Course Analysis | Riders & Teams | Projections | Stage 1 | Stage 2 | Stage 3 | Stage 4 | Stage 5 | Stage 6 | Stage 7 | Stage 8 | Stage 9 | Stage 10 | Stage 11 | Rest Day & Coaches Analysis | Stage 12 | Stage 13 | Stage 14 | Stage 15 | Stage 16 | Rest Day & Coaches Analysis | Stage 17 | Stage 18 | Stage 19 | Stage 20 | Stage 21 | Post Tour Tactical Analysis And Summary
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Stage 2
July 6 Saint-Denis/Montgeron - Meaux -160 km
Today was in interesting stage which showed a lot of good team work
especially at the end of the race. The race was mellow until the
first prime when the top sprinters went for time bonuses for the
Yellow Jersey and points for the Points Title. Following the team
battle for the first prime, Mengin, Beneteau, and Flickinger got off
and opened over eight minutes going for a stage win and an early
appearance in the Yellow Jersey. Mengin and Beneteau seemed to be
sprinting hardest for the KOM primes while Flickinger won the last
two road primes.
The trio tried to stay off and, when it became obvious they would be
caught, Beneteau tried to drop the other two twice but Flickinger
made his attack stay until the last few kilometers of the stage.
Even though they were caught, it will have been worth it because,
tomorrow, Mengin will wear the KOM Jersey, Flickinger will wear the
White Jersey, and Beneteau will wear the Combativity Jersey. Just
wearing those jerseys one day in the Tour will make them at least
another $50,000 to $100,000 US each over the next year.
Towards the end of the stage, all of the teams with sprinters jumped
into the mix in an effort to get their sprinter into either the
Yellow Jersey, the Points Jersey, or the Stage Win Jersey for the
next day. It started with Lotto-Domo (McEwen) and Credit Agricole
(O'Grady) establishing the chase and doing most of the work to get
the break back. They were later joined by Fassa (Petacchi), Cofidis
(Millar), and FDJ (McGee).
There was a really great team battle for about the last five to ten
kilometers with Fassa putting Petacchi across the line first for the
stage win and the Points Jersey. You can read down the stage results
list and see most of the team sprinters in the first places with a
few lead out riders in the top ten.
Some interesting points were when ONCE and USP formed their own
pacelines during the early chase to protect their team leaders.
Something must have happened which caused concern because they sure
can't do this every day to provide extra protection because it will
kill their teams early. We will see.
Probably the best team effort was Telekom where Zabel punctured with
only 11 kilometers to go and they got him back to the pack and in
the sprint for a top five finish. One of the biggest mistakes most
amateurs make is to give up the race with the first mishap. If
things get a little tough, they just quit. Just remember that the
race is not over until you cross the finish line.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow's stage, La Ferte-sous-Jouarre - Sedan, will be a very flat
161 kilometers. You can bet that other riders will try to repeat the
effort of Mengin, Beneteau, and Flickinger while those three rest
for another day's adventure off the front and their teams try to
defend their points leads for those titles they established
themselves in. The hottest race so far is clearly the race for the
Yellow Jersey, the Points Jersey, and stage wins by the sprinters
before they lose enough ground in the mountains to be out of the
running for wearing the Yellow Jersey. They have three more days to
continue this battle. It is promising to be even better than last
year's battle for the Points Jersey.
The best place to study and learn team tactics is in the flat stages
where enough riders will remain in the peloton from each team to
stage good team battles. In the mountains, too many riders get
dropped with only a few teams having enough riders in the front pack
to do much in the way of team tactics. If you really want to learn
team racing and tactics, you study the flat stages.
