Skoda Tour: Coming Down the Stretch

Matteo Carrara has a more legitimate chance at this year's Skoda Tour de Luxembourg than anyone would have ever thought. He and his team did exactly what they needed to by keeping Frank Schleck and other competitors in check to retain the one second lead over Schleck. It was a day when the field again caught the breakaway and came down to a sprint finish. Schleck tried to break away once near the end but Carrara was all over him and quickly brought him back to the field. It came down to a sprint and Confidis rider Tony Gallopin took the stage beating stage 1 winner Giovanni Visconti to the line. Stage 3 turned out nothing like anyone expected, as attacks were expected by many of the leaders. Instead, they all seemed fairly content to sit back and prepare for the duel tomorrow. The beginning of tomorrow's stage is quite hilly and then it flattens out for a few laps to the finish.

I highly doubt breakaways will be allowed to get away in this stage, especially with tomorrow's circumstances. Schleck is within one second of the lead, but he is certainly not the only one in contention. With a good ride, a rider like Armstrong (30), Leukemans (35), Ivanov (34) or even Kloden (50) can possibly break out near the end and pull back enough time to steal the race. My prediction is that Schleck wins, considering the gap is so small. Either way, though, it was a valiant effort by Carrara just to get himself in contention and it only takes one more great ride to win. It is pretty much a guarantee that, barring any trouble, Carrara will be on Schleck's wheel for as long as he can while both of their teammates keep an eye out for Radioshack and other contenders.

CLASSIFICATIONS AFTER STAGE 3

OVERALL

1. Matteo Carrara

2. Frank Schleck -1

3. Lance Armstrong -30

4. Juan Antonio Flecha -34

5. Sergei Ivanov -34

6. Bjorn Leukemans -35

7. Alexander Geniez -39

8. Andreas Kloden -50

9. Gregory Rast -51

10. Sandy Casar -52

12. Giovanni Visconti -56

MOUNTAINS

1. Angel Vicioso 29

2. Jorge Martin Montenegro 18

3. Freddy Bichot 17

POINTS

1. Giovanni Visconti 36

2. Sergei Ivanov 27

3. Matteo Carrara 23

TEAM STANDINGS

1. Team Radioshack

2. Sky Pro Cycling Team -21

3. Team Katusha -36

BEST YOUNG RIDER

1. Alexander Geniez

2. Romain Zingle -26

3. Ivan Rovny -28