High speeds, strong winds, big crashes
Stage 1 - Rohan Dennis destroyed the field and the record for average speed on a Tour de France time trial, to take the first yellow jersey.
Stage 2 - Carnage, the stage looked pancake flat on the profile, but was also exposed to the elements, mainly the wind, but also some rain. Andre Greipel prevailed in the sprint, as Cavendish opened up too early. Quintana, Nibali, Pinot and Valverde were the big losers losing time on GC.
Cancellara took the yellow jersey courtesy of 3rd place and the 4 bonus seconds.
Stage 3 - The Wall of Huy (pronounced hWee).
It wasn't the wall that did the damage, but the anticipation of the Wall, as the high speed jostling, lead to a big crash, which was resulted in another crash, as riders looked back. Cancellara bravely soldiered on, but with a broken vertebrae, he packed in at the end of the day.
Once they hit the Huy the GC contenders came to the fore, with Joaquin Rodriguez winning from Chris Froome, who took the yellow jersey.
Stage 4 - The cobbles
The cobbles caused carnage 1 year ago, but it was not so bad on stage 4, the weather was better and a headwind prevented the concerted attacks from Vincenzo Nibali, from having an effect.
Tony Martin attacked at the end and time trialled to the end, to take the yellow jersey from Chris Froome.
Stage 5 - Sprint
The first time all the sprinters were together, all eyes were on Greipel and Cavendish. Cavendish jumped too soon, Greipel came through, and just pipped the fast finishing Sagan.
Daniel Tekelehaimanot took the polka dot jersey after a breakaway.
Stage 6 - A climb and a crash
Zdenek Stybar won the stage with a late attack on the steep sharp last climb. However, the big news was the crash in the last kilometre, where Tony Martin, clipped a wheel and fell onto Warren Barguil, who fell onto Nibali, who nudged Froome, who managed to stay up. If the dominoes weren't enough, Tejay Van Garderen and Quintana both fell on top, it was a giant GC bundle.
The net result was a broken collarbone for Martin and the yellow jersey returning again to Chris Froome.
Stage 7 - Cav King again
Another sprint stage, but finally Cavendish overcame Greipel, with a later sprint, on an uphill ramp.
This gave Etixx Quick Step their 3rd stage as well as a couple of yellow jerseys.
The next week we have the team time trial and hit the Pyrenees where the GC fireworks really begin.
No comments:
Post a Comment