To be honest, the final stage of the Tour de France is always a bit of a let-down for me. Not because of the racing, but because it means the end of the race...like going to bed after your birthday party or on the night before school starts again...
We'll have more wrap-up throughout the week, but for now, one thought:
Mark Cavendish, despite all his shenanigans, is truly in a class above the rest. Hats-off to his team too, for getting him where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Flying under the flamme rouge for the final time today, George Hincapie completely took control of the sprint, swinging left, usurping Garmin's lead-out train, and getting his team to the front. Mark Renshaw took all the risks through the final bend, pulling Cavendish free, lengths ahead, and then sprinting to 2nd place on the day.
One complaint: the camera angle. Those by-the-side shots look great in the Olympics, but in cycling, I want to see it all unfold before me. Maybe we should blame Cavendish and his team for simply leaving everyone else out of the frame?
Thank you to everyone for checking-in--especially those of you who have left comments for the rest of us to enjoy!
Please keep returning for more thoughts, quips, and whatever else we think-up next!
Enjoy your Sunday!
Cavendish really is unstoppable. One thing I love about the tour, and always try to convey to people who aren't familiar with how the race works, and about all of the individual awards like King of the Mountain is that the race isn't just some monotonous 2200 mile trek, but a very complex an strategic battle the whole way.
ReplyDeleteExplaining the nuance of the tour is a lot harder than it sounds, when you have situations like Cavendish managing to win 6 stages, yet finishing 131st overall without really choking on any individual stage, or the overall points winner Hushovd finishing 106th.
All in all, I enjoyed this year's race a lot, it wasn't a runaway race, and it really felt like it could have gone in any direction at a moment's notice. Now if only we didn't have to wait a year for it to start again.
Renshaw's leadout was fabulous. The line he took through the final turn left everyone else out of the picture.
ReplyDeleteI loved watching the tour this year. Can't wait for it to come around again.
Thanks for the comments, guys!
ReplyDeleteWe'll have to wait another year for the Tour, but there's still some great racing to come this year.
Keep following!