19-07-2016, 23:10
The riders had a rest day today, and I had a night off last night, so here is the latest update.
Amazingly, as I predicted, Peter Sagan won Monday's stage to Berne, although Cancellara had a pretty good go at winning in his home town. Teammates Julian Alaphillipe and Tony Martin held on for most of the stage, but were caught by the peloton late on, although Martin looked like he would battle on all day if necessary. In a tremendous battling sprint finish Sagan beat Alexander Kristoff by an inch or so, mainly because instead of pedalling over the line like Kristoff, Sagan threw his bike forward just short of the line - see photo. Just like a track cyclist. No, not a trick cyclist.
![[Image: 9unptv.jpg]](http://i66.tinypic.com/9unptv.jpg)
The first 33 riders were all given the same time, meaning that the top ten in the GC race keep the same positions. Froome, Mollema, Yates, Quintana and Valverde look like the five from whom the 3 podium positions will come in Paris. Froome, although surprisingly slow in coming forward in the stage, must be odds-on favourite for the title.
Sagan could virtually be awarded the Points competition now, as he is 114 points ahead of Cavendish, with Kittel a further 63 points adrift.
There is no change in the order for the Polka-Dot jersey, Majka still leading De Gendt by 37 points. With 4 days in The Alps to come, there is a lot to ride for in this competition and third week tiredness might start to take it's toll.
The leading young rider is still Adam Yates, who heads his only realistic challenger, Louis Meintjes, by 3'03". Third placed Warren Barguil is 16'30" behind Yates.
Of course, all the assumptions above are made given the leaders avoiding accidents, illnesses and bike problems and the next 4 stages might bring all 3 for some riders. Tomorrow the Tour stays in Switzerland, taking in an intermediate sprint and 4 climbs, the last one being a long hard slog for 10.4 kms, with some gradients of over 10%, ending in a mountain top finish. Victory for the sprinters will be surviving to ride another day. Sebastien Reichenbach (no falls for him!
) might be a good shout for a Swiss win in Switzerland.
Amazingly, as I predicted, Peter Sagan won Monday's stage to Berne, although Cancellara had a pretty good go at winning in his home town. Teammates Julian Alaphillipe and Tony Martin held on for most of the stage, but were caught by the peloton late on, although Martin looked like he would battle on all day if necessary. In a tremendous battling sprint finish Sagan beat Alexander Kristoff by an inch or so, mainly because instead of pedalling over the line like Kristoff, Sagan threw his bike forward just short of the line - see photo. Just like a track cyclist. No, not a trick cyclist.
The first 33 riders were all given the same time, meaning that the top ten in the GC race keep the same positions. Froome, Mollema, Yates, Quintana and Valverde look like the five from whom the 3 podium positions will come in Paris. Froome, although surprisingly slow in coming forward in the stage, must be odds-on favourite for the title.
Sagan could virtually be awarded the Points competition now, as he is 114 points ahead of Cavendish, with Kittel a further 63 points adrift.
There is no change in the order for the Polka-Dot jersey, Majka still leading De Gendt by 37 points. With 4 days in The Alps to come, there is a lot to ride for in this competition and third week tiredness might start to take it's toll.
The leading young rider is still Adam Yates, who heads his only realistic challenger, Louis Meintjes, by 3'03". Third placed Warren Barguil is 16'30" behind Yates.
Of course, all the assumptions above are made given the leaders avoiding accidents, illnesses and bike problems and the next 4 stages might bring all 3 for some riders. Tomorrow the Tour stays in Switzerland, taking in an intermediate sprint and 4 climbs, the last one being a long hard slog for 10.4 kms, with some gradients of over 10%, ending in a mountain top finish. Victory for the sprinters will be surviving to ride another day. Sebastien Reichenbach (no falls for him!
) might be a good shout for a Swiss win in Switzerland.
Cabbage is still good for you