When a breakaway goes up the road, the peloton plays the dangerous game of “cat and mouse” because the larger group is usually assured of catching the smaller one somewhere, whether it is kilometers or fractions of a meter, before the finish line. A break more often than not gets reeled in.
A successful break, therefore, is the “perfect storm” of cycling. It requires a great deal of guile and bravado, along with a modicum of “suicidal tendency” on the rider’s part, and a forging of temporary alliances strong enough to create the necessary teamwork to stay away and not expend copious amounts of energy in doing so.
A successful breakaway also involves a bit of luck, especially when the peloton is as attentive as it is during the first week of a three week stage race. Although you cannot win a Grand Tour in the first week, you can certainly lose one during that same time frame.
On today’s Stage 3 of the Tour de France from Saint-Malo to Nantes, a day which should have favored the fastmen, a band of four unlikely brothers banded together to create cycling's perfect storm.
Romain Feillu (Agritubel), Will Frischkorn (Garmin-Chipotle), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) and Paolo Longo Borghini (Barloworld) built a lead of over 15 minutes before the peloton decided to reel them in. Aided by a series of crashes and strong winds, the four-man break outlasted the peloton and destroyed any and all hope for a classic field sprint finish.
At the line it was Sammy Dumoulin, a rider known more for his Tour crashes than his exploits, who took the win. If you’ll recall, Dumoulin was caught up in the unfortunate circumstance of running into a dog during the 2004 Tour de France.
Will Frischkorn and Romain Feillu would take second and third respectively.
For Frischkorn, who was recently spotlighted by Bonnie D. Ford on ESPN.com, his effort provided some instant credibility to a Garmin-Chipotle team attempting to grow into a Pro Tour squad, while Feillu earned the maillot jaune and some respect for a French team whose leader and overall hope for a Tour victory has most likely seen his best days already go by him.
Next: Stage 4 - Tuesday, July 8: Cholet - Cholet (ITT), 29.5km. Althought the high mountains still loom in the distance, the Individual Time Trial should help separate the contenders from the pretenders. The flat course should favor a freight train like Fabian Cancellara (CSC-Saxo Bank).
More:
Cyclingnews - French fantasy: Dumoulin with win and Feillu yellow
International Herald Tribune - Samuel Dumoulin stays on course in 3rd stage of Tour de France
Velonews - Tour de France stage 3: Will Frischkorn gets on the podium
Photo: AP
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