Stage 4 - No Fireworks on this 4th of July

A word to the wise: Don’t make your wife watch this entire stage on TV with you. She might take away your remote! If you have to watch it, try to just catch the 15-second summary during the sports part of the evening newscast. Instead, take your family to the park, go to a parade, watch the 4^th of July fireworks. There were no fireworks today at the Tour de France.

Five hours of riding (it could hardly be called "racing") over 134 miles, and nothing happened until the last 2 miles. At that point, a crash took out Cavendish, foreclosing yet again any head-to-head sprint with Sagan. Greipel won the sprint, Sagan took fourth, and the Earth did not even flinch as it continued spinning on its axis.

Because the crash happened inside the last 3 Km, everyone was credited with the same time as the winner, so no change in the GC standings. Greipel and Goss moved ahead of Cavendish in the race for the green jersey, but Sagan padded his first-place margin.

More of the same for Thursday and Friday. But be sure to wake up on Saturday and Sunday for the first mountain stages.

A liesurely ride through the picturesque French countryside.  Aaron is checking his watch:  "Are we there yet?"