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Not one, not two, but three big names out today: all with suspected broken bones.
One of them, seventh-placed Alejandro Valaverde, had been tipped in "The Race to Replace" to possibly win the Tour. But a touched wheel in the midst of the peloton in the fields of Holland took care of that. He went down hard, taking quite a few riders with him. Most of them got back on and continued. Valaverde left in an ambulance.
And it's an especially hard loss for one more reason: this year's Tour has been an important one for the Spanish. After what many are calling the Spanish Inquisition-- the doping investigation in Spain six weeks ago that took out nine riders-- I wouldn't be surprised to find the remaining Spanish riders and many of the Spanish fans feel they have something to prove. Today, for example, Jose Luis Arrienta of AG2R led the peloton for miles and miles before being caught shortly before the end in The Netherlands. When Euskatel's captain, Iban Mayo, lost a tire, another man from his almost-entirely-Spanish team gave up his bike, and three other teammates dropped back to carry Mayo back to the peloton. Mayo, they were clearly saying, could win this race.
But in the end, the stage today was won by another rider with something to prove: Mattias Kessler of T-Mobile, who led another breakaway for miles yesterday and was overtaken a mere 50 meters from the line. His teammate Michael Rogers came in second and moved up to second overall. Make no mistake: T-Mobile wants everyone and their cousin to know that just because they've lost their captain, Jan Ullrich, they haven't lost their drive to win.
Erik Dekker and Freddie Rodriguez are the other two gone today-- a hard way to leave the race and, for one of them, Dekker, most likely the sport. Alas, you can't always plan your retirement. I snort every time they refer to a rider being "aged" when he's in his mid-thirties, but it is the truth. And it was a hard crash into the stone curb at the race ripped through one of its picturesque towns. Rodriguez, a lead-out man for Robbie McEwen, seems to have broken his wrist. Rabobank's Dekker seems to have given himself some impromptu orthodontic work. Ouch, oh, ouch.
Ultimately, Tom Boonen of QuickStep, the enormous Belgian with the infectious, million-watt smile, took the yellow jersey today. George Hincapie is in second with Paolo Salvodelli, his Discovery teammate in fourth. Thor Hushovd, nicely patched up after his run-in with a big green cardboard hand (three stitches after all; they say the reason there was so much blood was simply because his heart rate was so sky-high), is now in third. Floyd Landis is still in the top ten, having recovered in spades from his disastrous time-trial. CSC's Stuart O'Grady, another big name, trailed in far behind, having gotten caught in the crash that took out Valaverde. CSC is another team looking to prove they're still in the game after the loss of Ivan Basso, last year's third-place finisher who would have been a major contender this year.
As they say, it's early days yet. Anything could still happen, and probably will.
One of them, seventh-placed Alejandro Valaverde, had been tipped in "The Race to Replace" to possibly win the Tour. But a touched wheel in the midst of the peloton in the fields of Holland took care of that. He went down hard, taking quite a few riders with him. Most of them got back on and continued. Valaverde left in an ambulance.
And it's an especially hard loss for one more reason: this year's Tour has been an important one for the Spanish. After what many are calling the Spanish Inquisition-- the doping investigation in Spain six weeks ago that took out nine riders-- I wouldn't be surprised to find the remaining Spanish riders and many of the Spanish fans feel they have something to prove. Today, for example, Jose Luis Arrienta of AG2R led the peloton for miles and miles before being caught shortly before the end in The Netherlands. When Euskatel's captain, Iban Mayo, lost a tire, another man from his almost-entirely-Spanish team gave up his bike, and three other teammates dropped back to carry Mayo back to the peloton. Mayo, they were clearly saying, could win this race.
But in the end, the stage today was won by another rider with something to prove: Mattias Kessler of T-Mobile, who led another breakaway for miles yesterday and was overtaken a mere 50 meters from the line. His teammate Michael Rogers came in second and moved up to second overall. Make no mistake: T-Mobile wants everyone and their cousin to know that just because they've lost their captain, Jan Ullrich, they haven't lost their drive to win.
Erik Dekker and Freddie Rodriguez are the other two gone today-- a hard way to leave the race and, for one of them, Dekker, most likely the sport. Alas, you can't always plan your retirement. I snort every time they refer to a rider being "aged" when he's in his mid-thirties, but it is the truth. And it was a hard crash into the stone curb at the race ripped through one of its picturesque towns. Rodriguez, a lead-out man for Robbie McEwen, seems to have broken his wrist. Rabobank's Dekker seems to have given himself some impromptu orthodontic work. Ouch, oh, ouch.
Ultimately, Tom Boonen of QuickStep, the enormous Belgian with the infectious, million-watt smile, took the yellow jersey today. George Hincapie is in second with Paolo Salvodelli, his Discovery teammate in fourth. Thor Hushovd, nicely patched up after his run-in with a big green cardboard hand (three stitches after all; they say the reason there was so much blood was simply because his heart rate was so sky-high), is now in third. Floyd Landis is still in the top ten, having recovered in spades from his disastrous time-trial. CSC's Stuart O'Grady, another big name, trailed in far behind, having gotten caught in the crash that took out Valaverde. CSC is another team looking to prove they're still in the game after the loss of Ivan Basso, last year's third-place finisher who would have been a major contender this year.
As they say, it's early days yet. Anything could still happen, and probably will.