Tour De France 2012 Stage 5 Review

Stage 5

Stage 5 was the first transition stage of the Tour and the first without a classified climb. The escape group struggled to get away at first but after 5km they got away: a group including Jan Ghyselinck, Julien Simon, Pablo Urtasun and Mathieu Ladagnous. The breakaway quickly established a lead of around 5 minutes (with Kittel becoming the fourth abandonment of the Tour with Rojas, Siutsou and Tjallingii). Lotto-Belisol set the pace and keep the peloton at a decent distance from the break. The intermediate sprint came but was not contended by the breakaway: with the sprinters after the points behind: Cavendish taking 5th. The breakaway did not seem to pose a big threat to the peloton with the break slowly brining it back at their own pace. With 7km left, the gap was only 40seconds. However, panic in the peloton as with under 3km left, a huge crash occurred in the peloton. Ghyselinck stayed on the front until the final 600m with a depleted sprint ready to take place ( Sagan not in the group). Griepel hit the front with Henderson leading him out to his second stage win in two days: Cavendish getting held up in the sprint resulted in him getting 5th in the stage.

Intermediate Sprint Results

1.  Mathieu Ladagnous 20pts
2. Pablo Urtasun 17pts
3. Julien Simon 15pts
4. Jan Ghyselinck 13pts
5. Mark Cavendish 11pts
6. Matt Goss 10pts
7. Mark Renshaw 9pts
8. Peter Sagan 8pts
9. Edvald Boasson Hagen 7pts
10. Kenny Van Hummel 6pts
11. Yauheni Hutarovich 5pts
12. Alessandro Petacchi 4pts
13. Patrick Gretsch 3pts
14. Daryl Impey 2pts
15. Brett Lancaster 1pt

Stage Result 

1. Andre Greipel 4hrs 41mins 28s
2. Matt Goss +0s
3. Juan Jose Haedo +0s
4. Mark Cavendish +0s
5. Samuel Dumoulin +0s

Climbing Classification

1. Michael Morkov 9pts
2. David Moncoutie 2pts
3. Ivan Basso 2pts
4. Anthony Delaplace 2pts
5. Peter Sagan 2pts

Points Classification 

1. Peter Sagan 155pts
2. Matt Goss 137pts
3. Andre Greipel 132pts 
4. Mark Cavendish 119pts
5. Alessandro Petacchi 91pts

General Classification 

1. Fabian Cancellara 5hrs 5mins 32secs
2. Bradley Wiggins +7secs
3. Sylvain Chavanel +7secs
4. Tejay Van Garderen +10secs
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen +11secs 
6. Denis Menchov +13secs
7. Cadel Evans +17secs
8. Vincenzo Nibali +18secs
9. Ryder Hesjedal +18secs 
10. Andreas Kloden 19secs 

Tour De France 2012 Stage 4 Review

Stage 4

Stage 4 was almost certainly going to be a sprinters stage with the run in to the finish being almost pan-flat on a day with relatively few categorised climbs as well. The morning breakaway consisted of Yukiya Arashiro, David Moncoutie and Anthony Delaplace- with Arashiro being the most eager: attacking as soon as the flag waved. The breakaway flew away from the cruising peloton gaining a time gap of over 8 minutes within the first 45 minutes of the stage. The first categorised climb of the day involved David Moncoutie bursting away to take the lone point and to start his pursuit in the polka-dot jersey competition. This quells rumours that he is only here to warm up for the Vuelta and the mountains competiton there.

