Fireworks from thirty kilometers out as crashes decimate the field
Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) sprung from the bunch on a right hand bend with 400 uphill meters to race on a chaotic stage three of the Tour de France, leaving plenty of time to do the “running man” over the finish line ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling), who was second.
Peter Velits (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was third, and Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan) crossed the line in fourth, to hang onto his leader’s jersey.
A quiet start to the stage was shattered with 30 kilometers to race, when a series of crashes and mechanical problems split the peloton into several groups on the road. Two separate big crashes saw the first two abandons of the race, as Sky Procycling lost Kanstantsin Siutsou, and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) was forced to drop out with a reported broken collarbone.
Andriy Grivko (Astana) and king of the mountains Michael Mørkøv (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) were the two remaining riders from an escape group of five heading into the bottom of the Côte du Mont Lambert, a category three hill that crested with six kilometers to race.
Mørkøv, in his third breakaway in three days, finally cracked at the bottom, and Ivan Basso (Liquigas-Cannondale) led the peloton over the top after Grivko was also reeled in. Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step), in third place overall since the prologue, made a bid for yellow with 5km to go, and took a flyer all the way into the final category-four climb into Boulogne-sur-Mer.
But BMC Racing closed down the on-form Frenchman on the final climb as a Vacansoleil-DCM rider came forward to try and steal the stage. A crash right in the middle of the leading group, about fifteen riders back, did not seem to take down riders of note, but it did catch up Bradley Wiggins (Sky Procycling) and reduce the number of contenders for the win.
With everyone on the limit and the steepness kicking up 400 meters from the line, Sagan swung wide around Boasson Hagen on the final right-hander and accelerated away.
Having taken his second stage in three days, the final green jersey in Paris became bigger in the Slovak’s vision, and the young phenom gave insight into his winning salute afterward.
“Two stage wins is good for me. I want the green jersey in Paris, I think,” Sagan remarked. “It’s my objective. I think it’s a big goal for me. To win a stage was also part of my plan and even if I don’t win another stage, I’ll still try for the green jersey. And I’ll win it, I think.
“Today I had a plan for the victory salute. I spoke with my friends at dinner and we agreed I should do [an impersonation of] Forrest Gump at the finish.”
A quiet start but the noise is coming
After a quicker start than yesterday’s sluggish opener, breakaway attempts went right away. After eight kilometers, an escape of five made it stick, as Grivko, Mørkøv, Giovanni Bernaudeau (Europcar), Ruben Perez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and Sébastian Minard (AG2R-La Mondiale) quickly built a lead of two minutes.
King of the mountains leader Mørkøv successfully found his third breakaway in a row, with a larger handful of points on offer today, but none until the second half of the stage. The escape quickly built a gap of five minutes as the peloton settled in, although the main bunch soon cranked it up again and stuck with a more manageable number of four minutes.
The quiet of the early kilometers was shaken a bit with a crash involving riders from Lampre-ISD and Astana, with Astana’s Janez Brajkovic the biggest name to hit the deck. The Slovenian seemed momentarily shaken before dusting himself off and remounting, getting help from team-mates Borut Bozic and Alexander Vinokourov to get back to the field.
Radioshack-Nissan were the primary policemen in the field, and as they hit the feed zone with 100 kilometers to race, the escape was 3’50” ahead. As the peloton chowed down on lunch over the next ten kilometers, the leading quintet took their meal on the run, and took the gap back out to five minutes.
Sandwiches washed down, the bunch began lining up for the intermediate sprint near Senlecques. The breakaway was not phased, continuing to cycle through in order with Minard taking maximum points. Minutes later, Orica-GreenEdge led out Matt Goss with Mark Cavendish (Sky Procycling) and green jersey holder Sagan nearby. But Vacansoleil-DCM tried to upset the applecart as Kris Boeckmans sprung Kenny Van Hummel. Cavendish moved left and swatted down the Dutchman, giving him a cheeky look as he zoomed by to take the most remaining points.
The second half of the stage fired off a series of climbs, beginning with the fourth categorized Côte de L’Éperche. The hill was uneventful, save for an incident that put Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp) and several Astana riders behind. Hesjedal’s team eventually dispatched several riders to bring him back, as Liquigas-Cannondale established an increased presence at the front of the field.
With 52 kilometers to race and with the gap to the escape under four minutes, the first of two big crashes took down Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Siutsou, who tried to get back up and then thought better of it. Siutsou officially abandoned and Sagan changed his bike as Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) came to the front for a curiously timed set of pulls.
The peloton’s two ill riders, Brice Feillu (Saur-Sojasun) and Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano), both struggled off the back as the speed and undulations picked up. With 42km to the finish, the gap to the break was down to three minutes, and the alarms were going off in Grivko, and the Ukrainian champion hit the gas. His acceleration dropped Bernaudeau for good.
The bomb goes off with 35km to race
With the gap to the remaining four escapees at two and a half minutes, the category three Côte de Mont Violette kicked up, and Grivko picked up the pace again. Then a touch of wheels in the group sparked mass crash number two. Rojas was the first to hit the deck, with riders from Katusha going down, along with Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) and Martin Tjallingi (Rabobank). Gerrans’ team-mates began to try and pace him back, while a larger chasing group encompassing riders caught behind the crash began to consolidate. Cavendish and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) were the big names in the group, which had Garmin-Sharp driving it in support of Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson, and Dan Martin – all caught behind.
At 21km to go, their deficit to the peloton was already 1’15”, and rejoining began to seem unlikely. With BMC Racing, Radioshack-Nissan, and Liquigas-Cannondale sharing the work in the main peloton, several favourites for the stage were struck with trouble. Philippe Gilbert (BMC Racing) had issues with a shoe, and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) desperately sought the help of Mavic neutral service with a gearing issue.
Up front and on the Côte de Herquelingue, Grivko again proved his strength, and Minard popped off the back of the escape. With the peloton closing in, Mørkøv was able to catch up, forming a pair off the front with 15 kilometers to race. Mørkøv took the point at the top one more time, but the duo’s lead was down to 45 seconds.
On the Côte du Mont Lambert under the 10km banner, the Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank rider finally cracked, and Grivko was soon caught as well under the impetus of Basso. Then going over the top of the Monte Lambert, Chavanel sensed his moment and blasted away, with a Radioshack-Nissan rider momentarily giving chase. But it was BMC Racing, always vigilant for Cadel Evans and Tejay Van Garderen, who brought everything back together with a thousand meters left.
One Vacansoleil-DCM rider tried to get the jump leading into the final right-hander, but went cross eyed just before and then missed the turn. Another Vacansoleil-DCM rider went down in the middle of the road just behind, hanging up at least eight men behind him, including Wiggins, although it appeared no one else hit the pavement.