Posted on 07/02/2010 11:30:15 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Cyclists practice on the Paris-Roubaix course in April 2010
A Rough Road
Of the seven secteurs of cobblestoned roads the riders will face on Stage 3, four are used in the legendary Paris-Roubaix. The organizer uses length and the quality of the surface to rank secteurs from one to five stars in terms of difficulty, five being the hardest. Here’s a look at the four crucial sections in this year’s Tour:
1: Sars-et-Rosieres
Length: 2.4km
Difficulty: 3 stars
Distance from end of secteur to finish: 27.5
Notes: The first of the Roubaix secteurs, Sars-et-Rosieres is not difficult by the standards of that race, but will be a rough introduction for Tour riders who’ve never ridden cobbles before. The most nerve-wracking aspect, however, will likely be the roughly 10km of racing leading up to the cobbles, as riders fight for position. It’s especially crucial here because the Sars-et-Rosieres secteur and the one after it are separated by just 500 meters of pavement. But for that brief respite, the riders are looking at almost five kilometers, or 3.1 miles, of cobbles.
2: Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes
Length: 2.5km
Difficulty: 3 stars
Distance from end of secteur to finish: 24.5km
Notes: This secteur is fairly well-maintained, but has three 90-degree corners to it. The braking and acceleration at the front of the pack in corners is amplified at the back (known as the accordion effect) and if a rider is not well-positioned in the front of the pack, could find himself far behind even if he stays upright.
3: Wandignies-Hamage
Length: 3.7km
Difficulty: 3 Stars
Distance from end of secteur to finish: 18km
Notes: Generally considered one of the better-maintained sections of cobbles, the primary difficulty here is simply its length – it’s longer than almost any other single secteur used in Paris-Roubaix and, for any rider who is tired or makes a mistake, the unrelenting length of it will make it very difficult to catch back up.
4: Haveluy
Length: 2.3km
Difficulty: 4 stars
Distance from end of secteur to finish: 10km
Notes: The most difficult secteur in the Tour stage, it’s also the last and could see lots of action. There’s a slight rise to its opening stretches, but the primary difficulty will be the variability of surface. The cobbles switch from fairly tight-packed and uniform to uneven spacing and height. That will break up riders’ rhythm and could produce gaps or crashes.
From last page of Bicycling Magazine: Stage 3 Cobbles Promise Chaos - An unorthodox stage could alter the fortunes of some overall contenders.
Finally going to be able to follow along after being out of town for the 4th.
I wish I had seen yesterday’s after every rider I follow on Twitter said something about crashing.
14:04 - Seven Nations Lose One Rider Each
The seven riders who have quit the 2010 Tour are from seven nations:
Spain lost Florencio (CTT) before the prologue
Switzerland lost Frank (BMC) after the prologue
Portugal lost Cardoso (FOT) after the prologue
Australia lost Hansen (THR) after stage 1
France lost Delage (OLO) during stage 2
Netherlands lost Terpstra (MRM) before stage 3
USA lost Vande Velde (GRM) before stage 3
There are now 191 riders in the race.
Such a shame about Vande Velde, but he was weakened after his previous injuries. It's surprising that more weren't scratched after the last 2 days' crashes.
We’ll see haw many get scratched today - 1 down already (Le Lay) and the leaders are just approaching the first cobbles.
Oh yeah...
Following along on the Le Tour site, it seems like we are in for a battle at the end of this.
Very much so, Mr. Blonde, after the cobblestones!
2 more stretches in BE to go, then 4 in France.
30 km left, 4 secteurs of pave to go...
Carnage!! Frank Schleck is out, apparently.
I hope he is OK. Schlecks are some of my favorites.
Lance punctures, riding in left gutter and was making a major move! :<(
17:14 - The Current Situation
Cancellara’s group was 30” behind Hesjedal with 15km to go. In this posse was Hushovd, Andy, Cadel, Gerraint, and Fabian. The Contador group was at 50”. Armstrong was at 1’40” after puncturing on the fifth sector of pave.
