Tour de France - Stage 3, Mon Jul 1, Ajaccio - Calvi, **Unmasked Spoilers**

dastardly00

Stage 3, Ajaccio - Calvi, 145.5km

The route today is similar to stage 2: short and very bumpy. And if it turns out like yesterday's stage, then there could be some massive time gaps in the lower half of the GC as the peloton depart Corsica.

The stage starts with the Cat. 4 climb of Col de San Bastiano (3.4km @4.6%), so expect some sort of a breakaway to form. But with the single intermediate sprint located just 16.5km from the summit of that climb, the sprinter's teams will probably pull back any riders ahead of the peloton. The Cat. 3 climbs of Col de San Martino (7.5km @ 5.4%) and Côte de Porto (2km @ 6.4%) come halfway during the stage, and it will most likely be here that the grupetto forms.

The final categorised climb of the day, the Col de Marsolino, begins with 17km to go. It's only 3.3 km long, but has an average gradient of 8.3%. The road is quite narrow so expect the tempo to be quite high, with all the main GC guys wanting to be at the front, along with riders who are going for the stage win.

Cannondale didn't have enough riders in the main peloton to close down the small breakaway during yesterday's stage, but I think they'll perform better today. Sagan couldn't catch Jan Bakelants yesterday, but he was by far the best of the 'sprinters' that were fighting for the win. He'll face stiff competition from the likes of Edvald Boasson Hagen and Daryl Impey, but I think Sagan will win the stage. In terms of somebody winning from a breakaway, Chavanel and Tommy Voecklar both attacked at different times yesterday, so I expect them to try something similar today.






Last kilometre:


Stage betting: P Sagan 2/1, A Valverde 12/1, S Chavanel 14/1.

Live TV coverage on Eurosport1 from 11.30pm, and ITV4 from 1pm.
Highlights on Eurosport1 at 7pm, Eurosport2 at 6pm and 9pm, ITV4 at 7pm, and TG4 at 9.30pm.

Live text-ticker will be here.

manafana

A tiny .5% rise at the end, could be won over top but I can't say i have found much on what the downhill from the top is like, the final 2km of the climb are the steepest reaching nearly 10%.

Sagan did lack much support for it today and that could be the risk again for him tomorrow Moser is non existent here.

Bakelants also has a battle to stay into yellow, any time gap between him and the stage winner changes tye jersey once again.

Betting wise Sagan is favourite my picks:

Kwiakotowski or Vichot both looked in good shape today.

Zyzz

Never betted in my life..

Anyone made good money yet?

Brian?

I reckon Chavanel is worth a punt.

manafana

Brian? wrote: »

I reckon Chavanel is worth a punt.

had his go yesterday really hard see him pushing again today. Their are probably few good descenders who will take an interest

shamcfc

I think Tommy Voeckler has a good chance to win today, First two days have been excellent hopefully it will continue today

RobFowl

shamcfc wrote: »

I think Tommy Voeckler has a good chance to win today, First two days have been excellent hopefully it will continue today

The bus and the dog were the most memorable moments so far :cool:

Chips Lovell

The shirtless man is also in the running.

Ole Rodrigo

RobFowl wrote: »

The bus and the dog were the most memorable moments so far :cool:

I think SKs comment ' the dog did well to get out of the way ' was the highlight so far. Everyone was performing well, and the dog was no exception. :pac:

Ole Rodrigo

ror_74 wrote: »

I think SKs comment ' the dog did well to get out of the way ' was the highlight so far. Everyone was performing well, and the dog was no exception. :pac:

Everyone except shirtless running man, clearly had not put in the work.

ThisRegard

Vladimir Kurtains wrote: »

The shirtless man is also in the running.

He looked like he took a nasty twist or sprain when his IQ reducer fell off. I think his signing in this morning may be in doubt, I think he has a meeting with his medical staff an hour before start.

Morrisseeee

Mmmmmm.........3.3km @ 8.1% = very interesting, Froome had a go yesterday on a 1km climb, what's he gonna do on a 3km climb? Also what are other teams going to try, ie. Garmin, play the old 1-2, keep the Sky train under pressure ?!
Will Contador/Purito give it a lash ? I suppose the 12km afterwards might put some of the GC boys off though. Should be interesting anyways.
Here's the climb on Strava, I think.

