There were few surprises on today's stage. Long and flat, it was always likely to end in a bunch sprint. And there was always likely to be a breakaway that got caught. First man to make an impression off the front was Sebastian Lang. He went for a Lang one, although it seems he was after the mountains jersey rather than the win. And who can blame him? He looks pretty pleased with himself and I would be too.
We then had another break. With not much to distinguish it, apart from this cool-looking crash from Eduard Vorganov, who seemed to fall off for no particular reason.
Then it was time for the finish. Teams chased, breaks were caught and the sprinters did their thing. Alessandro Petacchi, (Ale-Jet) was first across the line, followed closely by Mark Cavendish, (the Manx Missile) who wasn't best pleased, and expressed himself verbally.
Cav felt that Petacchi didn't hold his line in the closing meters, and it did look like Ale-Jet was less than straight. Still, that's sprinting, and the result was allowed to stand after a protest from Cav's team. You do have to wonder what the race jury would've done if it was the Italian protesting about a wayward Manxman, but I guess we'll never know. I think the problem was that Ale-Jet wasn't wearing his
balance band. As we all know these plastic trinkets are
totally effective in helping you balance. And one would assume, ride your bike in a straight line. He used to be a user as we can see in this photo from 2010.
He still got the win though. I hear his new secret weapon is
Real Water.
So what of the Velogames scores? Well, it looks like we'll have to wait, but I'm still feeling good about those Beans.
What does tomorrow have in store? I hear you ask. Stage 2 might well be another sprint, but a lumpy profile at the end of the race could weed-out a few of the fast-men.
points are in. Still feeling so perky?
ReplyDelete