It was yet another exciting stage today, thanks in large part to David Millar hoping he could emulate Thomas Voeckler’s last gasp before the line. Unfortunately for Millar, the chase did its math correctly and caught the Garmin veteran with a bit less than 2km to go.
This was the second bout of misfortune for Garmin, since what would have been a terrific chance for Tyler Farrar was rendered moot by his crash with about 15km left in the stage. Farrar fell along with Heinrich Haussler and Mick Rogers; all three men lost over 10 minutes. For Rogers, the crash effectively put an end to his GC hopes; he now lies 159th overall, over 14 minutes back.
And finally, it wouldn’t be a relatively flat stage if we didn’t discuss Tom Boonen’s terrible luck. Hopefully for Tom, bad things do indeed happen in three’s, for this is the third time this week fate has killed his chances for a win. Maybe from here on out he’ll ride with a clean slate? There are still several chances left for him to get a stage as Belgian Champion.
All in all, it was an exciting day capped by a thrilling win for Thor Hushovd. Tomorrow, things really get interesting, with the race’s first summit finish to Andorra’s Arcalis.
Come back later for a preview of tomorrow’s events.
