[Tour 2004]Stage 3 - Waterloo to Wasquehal

[tour-junkie]

Stage 3 - Waterloo to Wasquehal - 210 km
We'll be leaving Belguim toady over what looks to be the  flatttest
stage on the profile.  However, as with all things Belgian, the riders
still have a couple recognized climbs. They are sharp little
buggers, with a 9.4% climb coming at 14 km.  This could become a
springboard for an early opportunistic attack.  Another comes at around
kilometer 61.  Other than that, what appears to be a very level stage.
Should be a day for the sprinters. But, the race does find it's way back
onto the Belgian cobbles for a couple of miles, so there will be an
incredible accelleration for the narrow road.

That presents the big question mark for today - can the USPS squad keep
control of the race, thereby ensuring their position as the leader in
the team competition - allowing them to finish last in tomorrow's Team
Time Trial.

Today's stage finds the first-ever Norwegian wearing the Yellow Jersey.
  Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd's second place finish nabbed him the
time bonus he needed to pull on the leader's togs.

Obviously, Domina Vacanza's Gian Matteo Fagnini will not start the day,
having broken his collarbone in yesterday's crash - he is, or rather
was, Mario Cipollini's main leadout man. Cipo was the last man to win a
stage in Wasquehal, taking the victory iin 1996.

Cofidis' Frederic Bessy did not start today, although he finished
yesterday's stage.  He was clearly in all kinds of pain when remounting
yesterday - and it wasn't just because he watched his bike get
unceremoniously dropped to the roadway and then clipped by a passing
team car.

Jens Voigt of CSC and Bram de Groot of Rabobank took off early - at
about the sixth kilometer, and as the peleton crosses into France for
good, they have a lead of nearly six and a half minutes.

The riders covered 46 kilometers in the first hour, and with Voight
snagging the early sprint points, he has become the virtual race leader.
It's a warm day finally, and though reasonably humid, the race
conditions are nearly perfect.

The cobble section looming before them stretches for 2.8 km, and even
though they are some 20 miles ahead, the teams are sharpening their
elbows and beginning to position themselves at the front. This does have
the potential of Passage du Gois (crikey, I know I've misspelled
that...) back in his first Tour, when a crash on the slick narrow
roadway caused a significant split and a significant amount of carnage.

Santa Rosa homeboy Levi Leipheimer finds himself among the team cars
with a front flat, but almost before we can confirm it's him, he's being
pushed back onto the roadway.  Netherlands national champion Erik Dekker
  drops back to lend him support, and he gets towed back up.

Way ahead of the bunch, Jens Voight switches bikes, but manages to do so
with nary a loss of time.  It seems that this one is fitted with an SRM
Power Meter, but it's not clear why he's chosen to go to the other machine.

Magnus Backsted finds a bad time to flat, as the complete USPS squad has
gone to the front to drive the pace, stretching the bunch out as the
cobbles draw nearer.  Gone-but-not-forgotten T-Mobile rider Santiago Botero
punches through at the head of affairs.  Less than 4 km to go before they
hit the cobbles.

-- Crash in the field - many riders are down in a wide stretch of roadway -
at least one USPS rider, a rider from Fassa Bortolo has a left sleeve
already drenched in blood.  The USPS rider is Nozal, who just a second ago
was right at the head of the field.  Iban Mayo has a seriously shredded kit,
with most of the left leg of his shorts ripped away.  No word yet on what it
has done to the field.

The two lead riders are on the cobbles.  Euskatel has dropped back several
riders to tow Iban Mayo back up, and Nozal slips into the draft as well.

Big George Hincapie leads the USPS team onto the cobbles - screaming through
the cobbles.  Ekimov moves to the front now as the Postal Service holds a
practice for tomorrow's team time trial.

A clear split has occurred at about 40 riders or so - there's probably a
good 3 or 4 seconds between the bunches.  It is soon out to 8 or 9 seconds
and other splits appear between groups as riders seek smoother roads and try
to echelon across the roadway.  Riders are leaping right and left to find a
clear section.

USPS sweeps onto the smooth roadway and snags drinks from a soigneur.  They
have kept Lance in third place all the way through, as the order of the
peleton gets reduced to anarchy.

T-Mobile, Gerolsteiner and USPS are flogging the pace to make life as tough
as possible for Mayo and his teammates.  This has become a pretty serious
split.  There are three main groups, it seems with Liberty contender Roberto
Heras stuck in the second group with some determined CSC and Rabobank riders
with their team leaders Ivan Basso and Levi Leipheimer.  Both the yellow
jersey and Mayo trail behind them.

Word comes through that Marco Velo was the Fassa Bortolo rider who was
bleeding in the ditch.  So far no word on the condition or situation.

Approximately 30 miles to go and it seems that the CSC/Liberty/Rabobank
group have cut down the gap and joined up with the USPS/T-Mobile (and
Phonak) lead bunch.  It appears that the Mayo group is still about 2 minutes
behind the lead bunch, who trail the nearly forgotten lead pair by less than
a minute.  

