Yesterday stage was probably one of the most boring I've ever seen (together with the one that the riders run at last year Tour,after the discovery of l'affaire Riccò).The riders were protesting again the fact that they had to race without the radios and so the stage wasn't exciting at all.I think that radios are important for the riders' security and that,if someone wants to experiment something new,they have to ask the riders whether they want to try a new experiment.Otherwise,I think there's no point in obliging the riders to do what ASO and UCI say.
Anyway,with or without radios,4 riders decided to form a breakaway.Yesterday it was the 14th of July and so the Frenchmen really wanted to achieve a good results.Therefore,3 riders (Hupond,Vaugrenard and Dumoulin) of the breakaway were French.The intruder was Russian Ignatiev,who didn't pull a meter for a very long time.
The breakaway never gained too much time on the peloton,so at the end the peloton caught the 4 riders in a pretty easy way (even if Ignatiev ventually gave his best to try keeping few seconds of advantadge).The last rider to be caught was Hupond.
The sprint was a dangerous one,in my opinion,with lots of curves.This is always strange,'cause you always see the riders riding on long,large streets without curves,but when it's sprint time,well,the streets become narrow and full of curves.Mistére du le Tour.The sprint was won by Cavendish on Hushovd and Farrar.The Columbia's rider also managed to get the green jersey after yesterday's sprint and so,if today you see something that looks like a frog inside the peloton,don't worry:it's not a frog,it's Cavendish.
Unfortunately yesterday's stage didn't end well for Saxo Bank team:in fact Kurt-Asle Arvesen was involved in a crash early in the stage and had to be examined by the race doctor more than once.He was really suffering and at the end when the peloton's pace became faster he was dropped.After the stage the rider was brought to the hospital,where the examinations showed that the he has broken his left collarbone.
"I'm extremely disappointed by the way the Tour ends for my sake.It has been my main objective of the year and I have been riding hard to get ready for it.I had no chances of avoiding the crash and it is a very sad situation for me to see everything disappear.Naturally I wish the remaining eight riders good luck with the rest of the race”, the rider said.
The fracture is so severe that Arvesen will have to undergo an operation as soon as he returns in Norway.That's a very sad thing because Kurt-Asle is a nice rider and seems to be a very nice person.
Unfortunately yesterday's stage didn't end well for Saxo Bank team:in fact Kurt-Asle Arvesen was involved in a crash early in the stage and had to be examined by the race doctor more than once.He was really suffering and at the end when the peloton's pace became faster he was dropped.After the stage the rider was brought to the hospital,where the examinations showed that the he has broken his left collarbone.
"I'm extremely disappointed by the way the Tour ends for my sake.It has been my main objective of the year and I have been riding hard to get ready for it.I had no chances of avoiding the crash and it is a very sad situation for me to see everything disappear.Naturally I wish the remaining eight riders good luck with the rest of the race”, the rider said.Regarding Arvesen's crash,here are the rider' reactions:
Andy Schleck said:"He is one of the most important riders in the team,he was one of the captains who took important decisions.Now we are without him,there is not much else you can say. Crashes happen and sometimes you break things, he was unlucky today."
Older brother Frank said:"It's a big hit for us to lose Kurt.It's going to hurt us for the race,not just losing a friend after ten days,that is a real bummer."
Big Jens Voigt said the lack of information played only a minor role in the drama.
"A motorbike hit a spectator who fell into the road, another rider went across his (Arvesen's) wheel and he crashed,It was one of those things you can't foresee-the chaos was there.The only bad thing was that it took us ten minutes to find out he had crashed and that was by someone in another team.With a radio we would have known that straight away,what happened,if he's good, if he's bad and whether he will come back into the peloton."
Older brother Frank said:"It's a big hit for us to lose Kurt.It's going to hurt us for the race,not just losing a friend after ten days,that is a real bummer."
Big Jens Voigt said the lack of information played only a minor role in the drama.
"A motorbike hit a spectator who fell into the road, another rider went across his (Arvesen's) wheel and he crashed,It was one of those things you can't foresee-the chaos was there.The only bad thing was that it took us ten minutes to find out he had crashed and that was by someone in another team.With a radio we would have known that straight away,what happened,if he's good, if he's bad and whether he will come back into the peloton."
Of course I wish Arvesen a fast and full recover.
If Jens does retire I think he could well have his own cycling-themed talk show. Better yet, he could do commentary in multiple languages and be more intelligent than all these other commentators (especially some of the English ones).
RispondiEliminaKurt was very important part of the team! Really sorry he's out:( We lost a good "worker". And, I think, we'll need him not once till the end of the Tour. And, for example, Larsson is still a big ? for me. I saw him twice - on a team presentation and on the first stage. Is he still there:)?
RispondiEliminaI agree with you Sansen,he would be an amazing chronist (and probably he would NEVER confuse Chris-Anker Sorensen and Andy Schleck like Italian chronists do).
RispondiEliminaFor Anne: Yes,Gustav is still there :)
I think Bjarne wanted him to be in the team because he's a very good time trialist and in fact he's been pretty important during the TTT.On the other hand,it is also true that he hasn't been seen a lot at the front of the peloton in these days,but perhaps h's saving energy for the Alps.