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

[auscyclefan94]

cadel ahead of conti by 1 min 1 sec

 

[Parrot23]

Evans and Andy the big winners.

 

[Pharazon]

what a great stage..

they should have one in the tour every year

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

Given the circumstances, I think he is happy.
Yes Andy Schleck and Evans win 2 minutes.
Contador, Wiggins win 1, Kreuziger 30 seconds, but it could've been so much worse...

could have been better too

-- @ youngest - agreed. I've lost all respect for that guy.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Epic... Many riders have gone way up in my books today... Ryder, Andy, G, Alberto.

Unlucky for Armstrong and Chavanel.

Good day, thank you Mr. Prudhomme.

Totally agree..... just add Thor too, coming back from recent injury!

 

[VeloCity]

If anyone had told me that Andy Schleck would finish 5th on this stage in a small breakaway group I would have laughed. Granted, it doesn't hurt to have Cancellara on your team on a cobbly stage, but still, that was one hell of a performance. And Evans as well, of course.

Impressive rides by Contador and Armstrong too - not a big fan of either, but they don't quit. Shame for Chavanel, though, thought he'd do fairly well over a course like this - where were his QS teammates anyway? Everytime I saw him he was alone.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

GC leaderboard ?

has anyone parsed the gc leaderboard for today yet?

 

[Publicus]

Great ride by Andy and Evans. Obviously impressed with AC's performance, as well. We will see fireworks this weekend. And I'll say it now, AC is super strong.

 

[therhodeo]

Again where was Hincapie? Is he out and I missed it?

 

[Cerberus]

You'll have to explain how getting a puncture on the cobbles isn't fair.

It's not fair because it's highly random and almost independent of anything the rider does. The fact it's common to puncture on cobbles doesn't make it fair.

 

[scribe]

Wow. I've got queen stage nerves right now. Can hardly type.

 

[ak-zaaf]

cadel ahead of conti by 1 min 1 sec

Too bad there's a third week

Great ride by Cadel today, had a Strade Bianchi deja vu
He should do Paris - Roubaix

 

[Francois the Postman]

I think the best ride was Contador. He held tough like a true champion he is. Good on him. He was superb. Astana will have some big questions that need to be answered in there camp

Nah. don't think so, rather the opposite I'd say. Contador just frustrated that Vino didn't notice, but you can hardly blame the guy for literally putting his head down for Contador. Once they have cleared up what happened, Contador will quickly turn frustration into appreciation. They'll be stronger for it.

 

[Big GMaC]

cadel ahead of conti by 1 min 1 sec

How are your shorts?

 

[RhodriM]

has anyone parsed the gc leaderboard for today yet?

1. Fabian Cancellara; 2. Geraint Thomas; 3. Cadel Evans so far

 

[frizzlefry]

Again where was Hincapie? Is he out and I missed it?

He punctured early in the cobbles.

 

[theyoungest]

BTW, I didn't think Gesink would even finish this stage. Chapeau to him.

 

[Mellow Velo]

But by rights he should have beaten AC today. I agree that AC is likely to beat him in the mountains.

I will not be celebrating if AC gets a puncture in the mountains.

So, you don't like having the opposite to last year's stage 3 kicked in your face?
Tough, you were crowing then, you ain't crowing now.

Armstrong's big opening ends with him a minute down.
Enjoy the mountains.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

Today we've seen what Cancellara's fair play bullshit is all about: only if it works in the favour of the Saxos.

Not really - the biggest loser from Saxo's original drive was Frank.

 

[Ten Percent Grade]

Contador was superb today, as was Andy Schleck. Where the hell was the rest of the Shack when Lance punctured???

 

[balkou]

Evans
AS +30''
AC +1'01''
Menchov/Wiggins +1'10''
LA 1'51''

 

[Kodiak]

That I think will be the most exciting stage of the year. Hope F. Schleck is ok but he's done this tour.

 

[Anonymous]

No doubt. He's the big winner.

Yea, Schlecklet, for all of his whining, had a great ride to finish where he did. Round 2, Andy...except for the fact that he just lost his climbing partner which very well could make a difference.

 

[RhodriM]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/97th-tour-de-france-gt/stage-3/results

 

[woodburn]

Will be interesting to see Radio Shack tactics as now they must attack. LA hasn't shown any ability to drop the best in the mountains.