Powered By Blogger

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Tour de France - Stage 5 Recap; Stage 6 Preview

 Photo: © Bettini
Certainly not the most graceful peddler in the peloton, Thomas Voeckler made a name for himself in the Tour de France in 2004, when he found himself in the Maillot Jaune. The then French National Champion fought with every pedal stroke to keep it for 10 day. He has since repeated his French National Championship, won a Tour stage, and remains a French favorite.

In stage 5 today, Voeckler took off with Jeremy Roy with about 30km to go to try and fight his way to a win. The heartbreaking 'catch' by the peloton happened with 2km as the sprinter's teams took over amid the chaos to try and deliver their fastest to the line. HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish fought for his first win of this Tour by virtue of his powerful turnover to overcome some poor positioning in the final 200km. Never doubt the man from Manx.

Stage 6
Tomorrow's stage could well set up a perfect opportunity to Belgian National Champion, Phillipe Gilbert to take his second win of the Tour. The bumps and quick climbs favor his riding style. A biting hill with 1km to go, in the longest stage of the this years Tour, is sure to disrupt team's efforts to bring their sprinting specialist to the line. It would be great to see if the overall contenders have a go and try to send a message to their competitors that they are the rider to beat. The profile also might allow a breakaway to succeed if they can get some strong riders who want to work together for a chance to win. Adieu




Get Follow Me Buttons

No comments:

Post a Comment