Stage 4

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Stage 4

July 9 Metz - Reims 174.5 km

I am beginning to think that, maybe, I should get a job announcing the Tour live. I am not doing too bad for being 3,000 miles away. Imagine how much better I could do if I could actually see the race and talk to the riders and coaches. That would be fun.

Just like I told you, Mengin was out to get the KOM jersey back. His team, FDJ, lead him out for the first KOM sprint and the left over points on the other two KOM sprints. He will wear the polka dot jersey again tomorrow.

Then the dependable Jacky Durand went on a great break trying to win a stage and gain points for the Combativity Title. He didn't get the stage win but is now leading the Combativity Title. It was a great race.

I hope you paid attention to the different team actions as this drama played out. Telekom did its usual work but Lotto got more aggressive in their riding today and it paid off with a stage win for McEwen. I just love offensive racing. It is so exciting. Take control and make it happen.

Oh yes, we mustn't forget the late effort for Agnolutto to win the stage. That was a good try and it was good to see Agnolutto back in the mix.

Then there is the thing you should notice about Bobby Julich. He is clearly riding as domestique for Zabel. No shame in that it is just that you need to recognize a very common pattern for good GC riders who get in training trouble and start a down hill run. First, they drop from being a team leader on a top team to being a domestique on a top team. Shortly after that, they find themselves making a not so fun choice. He will have to accept a job as team leader on a cat 2 pro team, return to the US to get a job with a team, or quit racing.

If Bobby doesn't find a good turn-around coach and take care of his training problems, he will find himself at a much lower level soon. Maybe as early as next year. That depends on how long he can do the domestique job right. He is at a critical time in his career where he must find a coach who will turn him around or he must learn to enjoy going down hill. The latter is very difficult for some one who has placed second in the Tour. With the right coach, Bobby can do much better than he is doing now.

Did you notice the stink about O'Grady's heart rate? It makes me think that either he has screwed his body up with drugs or has a head problem. The head problem is one reason I don't like my riders to race with heart rate monitors. The stress of seeing your heart rate go really high at some point in the race can cause it to stay high. But notice that, even with the distraction of the heart rate monitor, he still got 10th in the final sprint. He should have tossed the stupid thing and gone for the sprint. Do you have any idea how much energy he wasted stressing out over a high heart rate? That alone could have put him in 10th. Add to that the distraction and sudden loss in confidence. I think he did quite well in the sprint.....considering he was stressed out and distracted with his heart rate.

In the standings, the big thing is that Zabel passed Bertogliati for the Yellow Jersey and extended his lead for the Points Title. McEwen also passed Bertogliati but you should notice that, with the times being so close and them being in the flats, the sprinters are all moving up on GC. That will change with tomorrow's team time trial.

In the Points race, McEwen passed Freire and all the top six places are now held by sprinters. This is one of the most fun races at this point in the Tour. Keep an eye on it.

The Combativity Title also did some mixing up. Jacky Durand jumped into first place with his break partner moving into third. This is another fun title for this part of the Tour and expect to see other strong riders like Agnoluto and Verbrugghe to get in on this fight.

Bertogliati lost the Yellow Jersey but still has the White Jersey with little changing in that race.

Now you need to make those standings changes on your rider list so you can see what the different teams are up to for the next flat road race. But you need to know that the Yellow and White jersey standings will change significantly tomorrow along with the Team GC. None of the points oriented titles will change.

I hope you realize that some of the teams held back in today's race to save something for tomorrow's team time trial.

Tomorrow

The Epernay/Chateau Thierry team time trial will be 67.5 km. One of the most important things here is that there are no DNF's meaning that no team will be short on riders at the start of the stage. Second, there is a short steep hill about half way through the stage which can and probably will cause some riders to get dropped by their teams leaving those teams short for the rest of the stage. Watch the hill. It can make or break a team.

Tomorrow, there will be a significant sorting out for the timed races for the Yellow Jersey, White Jersey, and Team GC. This will be the first significant sorting out of the Tour. Any strong rider with even the slightest hope of a good GC placing or the win could lose that hope if their team can't do the job. Watch for this to happen.

This sorting out will change team strategies considerably. Teams will be forced to take what they have left to compete for. This also means that some teams will become more focused on one or two titles. Most of the teams will be forced to settle with chasing one or more subtitles. The riders who have any hope for even a remote chance at the Yellow Jersey will be decided tomorrow.

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