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

[Dr. Maserati]

AC flatted in the last 1.2km in a breakaway. He only lost 20 seconds. His gesture was at the race directors car. They did not call his team car or the neutral service in for him. But they did allow Lance to piggyback behind the team cars when his tyre blew. Conspiracy? No...just unfairness. Contador is still in the box seat. 20 seconds are nice to have but he can afford them, especially given the time Andy Schleck was behind after the prologue.

Biggest loser. Frank Schleck. Biggest winner. Evans and then AS. Contador is also a winner and so to Menchov and Wigans. The later two had sub par prologues, which have pretty much been nullified. Funny how the recipients of Franck's crash were his two team mates. Oh well.

Liquigas and Rabo are one step closer to confirming who their true GC men are. Right now they look like the two boys I backed, Kreuziger and Menchov. Biggest dud team was ironically RadioShack. What a way to choke. Only Armstrong and Popovych achieved anything of merit. Where the hell were Kloden, Horner and Leipheimer? Idiots.

Ok - if AC punctured in the last 3km he should be given the same time as Vino. But there are comments that his mechanical was an ongoing problem from before that.

LA drafted a BMC car - and not for very long, the comms (rightly) use their discretion when one is coming back from mechanical.

Kloden had punctured before Lance - so obviously he was out, but I was suprised that TRS had left LA alone (with just Popo close by).

 

[Big GMaC]

Also, Footon's Arkaitz Durán was 16th today. Take that, haters.

I first read that as he turned 16 today. Judging by footon that wouldn't have been a surprise

 

[Anonymous]

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

Yea, and water is wet.

 

[Straßenrennen]

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.

Servais Knaven said the same as Backstedt this morning, but maybe he's clueless also

 

[theyoungest]

Yea, and water is wet.

Once again, he was taken out by another rider. Apparently he awakens a kamikaze feeling in his fellow riders.

 

[Barrus]

Yea, and water is wet.

Well, Menchov didn't fall, that's two days in a row, perhaps in 10 years Gesink has learned his lesson too

 

[theyoungest]

Well, Menchov didn't fall, that's two days in a row, perhaps in 10 years Gesink has learned his lesson too

Menchov is looking incredibly focused and determined... a bit like in the 2009 Giro.

 

[mastersracer]

Armstrong panicked realizing that his big day wasn't happening after Contador bridged up, and chose a poor line in desparation to gain some time that caused his flat. Nobody but himself to blame. His bad luck was precipitated by his own panic. He definitely has a lot to learn.

yeah, I think Armstrong will be a decent rider once he gets some experience (the comments on this board keep getting dumber and dumber).

 

[hrotha]

Hmmm. Did 33 riders not start/not finish today? Whoa.

 

[Anonymous]

Armstrong panicked realizing that his big day wasn't happening after Contador bridged up, and chose a poor line in desparation to gain some time that caused his flat. Nobody but himself to blame. His bad luck was precipitated by his own panic. He definitely has a lot to learn.

Funny, but now that you mention it, you are exactly right. He went left to put some pressure on, and that is when he flatted. Dropped back. It was his fault. He went into the tracks and off the crown. Oh well.

 

[Carlo Algatrensig]

Well, Menchov didn't fall, that's two days in a row, perhaps in 10 years Gesink has learned his lesson too

I was expecting to see menchov bin it today. When I saw a Rabobank rider crashed into a hedge my first instinct was that it must have been Menchov but I was certainly impressed with him coming in with the second group which was far better than I was expecting.

 

[Anonymous]

Funny, but now that you mention it, you are exactly right. He went left to put some pressure on, and that is when he flatted. Dropped back. It was his fault. He went into the tracks and off the crown. Oh well.

You would think for all his yapping he would have known enough to stay off the flint track.

 

[Anonymous]

yeah, I think Armstrong will be a decent rider once he gets some experience (the comments on this board keep getting dumber and dumber).

You are counting your post, correct? I mean, Armstrong did go off the crown on a cobbled section to try and drop Contador. He has nobody to blame but himself. He still has a lot to learn.

 

[Liquigas]

Menchov is looking great

 

[Anonymous]

Well, Menchov didn't fall, that's two days in a row, perhaps in 10 years Gesink has learned his lesson too

Yea, you'd think they would hire a Hollywood stuntman to come in and teach Rabo how to fall and roll so that you don't get hurt.

 

[Francois the Postman]

Sure, but this was the third day in a row of hard racing followed by another 17. That ain´t easy or light in anyone´s book.

The claim I responded too was that today's stage had all the drama of Paris-Roubaix. By someone who knows better. Got probably a bit excited that a Tour stage was worth watching

I never said that today wasn't a tough day in a 3 week stage race for riders who aren't used to it, or often aren't build for it.

Glad an early Tour stage actually did what it was meant to do, as it certainly helps with setting up a more interesting table setting for the latter part than last year's efforts accomplished (and various years before that).

