Cobbles & Rain & Crashes! Oh My!
Wowsers what a stage. Thankfully they let me have it on at work, although it was very difficult to concentrate on my work!
People lost time left right & centre, & if we're honest there were more crashes on the roads before they even got to the cobbles, most of the cobbled crashes they tended to end up in the mud/ditches at the side of the road which were a lot softer than normal! Makes me wish for a muddy Paris-Roubaix, although I'd prefer it if it wasn't raining when I go to watch next year.
The GC was thrown wide open, but Astana look good at the moment with a 1-2, are they trying to pull a Sky? But Berto & Valverde are close enough if Nibali climbs like he did in the Dauphine, cause you know Jakob will have to stay with him rather than go for it himself.
Can't wait for the rest of the Tour as so many guys have lost loads of time, I believe only 44 riders are within 10 minutes of Nibbles, that everyone is gonna be going for breakaways & stage wins.
Hope there was a lot of water available at the finish cause the riders were filthy!!! And I feel for whoever has to wash today's kits & bikes!
Tour abandons count - have to say despite the crashes only 5 abandons to date, but they include 2 former Tour champions & a former World champion, & 3 required surgery.
Cavendish - required shoulder surgery
Modolo - illness
A Schleck - required knee surgery, ruptured ligaments etc
Henderson - required knee surgery
Froome - unknown exact injuries but possible fractured wrist
Dopey Cav post surgery, guess we'll have to wait & see how he recovers are to whether its the Vuelta or Tour of Britain for him. Froome looks to be going to the Vuelta (where I though Brad might be meant to be riding to prepare for Worlds, but I could be wrong). The Vuelta field could be wuite strong compared to recent years!!
Andy, poor Andy, his injury sounds horrible, so I hope all those people who thought he just couldn't be bothered feel bad! I'm amazed he finished the stage, let alone thought about starting the next one! Wonder when, or even if, we'll see him back. Trouble is, it could be next spring before he's ready to race again, & unfortunately his contract expires at the end of the year & off recent results who'll sign him? Or will Trek give an extension once they know the prognosis even if only a year to see if he can do anything? Such a shame, cause there was so much promise, but then came Bruyneel, the hip fracture & now this.
Can't remember a recent Tour certainly where the big names crashed out so early! And others lost loads of time, certainly gonna make the mountains interesting & could see some new names rise to the fore!
In another note - I found this video, its basically just a quick Jakob interview about this years Tour.
And now sleep time, apparently standing in the rain on Monday has side effects & what I though was just hayfever feels like its now developing into a cold :(
People lost time left right & centre, & if we're honest there were more crashes on the roads before they even got to the cobbles, most of the cobbled crashes they tended to end up in the mud/ditches at the side of the road which were a lot softer than normal! Makes me wish for a muddy Paris-Roubaix, although I'd prefer it if it wasn't raining when I go to watch next year.
The GC was thrown wide open, but Astana look good at the moment with a 1-2, are they trying to pull a Sky? But Berto & Valverde are close enough if Nibali climbs like he did in the Dauphine, cause you know Jakob will have to stay with him rather than go for it himself.
Can't wait for the rest of the Tour as so many guys have lost loads of time, I believe only 44 riders are within 10 minutes of Nibbles, that everyone is gonna be going for breakaways & stage wins.
Hope there was a lot of water available at the finish cause the riders were filthy!!! And I feel for whoever has to wash today's kits & bikes!
Tour abandons count - have to say despite the crashes only 5 abandons to date, but they include 2 former Tour champions & a former World champion, & 3 required surgery.
Cavendish - required shoulder surgery
Modolo - illness
A Schleck - required knee surgery, ruptured ligaments etc
Henderson - required knee surgery
Froome - unknown exact injuries but possible fractured wrist
Dopey Cav post surgery, guess we'll have to wait & see how he recovers are to whether its the Vuelta or Tour of Britain for him. Froome looks to be going to the Vuelta (where I though Brad might be meant to be riding to prepare for Worlds, but I could be wrong). The Vuelta field could be wuite strong compared to recent years!!
Andy, poor Andy, his injury sounds horrible, so I hope all those people who thought he just couldn't be bothered feel bad! I'm amazed he finished the stage, let alone thought about starting the next one! Wonder when, or even if, we'll see him back. Trouble is, it could be next spring before he's ready to race again, & unfortunately his contract expires at the end of the year & off recent results who'll sign him? Or will Trek give an extension once they know the prognosis even if only a year to see if he can do anything? Such a shame, cause there was so much promise, but then came Bruyneel, the hip fracture & now this.
Can't remember a recent Tour certainly where the big names crashed out so early! And others lost loads of time, certainly gonna make the mountains interesting & could see some new names rise to the fore!
In another note - I found this video, its basically just a quick Jakob interview about this years Tour.
And now sleep time, apparently standing in the rain on Monday has side effects & what I though was just hayfever feels like its now developing into a cold :(