Stage Thirteen: Cavendish & Contador Drop Bomb on Yellow Jersey

On a day when the GC contenders could theoretically coast along safely behind the sprinters, Mark Cavendish’s Omega team tossed away the script.  About mid-way in the race, having already caught the initial escape group, they pounced on a strong cross-wind and split the peleton.

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) - GC 2nd place - was the first notable victim.  He picked just that moment to suffer a puncture.  Instead of swapping bikes with a teammate and immediately bridging the gap, he opted to switch wheels, which took longer.  By the time he began riding again, he was too far behind to catch up, even when all his teammates dropped back to help.

Then, with about 40 Km to go, Alberto Contador’s Saxo team copied the Omega move, with a burst of speed just as the course turned sideways to the wind.  Again, this split the peleton, leaving Yellow Jersey Chris Froome (Sky) in the dust.  The Saxo, Omega, Belkin and Cannondale teams pushed the pace, and opened a gap of more than a minute by the end of the race.

Instead of a bunch sprint with all the sprinter favorites, we had a mini-sprint mainly between Cavendish and Peter Sagan (Cannondale).  Sagan (whether by mistake or simple bad luck) had Cavendish in his slipstream (instead of vice versa), allowing Big Mark to slingshot into an unbeatable surge to the finish line.  Second stage win of this year’s Tour for the Omega superstar, and 25th lifetime Tour victory.  Cavendish outscored Sagan 62 to 50 for the day, but still trails Sagan for the Green Jersey by 84 points.  With only two more flat stages to go, Sagan’s Green Jersey is in the bank!

The shake-up of the GC standings captured the most headlines.  Valverde dropped out of sight! Bauke Mollema (Belkin) and Contador each reduced their gap to Froome, and moved up to 2nd and 3rd place overall, with much more manageable deficits of 2'28" and 2'45" respectively.  They each have a teammate close behind and within 3'00" of Froome.  Meanwhile, Froome’s team seems to be disappearing.  Two Sky riders are out altogether, and none of the other six could even keep up with Froome in today’s flat stage.  How are they going to help him in the five upcoming mountain stages?  Could Team Sky ever admit to manager’s remorse for leaving its Columbian mountain goats Rigoberto Uran and Sergio Luis Henao home?  If not today, how about when the REAL attacks explode in the mountains?

Today's stage crossed from the Loire River drainage into the Allier River basin, passing close to Châteauroux near mid-stage.  Just outside of Châteauroux lies this charming bed & breakfast, known as the Château Bois-Robert.  The perfect mid-way resting place in a two-day drive from the Pyrénées to Paris.