Inquitus

Morrisseeee wrote: »

Mmmmmm.........3.3km @ 8.1% = very interesting, Froome had a go yesterday on a 1km climb, what's he gonna do on a 3km climb? Also what are other teams going to try, ie. Garmin, play the old 1-2, keep the Sky train under pressure ?!
Will Contador/Purito give it a lash ? I suppose the 12km afterwards might put some of the GC boys off though. Should be interesting anyways.
Here's the climb on Strava, I think.

12km is too far to the finish I think. I would expect some action though, the Yellow jersey is up for grabs to anyone who's +1s who can gap the peleton.

Darkglasses

Mike Smith reported earlier that Geraint Thomas discovered last night that he has a hairline fracture in his pelvis. Explains why he looks in so much pain today. Can't be long before he abandons.

Dr. Bre

there goes sky chances of winning the team comp then if thomas goes

RobFowl

Darkglasses wrote: »

Mike Smith reported earlier that Geraint Thomas discovered last night that he has a hairline fracture in his pelvis. Explains why he looks in so much pain today. Can't be long before he abandons.

TBH if he has a hairline fracture then his team Doc should have pulled him from the race.
Riding away with an injury like that delays healing and can cause long term damage.

ThisRegard

RobFowl wrote: »

TBH if he has a hairline fracture then his team Doc should have pulled him from the race.
Riding away with an injury like that delays healing and can cause long term damage.

On his first visit to hospital they didn't spot anything. Popped back to the hotel and he still wasn't right so went back to the hospital again and they spotted it then. He's been getting a bit of attention from the doctor throughout the day.

Darkglasses

RobFowl wrote: »

TBH if he has a hairline fracture then his team Doc should have pulled him from the race.
Riding away with an injury like that delays healing and can cause long term damage.

Yes fully agree. Basically the same story as Tony Martin yesterday really. Not nice to watch GT struggle along at the back.

RobFowl

ThisRegard wrote: »

He's been getting a bit of attention from the doctor throughout the day.

As a rule of thumb the more he sees the Doctor the less likely it is he should still be racing.
Stand over my comments, if he has a fractured pelvis he simply should not be racing.

Morrisseeee

Especially with a TTT to come tomorrow, ouch !!

ThisRegard

RobFowl wrote: »

As a rule of thumb the more he sees the Doctor the less likely it is he should still be racing.
Stand over my comments, if he has a fractured pelvis he simply should not be racing.

Oh I'm not disagreeing, just giving a bit of history and what's currently happening.

manafana

Darkglasses wrote: »

Yes fully agree. Basically the same story as Tony Martin yesterday really. Not nice to watch GT struggle along at the back.

martin doesnt have an injurys while he might be mentally bit shocked and cut up he doesnt have any bones that need healing.

I have hurt my pelvis before not to same level as thomas and riding was pretty damn painful.

Darkglasses

manafana wrote: »

martin doesnt have an injurys while he might be mentally bit shocked and cut up he doesnt have any bones that need healing.

I have hurt my pelvis before not to same level as thomas and riding was pretty damn painful.

He got a bruised lung and more seriously a concussion, and lost consciousness on the team bus after the stage.

I'm not sure whether you knew that already, but if you did and don't regard it as an injury and as being mentally shocked I suggest checking out the nasty short term and long term side effects of concussion.

dastardly00

Cav, Kittel, Greipel etc. are all out the back of the peloton.

Saxo-Tinkoff are appearing at the front of the peloton every now and again, I'd say Bertie wants to be at the very front of the group when the final Cat. 2 climb begins.

dastardly00

Simon Gerrans beats Peter Sagan by less than half a wheel.

MPFG

dastardly00 wrote: »

Simon Gerrans beats Peter Sagan by less than half a wheel.

Another great stage .....love Simon Gerrans and also a very big fan of Sylvan Chavennel

manafana

Darkglasses wrote: »

He got a bruised lung and more seriously a concussion, and lost consciousness on the team bus after the stage.

I'm not sure whether you knew that already, but if you did and don't regard it as an injury and as being mentally shocked I suggest checking out the nasty short term and long term side effects of concussion.

the concussion was rumour, he didnt have a concussion from what i heard. He fainted due to mixture of dehyrdation and shock, happened me when i went inside after doing my hamstring so could happen to him

i know plenty about concussion from the nfl though

godtabh

That was a great finish.

