Pavé would like to thank Handspun, Clément, and Laekhouse for supporting our coverage of the 2011 Tour de France.
Fotoreporter Sirotti
Today’s Stage 3 ended on a touching note, with Garmin-Cervelo’s Tyler Farrar extending his hands in a “W” victory salute, in honor of his friend Wouter Weylandt who passed away on Stage 3 of the Giro d’Italia in May.
The victory was notable and emotional for several reasons: it was Tyler Farrar’s first Tour de France victory, and it was his Garmin-Cervelo squad’s first mass-start stage win. It came hot on the heels of their first Tour stage win in yesterday’s Team Time Trial: Vaughters’ squad is on a roll.
So what else happened today?
1. Mark Cavendish won the intermediate sprint with a textbook leadout from HTC. However, he and Thor Hushovd had bumped shoulders in the run-up to the sprint, and the race jury disqualified both from receiving those intermediate points.
2. We can’t help but wonder if the effort to win a single intermediate sprint (rather than several lower-stakes interim sprints in previous years) burnt a match for the HTC squad. By the end of the race, they were able to muster their powerful leadout train, but it fizzled prior to the hard left-hand corner that came in the final kilometer. Garmin-Cervelo mugged HTC’s train in a role reversal from the 2009 Champs Elysees finish (video).
3. There’s something undeniably lovely about seeing Thor, in the Yellow Jersey with World Champion stripes, leading out Tyler Farrar. He clearly honored his word to lead Farrar out, despite the possibility of winning the stage himself. He finished 6th, one place behind Cavendish. Does Thor think he can’t beat Cavendish for the Green jersey? If Thor goes for intermediate sprints and Farrar for stage wins, they’ll lose ground on Cavendish.
4. Despite this success, it’s obvious that Hushovd and Garmin-Cervelo aren’t a great fit. You can bet Hushovd would rather wear those stripes and that jersey across the finish line first, not arm-raising from several riders back. Any thoughts on where he’ll end up next year?
A Happy Fourth of July to the Americans among our readership. Are you a Garmin-Cervelo fan? Does an American win on an American holiday make you feel additionally patriotic today? Furthermore – any additional thoughts on the status of Tour sprinting, the Points Competition, or the Hushovd Conundrum? Here’s a replay of the final 10k. What happened to HTC? Did they make mistakes, form up too early, and run out of steam?
Tomorrow’s stage is a bumpy one with an uphill finish – as Inner Ring says, a gift to Phillipe Gilbert on his birthday. It should provide some fireworks, much like the finish to Stage 1. Enjoy.
Hushovd = pure class
Farrar win = well earned and well deserved
Stage finish tomorrow – everyone is predicting Gilbert, but I think we will also see some GC big boys providing some early race fireworks. I actually think Cadel will win the stage tomorrow, and that Contador will try a move assuming he is in position coming to the base of that climb. Those first steep drags of 10-14% on the Mur are tailor made for one of his trademark devasting accelerations – don`t think be can hold it to the line though given how much the gradient eases higher up. Should be an very interesting finish!
im american and don't really like garmin-cervelo…not farrar…and frankly not really thor. i really don't like vaughters.
this green jersey intermediate sprint is just a mess and should be stopped immediately. no one knows how to handle it and go for a stage win.
the problem with htc is that the leadout is not what it used to be. they used to charge and set the brutal pace up the front and now it just seems all disjointed and wacky. i figured theyd go back to the good old days for the tour but its just not working like it used to. they had 3 guys in front of cav with 2k to go. it just seemed like they ran out of time and guys.
damn i should have put money on my prediction!