The Orange Basque men are trying to organize the chase, but this situation
does not seem to play to their strengths.  They don't seem to be getting
much help from the Credit Agricole group.

Up front de Groot and Voight have seen their lead clipped to 38 seconds, and
begin pedaling like cyclo-tourists as they begin to feel the spittle from
the bunch. De Groot entertains us by seeing how many water bottles he can
stuff into his jersey before the bunch arrives.

Official times come through that the Mayo bunch is 2:25 behind. Also, it
seems that Marco Velo has been taken to the hospital with a broken
collarbone.  The other rider who seems to have been caught out is Credit
Agricole's team leader Christophe Moreau.

With a few more kilometers under the wheels, the gap seems to be stuck at
just under two minutes.  The Euskatel support riders are absolutely burying
themselves to get back in touch with the lead bunch.  They are getting help
only from a couple riders from the Spanish Beleares squad.  There are just
over 21 miles to go, and their peleton finds itself duking it for the final
Sprint Point on the day.  Gerolsteiner's Danilo Hondo pips Stuart O'Grady
and Jean-Patrick Nazon. The accelleration adds a few more seconds to the gap
back to the Mayo group  - it now sits at 2:09.


We hit another group of cobbles, with dust rising as riders scream over teh
ancient rocks.  Stuart O'Grady immediately hits the ground, bounces up and
remounts before anyone realizes he's been slowed.  An Alessio rider squirted
clear over the rocky bits.

The Mayo group hits the cobbles, throwing another handful of worry into the
bunch.  They quickly seem to be slowing, and pass through the thousands of
spectators at a visibly slower speed.

The Lotto bunch set the pace as they roll up on Martin Hvastjia, the Alessio
rider who had set off. We break for commercial, but upon a return, there
seems to be another breakup of the bunch - Phil and Paul say they were held
up by a level crossing (train tracks).  Not quite clear, but it does seem
that things are split again - It seems that support riders have been caught
out.

As for the Mayo bunch, the incredible has occurred.  There are no Euskatel
riders working at the front of their group.  The gap continues to edge out -
now 2:43. The impetus seems to have slipped away...

=== Crash in the field -
A gaggle of Rabobank riders get scattered by some road furniture.  Most hop
on again quickly - but Mark Wauters seems visibly stunned and has not
regained his feet.

Time gap - now 2:56. Bad day for Euskatel.

An RAGT rider skips off the front with just under 6 miles to go.
A few more riders join him, as the sprinters teams move strongly to the
front and elminate their tenuous gap. The riders from the teams you've heard
about toss in the towel, but Sylvain Calzati from RAGT makes another push
away. Sadly, his valiant effort is swept aside.

2 miles to go and Fassa Bortolo begins to show themselves in a long blue and
white line out front.  Gerolsteiner snakes around behind them, and somewhere
in there lurks Robbie McEwen, who could be wearing the yellow jersey tonight
if he wins the stage. As they head through the manicured suburbs, the riders
are in a single long line as they snake through numerous turns.

1.5 km to go - now led by Gerolsteiners

Under the 1km flag and Gerolsteiner has lifted the pace to get a classic
leadout for Hondo.  Hondo is launched with a couple hundred meters and
riders scramble to move around him.  McEewen goes hard right and seems to
move away.  Against the rail Jean Patric Nazon finds another gear and
matches pedal strokes with Erik Zabel and both men ride through McEwen's
sprint.  Both riders throw their bikes, but Nazon manages a solid wheel
length victory.  McEwen, though fading, seems to hold onto third place -
with the bonus time, he should be the fourth Australian to wear the yellow
jersey.

Behind him, the wrecked bunch doesn't cross the line until 3:55.  There has
been nearly unrecoverable wreckage done in this stage.  Riders limp in as as
far as 10 minutes back.

Stage 3 Results - 
1 - Jean-Patrick Nazon - Ag2R - 4:36:45
2 - Erik Zabel - T-Mobile - s.t.
3 - Robbie McEwen - Lotto - s.t.
4 - Tom Boonen - Quick-Step - s.t.
5 - Kim Kirchen - Fassa Bortolo - s.t.

General Classification -
1 - Robbie McEwen - Lotto - 13:42:34
2 - Fabian Cancellara - Fassa Bortolo - @ :01
3 - Jens Voigt - @:09
4 - Jean-Patrick Nazon - @ :12
5 - Lance Armstrong - @ :16


===============================
Tomorrow's Stage -
Stage 4 - Cambrai to Arras - Team Time Trial 64.5
Unique to this year is a "time loss limit", whereby teams can only lose
2 minutes and 30 seconds, regardless of how far they fall behind the
winning squad. The high speed ballet will be played out with the entire
squad, with the 5th rider across giving the elapsed time.



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