Moncoutie easily took the second and third climbs of the day as well- on the Cote de Dieppe and the Cote de Pourville Sur Mer. This was how it looked before a correction by the organisers who say that Delaplace took it on the line- meaning he only took 2 points on the day. The intermediate sprint approached quickly with the 3 breakaway riders just cruising across the line: Arashiro coming first. The sprint for 4th behind went reasonably comfortably to Mark Cavendish beating Goss and Renshaw: his former lead-out train. With around 45km to go, there was a crash with Cantwell going down and Nibali  being held up. However, it did all come back together. Arashiro tried to attack his breakaway group but didn’t gain anything more than a few hundred meters. The breakaway were gradually brought back and then were quickly swallowed up with 10km to go. However, this must have been too early with riders jumping off the front of the peloton: Grivko, Gilbert, Pineau and Bouet. Again, they were brought back within a few kilometres which promoted another attack: this time from Poels, Chavanel and Dumoulin with Dumoulin going it alone and staying by himself.  In the peloton, a massive crash occurred with Cavendish and Hutarovich being the main sprinters going down: Wiggins getting held up (but no time gap as he fell within the final 3km). Argos-Shimano, Lotto and Vaconseleil see that Cavendish is down and begin their leadout at full speed: Lotto’s longer train staying out for longer with it eventually being the main train. Veelers, Goss and Sagan fought for Greipel’s wheel but he opened his trademark sprint beating the late charge from Petacchi.

Cote du Mont Huon (4th Category)

1. David Moncoutie 1pt

Cote de Dieppe (4th Category)

1. Anthony Delaplace 1pt

Cote de Pourville Sur Mer (4th category)

1. David Moncoutie 1pt 

Cote de Troussiant (4th category)

1. Anthony Delaplace 1pt

Intermediate Sprint Results 

1. Yukiya Arashiro 20pts
2. Anthony Delaplace 17pts
3. David Moncoutie 15pts
4. Mark Cavendish 13pts
5. Matt Goss 11pts
6. Mark Renshaw 10pts
7. Peter Sagan 9pts 
8. Alessandro Petacchi 8pts
9. Kenny Van Hummel 7pts
10. Yauheni Hutarovich 6pts
11. Marcus Burghardt 5pts
12. Aliaksander Kuchynski 4pts
13. Brett Lancaster 3pts
14. Daryl Impey 2pts
15. Mathieu Ladagnous 1pt

Stage Result 

1. Andre Greipel 5hrs 18min 32s
2. Alessandro Petacchi +0s
3. Tom Veelers +0s 
4. Matt Goss +0s 
5. Peter Sagan +0s

Climbing Classification

1. Michael Morkov 9pts
2. David Moncoutie 2pts
3. Ivan Basso 2pts
4. Anthony Delaplace 2pts
5. Peter Sagan 2pts

Points Classification 

1. Peter Sagan 147pts
2. Matt Goss 92pts
3. Andre Greipel 87pts
4. Mark Cavendish 86pts
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen 81pts

General Classification 

1. Fabian Cancellara 5hrs 5mins 32secs
2. Bradley Wiggins +7secs
3. Sylvain Chavanel +7secs
4. Tejay Van Garderen +10secs
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen +11secs 
6. Denis Menchov +13secs
7. Cadel Evans +17secs
8. Vincenzo Nibali +18secs
9. Ryder Hesjedal +18secs 
10. Andreas Kloden 19secs 

Tour De France 2012 Stage 7 Preview

Stage 7

Stage 7 is a 199km journey from Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles. This stage includes two third category climbs: the Col de Grosse Pierre (3.1km at 6.4%) and the Col du Mont de Fourche (3.1km at 6.4%). However, stage 7 also includes the 5.9km of la Planche des Belles Filles- the Tour’s first summit finish. This climb averages at 8.5%. However, this average is lowered due to a flatter section (of only 6.7% in the middle of two 9.4% sections). The climb also has the final 500m at a whopping 14%,with the areas in the middle sometimes reaching 20%; meaning the final push to the line will feel like an eternity to the riders.

The winner of this stage will be a top climber but may not be one of the top contenders- due to the nervy feeling likely to be amongst them on the first summit finish. Look for Luis Leon Sanchez, Thomas Voeckler and David Moncoutie to attack on this climb and hope to stay away. However, of the main contenders, Frank Schleck and Samuel Sanchez will likely attack due to time gains being neccesary to beat more time trial savvy rivals overall.

My opinion for stage winner:  Cadel Evans

Surprise of the Stage: Attacks galore from struggling riders

Tour De France 2012 Stage 6 Preview

Stage 6

Stage 6

The final flat, sprinters stage for around a week, so the competition for stage honours in Metz will be as heated as ever. This stage is again nearly pan flat, with the Cote de Buixeres the only major difficulty on the stage.

