watches the Tour would write something like that. It was great stage, and an exciting race to watch. I suggest maybe watching some more cycling, then you will understand why this was a great stage.

It was a risky stage to include. Could have gone in many many directions, whereas many other stages are too predictable. Somewhere between here and there is probably ideal.

Sorry for Frank, but for those who cheer for someone other than AS/FS I suppose it is welcome news.

 

[Dominar]

Lance went deep to pull that time back. He is gonna pay for that effort when it matters later.

+1 That's the critical thing here, IMHO. I don't have a TV feed, so just going by the postings here, but it sounds like LA rode as well as the other GC contenders, except Evans and Wiggins, and got dropped only because of a puncture. If that's right, then a neutral observer might say that he could gain back a good part of that time over the next two weeks with a few favorable breaks. However, because he had to go so hard on his own today, will he be able to take advantage of those breaks like he might have had he had more team help?

On a different note, was surprised by the degree to which Andy S seems to have recovered from yesterday, unless he wasn't hurt as badly as we thought.

 

[scribe]

Cadel is showing excellent guts and form. He's been absolutely stellar this year.

He has been at every major event for a full year now. I REALLY want to see him beat Contador.