16:21 - Renshaw: “A Chance To Catch Up With Friends...”
Mark Renshaw didn’t expect to find himself in Nice, eating ice cream on the day that the Tour edges closer to the Pyrenees. “I wish I was still there,” the Australian recently told LeTour.fr. “But that’s life. I’m taking the chance to catch up with a few friends.” He was thrown out of the Tour after stage 11 after throwing a few headbutts at Julian Dean in the closing kilometer. “I watched yesterday’s stage and I’m still trying to work out why Cervelo was working so hard...”
16:18 - Renshaw’s Take On Setting Up The Sprint...
How does the lead-out specialist think Mark Cavendish will cope without his help? “He’ll be fine. The cat-three at the end will be hard but he can manage it. “I’m sure they would have had a meeting and I reckon the instruction will be for ‘Cav’ to stick with Thor and follow him. But they’ll also have a plan for a lead-out and we should see ‘Bernie’ [Eisel] stepping into the role I had until a few days ago.”
16:16 - Catching Up With Renshaw
LeTour.fr has just spoken with Mark Renshaw of the HTC-Columbia team to find out how he’s finding watching the Tour, instead of preparing to lead Mark Cavendish out in what looks certain to be a sprint finish. “I’m not watching it actually,” said the Australian. “I’m in Nice, catching up with a few friends. I’m actually just eating an ice cream at a café but I might see if I can find a television to watch the finish.”
25 km to go, but only ~16-18 to the start of the climb up Côte de Saint-Ferréol
16:44 - 25km To Go
The leaders are less than 25km from the finish. Their advantage is just 40”.
16:38 - Which Of The Three Will Attack...?
Sylvain Chavanel is doing the most work in the lead group. The peloton is enjoying a favorable wind and is closing in on the escapees quickly. With the bunch just 40” behind, surely one of the leaders will lash out with an attack soon. Don’t be surprised if it’s Mr Aggression, Chavanel - loves to attack and he’s shaping up for a surge right now...
16:36 - Lead Down To 55”
The sprint teams are likely to get their way today. With 32km to go, the advantage of the three escapees has been reduced to just 55”. The maximum gain for Chavanel, Flecha and Fedrigo was 6’00” at 31km.