A lot of lads tried to jump and then just seemed to "give up". Did they jump to early and just give in or is there something more behind it?

dastardly00

Rein Taaramae and Thomas De Gendt lost time again today.

The big surprise is Robert Gesink losing 8'26" :eek:

Dr. Bre

is it a surprise gesink lost time haha! hes always talked up for a grand tour..

MPFG

dastardly00 wrote: »

Rein Taaramae and Thomas De Gendt lost time again today.

The big surprise is Robert Gesink losing 8'26" :eek:

Strange about Gesink .....unless he has decided that as he is not team leader that he is better conserving energy for support and a stage win....

All this loss of time in some would be GC contenders is a bit weird so early on

How's about Cav being sick...and Tony Martin recovering from the crash
And two sky roders Thomas and Stanard suffering fromt eh crash and EBH didn't look too good on the climb today

Makes one wonder about TTT tomorrow.....but I am sure you will cover that in your stage set up Dastardly

D3PO

MPFG wrote: »

Makes one wonder about TTT tomorrow.....but I am sure you will cover that in your stage set up Dastardly

Who knows maybe a Garmin win and Dan Martin in Yellow :P

Gesink has looks pretty poor all year bar the queens stage at the Volta a Catalyuna so not that big a surprise plus hes not the team leader so better to save energy and go stage hunting for him id suppose.

manwithaplan

D3PO wrote: »

Who knows maybe a Garmin win and Dan Martin in Yellow :P

If Garmin win the TTT, David Millar would go into yellow. To be honest, it might be better for Dan if he's not on the team having to defend the yellow jersey, even if he is somewhat protected. A second or two off the winning team (preferably not Sky, Saxobank, BMC or Katusha - am I forgetting any GC contenders?) would do nicely.

Edit - just realised my logic fail - let the GC contenders' teams at it!

Darkglasses

manafana wrote: »

the concussion was rumour, he didnt have a concussion from what i heard. He fainted due to mixture of dehyrdation and shock, happened me when i went inside after doing my hamstring so could happen to him

i know plenty about concussion from the nfl though

Where did you hear that it was a rumour? Seems to be widespread agreement, velonation have a quote from the team - http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/14871/Tour-de-France-Tony-Martin-down-but-not-out.aspx

“The CT scan excluded fractures,” said his team in a communication. “However, he has a concussion and a contusion on his left lung. He also has soft tissue damages on his hip, chest, left knee and shoulder, and also on his back. Furthermore, he has a very deep wound 5cm wide on his left elbow that reaches his muscles, which causes a lot of pain and a problem moving his arm.”

And the OPQS spokesman didn't deny it to Cyclingnews

Cyclingnews then asked about Martin’s concussion, which could have left the rider unable to start.

“The health of our riders is the most important thing. The team doctor said he can start though.”

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tour-de-france-tony-martin-will-start-stage-2

dastardly00

A quick bit of gooogling tells me that Gesink crashed out of the Dutch championship last weekend, and that Bauke Mollema is team leader of Belkin. So that kind of explains why Gesink lost so much time today.

D3PO

manwithaplan wrote: »

If Garmin win the TTT, David Millar would go into yellow. !

Maybe you missed the tongue in cheek smiley :P

plus whos to say millar would not be dropped in the TTT and finish with a different time than the top 4 :P

elduggo

D3PO wrote: »

plus whos to say millar would not be dropped in the TTT and finish with a different time than the top 4 :P

dropped? seriously?

Craig06

Highly unlikely. Especially with the form he's in. I'd expect him to be putting down the pace.

happytramp

Craig06 wrote: »

Highly unlikely. Especially with the form he's in. I'd expect him to be putting down the pace.

Now Dan Martin on the other hand........

manafana

Craig06 wrote: »

Highly unlikely. Especially with the form he's in. I'd expect him to be putting down the pace.

miller has said he put in big work to get to the tour.

Sorry about the Chav comment i will stand corrected on a concussion being diagnosed.

D3PO

elduggo wrote: »

dropped? seriously?

you guys really need to learn what the tongue in cheek smiley represents....