If you're an American and you could choose a day to win your first Tour De France stage, you might choose July 4th - Independence Day. American Tyler Farrar did just that and with his win, continued Garmin-Cervelo's incredible start to this year's Tour by winning the sprint finish into Mûr-de-Bretagne. Farrar has been knocking on the Tour stage win door for a while now, but the stage win is not only remarkable for the timing, but also for the fact his team still wished to protect Thor Hushovd's yellow jersey. Delicate goals to balance in the heat of the world's biggest stage race.
The win was finally the breakthrough the American had been seeking, but also a very emotional win after the death of his friend Wouter Weylandt at the Giro in May of this year. Shortly after crossing the finish line Farrar fashioned his two hands to form the shape of the letter 'W" to honor his lost friend. Farrar later responded that the best way to honor his friend's memory "was to come here and win a stage for him."
With the current World Champion, former points winner (2x) and Yellow Jersey holder driving his leadout train, Tyler probably knew that he shouldn't make any of the mistakes that he has made in the past that prevented the strongman from winning. After New Zealander Julian Dean pulled off with 150 meters to go, Farrar never looked back to cross the line first. A win with a capital W.
Stage 4
The 172.5 km run in to Mur de Bretagne will be a bumpy one. The stage's hard stuff at the end comes after about 170 km of hard racing to keep the peloton together with about 2km to go. After the smackdown that Phillipe Gibert put down on the peloton in stage 1, it would be hard to bet against him. However, look for French favorites Thomas Voeckler or Sylvain Chavanel to try.
Tweet
Get Follow Me Buttons
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment