subframe

Wow, Columbia-HTC did a pretty good job of putting the leadout back together after Milram tried to break it up.

daxr

There were about 40 chateaus today, I think...

littledjahn

Man this is getting dull

USAZorro

Kinda like Groundhog Day, but not dull at the finish.

SunSwingsLow

So who won? Im blocked at work from sports sites.
ps. im assuming Cavendish.

eminefes

Your assumption is correct.

SunSwingsLow

Wow, 8 victories in 2 years(half of 2 tours only). Staggering.

Whats the record, 12?

Merckx won 34 stages

Tsuru

Cav's team is pretty damn amazing. Even with the super aggressive tactics today of the other teams, cutting in, pushing around, really trying to make a go of the "climb" finish, the team stayed steady and undetered and pull Cav to the point where he could take off.

When you have a team like that pulling you, that 100 whatever climb at the end is pretty non-existent, I'd think. If there was a stage win MVP award, it should be shared by all the leadout men.

SunSwingsLow

Whos second?

littledjahn

Hinault, I believe. With 28? Something like that?

SunSwingsLow

ahhh...so cavendish has a ways to.

Maybe it was most wins by a sprinter i was thinking of with 12.

gvonne

Poor Tom. Two years ago this would have been him that we are talking about. At least he got as close as I've seen him so far. Just wait people its coming, for the next 5 or 6 months your going to see Cav's kisser on the cover of most if not all of your favorite road mags(just like Tom), then...next year he gets an injury from some simple fall like a pee break or bottle grab and has to be out half of the year. Comes back to late in the season to win any races. The next year after that his team accidentally misplaces his contract. He moves to some lame team with no train(or one that actually HAS a GC man so they could care less about sprinting). But none of this matters cause by that time he will be getting beat by the NEW Johnny on the Spot and we will all be saying "Dang THAT guys fast!". I cant wait till 2013/2014. Kidding of course(sort of).

bbattle

Cavendish could be like Zabel and keep winning for many, many years. With a leadout train like he has, why not?

Laggard

What's boring right now is that there is no one who can match his top speed. Train or no train unless they really screw up he's going to win.

Tyler F simply doesn't have Cavs top-end speed. Boonen and Thor are not pure sprinters. McEwen may give him a run for his money but again he doesn't have that top end speed nor the train that Cav has.

hammy56

If Garmin could lead him out like Columbia does Cav, Ferrar might have a chance...but no way he's coming from behind Cav and beating him.

umop ap!sdn

Zabel was a much better climber than Cav, I mean this would be Cav's first completed tour if he makes it through the alps. And Zabel did it with a mediocre pull because most of his team was working for Jan.

Tsuru

Betcha today they were gonna make a go of it, but remember, Ryder AND Christian both were in accidents and probably not 100% for a balls to the walls sprint.

justinb

I thought so too when I saw Zabriskie driving it from 20k out. I do think Garmin's best chance to get Farrar a win is to out TTT Columbia from 15+K. That would be a.) hard to pull off, b.) a lot of effort c.) maybe not wise when you have two men in the top 10GC who would have to be committed to the strategy and who probably shouldn't be mixing it up in the final Ks of a sprint stage.

Flaneur

This is the first time Cavendish has contemplated finishing. He's young and his DS will have mapped out other goals last year. Erik Zabel was able to keep contending for the Green Jersey after his best sprinting days were over, because of smarts, consistency, endurance and teamwork. Ullrich often worked for him, you may recall- but you still need the kick at the end. Cavendish has it at the moment, Zabel seldom had it towards the end but like Hushovd, Freire, McEwan and others, made his experience count, from time to time.

Flaneur

I think you're right to suggest that the Garmin sprint strategy is compromised, by having two guys in the top ten on GC. Wiggins is already prominent in the last kilometre but i feel his influence would be greater if he was lying 40th overall. I think your solution to the problem of Cavendish is a bit misguided, though. Racing in the bunch is never a TTT, it's always a coalition of competing and cooperating forces. No single team ever dictates the race from 15k out- unless they are in full panic mode. The motivating force for Columbia is that Cavendish is clearly the best finisher in this year's race. The bad news for Farrar is that with the form he has, Cavendish would probably beat him regularly from behind as well as from the front.

Suzie Green

Well I for one am not bored with the racing. I'm glued to my seat each day, never missing a moment of coverage and loving every second of it. Bike racing in this country is a back page sport and even televised coverage of flat stages is better than no coverage at all. I refuse to look a gift horse in the mouth.

It was great seeing the two break riders getting TV time for their sponsors, and I loved all the views of the castles!

My only question...where are the little kids along the sides of the roads? All the spectators seem to be adults. Are French kids in school during the summer months???

daxr

True. In 2001 they didn't even give Zabel a lead out guy and he still took 3 stages (if I remember right) and finished in green.

Dolomiti

Didn't Petacchi have this same dominance a few years ago? A great lead out team, leaving him to simply hold his speed after the last man drops off.

Tubby

Farrar had a pretty amazing jump I thought - made up about 4 bike lengths while cav was already in full sprint. Hushovd looked weaker - he only gained about a bike length while Renshaw was still leading out Cav. To his credit though, he had to accelerate quite a bit to get onto Renshaw's wheel, while Farrar was basically in the same place until he jumped.

Suzie Green

To Farrar's credit, even though he's coming in 2nd and 3rd, he is showing a lot of fast wheel to potential team sponsors. Expect him to get offers from other teams for next year after the Tour is over. You wonder if Quick Step might see the viability of dumping "Boonen The Boat Anchor" in favor of Tyler. I have no idea what Farrar's contract with Garmin might be like and if it has anything long term written in it.