But I agree with many here, this was far too entertaining for the Tour. It's a disgrace it got included in the greatest show on earth. There is no space for this northern French roads nonsense in the biggest sport showcase that we have. Especially in one in which the organisers each year spend months figuring out how to offer some sort of terrain balance that gets the greatest all-rounder on top, not the best single terrain specialist who was kept safely out of (his particular) harms way (but the preferred play of garden of others). Cobbles, quite rightly, aren't real French roads that should feature for 13.2km (especially those point two) out of 3642.

And that's exactly why they didn't send this bunch across the worst that PR had to offer. That's why this was appropriate instead of inappropriate.

Melo Velo is right in one respect, the drama that was removed by avoiding the worst of PR was partly regained at the other end by having less capable riders tackle it, all of who had to make it to the end too. It sure was entertaining. But all the drama? Over a handful of kms on a dry day. Nah. Not even close.

 

[Ferminal]

Can we get off the stupid Armstrong bickering (there's a topic for that ) and leave this to the riders who shone today.

Not to mention Chavanel...

 

[Melatonin]

You are counting your post, correct? I mean, Armstrong did go off the crown on a cobbled section to try and drop Contador. He has nobody to blame but himself. He still has a lot to learn.

No what makes it worse is they were about to connect with the Cancellara group. AC's group still had not bridged the gap, even though AC was also riding in the mud.

I was delighted when Armstrong punctured. I think this is the best way he can be beaten - through bad luck rather than a straight cycling fight.

I was dancing around the room when I saw it happen. I love cycling.

 

[Anonymous]

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.

I suspect that he will shortly be diagnosed with an intestinal problem that has been bothering him for a few weeks - he will have to - with much sadness - leave the Tour to concentrate on getting better.

 

[Melatonin]

Can we get off the stupid Armstrong bickering (there's a topic for that ) and leave this to the riders who shone today.

Not to mention Chavanel...

No, this is a great opportunity to attack Armstrong's stupid fans and gloat that he had bad luck today. This is allowed in the forum.

 

[guncha]

Great stage. When there are no cobbles people complain that first week lacks action. When there are cobbles people complain that GC guys are eliminated.
The race is very open before the mountains; actually it is more open in comparison to 2009 when a lot of contenders were destroyed in TTT.
It was interesting that Vino didn't wait for AC at the end. It was said yesterday in Russian Eurosport that Vino will have a freedom to attack if he felt good.

 

[Anonymous]

No what makes it worse is they were about to connect with the Cancellara group. AC's group still had not bridged the gap, even though AC was also riding in the mud.

I was delighted when Armstrong punctured. I think this is the best way he can be beaten - through bad luck rather than a straight cycling fight.

I was dancing around the room when I saw it happen. I love cycling.

No, AC was back in the group and had bridged himself. You obviously were watching a Michelob commercial thinking it was the race. Armstrong punctured and that is part of the game. I was not wishing for it and would love to see a battle for the lead. However, the narrative to this point has been about how much time The Uniballer would put into his rivals on this stage because of his extensive experience with cobbles and how much better he would be on them. Fact is, that didn't happen. Fact is, Contador rode more strongly.

 

[DamonAlbarn]

My take in brief:

Lance: Looked very very strong but suffered due to bad luck. However! Did any one notice he was isolated very unlike when he was in his prime? Back then he was usually protected. Looked incredibly strong but Popovich as an exception, he was on his one.

G. Thomas: What a prospect! He's going to be huge.

Evans: Wow, didn't expect him to sit with the experts/specialists and obviously, being very tactical shrewd started to pull.

Andy S: THE surprise of the day.

Chavanel: That lad deserved better, he did fantastically but was very unlucky. Such a shame for a very good rider, he should have retained the maillot jaune for a few more days.

Jens Voigt: He can really hurt people when he go on one of his maniac crusades.

Breschel: What a talent he is, Riis pinpointed him as one of the best in the World riding the cobbles, and he did his job very well before Cancellara took over.

Contador: His rear tire punctured end of discussion. He did however have some problems before that, but was strangely on his own for the majority of the race?!?

Vino: He's definitely back!

Edit: I forgot about Thor, how could I? he' clearly in superb form and also showed that yesterday. Special mention also for Cavendish who was sitting with the best for quite a while.

 

[kjetilraknerud]

Hmmm. Did 33 riders not start/not finish today? Whoa.

The official TdF page shows 189 riders finished today, so CN has probably missed something.

 

[El Imbatido]

Great stage. When there are no cobbles people complain that first week lacks action. When there are cobbles people complain that GC guys are eliminated.
The race is very open before the mountains; actually it is more open in comparison to 2009 when a lot of contenders were destroyed in TTT.
It was interesting that Vino didn't wait for AC at the end. It was said yesterday in Russian Eurosport that Vino will have a freedom to attack if he felt good.

Contador punctured. Confirmed by Contador, International Eurosport and the pictures showing Contador crossing the line with a deflated back rear