Stage 9: Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne – 204.5km
Cadel Evens and his BMC squad did a great job defending the jersey however it was a real shame to see Cadel lose time and drop out of contention for the overall win.
It was definitely an impressive display by Contador and Andy Schleck who showed everyone that they are a class above the rest in the mountains at this years Tour.
Contador’s Astana team also showed that they will be a force to be reckoned with once the race reaches the Pyrenees. The work that Navarro and Tiralongo did to whittle the peloton down was very impressive. The race has definitely been set up for a battle in the Pyrenees so that will be great to watch.
Stage 10: Chambéry to Gap – 179km
I spent my Bastille Day yesterday on the couch watching the Tour de France. I’m normally not a great spectator and the watching yesterdays stage was no different especially as the stage was ideal for a breakaway. With the GC well established, and the stage being too tough for the sprinters to get through in the peloton, it was a perfect stage for a breakaway, which is what we saw.
The Bastille Day break is the hardest one to make of the Tour de France. Nearly all the French riders and teams are keen to make the break and celebrate their national holiday in front of the cameras and millions of spectators that line the roads. When I was racing for French teams Ag2R and Credit Agricole, there was no excuse to miss this breakaway.
Watching the 6 guys rolling through at the front of the race I couldn’t help but think what I would be doing in the same situation and how I would go about trying to win the stage. Once Paulinho and Kiryienka broke away from the group, it was pretty clear the stage win would be fought between these two riders. It was great to see such a close sprint and one of Lance Armstrong’s teammates take the stage.
Stage 11: Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence – 184.5km
Today’s stage into Bourg-les-Valence always looked like an opportunity for the sprinters and that’s exactly what we saw.
The stage itself leading into the sprint was a pretty standard affair with nothing too interesting happening however it was in the final 2km when the sprinters teams took control of the race that we saw the controversy and the real action.
Seeing Julian Dean and Mark Renshaw clashing in the final few hundred meters was a real talking point after the stage.
It was clear to me that Dean, with Tyler Farrar on his wheel, tried to pass Renshaw with the view of moving into his line to give Farrar a clear run down the middle of the road and also to disrupt the Columbia lead out. However Renshaw got a little too aggressive defending his line by head butting Dean out of the way and at the moment has been disqualified from the race. I’m sure he is appealing this decision.
Mark may have been too aggressive in his actions however I think it’s a tough punishment to be disqualified and I hope ASO (the Tour de France organisation) reconsider this decision.
