ASO’s copy writer put it this way; ‘THE SUPER SAGAN SHOW CONTINUES.’
There’s not much else to say, save he made the world’s best riders look ordinary, again.
As Dan Fleeman said: ‘Quality rider; not so sure on the funky chicken or running man celebrations!‘
But we can forgive him that, as Petacchi said of Cav, last year when Supermanx was gubbing about The Jet coming of his line in a sprint; ‘he’s young.‘
And what about that man Michael Mørkøv – for the third day he made the break.
It’s not easy to get in a break in any Continental race, never mind le Tour.
Most of the DS of the teams without GC ambitions or a sprinter to take care of will want a man in the break.
They all want TV time and column inches – ultimately, that’s what the Tour is.
A big shop window.
Competition is fierce, sometimes it takes two hours of street fighting with 100 K covered before the ‘bigs’ will let the break go.
Maybe Michael was lucky, but to get in three ‘breaks of the day’ is pure quality.
But Michael’s countless laps of tracks all over the world have given him an awareness of which moves will work and a sense of timing which few road riders have.
He’s consolidated his lead in the K of M and is at the centre of a swirl of media interest.
It’s actually a bit of a neg for us – we were supposed to be interviewing him on Sunday night; but then the polka dots arrived.
But he took time to text us;
“Sorry, I’m totally swamped with the media at the moment, need a bit of rest, hope we can do something over the next few days. – Michael.”
Let’s talk Sky; last year, after le Tour, I interviewed BMC’s Brent Bookwalter.
He explained that from day one there was one objective, and one only – for Cadel Evans to win the GC.
There were to be no forays into sprinting or ‘exploits’ – it was ‘all for Cadel.’
From the start, Wiggins is two men down – Eisel and Cavendish.
And now it’s three;
“At the 140km mark there was a fall that involved Farrar and Vande Velde (GRM), Urtasun (EUS) and Sivtsov (SKY).
“The worst affected was Sivtsov who stayed on the road for quite some time and then, ultimately, was forced to abandon because of his injures.”
And Boasson Hagen is going deep against Sagan – those watts belong to Wiggins GC bid, not to be squandered on adventures.
But if Brad wins, Cav scores a few more and Edvald takes one too, it’ll be genius and we’ll be ‘nae sayers.’
We’ll be happy to admit we were wrong in that case – but BMC just look so much less greedy to us.
Tomorrow?
Barring acts of God – Cav.
Result - Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 3
Stage Result
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 0:00:01
3 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
5 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
7 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
9 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
11 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin – Sharp
12 Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
13 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
14 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Astana Pro Team
15 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
16 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
17 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
18 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
19 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
20 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan
21 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
22 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
23 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
24 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
25 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
26 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
27 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
28 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
29 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
30 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team
31 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
32 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack-Nissan
33 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
34 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
35 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
36 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
37 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
38 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
39 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
40 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
41 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
42 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
43 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
44 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
45 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
46 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
47 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
48 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:00:47
49 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack-Nissan
50 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team 0:00:01
51 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
52 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
53 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
54 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team
55 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
56 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
57 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
58 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
59 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
60 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
61 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:00:58
62 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:00:01
63 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:01:01
64 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:15
65 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team 0:00:01
66 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team
67 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team 0:01:18
68 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank 0:01:31
69 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
70 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar 0:01:33
71 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:00:01
72 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:33
73 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:01
74 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team 0:02:02
75 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Sharp 0:02:08
76 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
77 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
78 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
79 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
80 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
81 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
82 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
83 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:02:17
84 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:02:18
85 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Argos-Shimano 0:02:32
86 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team 0:02:40
87 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:02:44
88 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team 0:03:26
89 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team 0:03:32
90 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:03:33
91 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Sky Procycling 0:03:38
92 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:03:54
93 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
94 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
95 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
96 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team
97 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team
98 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
99 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team
100 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team
101 Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
102 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan 0:04:01
103 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:00:01
104 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team 0:04:10
105 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Sharp 0:05:05
106 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan 0:05:27
107 Michael Morkov (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
108 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
109 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
110 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:06:42
111 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano 0:07:03
112 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
113 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
114 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
115 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team 0:07:17
116 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun 0:07:19
117 Jean Marc Marino (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
118 Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
119 Francis De Greef (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:07:27
120 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
121 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
122 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
123 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
124 Julien Fouchard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
125 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
126 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
127 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
128 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
129 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
130 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
131 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD
132 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
133 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
134 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
135 Yuriy Krivtsov (Fra) Lampre – ISD
136 Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) FDJ-Big Mat
137 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
138 Sébastien Hinault (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
139 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
140 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
141 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Lampre – ISD
142 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale
143 Cédric Pineau (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
144 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar
145 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD
146 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
147 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
148 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
149 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
150 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
151 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team
152 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
153 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Sky Procycling
154 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
155 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
156 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team
157 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team
158 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
159 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
160 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
161 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Argos-Shimano
162 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
163 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar
164 Yann Huguet (Fra) Argos-Shimano
165 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
166 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team
167 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling 0:07:42
168 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 0:07:46
169 Vasili Kiryienka (Bl