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Stage 4
Day 4 Esch sur Alzette - Valkenburg 216 km
Results
Wegman tried to get off to regain the lead in the KOM Title, as I
told you he would, but CSC kept control of the peloton to release
Voigt into the break, the way I teach in my e-book, "A Better Way to
Train", in an effort to win the stage and take the lead on GC. The
break went when CSC let it go with a total of five riders but they
were all caught at the end of the stage. Like I told you, there was
also some attacking towards the end of the stage in order to break
from both the break away and peloton. Kessler used one of those
attacks to win the stage on break just ahead of the peloton. Good
move.
After the break went, CA controlled the peloton to protect the
Hushovd lead on GC but he got caught at the end behind a split in
the peloton caused by the attacking and lost the lead to Boonen.
Hushovd is still only 7 seconds down so expect to see him race to
regain the Yellow Jersey.
McEwen also lost time because of the attacks on the closing hills
and not only dropped out of contention for GC but dropped to third
for the Points Title. Tomorrow's stage will be more to McEwen's
liking.
The attacking at the end of the stage put Boonen into the lead for
both the Points Title and on GC. He will ride first for GC but will
also defend the Points Title because he has a great chance of
winning it in Paris. One man's agony is another man's victory.
It is always sad to see riders get hurt and it was no fun seeing
Rodriguez and Dekker put out in the same crash. The most important
development of the stage was Valverde getting put out of the race
with a broken collar bone caused by a crash. I am sad to see him get
hurt and will miss the potential battle he offered. Always watch the
back of the peloton because that is often where the most important
news comes from, unfortunately, it is usually bad news.
Tomorrow
Tomorrow's stage is another long one at 207 km. It starts hilly and
finishes flat so the sprinters will probably get another pack
sprint. Keep an eye on McEwen at the finish. Watch for Wegman, De La
Fuente, Hernandez, and Etxebarria to try for the controlling break
which will go shortly after the first KOM prime at 13 km. Expect the
teams competing for the KOM title to keep breaks in until after the
first KOM prime to set their riders up to get more points in that
prime. Also watch for attacks from KOM contenders just before that
prime in an effort to win it. It is very likely that the first KOM
prime will cause the controlling break to occur.
There are only about four more flat stages with KOM primes between
now and the first major mountain stage so expect to see this battle
for the KOM lead to heat up as we get closer to July 10th.
Notice that FDJ has four riders in the top five on the White or
Youth Title telling you that this is a very young team. That is
almost half their team in the top five for that title.
