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 2012: Polka Dot Jersey

The Polka Dot Jersey 

The polka dot jersey is the hardest jersey to predict as it could be given to a struggling GC threat like 2011 with Sanchez or from a fighter gaining points wherever he can- like Anthony Charteau. This year is not any different with it being wide open

Chris Anker Sorensen

Despite the race for that jersey being wide open my tip for it is Chris Anker Sorensen- one of the most underrated climbers in the peloton. He has publicly come out saying he is targeting this jersey so expect attacks from him. I see him as the favourite as he can climb as well as many GC favourites but will not threaten the top of the overall.

Johnny Hoogerland

Hoogerland’s gritty and determined performances won him millions of fans across the globe- after continuing in the Tour after getting knocked off by a TV car and needed over 30 stitches. He will be hopinh to overshadow the ongoing legal battle he is facing with the company as he aims for the Polka-dots once again. He is undoubtedly a good  climber- seen by his 12th overall finish in the 2009 Vuelta. If he attacks enough- he may be Sorensen biggest threat.

Daniel Martin

Martin is an interesting rider who will definetly feature in GC battles in future Tours, ones with less time-trialling. He is an amazing climber- one of the best in the Ardennes Classics- so the opening days of the Tour should suit him. He will probably target the polka dot jersey as Hesjedal and Danielson are bigger threats overall at the moment and may even be given a free license to attack.However, he will need to find better form than he had in the Dauphine to challenge. My dark horse for the jersey.

Matt Lloyd

I believe Lloyd (Giro Mountains classification winner in 2010) will feature in the opening stages into the second week in contention for the jersey. He is undoubtedly a good climber but may be beaten off on the big climbs for the big points by stronger climbers.

David Moncoutie

Over the years, Moncoutie has proved his ability as a world class climber again and again- winning the Vuelta KOM jersey for the past 4 years) He usually targets the Vuelta for that exact jersey but may target the polka dots this year because at 37 years old, he is not getting any younger and would love to feature prominently in his home Tour. However, I don’t see him winning it.

Frank Schleck

Schleck may seem like a weird name to put in contention for this jersey but think about it. He has publicly called himself out of GC contention and is targeting stage wins. This means he is going to be a long way off the lead overall to do this anyway. This may provide an assault on the polka dots for Schleck. If he chooses to go for it he could be tough to beat.

Samuel Sanchez

Sanchez is only on this list as he won it last season. I don’t believe he is a threat this year as there are only 3 summit finishes but 25 categorized climbs- you need to attack to win this jersey. He won’t be allowed to do this due to his amazing GC record and likelihood of maintaining this record.

The fight for this jersey is difficult to predict but I see it as a fight between Schleck, Sorensen and Martin- with Hoogerland and Lloyd livening up the race a bit beforehand.

 

Tour De France 2012 Team Rosters: Euskaltel-Euskadi

 Euskaltel-Euskadi 

Euskaltel are the team symbolic of the Basque region of Spain- with many of their riders hailing from this region. Euskaltel always seem to challenge for top 10 GC positions with their riders but are yet to win a Grand Tour with their team- which is a shock with the level of rider they have on their team.

Samuel Sanchez

The undisputed team leader for the Tour is Sanchez. The winner of the polka dot jersey and a stage in last years Tour showed he was still a big threat in the mountains but couldn’t challenge Evans and Schleck overall. He had a very good early season with 2nd in the Volta a Catalunya, winning the Volta al Pais Vasco and finishing in the top 10 in 2 of the Ardennes Classics. However, his form does seem to have dropped off with his performance in the Tour De Suisse being less than great. However, finishing the race will help him as he got stronger as it progressed so should be ready to challenge at the start of the Tour in Liege.

Mikel Astarloza

Astarloza has had a relatively strong second season after suspension- finishing 20th in the   Tour De Suisse and nursing an out of form Anton through the Paris Nice. However, Astarloza will definetly be crucial for Sanchez in the mountains as he is the best climber other than Sanchez in the team (in my opinion). He will be relied on to perform.

Jorge Azanza

Azanza is a pure domestique with little chance of going for solo success this Tour. He helped team-mate Sanchez in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco to victory but that his only notable input this season. He will be relied upon by this team to help but don’t expect too much.

Gorka Izagirre

Izagirre is a rider with a lot of potential and a rider I expect to challenge for wins in the big grand Tours in the future. If he wanted to and his team allowed it- he could fight for the white jersey in the mountains- shown by his respectable 22nd in the Tour De Suisse where he held his own in the mountains. However, he will likely be demoted to helping Sanchez but the future looks bright for Izagirre.

Egoi Martinez

Martinez is a loyal Basque rider and a rider who has incredible climbing ability- winning the Mountains Classification in the 2007 Vuelta a Espana. The next season he targeted the Tour De France and the polka dot jersey there but was beaten by Franco Pellizotti- a controversial Italian doper. Since then, he has primarily been used as a domestique for Anton, Nieve and Sanchez but will undoubtedly be allowed to attack as he is in okay form- shown by a second in a stage in the Tour De Suisse.