Bummer. Looks like Contador is making a move now. Come on Lance and Popo, close some ground.
Lance riding alone....I bet he has some words with his team after this stage.
Thor! Thor! Thor! Thor! Thor! ;>)
Overall after Stage 3:
1. CANCELLARA Fabian 13 TEAM SAXO BANK 14h 54’ 00”
2. THOMAS Geraint 39 SKY PRO CYCLING 14h 54’ 23” + 00’ 23”
3. EVANS Cadel 121 BMC RACING TEAM 14h 54’ 39” + 00’ 39”
4. HESJEDAL Ryder 54 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 14h 54’ 46” + 00’ 46”
5. CHAVANEL Sylvain 131 QUICK STEP 14h 55’ 01” + 01’ 01”
6. SCHLECK Andy 11 TEAM SAXO BANK 14h 55’ 09” + 01’ 09”
7. HUSHOVD Thor 95 CERVELO TEST TEAM 14h 55’ 19” + 01’ 19”
8. VINOKOUROV Alexandre 9 ASTANA 14h 55’ 31” + 01’ 31”
9. CONTADOR Alberto 1 ASTANA 14h 55’ 40” + 01’ 40”
10. VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen 101 OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 14h 55’ 42” + 01’ 42”
Overall Stage 3, next 20 riders.
Lance at #18, 2:30 out of 1st, 50” behind Contador. Few real GC contenders ahead of Lance, and certainly none out of reach.
This was a day for the specialists.
11. ROCHE Nicolas 81 AG2R LA MONDIALE 14h 55’ 42” + 01’ 42”
12. VAN SUMMEREN Johan 58 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 14h 55’ 47” + 01’ 47”
13. MENCHOV Denis 191 RABOBANK 14h 55’ 49” + 01’ 49”
14. WIGGINS Bradley 31 SKY PRO CYCLING 14h 55’ 49” + 01’ 49”
15. MILLAR David 57 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 14h 56’ 06” + 02’ 06”
16. KREUZIGER Roman 44 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 14h 56’ 24” + 02’ 24”
17. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon 161 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 14h 56’ 25” + 02’ 25”
18. ARMSTRONG Lance 21 TEAM RADIOSHACK 14h 56’ 30” + 02’ 30”
19. LÖVKVIST Thomas 37 SKY PRO CYCLING 14h 56’ 34” + 02’ 34”
20. ROJAS Jose Joaquin 169 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 14h 56’ 35” + 02’ 35”
21. MARTIN Tony 115 TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA 14h 56’ 35” + 02’ 35”
22. DURAN AROCA Arkaitz 214 FOOTON-SERVETTO 14h 56’ 49” + 02’ 49”
23. MC EWEN Robbie 75 KATUSHA TEAM 14h 56’ 52” + 02’ 52”
24. LEIPHEIMER Levi 25 TEAM RADIOSHACK 14h 56’ 53” + 02’ 53”
25. MAASKANT Martijn 56 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 14h 56’ 57” + 02’ 57”
26. FUGLSANG Jakob 14 TEAM SAXO BANK 14h 56’ 58” + 02’ 58”
27. BRAJKOVIC Janez 22 TEAM RADIOSHACK 14h 57’ 00” + 03’ 00”
28. ROGERS Michael 118 TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA 14h 57’ 00” + 03’ 00”
29. KLÖDEN Andréas 24 TEAM RADIOSHACK 14h 57’ 01” + 03’ 01”
30. RIBLON Christophe 89 AG2R LA MONDIALE 14h 57’ 02” + 03’ 02”
Going to be interesting to see how Andy reacts to Frank being out. If Frank were still in, I think Andy would be sitting very good.
For Lance to have only lost 50 seconds chasing down a group that had Contador, Vino and Wiggins is impressive. To me that is a great sign for Lance if Radio Shack sticks with him in the rest of the tour.
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