Triple Crankset: Asleep At The Wheel, Columbia - HTC, Cavendish and Armstrong Profit

Monday, July 06, 2009

Asleep At The Wheel, Columbia - HTC, Cavendish and Armstrong Profit - 96th Tour de France Stage 3

On a stage which featured a flat run into the finish in La Grande Motte, the wind and some timely team tactics turned a mundane race day into a mad scramble.

Team Columbia - HTC and their golden boy, Mark Cavendish, were the direct beneficiaries on the day as Manxman would add to his grand tour victory tally. But with no time bonuses given to the riders at the end of each stage, perhaps no one benefited more from the day's events than Lance Armstrong (Astana), who is not only looking for his eighth Tour de France victory, but also leadership of his own team.

The 196.5km Stage 3 from Marseille to La Grande Motte seemed relatively nondescript on paper, a mere transition stage into tomorrow's Team Time Trial. It was anything but.

With a bevy of coastal towns incorporated into this year's route to pay homage to the maritime history of the region, it was all but a certainty that winds might eventually play a factor into the race. Ironically, Versus' commentators Paul Sherwen and Phil Liggett had even predicted the possibility of such well before the peloton's depart from Marseille.

If a wind aided crash with approximately 40km was the harbinger of the peloton's destruction, then the timely tactics of Team Columbia - HTC would complete it. In an era where the debate over excessive team communitation is viewed as a detriment to the development of a rider's racing instincts, it came as no great surprise that the peloton would splinter so abruptly and decisively, like a flick of the switch.

A group of 27 that included the entirety of Team Columbia - HTC, an Astana trio that included Lance Armstrong, Fabian Cancellara's maillot jaune, a small group from Skil-Shimano, and the original break of four would quickly build up a lead of over 30 seconds that a panicked and unorganized peloton would fail to make up.

Mark Cavendish would ultimately take the sprint, well ahead of Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) and Cyril Lemoine (Skil-Shimano).

Postal Retread
Armstrong's move during Stage 3 from Marseille to La Grande Motte was especially adept, and striking similar to the tactics employed by US Postal Service on another Stage 3, in 2004. Knowing that the cobbles may prove difficult for his up-start Spanish competitor, Iban Mayo (then of Euskatel-Euskadi), Armstrong and company ramped up the pace and literally left Mayo and his Tour chance in the Belgian dirt. Coincidentally, today's attentive move would help Armstrong climb up to third in the General Classification, 19 seconds over his Spanish teammate and competitor for team leadership, Alberto Contador.

Results After Stage 3
1. Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia - HTC
2. Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
3. Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Skil-Shimano

General Classification After Stage 3
1. Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank
2. Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC
3. Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
4. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana
5. Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream
6. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana
7. Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram
8. Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence - Lotto
9. Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia - HTC
10. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana

Jersey Leaders After Stage 3