This is beginning to become a regular thing. Early breakaway, Columbia works the peloton all day, breakaway caught late, Garmin sets up their leadout train up front, Renshaw comes out of nowhere, Cav wins! Yes, Cavendish did find his confidence yesterday because he effortlessly glided to yet another stage victory today. HTC did about 80% of the peloton pacing work as they attempted to pull back the daily breakaway and then disappeared to the middle of the peloton to organize. In the meantime, Lampre-Farnese (Petacchi), Garmin-Transitions (Farrar), and Sky (Boasson-Hagen) took control of the pace making. Columbia returned to the front to start their signature leadout but Garmin-Transitions interrupted it with their own leadout train. When it seemed Garmin had the stage in hand, Mark Renshaw burst into action with Cavendish on his wheel. Renshaw gave Cavendish such a fast leadout that Cav was already well ahead of the field before he even kicked. Cavendish obviously did the rest, giving his signature burst of speed and cruising to the line for his 2nd stage in as many days. Beyond the finish, the race itself was quite uneventful but that was not the case for the postrace.
Immediately after the riders crossed the finish, an altercation broke out. Quick Step rider Carlos Barredo came out of the pack of riders dismounting their bikes and immediately went up to Caisse d'Epargne rider Rui Costa. He then attempted to beat Costa over the head with his front bike wheel and Costa threw a few punches in defense. Both riders fell to the ground screaming and needed to be separated. Both were fined several hundred euros, but it does not appear that either will be disqualified for their actions. It is unknown why Barredo was so angry at Costa, however he apologized to his fans on twitter saying that it was a very dumb thing to do. As if that were the only fireworks after the finish, Robbie McEwen also had some problems of his own.
After crossing the finish line in 4th, McEwen became tangled with a cameraman race official while attempting to slow down. Unfortunately, McEwen was going top speed and suffered quite the impact. He stormed back to his team bus angrily, clearly in pain. It is unknown if he will be able to continue his tour, though nothing appeared to be broken. Fabian Cancellara had a much more mellow post-race, claiming his 6th (and likely final) yellow jersey of the Tour.
This is beginning to become a regular thing. Early breakaway, Columbia works the peloton all day, breakaway caught late, Garmin sets up their leadout train up front, Renshaw comes out of nowhere, Cav wins! Yes, Cavendish did find his confidence yesterday because he effortlessly glided to yet another stage victory today. HTC did about 80% of the peloton pacing work as they attempted to pull back the daily breakaway and then disappeared to the middle of the peloton to organize. In the meantime, Lampre-Farnese (Petacchi), Garmin-Transitions (Farrar), and Sky (Boasson-Hagen) took control of the pace making. Columbia returned to the front to start their signature leadout but Garmin-Transitions interrupted it with their own leadout train. When it seemed Garmin had the stage in hand, Mark Renshaw burst into action with Cavendish on his wheel. Renshaw gave Cavendish such a fast leadout that Cav was already well ahead of the field before he even kicked. Cavendish obviously did the rest, giving his signature burst of speed and cruising to the line for his 2nd stage in as many days. Beyond the finish, the race itself was quite uneventful but that was not the case for the postrace.
Immediately after the riders crossed the finish, an altercation broke out. Quick Step rider Carlos Barredo came out of the pack of riders dismounting their bikes and immediately went up to Caisse d'Epargne rider Rui Costa. He then attempted to beat Costa over the head with his front bike wheel and Costa threw a few punches in defense. Both riders fell to the ground screaming and needed to be separated. Both were fined several hundred euros, but it does not appear that either will be disqualified for their actions. It is unknown why Barredo was so angry at Costa, however he apologized to his fans on twitter saying that it was a very dumb thing to do. As if that were the only fireworks after the finish, Robbie McEwen also had some problems of his own.
After crossing the finish line in 4th, McEwen became tangled with a cameraman race official while attempting to slow down. Unfortunately, McEwen was going top speed and suffered quite the impact. He stormed back to his team bus angrily, clearly in pain. It is unknown if he will be able to continue his tour, though nothing appeared to be broken. Fabian Cancellara had a much more mellow post-race, claiming his 6th (and likely final) yellow jersey of the Tour.
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