Maybe it’s our fault? Yesterday we said that ‘barring Acts of God,’ Cav would win.
We got it half right; there was an almighty ‘Act of God’ with South African champion Robbie Hunter bouncing around the road like a rubber doll and a whole clutch of riders biting the dust.
As the director cut to close up and what was happening at the crash site, there was Cav sitting on the tar, stunned.
He’s a tough wee soul – ”stoic is the word, I think.
Meanwhile ‘Big Awnd’ Greipel as we’d say in Scotland was just too quick for ‘Ale Jet’ Petacchi.
Paul Sherwen got it right when he said that a year or two ago, ‘The Jet’ would have turned on the after burner and left the big beast from Rostock in his jet wash.
But Old Father Time stalks us all; no matter how cool we still look.
Greipel hadn’t finished cuddling his boys – I wonder where he picked that up from? – when my phone rang.
It was Vik, I knew it would be.
Sometimes his rants can be a tad irrational – sock lengths and things like that – but often he’s on the money.
‘Cav has to leave that team’ they’re not looking after him properly – he’s an afterthought.
“It’s OK saying that “he can win without a train” but take that crash in the Giro; and then look at today.
“He won the other day, granted, but it’s much more dangerous to be on your own in that madness than tucked in behind your team.
“Greipel was well out of trouble and so was Petacchi; Cav deserves better, he’ll be snapped up by another team for next year – mark my words!”
It sounded like joined up thinking to me, but ex-pro Dan Fleeman sees it differently;
“I don’t think he’s vulnerable, no.
“Cav is very good at moving around in the bunch, it was just bad luck, today.”
Time will tell who’s right.
RadioShack: there have been spats about performance, money, riders quitting/talking about the team, who should/shouldn’t be on le Tour and Frank is missing his ‘bro.’
But it doesn’t seem to be doing them any harm.
Big Fab and his pack of old dogs have a tight grip on that maillot jaune – and are now leading the Tour of Austria too, with Jakob Fuglsang.
The marketing boys at Trek must be pleasantly surprised.
For a while there, it all looked black – although listening to the rumour mill, it’s difficult to see the team surviving into 2013 in the same format.
And going back to our biblical theme from our opening sentence, ‘the Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.’
Whilst Michael Mørkøv enjoys the limelight and polka dots in le Tour, his friend and man with whom he won a rainbow jersey in the madison, Alex Rasmussen is experiencing what an unjust sport this can be.
There are many points worthy of comment in this case, not least of which is that the UCI under the rules of its own constitution is not meant to poke its nose in to the business of individual federations.
But there should be a caveat to that one; ‘unless we don’t agree with what they decide.’
And on the subject of rules it’s clear that these only apply in one direction, if Alex is late with submitting then that’s heinous, if the UCI is late in informing him and thereby break their own rules then it’s irrelevant.
But the thing which for me makes the whole thing a farce is that during one of his misdemeanour he was riding the Berlin six day and was tested at least once to my knowledge during that race.
There’s no Wisdom of Solomon on display here, just spite from an organisation which has clearly lost a sense of priority.
The man made mistakes, granted – but the situation called for a slapped wrist, not ‘tons of bricks,’
It’s all very sad – but back to le Tour and the big question of the day; ‘who’s going to win into Saint-Quentin?’
There are no classified climbs – good news for Michael – in the 196.5 kilometre run from Rouen and it’s highly unlikely that it will end in anything other than a mass charge.
Sprinters ride as much with their hearts and heads as their legs – given that, Greipel must start as the favourite.
GreenEDGE will be desperate to make amends – but maybe too desperate?
And whilst Cav must be hurting after yesterday, his pride will be pricked and he’ll be out to remind us all who the boss is.
We’ll all know come tea time.
Ciao, ciao.
Result - Le Tour de France 2012 - Stage 4
Stage Result
2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
3 Tom Veelers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
4 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
5 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
6 Jonathan Cantwell (Aus) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
7 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
8 Kris Boeckmans (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
9 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
10 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
11 Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol Team
12 Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
13 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
14 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
15 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
16 Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team
17 Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Argos-Shimano
18 Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
19 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
20 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
21 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
22 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
23 Marco Marcato (Ita) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
24 Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre – ISD
25 Jorge Azanza Soto (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
26 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
27 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
28 Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling
29 Marcel Sieberg (Ger) Lotto Belisol Team
30 Roy Curvers (Ned) Argos-Shimano
31 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
32 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
33 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
34 Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
35 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
36 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
37 Sandy Casar (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
38 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Argos-Shimano
39 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
40 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
41 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team
42 Jan Ghyselinck (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
43 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
44 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Katusha Team
45 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin – Sharp
46 Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
47 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
48 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team
49 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team
50 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
51 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
52 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana Pro Team
53 Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Astana Pro Team
54 Vincent Jerome (Fra) Team Europcar
55 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
56 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
57 Nick Nuyens (Bel) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
58 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
59 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
60 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack-Nissan
61 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
62 Dries Devenyns (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
63 Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan
64 Frank Schleck (Lux) RadioShack-Nissan
65 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
66 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
67 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
68 Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
69 Romain Zingle (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
70 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
71 Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre – ISD
72 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin – Sharp
73 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
74 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
75 Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Team Europcar
76 George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team
77 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
78 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
79 Yuriy Krivtsov (Fra) Lampre – ISD
80 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team
81 Mikael Cherel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
82 Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
83 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
84 Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
85 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
86 Fabrice Jeandesboz (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
87 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
88 Jimmy Engoulvent (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
89 Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan
90 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
91 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
92 Christian Knees (Ger) Sky Procycling
93 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
94 Anders Lund (Den) Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank
95 Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
96 Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale
97 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
98 Arthur Vichot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
99 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) RadioShack-Nissan
100 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Rabobank Cycling Team
101 Bram Tankink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
102 Federico Canuti (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
103 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Movistar Team
104 Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Movistar Team
105 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
106 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol Team
107 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
108 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Cannondale
109 Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
110 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
111 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
112 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
113 Julien Simon (Fra) Saur – Sojasun
114 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
115 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
116 Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
117 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
118 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Sharp
119 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
120 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
121 Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
122 Alexandr Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
123 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
124 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
125 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team
126 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
127 Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
128 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
129 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
130 Matthew Lloyd (Aus) Lampre – ISD
131 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
132 Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre – ISD
133 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
134 Christophe Kern (Fra) Team Europcar
135 Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre – ISD
136 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
137 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
138 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
139 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
140 Albert Timmer (Ned) Argos-Shimano
141 Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
142 Luca Paolini (Ita) Katusha Team
143 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
144 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
145 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Katusha Team
146 Juan Horrach Rippoll (Spa) Katusha Team
147 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha Team
148 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha Team
149 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha Team
150 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Katusha Team
151 Jurgen Va