Expect to see Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel pushing hard for a victory due to the stage being very close to the German border. However, still expect to see Mark Cavendish, Peter Sagan and perhaps Tyler Farrar take the fight to them for the win.

My opinion on stage winner: Andre Greipel

Surprise of the stage: No crashes!

 

Tour De France 2012 Stage 5 Preview

Stage 5

This stage is almost as flat as you get in modern Tour De France with there being no categorised climbs for the first time all Tour. The sprint point on today’s stage will also be highly contested as the breakaway will likely only be a very small one because of the rolling terrain in the first half of the stage. After then the stage almost flattens out completely providing the sprinters teams with an ideal opportunity to pounce.

This stage suits Mark Cavendish nearly perfectly with climbing being minimal. Normally, he would have very little competition on a stage like this- especially if he is at the front with 200m remaining. However, the rise of Peter Sagan has meant that he has becoming a strong force in stages like these- sprint stages with a steady gradient finish but it may not be steep enough for him.

My opinion on stage winner: Peter Sagan

Surprise of the stage: Cavendish being out-sprinted by Sagan! 

Tour De France 2012 Stage 4 Preview

Stage 4

Stage 4 looks like it is going to be another day for the sprinters: with distance, not the terrain, providing the biggest problem. the 214 km stage is predominately flat. However, 12km from the end, the terrain rises to a steady gradient for around 3km. This could promote attacks from the bunch from ‘lesser riders’ to try and get a stage win or to inject some pace into the peloton.

However, all things being equal, this stage will end up as a sprint finish between the usual protagonists.Mark Cavendish will be hoping to take advantage of this finish but Matthew Goss will be hoping the short sharp climb near the end will have taken something out of the legs of his ex-team mate. Other sprinters such as Greipel, Kittel, Farrar and even Rojas and Feillu could play a part today- hoping to usurp Cavendish as the king of sprints.

My opinion on stage winner: Greipel (Goss as outsider)

Surprise of the stage: Farrar failing to finish in top 5

Tour De France 2012 Stage 3 Review

Stage 3

Stage 3 was tipped as a relatively easy stage which will liven up slightly nearer the end of the stage; no real drama. 5km into the stage a breakaway of 5 riders broke away: Michael Morkov for the third consecutive stage, Ruben Perez, Andriy Grivko, Giovanni Bernaudeau and Sebastien Minard. After 11km, the lead had grown by 3 minutes and it was clear the break was going to work. At 79km there was a massive crash, with Janez Brajkovic being the big rider going down ( easily getting back into the peloton). The intermediate sprint came with Minard winning and Cavendish leading the peloton over the line. Then  the climbs began.

Morkov took the climbs of the cote de L’Eperche and the Cote de Mont Violette. There was then a string of punctures with Hesjedal and Hunter being the big names dropped. Then drama struck with a massive crash at the front of the peloton involving Farrar, Siutsou, Vandevelde and Voeckler.  Siutsou was the first withdrawal from the 2012 Tour De France-with a broken leg. After that, Morkov took another point in the mountains classification. More drama than struck with Phillipe Gilbert puncturing and failing to rejoin the peloton but Samuel Sanchez and his team managed to change his bike and get back to the charging peloton.

As the remnants of the break was caught, Morkov fought back up to Grivko who had got away and took the penultimate climb of the day (barring the finish). Grivko finally did get away from Morkov on the extremely steep Cote du Mont Lambert. Basso led the peloton up here with Peter Sagan in mind. As the climb ended, Sylvain Chavanel attacked, easily establishing a lead of 15 seconds. As the final kick got closer, the gap steadied at around this until Chavanel overshot a corner and lost a little time. However, Alejandro Valverde also did this and struggled to keep up with the speeding peloton. Chavanel was finally caught with 450m to go with Albasini setting the pace a the front. A crash happened behind the front 5 or 6 riders with his leadout man riding into another rider. Sagan then jumped off of Albasini’s wheel and burst away with no response (despite efforts from Cancellara and Boasson Hagen). Sagan ‘ran’ across’ the line like the result was never in any doubt.

