Stage 6

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Stage 6

Bonneval-Angers 196 km

Analysis

The breaks began at the very start of the stage. The first break was initiated and caught by the second kilometer of the race. They knew there was a reasonable chance of the break staying off and winning the stage and the last break rider was caught in the last kilometer of the stage. They almost made it because the sprinter teams almost waited until too late to chase. It is some what of a guessing game and if the chase teams guess wrong, the break wins.

Note that Voigt was back in action today and was in a really good break just before the big crash but Kirsipuu, who is third for the Points Title, was also in the break. No one wanted that break to go so it ended quickly. When you see something like that happen, where a top placed rider is in the break, and you know the other teams will chase the break down, be ready to make the next attack. It was the next attack that went up the road.

The constant attacking and chasing caused a crash which USP and BLB properly reacted to preventing a longer chase or their riders losing time (see my book on properly reacting to a crash), which Euskaltel failed to do and lost a lot of time. As soon as the peloton was back together, Jimmy Engoulvent initiated a break that quickly grew to six riders including Jimmy, Da Cruz, Arvesen, Bertonlini, Flecha, and Lotz. They failed to open enough time fast enough which prevented them from gaining enough time to stay away for the win even though they worked very well and hard together.

During the break, there were more crashes in the peloton and, fortunately, it doesn?t seem like anyone was seriously hurt. The crashes are getting too frequent and too many riders are getting hurt. Something will have to be done about this in the near future to relieve the problem at least a little. There will always be crashes but there shouldn?t be this many.

For the first half of the stage BLB was forced to do most of the towing for the peloton but was joined by members of Quickstep because Engoulvent is competing for the White Jersey in the Youth Title.

The top GC teams have really gotten paranoid about the crashing and when the sprinter teams began their chase effort, several of them formed their own pacelines off to the side of the peloton for safety. This can?t continue because it decreases the energy these teams will have to do battle for the Yellow Jersey.

As the chased developed, the other teams setting up sprinters or defending the White Jersey helped out with the chase including A2R, CA, GST, FDJ, and TMO. They waited a little too long to start the chase effort and had to stand up to hammer as they pulled through in the paceline rotation.

Da Cruz had shown he was the best sprinter in the break group so Engoulvent made a good move by using the last road prime to break away. Remember the rule I told you yesterday about sprinting, if you can?t beat them in the sprint, don't wait for the sprint. There are two good ways to use a prime to break away. The most common is to attack right after the sprint crosses the line and everybody shuts down. Engoulvent did it the other way by attacking before the sprint could begin to develop. He briefly got away and even got the prime but was joined by Da Cruz, Flecha, and Lotz.

By this time, the peloton was beginning to really pull in the break. When the peloton got down to less than 20 seconds behind the break, Flecha made a really good move by attacking the break and gaining more time. After the others were caught by the charging peloton, he tried to stay away until to the line but was caught with one kilometer to go. Good try.

If you have ever seen a charging European peloton coming in for the sprint, it is an awesome sight. They are moving so fast you can?t believe it. I learned a basic rule about how far a break has to be off in order to survive the momentum developed by the peloton in full flight for the sprint. In the US, with our pro teams, you have to have at least 12 seconds on the peloton with 1 kilometer to go or their will blow by you before the line. Even then, you will barely beat them to the line, if you are fast enough. With a European pro peloton, you have to have at least 15 to 20 seconds at one kilometer to go or they will run over the top of you in the sprint.

The only thing that changed for the standings was that O?Grady took the lead for the Points Title, probably because of the last crash. Hondo and Zabel also moved up in this race.

Concerning yesterday's winning break, I want to add that one thing which increases the chances of a break staying off for the win is bad weather. This is because a lot of riders will not be able to ride as hard because the weather is a distraction to them and they can?t focus as well on the chase. My rule on this is when ever the weather gets bad, you get going. I explain this more in my book.

Tomorrow

The Chateaubriant-Saint Brieuc stage is 204.5 kilometers long. There are two KOM primes with a cat 4 sprint at 113.5 km and a cat 3 sprint at 149 km. The three road primes are at 52.5 km, 71.5 km, and 129.5 km. Again, they will ride for almost an hour before a prime so the attacks should begin very early with another long break attempt. The last prime is far enough from the stage finish so that it should not affect the race tactics except that it may be used in the break for a late attack and attempted solo win, again.

Since Voigt didn?t make today's break, watch for him to attempt to make tomorrow's break. He could win the Tour's overall Combativity Title for this year. It is a shame they don't run that title the way they used to so we could follow a daily battle for it the way we used to ? hint, hint Tour guys. :) Maybe next year?

There are now only two more flat stages until the first day of rest and only three flat stages before the first mountain stage. Voeckler could hold the Yellow Jersey until July 16th when I expect one of the top GC riders to take it, probably Lance. This means that the riders currently trying to win a stage only have three more stages to win before the mountains begin. Expect it to get more frantic as time and stages run out.

It just keeps getting better, doesn?t it? :)

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