Posted on 07/03/2006 10:54:16 PM PDT by nutmeg
Stage 3 - Tuesday, July 4: Esch-sur-Alzette - Valkenburg (Netherlands), 216 km
Stage 3 will be like a classics cross between Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Amstel Gold as it winds north through the Belgian Ardennes and into the hilly southeast corner of the Netherlands to finish atop the Cauberg climb as in the Amstel Gold classics. If it comes down to a front group, look for names like DiLuca, Dutch champ Boogerd, Valverde and Italian champ Bettini to take the honors.
Valverde out of the race?!?
He is down.
Looks bad. Might be a broken collar bone.
Another favourite could be out.
Personally, I thought he had a great shot even before Basso and Ullrich were withdrawn. After they were gone he seemed like a big favorite to me. Wow!
He was taken away on a strecher in an ambulance.
13 kilometers to go.
The peloton is 1.20 behind.
Apperently O'Grady has suffered a crash as well.
Yup, O'Grady is off the back. I didn't see what happened.
Impressive win by Kessler.
It would almost have been too heartbreaking for him to get caught for the second day in a row :-)
I think Hushovd lost the yellow jersey to Boonen.
That was a perfectly-timed move by Kessler. And it looks like O'Grady is still out on the course...
Hincapie takes over the yellow again on the strength of his time bonus in the penultimate sprint.
Ooops, never mind, the letour.fr site went wacky on me (or I went wacky on me :)
Hi might take it on Saturday. Perhaps you are just getting ahead of yourself ;-)
LOL, thanks! ;>)
I missed it (obviously :), what happened w/ Thor, did his group lose contact w/ Hincapie's and thus lose the 2"? Good race, 'course, it's not as if any of these sprinters are going to be around after the 1st rwal mountain stages....
Yeah, Thor simply could not keep up in the last climb
Hopefully he can come back tomorrow.
It would be nice with a stage win sometime before the mountains :-)
BTW: Strong showing by Boonen. Apperently he managed to sprint to a fourth place on a flat tire. Well deserved Yellow for him.
Cheers.
Saturday will be interesting, as the 1st real ITT always is. Should be interesting to see how much time the climbers lose in the TT...
I think you're right. I was fearful that this year's tour would be a total snoozefest with so many of the heavy-weights out of the running. But, it's the opposite, isn't it? I guess lots of riders now justifiably see themselves as having a chance on the podium, so they seem to be more agressive with the risk-taking than they might have been when the winner, second & third had essentially been decided before the start of the prologue in years past. Certainly we seem to be seeing more blood on the pavement this year.I'll be darned if there isn't actually more drama, which helps spice up the narrative and shine the spotlight out of the lesser-known (to me at least) "players".(I still miss seeing Jan & Ivan though.I think I'll especially miss 'em in the mtns.)
This may be the tour where the last one standing wins. Brings to the mind just how lucky Lance was to get 7 in a row - you can be at the top of your form and taken out entirely by the rookie or inattentive mistake of someone else. Too bad, by all accounts Valverde is a one of the good ones off the bike as well.
The real looser in that bunch was Vino - he also had a shot, and was not accused of anything.
Every year it takes me about a week to get beyond my annoyance at Bob Roll's decades long, moronic gag, "Tour DAY France."
Get over it, Bob. It ain't funny anymore. I don't mind insulting the frogs a little but anything gets tired after so much repetition.
I know people love him because he has paid a few dues as a pro cyclist (of no huge distinction) and he throws in some interesting and unconventional insights from time to time.
But "Tour DAY France" twenty times a day is stuck on stupid!
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