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

[auscyclefan94]

Don't like LA but I do feel for him. Wow Geraint thomas, what a ride by the youngster!

 

[Mellow Velo]

Yes, a really great stage. All the drama of Paris-Roubaix.
Tears for some, smiles for others.
A real pity about Frank, but we had C VdV with the same thing yesterday.
Sh!t happens.

At the end of the day, the GC still looks tasty..........for most.

 

[Big GMaC]

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

And it had Vuvuzelas to drown out philandpaul. Win all round

 

[Ferminal]

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

Thor proved himself to me last year on the cobbles, but great to see him back, vital green points today

I forgot Menchov, isn't he supposed to fall over?

What's up with Vino, it was the fourth day in the Giro when he dropped his teammate too Brain, not legs Vino!

 

[Dr. Maserati]

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

Haha thats good!!

Ya - exciting stage, although it is not nice that a GC candidate like F Schleck has to leave in this manner.

But always fun to watch the GC riders have to do it for themselves. Chapeau to all.

 

[sublimit]

TOP 10, but dont underestimate Thomas, Chavanel, Van den Broek. very talented classy riders. but it looks very good for Andy or AC though for the the win.

1 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 14:54:00
2 Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team 0:00:23
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:39
4 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions 0:00:46
5 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step 0:01:01
6 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:09
7 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 0:01:19
8 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana 0:01:31
9 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:01:40
10 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 0:01:42

 

[auscyclefan94]

ONe thing is for sure, Morzine will have tons of attacks as Shack lost out so badly!

 

[Big GMaC]

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.

Bjarne sais he was mostly in shock when stading by the road, arm was ok

 

[Anonymous]

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

Exactly. They put the stage in to break things up. Mountains and TT's shouldn't be the only way to create gaps. I like the inclusion and believe it did exactly what it was designed to do. Sorry that Frank went out, but I am sure Jens wasn't whining about putting in descents last year when he fell.

 

[Ferminal]

What is wrong with you? The Armstrong hater obsession is so tiresome. Just watch the damn race. There's absolutely no similarity anyway. 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.

If Armstrong was up the front like Evans he wouldn't have been in the situation. Just like if Contador was at the front last year he wouldn't have missed the split.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Farrar finished the stage. Chapeau

I'm running out of hats to take off. Well done that man. In the space of a couple of days, between interviews and bare knuckled rides, my list of riders to root for is starting to shift subtly. Except for Voigt at the top, that is. Evans also slowly moving up my ranks, he is certainly giving it more this year than he has in the past. All good.

 

[eleven]

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.

I watch just about every cycling event of any stripe, and I agree with his assessment. The cobbles are great for classics. As much as they add excitement, I don't think they have a place in Le Tour.

 

[Anonymous]

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.

Again, by this logic, Mountain descents should not be included, because riders like Jens and Beloki might fall.

 

[Beech Mtn]

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.

This was a great stage. Strade Bianchi for the Giro every year, and some cobbles for the Tour most years. Was a lot better to watch this than yet another boring flat stage in France where a breakaway gets reeled in by HTC.

 

[auscyclefan94]

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

ACF94 is having an orgasm! Looking at twitter so is DIMSPACE!

 

[Anonymous]

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

Nah, I am sure in real life, we would find many things we agree on.

 

[auscyclefan94]

Thanks for the support everyone. HUGE thanks to everyone at BMC Racing Team for getting me thru today's carnage..great team effort!

Cadel thanks his team!

 

[Arnout]

If Armstrong was up the front like Evans he wouldn't have been in the situation. Just like if Contador was at the front last year he wouldn't have missed the split.

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

 

[scribe]

I watch just about every cycling event of any stripe, and I agree with his assessment. The cobbles are great for classics. As much as they add excitement, I don't think they have a place in Le Tour.

What happened today just opened up a world of possibilities for some very strong GC guys. That cannot be discounted. This was a great stage that is going to make for a great TdF.

Lance Armstrong is toast now. No way to podium unless he pops off something very special in the ITT.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Yes, a really great stage. All the drama of Paris-Roubaix.

Calm down, calm down. Great stage to watch, but still a Paris-Roubaix light compared to most years on the real cobbles. These were the easier ones too!

 

[Anonymous]

I watch just about every cycling event of any stripe, and I agree with his assessment. The cobbles are great for classics. As much as they add excitement, I don't think they have a place in Le Tour.

Again, by this logic we need to exclude mountain descents. People have died on them. When was the last time someone died in P-R?

 

[zapata]

Great stage. Voigt calling it a "travesty" to include the cobbles, very upset that Frank crashed out. Too bad for Frank, but it's not like GC-candidates don't puncture or crash on regular stages. To me, handling cobbles adequately is part of being a complete rider, and they might have a stage like this every year, as far as I am concerned.

 

[eleven]

If Armstrong was up the front like Evans he wouldn't have been in the situation.

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.

 

[sublimit]

Roelandts performed well again until he fell off, Maybe Garmin or Sky will have him for next year.

Good rider to look out for.

 

[eleven]

Again, by this logic we need to exclude mountain descents. People have died on them. When was the last time someone died in P-R?

if you fall on a mountain descent it's your bike handling skills.

if you get a puncture on the cobbles it's because the cobbles cause punctures.

I'd rather have bike handling skills impact the race than road surface. Perhaps next year's ATOC can have a stage through some single-track.