Fotoreporter Sirotti
This early in the Tour de France, it can be difficult to tell where riders with general contention aspirations – real or not – are standing relative to one another. With the loss of time in stages 1 and 2 by last year’s yellow jersey, Saxo-Bank’s Alberto Contador, competitors who may have worried about how to gain time over him later in the race may find themselves with appreciable margins despite so little racing having taken place. In a race where after over 2,000 miles first and second might find themselves separated by a handful of seconds, every second acquired is to be celebrated.
Headed in to stage 3, Cadel Evans is the best placed rider with general contention goals. In the table below, he’s the basis by which we measure all gaps to other GC riders. Last year’s yellow jersey, Alberto Contador, is denoted in yellow. Riders finding themselves above him in GC are probably quite pleased, having gained time on a competitor never to be counted out so early in the race. Those behind him are in the unenviable position of having to claw their way back in to general contention.
| Name | Team | Seconds off top GC | Actual time from Yellow | Overall Place | ||||||
| EVANS Cadel | BMC RACING TEAM | + 00′ 00″ | + 00′ 01″ | 3 | ||||||
| SCHLECK Andy | TEAM LEOPARD-TREK | + 00′ 03″ | + 00′ 04″ | 10 | ||||||
| WIGGINS Bradley | SKY PROCYCLING | + 00′ 03″ | + 00′ 04″ | 12 | ||||||
| MARTIN Tony | HTC – HIGHROAD | + 00′ 04″ | + 00′ 05″ | 14 | ||||||
| VELITS Peter | HTC – HIGHROAD | + 00′ 04″ | + 00′ 05″ | 15 | ||||||
| VAN GARDEREN Tejay | HTC – HIGHROAD | + 00′ 04″ | + 00′ 05″ | 16 | ||||||
| KLÖDEN Andréas | TEAM RADIOSHACK | + 00′ 09″ | + 00′ 10″ | 20 | ||||||
| HORNER Christopher | TEAM RADIOSHACK | + 00′ 09″ | + 00′ 10″ | 21 | ||||||
| LEIPHEIMER Levi | TEAM RADIOSHACK | + 00′ 09″ | + 00′ 10″ | 22 | ||||||
| BRAJKOVIC Janez | TEAM RADIOSHACK | + 00′ 09″ | + 00′ 10″ | 23 | ||||||
| GESINK Robert | RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM | + 00′ 11″ | + 00′ 12″ | 25 | ||||||
| VINOKOUROV Alexandre | PRO TEAM ASTANA | + 00′ 31″ | + 00′ 32″ | 27 | ||||||
| VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen | OMEGA PHARMA – LOTTO | + 00′ 38″ | + 00′ 39″ | 31 | ||||||
| ROCHE Nicolas | AG2R LA MONDIALE | + 00′ 54″ | + 00′ 53″ | 41 | ||||||
| BASSO Ivan | LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE | + 00′ 56″ | + 00′ 57″ | 47 | ||||||
| CUNEGO Damiano | LAMPRE – ISD | + 01′ 03″ | + 01′ 04″ | 52 | ||||||
| KARPETS Vladimir | KATUSHA TEAM | + 01′ 03″ | + 01′ 04″ | 56 | ||||||
| HESJEDAL Ryder | TEAM GARMIN – CERVELO | + 01′ 13″ | + 01′ 14″ | 61 | ||||||
| FEILLU Romain | VACANSOLEIL-DCM | + 01′ 14″ | + 01′ 15″ | 62 | ||||||
| CONTADOR Alberto | SAXO BANK SUNGARD | + 01′ 41″ | + 01′ 42″ | 75 | ||||||
| DANIELSON Tom | TEAM GARMIN – CERVELO | + 01′ 48″ | + 01′ 49″ | 77 | ||||||
| VANDE VELDE Christian | TEAM GARMIN – CERVELO | + 01′ 48″ | + 01′ 49″ | 78 | ||||||
| KREUZIGER Roman | PRO TEAM ASTANA | + 02′ 20″ | + 02′ 21″ | 92 | ||||||
| PAULINHO Sergio | TEAM RADIOSHACK | + 02′ 28″ | + 02′ 29″ | 96 | ||||||
| SANCHEZ Samuel | EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI | + 02′ 35″ | + 02′ 36″ | 104 | ||||||
| PERAUD Jean-Christophe | AG2R LA MONDIALE | + 02′ 41″ | + 02′ 42″ | 108 | ||||||
| GADRET John | AG2R LA MONDIALE | + 02′ 41″ | + 02′ 42″ | 109 | ||||||
How are things looking for your favorite GC rider? Do you think they’ll be able to claw their way up the list? Hold off a sure to be motivated Alberto Contador? Let us know what you’re thinking in a comment below!
How bad can one man's Fantasy Tour selection be? Try Contador, Gadret AND Sanchez. Pfffft.