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ysobelleTwo in the breakaway from Mile Zero today: Jan Barta (2013 Czech Road Racing Champion) of NetApp Endura, and Jean-Marc Bideau of Bretagne-Seche. All day. At on point, they were a whole four and a half minutes away from the peloton, trading the lead back and forth, earning hours of precious camera time for their corporate sponsors. (Don't snark: it keeps these guys in skin suits and PowerBars.) And then, the minute we get into the city, Barta breaks away and takes off. I mean, seriously: I thought you were friends!
Speaking of timing, it's also been fabulous weather all this time, but you know, this is England, and there's only so far that's gonna take you. Thus of course, just as we get into London, here we are with the damned rain. After days of dry, it's just enough rain to bring all the oil up on the road. And that's fun. Luckily, however, the final sprint-- and what a sprint it could be!-- is on the Mall, with the Buckingham Palace as backdrop. The Mall itself has a rubberized coating, to keep it safe for the horses on their way to and from the Horse Guards. It may be a little sticky, but it'll be safe.
Under London Bridge, under Westminster Bridge, turning away from the Thames towards the inner city, and all the teams are jockeying for position now. Bideau has long since been caught, and Barta only lasted a few seconds more in the lead. This may have been an easy stage up til now, with no major catch effort from the peloton, but no one's having any of that easy-day nonsense now. There's a broad, flat, open sprint to be won, and everyone wants in on it. Giant Shimano wants Marcel Kittel back on top. Peter Sagan's Cannondale team wants the day for him. 5km to the end and there's a crash! But the accident is well back, and none of the leaders are affected. It's not even clear they know it happened: they look back to see where their teammates are placed, but not back any further. It's all eyes and all thought to the front now.
Sweeping turn into the Mall, in front of the golden statues of Buckingham Palace. The crowd is thousands upon thousands deep, weekday or not, and the screaming and cheering is an absolute miasma of deafening sound. Estimates run as high as five million spectators on the road, and it truly seems like all of them are right here right now. Omega-Pharma's Petacchi is trying to lead out Renshaw, hoping to create with him the sprint wins Mark Cavendish could have had, but Kittel is having none of it-- this is going to be his. Sagan has the idea of using him as a lead out man, and for a minute it looks like maybe that's a wise idea, but-- no! Kittel is his own man, and takes another stage. He's well out of yellow, but today is his nonetheless.
And of course, it also belongs to Vincenzo Nibali. His hold on the lead is tenuous at best: he's a mere two seconds over Green Jersey-holder Peter Sagan. And tonight we cross the Channel, to start bright and early on the Continent tomorrow, in Le Touquet-Paris Plage. Another flat stage, but we only have so many of those. England may have been a wonderful start, but there's so much more trouble to get into in France.
Speaking of timing, it's also been fabulous weather all this time, but you know, this is England, and there's only so far that's gonna take you. Thus of course, just as we get into London, here we are with the damned rain. After days of dry, it's just enough rain to bring all the oil up on the road. And that's fun. Luckily, however, the final sprint-- and what a sprint it could be!-- is on the Mall, with the Buckingham Palace as backdrop. The Mall itself has a rubberized coating, to keep it safe for the horses on their way to and from the Horse Guards. It may be a little sticky, but it'll be safe.
Under London Bridge, under Westminster Bridge, turning away from the Thames towards the inner city, and all the teams are jockeying for position now. Bideau has long since been caught, and Barta only lasted a few seconds more in the lead. This may have been an easy stage up til now, with no major catch effort from the peloton, but no one's having any of that easy-day nonsense now. There's a broad, flat, open sprint to be won, and everyone wants in on it. Giant Shimano wants Marcel Kittel back on top. Peter Sagan's Cannondale team wants the day for him. 5km to the end and there's a crash! But the accident is well back, and none of the leaders are affected. It's not even clear they know it happened: they look back to see where their teammates are placed, but not back any further. It's all eyes and all thought to the front now.
Sweeping turn into the Mall, in front of the golden statues of Buckingham Palace. The crowd is thousands upon thousands deep, weekday or not, and the screaming and cheering is an absolute miasma of deafening sound. Estimates run as high as five million spectators on the road, and it truly seems like all of them are right here right now. Omega-Pharma's Petacchi is trying to lead out Renshaw, hoping to create with him the sprint wins Mark Cavendish could have had, but Kittel is having none of it-- this is going to be his. Sagan has the idea of using him as a lead out man, and for a minute it looks like maybe that's a wise idea, but-- no! Kittel is his own man, and takes another stage. He's well out of yellow, but today is his nonetheless.
And of course, it also belongs to Vincenzo Nibali. His hold on the lead is tenuous at best: he's a mere two seconds over Green Jersey-holder Peter Sagan. And tonight we cross the Channel, to start bright and early on the Continent tomorrow, in Le Touquet-Paris Plage. Another flat stage, but we only have so many of those. England may have been a wonderful start, but there's so much more trouble to get into in France.