Jul 03 2013

Le Tour 2013: Stage 4

One of my favorite parts of Le Tour is the Team Time Trials because of the beautiful co-ordination of the riders.  Heck, if I had my way the race would be nothing but (except for mountain stages).  Alas U.S. Postal and Radio Shack domination of this event have led race organizers to de-emphasise it to the point where it is but a single stage.

Of the 22 teams competing this year, 16 were within a minute of the best time, so it’s a lot more competitive than it used to be nor did it bounce around the General Classification very much with 3 Orica team mates tied for first and race favorite Froome a mere 3 seconds behind in a 3 way tie for 6th place.

Tomorrow’s course from Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille isn’t pancake flat (classed Medium Mountain) with 3 Category 4s and a Category 3, but most riders should find it of little difficulty except for those injured in the disasterous crash at the end of Stage 1 some of whom are expected to withdraw now that the Team Time Trial is over (they’ve basically been hanging on to support the team).  There will be one Sprint Checkpoint in addition to the finish.

After 4 Stages there are 39 riders within 30 seconds of the lead-

Rank Name Team Time
1 GERRANS Simon ORICA GREENEDGE 12h 47′ 24”
2 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE + 00′ 00”
3 ALBASINI Michael ORICA GREENEDGE + 00′ 00”
4 KWIATKOWSKI Michal OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP + 00′ 01”
5 CHAVANEL Sylvain OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP + 00′ 01”
6 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY PROCYCLING + 00′ 03”
7 FROOME Christopher SKY PROCYCLING + 00′ 03”
8 PORTE Richie SKY PROCYCLING + 00′ 03”
9 ROCHE Nicolas TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF + 00′ 09”
10 KREUZIGER Roman TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF + 00′ 09”
11 ROGERS Michael TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF + 00′ 09”
12 CONTADOR Alberto TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF + 00′ 09”
13 MILLAR David GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 17”
14 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen LOTTO-BELISOL + 00′ 17”
15 HANSEN Adam LOTTO-BELISOL + 00′ 17”
16 HESJEDAL Ryder GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 17”
17 VANDE VELDE Christian GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 17”
18 TALANSKY Andrew GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 17”
19 MARTIN Daniel GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 17”
20 DANIELSON Thomas GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 17”
21 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 20”
22 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 20”
23 AMADOR Andrey MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 20”
24 COSTA Rui Alberto MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 20”
25 CUNEGO Damiano LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 25”
26 NIEMIEC Przemyslaw LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 25”
27 SERPA José LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 25”
28 EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 26”
29 GILBERT Philippe BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 26”
30 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 26”
31 MOINARD Amaël BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 26”
32 BAKELANTS Jan RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 28”
33 VORGANOV Eduard KATUSHA TEAM + 00′ 28”
34 RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin KATUSHA TEAM + 00′ 28”
35 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel KATUSHA TEAM + 00′ 28”
36 MONFORT Maxime RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 29”
37 ZUBELDIA Haimar RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 29”
38 SCHLECK Andy RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 29”
39 KLÖDEN Andreas RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 29”

The sprinters are already starting to sort themselves out with 44 points separating the leader Peter Sagan from the 3 way tie for 10th.

Rank Name Team Points
1 SAGAN Peter CANNONDALE 74
2 KITTEL Marcel TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO 57
3 KRISTOFF Alexander KATUSHA TEAM 48
4 KWIATKOWSKI Michal OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 41
5 BOOM Lars BELKIN PRO CYCLING 40
6 VAN POPPEL Danny VACANSOLEIL-DCM 39
7 ROJAS José Joaquin MOVISTAR TEAM 36
8 GERRANS Simon ORICA GREENEDGE 32
9 FLECHA GIANNONI Juan Antonio VACANSOLEIL-DCM 32
10 BAKELANTS Jan RADIOSHACK LEOPARD 30
11 MILLAR David GARMIN – SHARP 30
12 SIMON Julien SOJASUN 30
13 GREIPEL André LOTTO-BELISOL 30

There are only 3 Mountain Kings worth mentioning, Pierre Rolland, Simon Clarke, and Blel Kadri-

Rank Name Team Points
1 ROLLAND Pierre TEAM EUROPCAR 10
2 CLARKE Simon ORICA GREENEDGE 5
3 KADRI Blel AG2R LA MONDIALE 5

And 4 Young Riders-

Rank Name Team Time
1 KWIATKOWSKI Michal OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 12h 47′ 25”
2 TALANSKY Andrew GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 16”
3 QUINTANA ROJAS Nairo Alexander MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 19”
4 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 25”

19 Teams are within 2 minutes of the lead and 9 are under 30 seconds out-

Rank Team Time
1 ORICA GREENEDGE 37h 30′ 20”
2 SKY PROCYCLING + 00′ 03”
3 TEAM SAXO-TINKOFF + 00′ 09”
4 GARMIN – SHARP + 00′ 17”
5 MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 20”
6 LAMPRE – MERIDA + 00′ 25”
7 BMC RACING TEAM + 00′ 26”
8 RADIOSHACK LEOPARD + 00′ 28”
9 KATUSHA TEAM + 00′ 28”

Sites of Interest-

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

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