As the Tour de France raced through the heart of France’s beautiful “châteaux country,” the stage unfolded strictly according to plan for a classical group sprint. A small breakaway group formed, which lasted most of the day, and collected the big points for the intermediate sprint. The top sprinters fought for the middle points, with Mark Cavendish (Omega) winning this mid-way sprint for 6th place and 10 points, followed by 7th André Greipel 9 points, and 8th Peter Sagan (Cannondale) 8 points. Of the breakaway group, Juan Antonio Flecha (Vancansoleil) survived the longest, and won the most combative award, as the peleton swept him up with 6 Km to go.
As the sprinters’ teams lined up their lead-out trains, and pushed the pace above 50 Km/hour, Svein Tuft (Orica) crashed at about 5 Km to go. Then, just inside of 3 Km, about 20 more riders crashed, including Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky), who suffered a broken collar bone. He finished the race, but will not be able to continue. Greipel and others were either in the crash or held up by it.
Cavendish had a good lead-out from his team, and was about to win the stage, when Marcel Kittel (Argos) used Cavendish’s slipstream to sling-shot ahead by about the width of a wheel at the very last second. Third stage win for Kittel (45 points). Cavendish picked up 35 points, but Peter Sagan scored 30 points in 3rd place. On the day, Cavendish outscored Sagan by only 7 points and moved into 2nd place for the Green Jersey, while Greipel dropped 29 points to Sagan and fell to 3rd place. But the gap between 1st and 2nd actually grew in favor of Sagan, from 73 points yesterday to 96 points today. Kittel, in 4th place, gained 7 points net, but still trails Sagan by 130. Cavendish, Greipel and Kittel are running out of sprint stages in which to catch Sagan.
No change in the GC standings. But Chris Froome will miss the services of Boasson Hagan in the climbing stages which begin on Sunday.
As today's race neared it conclusion at Tours, it passed through the middle of the small town of Langeais, which boasts this old château, with the cool drawbridge entry. Also, back in 2006, we experienced our first Internet café about 200 yards down the street from the château. Good times!
The road to Tours took the race directly in front of the Château at Villandry, but I'm sure the riders didn't notice. What a shame! This was one of our favorites of the entire region. The vegetable garden shown here is a work of art, and is only one of about a dozen different gardens surrounding this gorgeous château. If you bike the roads of the Tour de France, be sure to leave time to stop and see the sights.
This was such a romantic trip...loved all the castles!
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