Cote de L’Eperche (4th category)

1. Michael Morkov 1pt

Mont Violette (3rd category) 

1.  Michael Morkov 2pts
2. Sebastien Minard 1pt

Cote de Herqulingue (4th category)

1.Michael Morkov 1pt

 

Cote de Quehen (4th category)

1. Michael Morkov 1pt

 

Cote du Mont Lambert (3rd category)

1. Ivan Basso 2pts

2. Tony Gallopin 1pt

 

Boulogne-Sur -Mer (4th category)

1. Peter Sagan 

Intermediate sprint results

1. Sebastien Minard 20pts
2. Giovanni Bernaudeau 17pts
3. Michael Morkov 15pts
4. Ruben Perez 13pts
5. Andriy Grivko 11pts
6. Mark Cavendish 10pts 
7. Kenny Van Hummel 9pts
8. Peter Sagan 8pts
9. Brett Lancaster 7pts
10. Yauheni Hutarovich 6pts
11. Mark Renshaw 5pts
12. Alessandro Petacchi 4pts
13. Matt Goss 3pts
14. Kris Boeckmans 2pts
15. Baden Cooke 1pt

Mountains Classification 

1. Michael Morkov 9pts
2. Ivan Basso 2pts
3. Peter Sagan 2pts

Points Classification

1. Peter Sagan 116pts
2.  Fabian Cancellara  74pts
3. Mark Cavendish 73pts 
4. Edvald Boasson Hagen 67pts
5. Matt Goss 55pts 

General Classification

1. Fabian Cancellara 5hrs 5mins 32secs
2. Bradley Wiggins +7secs
3. Sylvain Chavanel +7secs
4. Tejay Van Garderen +10secs
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen +11secs 
6. Denis Menchov +13secs
7. Cadel Evans +17secs
8. Vincenzo Nibali +18secs
9. Ryder Hesjedal +18secs 
10. Andreas Kloden 19secs 

Tour De France Stage 3 preview

Stage 3

The third road stage is the first classified Medium Mountain Stage of the Tour. This means that the sprinters will be with the peloton until the mid stage sprint point and then just fall off the back as the terrain gets lumpier in the final 60km of the stage. This is when it gets tough. after passing over the Cote de L’Eperche, a 700m climb averaging 6.9%. This climb should not trouble anyone who has stage winning hopes- probably not even the sprinters. However, the 1km climb of the Cote de Mont Violette averaging 9.2% will act as a tester for the final 4 climbs of the stage- that are all condensed into the final 15km. The 3rd category Cote du Mont Lambert will cut the peloton to around 50-65 riders with the 1.3km climb (averaging 8.4%) being passed a lot quicker than the previous climbs. The descent from there and then the final kick up the Boulogne-Sur-Mer- a 700m climb at 7.4%. That final kick will suit the classics riders as well as sprinters who enjoy an uphill finish.

A stage like this is very difficult to predict as there are so many variables. If a rider such as Cadel Evans who is going for the General Classification attacks on the Mont Lambert, the elite group will be narrowed down extremely quickly in the chase after him. This will likely shed all climbing sprinters from the elite group ( with the only exception perhaps being Peter Sagan). The final kick up the Boulogne Sur Mer, will likely be a showdown between Philippe Gilbert and Peter Sagan. However, riders such as Sylvain Chavanel, Thomas Voeckler and Daniel Moreno may throw the cat amongst the pigeons. Positioning will be everything.

My opinion on stage winner: Peter Sagan

Surprise of the stage: Cancellara to struggle to hold onto yellow. 

Tour de France Stage 2 Review

Stage 2

Stage 2 looked very different to the first road stage- with this day favouring the sprinters due to the near pan flat run in. This being said, their was one categorised climb near the start of the day: the Cote de la Citadelle de Namur. This beautiful cobbled climb was the only difficulty of the day and Michael Morkov in the polka-dot jersey- who broke away yesterday, was again in the break beating Christophe Kern and Anthony Roux to the top (admittedly they showed little resistance).

The intermediate sprint soon followed with the breakaway picking up the first three places with there being a battle for the 4th position behind. This was taken by Goss who out sprinted Renshaw, Sagan, Cavendish and Greipel to take the points.