Alan Perez Lezaun

Perez will be utilised as a domestique due to his work ethic and lack of ability on many stages. He is a good climber just not one who can challenge the best. He will be looking to attack but will really need to pick the right moment if he stands a chance.

Ruben Perez

Perez is another average climber in the Euskaltel team who will help Sanchez with little chance of victory for himself. He has shown he can attack- getting into the winning breakaway in the 5th Stage of the Tour De Suisse but was out sprinted by Isaychev at the end. He will work for Sanchez here.

Pablo Urtasun

Urtasun would not normally be a rider I would say deserves a place in the Tour De France- due to his very average climbing and sprinting skills. However, he is currently in the form of his life- shocking many in the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon where he finished 3rd overall (with 2 big mountain stages). He is primarily a sprinter who can climb very well so wil be hoping for a top 10 finish or two in some hilly sprint finishes.

Gorka Verdugo

Verdugo is a pure climber who helped Sanchez to 5th last year and 24th for himself. His climbing ability is amazingly high and if given the oppourtunity could attack in a way similar to Pierre Rolland did on Alpe D’Huez last year. He will be crucial to the success of Sanchez and will nurse him up the climbs as long as he possibly can.

Euskaltel have a team full of good climbers but bad time triallists. This team is built around Sanchez and there is no real backup plan in this team-which may prove costly.

 

 

Tour De France 2012 Team Rosters: Rabobank

RABOBANK

Rabobank have been in every Tour De France since their creation under the alias of Kwantum in 1984. The current Rabobank squad is a mixture of wordclass sprinters and some top draw climbers who can threaten to be the best.

The riders included in the Tour De France 2012 Squad are:

Laurens ten Dam: Ten Dam is a top level pure climber and in teams such as Argos-Shimano and Vaconseleil he could possibly the Team Leader. However, he will be working as a climbing domestique for team leader Robert Gesink. Last season, Ten Dam endured the best season of his career, finishing in the top ten in the Tour Down Under, the Tour De Suisse and the Tour of California.

Robert Gesink: Robert Gesink is a good outside bet for a Top 3 position his Tour- if he can regain the form that got him 6th in 2010. There is no doubt that Gesink can be a big player in this years Tour- especially if he can ride the way that won him the Tour of California this season. Furthermore, the recent 4th place in the Tour de Suisse shows that he can stay with climbers as good as Frank Schleck and challenge them for overall honours.

Steven Kruijswijk: Kruijswijk is one of the brightest young stage racers in cycling and is eligible for the White Jersey- which will be his main aim with helping Gesink close in on a Top 5 position probably a secondary aim. Kruijswijk already has Grand Tour credentials with an 18th in the 2010 Giro and 8th in 2011. He also finished in 3rd on the podium in the 2011 Tour De Suisse and in 8th in the 2012 edition. This will be Kruijswijk’s début Tour De France and someone I will tip for a good performance.

Bauke Mollema

Bauke Mollema is a team leader in his own right shown by his 4th position and Green Jersey in the 2011 Vuelta a Espana. This Tour De France I believe Mollema will be working as a backup leader to Gesink- with the team aiming for high positions for both riders. However, I believe Gesink might have the edge on Mollema this time around- with the Tour De Suisse being his first race for about 2 months. There are no doubts about Mollema’s quality- just whether he has the form.

Mark Renshaw

Mark Renshaw is best known for being the lead-out man for Mark Cavendish at HTC. However, Renshaw is a very good sprinter in his own right and can challenge even the best on his day. However, since moving to Rabobank he has got only one stage victory (Stage 4 of the Tour of Turkey). This Tour De France as Rabobank’s sole sprinter aiming for consistent Top 5 finishes in the sprints.

Luis Leon Sanchez:

Luis Leon Sanchez has all the ability and all the potential to be a grand tour contender. However, as time has gone by he seems to be more adept to helping his team leaders and fighting for stage victories. Sanchez is a very good time triallist, however, so if he stays near the front overall after the first 10 days, he may be inclined to give a high placing a go. This however, is unlikely but shows the depth of quality Rabobank have on their side.

Bram Tankink: Bram Tankink is a strong man. He can ride at a pace for kilometre after kilometre. Most of his past successes have come in Criterium races were strong men usually previal. However, he will be an important domestique on the flat for Mark Renshaw and on the early climbs of stages for Gesink et al.

Maarten Tjallingii: Tjallingii is a similar rider to Tankink with additional ability on cobble sections. He is a really strong rider and will be an important domestique to the team. He could even perhaps go for a stage victory if he feels up to as his strength is of a very high standard.

Maarten Wynants: Wynants is the final addition to the 2012 squad for Rabobank. He is another combative rider- a winner of the combative award on stage 1 of the 2010 Tour. He will go for stage victories in attacks and help Renshaw and other riders on the flat- especially if crosswinds play a part.

Overall, Rabobank have taken a very strong squad to the 2012 Tour De France with 3 potential overall threats and all riders capable of winning a stage.