Saturday, April 27, 2024

Close Run Thing (TdF 2012 Stage 5)

-

HomeJournalsGarmin Physio Toby WatsonClose Run Thing (TdF 2012 Stage 5)

Close Run Thing – The “Guaranteed” Bunchie that I mentioned yesterday did indeed eventuate on stage 5 today, but it was looking touch-and-go as to whether they’d be sprinting for the win, or lower placings! Toby Watson.

Close Run Thing
Tyler Farrar.

People always ask why teams get into a break if they know they’re only going to be caught in the lead-up to the bunch sprint, and today’s stage was a great example of the answer: you never know.

Despite this, the break was caught (admittedly, in the final km, which is leaving it a little late) and the sprint contested.

There were a couple of big names caught in crashes again – Sagan and Farrar being the main two, and clearly Tyler is getting frustrated as he wanted to enter the team bus of the bloke who clipped him! Unheard of!

[vsw id=”lMeMr1pzGcA” source=”youtube” width=”615″ height=”400″ autoplay=”no”]

Once again the immense power of Andre Greipel won through.

The race for the final corner eventuated as predicted, but sadly for Orica Greenedge, their man Matt Goss was solo at that point, and maybe 50m too far out to win the sprint with no wheels to follow.

Greipel came off Gossy’s wheel, and bopped the win.

Great bike racing, Close Run Thing, and another one to come tomorrow! Sweet.

Toby Watson
Toby Watsonhttps://www.veloveritas.co.uk
Ex-Garmin Transitions physiotherapist and soigneur Toby Watson brings you inside the squad, and shows you what it's like to be working with a top team on the biggest races in the world. Through his regular blog updates, Toby shares his sense of drama and fun that were essential parts of his job. Toby is Australian, and currently lives in Girona with his fiancee Amanda. If he has any time, he enjoys reading and running, and occasionally skiing too, when he can.

Related Articles

Getting It Done: Stage 1 Eneco 2010

Getting It Done. Yesterday was an interesting day for the team: we had Svein in the leader's jersey, and so were obliged to control the race.

Gilbert Gilbert

Gilbert Gilbert. That's Gilbert repeating. Geddit?? haha! Dad Joke if ever I saw one! Today, stage 4, is another one for the punchy power climbers, with Phillipe Gilbert being the red-hot favourite. The finale is a 2km 6.6% kicker which is still probably not hard enough to let skinny blokes like Contador and Schleck do their thing, and will be more up Evans or Gilbert's alley.

As You Were, Thomas Voeckler isn’t a Threat

Last night's bike race was a return to normalcy for the boys on the road: the break was allowed to go relatively early, it stayed away all day, and despite a few attempts to put time into each other, the GC boys all finished on the same time. And no, despite repeated claims by Paul Sherwen on the commentary, Thomas Voeckler is not a threat to win the overall. He will possibly finish in the top 10, but only possibly.

Mini Liege (hopefully no 2010 repeat): Stage 1

The first road stage has started! Touted as a mini Liege Bastogne Liege, the course covers many of the same roads as the race known as La Doyenne, one of the single day Classics known as a Monument. The last time these roads were tackled at the Tour was in 2009, easily the worst working day of my Sports Physio career - I was working for the Garmin team at the time.

At Random

Grenoble Six Day 2009 – Getting There

Franco Marvulli, twice world madison and scratch champion, four times winner of the Grenoble six and a winner of 25 sixes in total; Jens-Erik Madsen, world team pursuit champion; Luke Roberts, multiple world team pursuit champion; Iljo Keisse, kermesse star and winner of 11 six days; Leon Van Bon, twice Dutch pro road champion and a Tour and Vuelta stage winner - that's not a bad list for starters.

Tom Peterson – a Stage Win at the Tour is the Goal

One of the more interesting transfers over the winter was that of Garmin’s US rider Tom Peterson to Dutch team Argos-Shimano. The 26 year-old from North Bend, Washington has been with Jonathan Vaughters’ outfit since the TiAA-CREF days back in 2006.

Le Tour de France – Day 4: Stage 16, Cuneo to Jausiers

Ah! The glamour of the Tour, sat in the toilet of the hotel room in Jausiers, word processing at 06.30 am. I'm in here so as not to disturb Martin, who needs his sleep to get us up to l'Alpe D'Huez in a couple of hours. The BlackBerry lost it's ability to send emails last night, so instead of my usual tapping away on the tiny key pad, here I am on a full size job-albeit one that's perched on the edge of the shower tray as I sit on the you-know-what. But let's talk about yesterday-is that a song title?

Henrietta Colborne – Looking forward to racing in the Spanish hills

It’s not just the boys which the Rayner Fund supports, the young ladies get their opportunities. Here’s what 19 year-old Miss Henrietta Colborne from the north of England had to tell us...