With only around 30km to go, Roux attacked the breakaway group as Kern and Morkov were quickly brought back. The peloton continued to increase the pace and brought Roux back with only 14km to the end: with Lotto-Belisol as the prominent team. This continued until the final km burst where Argos Shimano (without Kittel who had been dropped due to stomach problems) set the pace with help from BMC (keeping Evans out of harm). Griepel hit the front with around 250m to go and burst for the line; with Cavendish on his wheel and Goss and Sagan behind him. Cavendish nicked out of the wheel with 175m to go and held Greipel off by half a wheel.

Cote de La Citadelle de Namur 

1. Michael Morkov 1pt

Intermediate Sprint 

1. Christophe Kern 20pts
2. Anthony Roux  17pts
3. Michael Morkov 14pts 
4. Matthew Goss 13pts
5. Mark Renshaw 11pts
6. Mark Cavendish 10pts 
7. Peter Sagan 9pts
8. Kenny Van Hummel 8pts
9. Daryl Impey 7pts
10. Brett Lancaster 6pts
11. Kris Boeckmans 5pts
12. Baden Cooke 4pts
13. Danilo Hondo 3pts
14. Alessandro Petacchi 2pts 
15. Nicki Sorensen 1pt

Stage Results

1. Mark Cavendish 4hrs 56mins 59secs
2. Andre Greipel +0s
3. Matt Goss +0s
4. Tom Veelers +0s
5. Alessandro Petacchi +0s
6. Peter Sagan +0s
7. Yauheni Hutarovich +0s
8. Juan Jose Haedo +0s
9. Mark Renshaw +0s
10. Tyler Farrar +0s

Mountains Classification

1. Michael Morkov 4pts
2. Pablo Urtasun 1pt
3. Peter Sagan 1pt

Points Classification 

1. Peter Sagan 78pts
2. Mark Cavendish 63pts
3. Fabian Cancellara 55pts
4. Matt Goss 52pts 
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen 42pts
6. Andre Greipel 42pts
7. Phillipe Gilbert 33pts
8. Mark Renshaw 31pts
9. Tom Veelers 26pts
10. Michael Morkov 25pts

General Classification

1. Fabian Cancellara 5hrs 5mins 32secs
2. Bradley Wiggins +7secs
3. Sylvain Chavanel +7secs
4. Tejay Van Garderen +10secs
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen +11secs 
6. Denis Menchov +13secs
7. Phillipe Gilbert + 13secs
8. Cadel Evans +17secs
9. Vincenzo Nibali +18secs
10. Ryder Hesjedal +18secs 

Tour De France Stage 2 Preview

Stage 2

Stage 2 is a stage for the sprinters to stretch their legs for their first chance for a stage win and 45 Green Jersey points. The flat terrain is bound to suit the sprinters and prevent breakaways from gaining unassailable distances on the peloton.

The favourite for this stage will almost undoubtedly be the World Champion: Mark Cavendish. He has already proven what he can do in Grand Tours winning the Sprinters Jersey in the Tour De France 2011 and the Vuelta a Espana 2010- missing out on the Giro D’Italia Points Jersey in 2012 by just one point. Overall he has 33 Grand Tour Stage wins- 10th in the overall list. However, as seen in the ZLM Tour, Cavendish is not unbeatable with Lotto’s Andre Greipel and Argos Shimano’s Marcel Kittel both beating him. However, Cavendish will want this stage if he wants to harbour any realistic chance of defending the Green Jersey. Behind Cavendish there are lots of riders biting at his heels-hoping to see him slip up. Pure sprinters such as ex team mates Andre Greipel and Matt Goss, American rival Tyler Farrar and the resurgent Tom Boonen looking to win in front of his home fans, will be hoping to beat Cavendish and take the fight to him for the Green Jersey. Potential wildcard riders for this stage are rising stars Marcel Kittel and Peter Sagan. Kittel is one of the fastest young sprinters in the peloton and along with Sagan (who usually prefers uphill finishes) have acceleration to rival even Cavendish.

My opinion on stage winner: Cavendish (*EDIT: Change of heart- going for Andre Greipel)

Surprise of the stage: Top 3 place for Sagan