Le Tour 2011- Stage 4

Lorient to Mûr-de-Bretagne (107 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Well, that was kind of odd.

I don’t mean Thor Hushovd doing leadout at the finish so that Tyler Farrar could get a Stage win on Independence Day.  That was kind of classy and arguably a team leadership move.

Nope, I mean what the hell was he doing contesting for 6th place sprinter’s points at best (5 riders in the break away) at the mid Stage checkpoint?

Those Green Jersey points don’t count a damn in GC.  Were I his manager he would have gotten an earful about his role on the Garmin squad in the debrief.  Mark Cavendish the Mad Manx took them anyway so what was the benefit?

Today’s course ends on a climb up the ‘Wall of Brittany’, terrain unsuited to sprinting and where the 3 km Turn Left Racing rule does not apply.  Fall off your bike and watch the seconds tick away.

Pre-Stage favorites include Philippe Gilbert (his birthday) and Cadel Evans, either of whom could take the maillot jaune (though Evans is much better positioned to do so).  On Contador watch the best you can say about yesterday is he moved up in rank from 75th to 69th and didn’t lose any more time to the leaders.  Frank and Andy Schleck are grouped in a 10 rider tie for 4th a mere 4 Seconds back, unless Hushovd has a great day overall leadership is poised for a change.

Don’t count him out though, the last time a similar Stage was contested in 2008 the winner was Thor Hushovd.

Coverage starts at 8 am on Vs.  

12 comments

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    • on 07/05/2011 at 13:32
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    • on 07/05/2011 at 14:05
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    Doesn’t explain what the heck Hushovd was doing there in the first place.

    • on 07/05/2011 at 14:11
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    Talk about Garmin adding Green to its list of goals.

    • on 07/05/2011 at 14:12
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    Fog, wind, and rain.

    • on 07/05/2011 at 14:13
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    • on 07/05/2011 at 14:29
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    Pander some more guys.

    • on 07/05/2011 at 14:31
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    with the Peloton at 73 miles out and a 5 person break away.

    • on 07/05/2011 at 17:56

    Contador in 2nd, Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov third.

    Norway’s Thor Hushovd keeps the yellow.

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