FTDF Stage 4 - Evans Pips Pip

Philipe Gilbert had his birthday present denied today. Although he made a good effort to win on the Mur de Bretagne, he only could only manage fifth. The man of the day was Cadel Evans, who beat none other than Alberto Contador to the line by an inch or so.

Also hanging in there, was Thor Hushovd, who dug deep to finish in the same group. Thor kept his one second lead over Evans intact, and kept the yellow jersey for another day. Hopefully they'll give him a clean one for tomorrow.

You may have noticed that I've got Cadel Evans in my team. I'm not going to pretend that it was an inspired pick, as it was mostly because he seemed like good value for money. I have been warming to him recently though, and I'm obviously hoping he does well in the Tour this year. Cadel seems to be doing everything right so far and has managed to stay out of trouble. He's got a stage win in the bag, but isn't hiding the fact that he's got aspirations for the overall. He's strong on the bike, but he also seems more comfortable off the bike too. Here's a calm and collected Evans doing a post-race interview today.



I'd say he comes across better than he did back in 2008.



How are those Velogames scores then? It's still the Bile Beans on top I'm afraid. And we might have to wait till the mountains to see that lead threatened.

So, on with Stage 5 tomorrow, and one of the few opportunities for a traditional bunch sprint this year. I'm going to have to tip Cav again for this one. He seems to take a while to find his mojo in the first week of the Tour, but he's still the fastest sprinter there is if he's in the right spot near the finish line. The last part of the route runs along the coast, so look out for those side winds splitting the bunch.