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

[Pharazon]

i'm amazed Cavendish didn't finish 10 mins down...

on the 4th section of cobbles i got a view of him and he looked like a fish up a tree. he was so slow he was going backwards

 

[Thee_chisa]

I'm not sure where Backstead gets that idea, but it's clear if you actually look at the Pave that there are significant ridges / rocks protruding in the middle.

it is jumping in and out of the gutter which causes punctures according to him, and the gutter is often full of crap. best place for the strong guys is on the crown of the road he said. again, a good stage, a much more rounded tour this year. and interesting in the first week!

 

[kjetilraknerud]

89 pages in this thread, and I think I have seen three or four posts mentioning what a great ride it was from Hushovd! He certainly managed to channel yesterdays anger into a stellar performance today. And he looks good for the green jersey as well, thankfully yesterdays neutralization probably won't mean anything in the end.

 

[carrai]

he never had it...and now he has the excuse to go home early.

disagree, he's still in the fight, and will be until the end

 

[eleven]

That actually would be an improvement. This year's AToC was dismally boring.

Good ride by Evans to stay up front in safe positions and hang with strong men like Canc and Thor. Evans proves yet again he doesn't need much of a team in order to do well. It has turned the Curse of the Rainbow Jersey on its head by giving the jersey to an Aussie.

Evans was amazing today. I hope he can keep his form for three weeks (again). he's one of a very select few that could challenge AC at this point.

 

[Ferminal]

Cycling fact: flats don't happen at the front of a race.

They don't! If someone in the front group got a flat the furthest they would've dropped is the Contador group.

What in the world does this mean?

F Schleck, Chavanel and Armstrong all got hosed by the cobbles.

Ah well. I was really hoping to see Frank and Andy tag-teaming the mountains.

Everyone ahead of Frank Schleck made the front group, everyone there (and their teams) fought extremely hard to get in that position heading in to each of the cobbled sectors.

 

[JimPanzen]

Ok, GC f****d up for many contenders after ONE stage that was determined by being lucky/unlucky with punctures or crashes. Do we really need paves in GCs???

 

[Thee_chisa]

89 pages in this thread, and I think I have seen three or four posts mentioning what a great ride it was from Hushovd! He certainly managed to channel yesterdays anger into a stellar performance today. And he looks good for the green jersey as well, thankfully yesterdays neutralization probably won't mean anything in the end.

yeah, funny how when canc wanted a hand pulling things along thor just kinda said "HAHAHAHAH"

 

[Pharazon]

Ok, GC f****d up for many contenders after ONE stage that was determined by being lucky/unlucky with punctures or crashes. Do we really need paves in GCs???

absolutely, best stage i've seen in ages

 

[Dr. Maserati]

I'm not sure where Backstead gets that idea, but it's clear if you actually look at the Pave that there are significant ridges / rocks protruding in the middle.

Marcus Backstedt? What would he know....its almost 7 years since he won Paris Roubaix.

On cobbles it is best to ride on the crown - as most (but not all) of the damaged cobbles are from tractor wheeltracks, the sides are full of stones.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Yes, but in this version of PR you get to care about people in 46th place too.

I always do, I love Euskaltel.

 

[Thee_chisa]

Ok, GC f****d up for many contenders after ONE stage that was determined by being lucky/unlucky with punctures or crashes. Do we really need paves in GCs???

absolutely, should happen every year! frank crashed because he was struggling to keep up and took a corner too hot. he should have paced himself, maybe lost 5 mins but still would have been racing to help andy

 

[zapata]

I'm not sure where Backstead gets that idea, but it's clear if you actually look at the Pave that there are significant ridges / rocks protruding in the middle.

Bäckstedt is a former winner of Paris-Roubaix.

 

[scribe]

They don't! If someone in the front group got a flat the furthest they would've dropped is the Contador group.



Everyone ahead of Frank Schleck made the front group, everyone there (and their teams) fought extremely hard to get in that position heading in to each of the cobbled sectors.

I am hearing that Cancellara intentionally threw Frank down as a block, right before he started drilling the hell out of that cobble stretch.

 

[auscyclefan94]

There was a little bit of luck involved but it takes a lot of skill also to be in the front groups. The best guys recover from bad luck. LA did that well. SO LA punctured?

 

[Big GMaC]

Am i getting ignored by everyone?

what is this i don't even?

 

[ingsve]

yeah, funny how when canc wanted a hand pulling things along thor just kinda said "HAHAHAHAH"

Ya, but the main reason why he absolutely shouldn't do any work in that group is that he still had Sastre behind losing time.

 

[Ferminal]

I am hearing that Cancellara intentionally threw Frank down as a block, right before he started drilling the hell out of that cobble stretch.

I also heard that Yaroslav stabbed Lance's wheel causing the puncture - some sort of elaborate plot between former Soviet nations with blue and yellow on their flag.

 

[Barrus]

From the tour rules:

"In the event that a rider or riders suffer a
fall, puncture or mechanical incident in
the last 3 kilometres and such an incident
is duly recognised, the rider or riders involved
are credited with the same finishing
time of the rider or riders they were with at
the time of the incident. They are attributed
this ranking only upon crossing the finish
line. If after a fall, it is impossible for a rider
to cross the finish line, he is given the ranking
of last in the stage."

That would leave Contador and Andy with pretty much the same time. I think it would be nice if someone could inform on this matter, it is probably quite important for the next stages and the strategies in the Alps.

Wonder if this will happen, does anyone have any confirmation what his time is and whether they will take this into account? Because his time on the tour site is still 1'13

BTW Gesink fell again today

 

[DamonAlbarn]

You are missing one big factor

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.

Jacob Fuglsang!

 

[Thee_chisa]

Ya, but the main reason why he absolutely shouldn't do any work in that group is that he still had Sastre behind losing time.

i don't think that was upmost in thor's mind at the time

 

[Pharazon]

how come all Rabo's handle their bikes like they are articulated lorries?

 

[Big GMaC]

JUST TO SAY

BPC is posting in the moderator thread. Report

 

[auscyclefan94]

How is gesink going to survive after another crash?

 

[eleven]

Marcus Backstedt? What would he know....its almost 7 years since he won Paris Roubaix.

On cobbles it is best to ride on the crown - as most (but not all) of the damaged cobbles are from tractor wheeltracks, the sides are full of stones.

Is this pic in the gutter?

http://tweetphoto.com/31131474

At any rate, my broader opinion remains: Cobbles are for classics.