2012 Le Tour – Stage 3

Orchies / Boulogne-sur-Mer (123 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

No retirements so far though some riders are dealing with injuries.  The problem is that once you stop, you stop.

The Mad Manx racked up another stage win.

Probably not today though, Jean-François Pescheux the official site handicapper thinks it is highly unlikely that there will be any Sprinters around at the finish what with the 4 category 4 and 2 category 3 climbs.  There will be a mid stage point award.

In the General Classification there isn’t much movement of the top ten.  As I was working on yesterday’s piece I realized that deltas after each stage were hard to locate unless you captured them at the time.  I’ve got the data for the Prologue and Stages so far and I’ll post them with the pretty tables as soon as I can get the formatting done.

General Classification

Place Rider Team Time/Delta
1 CANCELLARA Fabian RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 10:02:31
2 WIGGINS Bradley SKY PROCYCLING +00:07
3 CHAVANEL Sylvain OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP +00:07
4 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM +00:10
5 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY PROCYCLING +00:11
6 MENCHOV Denis KATUSHA TEAM +00:13
7 GILBERT Philippe BMC RACING TEAM +00:13
8 EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM +00:17
9 NIBALI Vincenzo LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +00:18
10 HESJEDAL Ryder GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA +00:18

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at 8 pm and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

Pretty tables-

Points

Place Rider Team Points
1 SAGAN Peter LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 78
2 CAVENDISH Mark SKY PROCYCLING 63
3 CANCELLARA Fabian RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 55
4 GOSS Matthew Harley ORICA GREENEDGE 52
5 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY PROCYCLING 42
6 GREIPEL André LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 42
7 GILBERT Philippe BMC RACING TEAM 33
8 RENSHAW Mark RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 31
9 VEELERS Tom TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO 26
10 MORKOV Michael TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 25
11 PETACCHI Alessandro LAMPRE – ISD 24
12 CHAVANEL Sylvain OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 23
13 MOLLEMA Bauke RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 22
14 KERN Christophe TEAM EUROPCAR 20
15 GENE Yohann TEAM EUROPCAR 20
16 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM 20
17 GESINK Robert RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM 18
18 HUTAROVICH Yauheni FDJ-BIGMAT 18
19 WIGGINS Bradley SKY PROCYCLING 17
20 VAN HUMMEL Kenny Robert VACANSOLEIL-DCM 17
21 URTASUN PEREZ Pablo EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 17
22 ROUX Anthony FDJ-BIGMAT 17
23 MARTIN Daniel GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 16
24 LANCASTER Brett Daniel ORICA GREENEDGE 16
25 HAEDO Juan Jose TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 16
26 HESJEDAL Ryder GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 15
27 EDET Nicolas COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 15
28 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM 13
29 DELAPLACE Anthony SAUR-SOJASUN 13
30 ROJAS Jose Joaquin MOVISTAR TEAM 13
31 DEVENYNS Dries OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 12
32 FARRAR Tyler GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 12
33 BOUET Maxime AG2R LA MONDIALE 11
34 VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM 10
35 VELITS Peter OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 10
36 GRETSCH Patrick TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO 9
37 MENCHOV Denis KATUSHA TEAM 8
38 HINAULT Sébastien AG2R LA MONDIALE 8
39 IMPEY Daryl ORICA GREENEDGE 7
40 GERRANS Simon ORICA GREENEDGE 6
41 GRIVKO Andriy ASTANA PRO TEAM 6
42 FROOME Christopher SKY PROCYCLING 5
43 BOECKMANS Kris VACANSOLEIL-DCM 5
44 NIBALI Vincenzo LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 4
45 DUMOULIN Samuel COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 4
46 COOKE Baden ORICA GREENEDGE 4
47 EVANS Cadel BMC RACING TEAM 3
48 HONDO Danilo LAMPRE – ISD 3
49 ARASHIRO Yukiya TEAM EUROPCAR 2
50 BOZIC Borut ASTANA PRO TEAM 2
51 SORENSEN Nicki TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 1

Team

Place Team Time/Delta
1 SKY PROCYCLING 30:08:07
2 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN +00:04
3 BMC RACING TEAM +00:06
4 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP +00:13
5 GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA +00:23
6 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +00:30
7 ORICA GREENEDGE +00:33
8 KATUSHA TEAM +00:38
9 AG2R LA MONDIALE +00:42
10 VACANSOLEIL-DCM +00:50
11 ASTANA PRO TEAM +00:52
12 RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM +01:01
13 FDJ-BIGMAT +01:13
14 MOVISTAR TEAM +01:17
15 TEAM EUROPCAR +01:36
16 EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI +01:51
17 COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +02:23
18 TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO +02:27
19 LAMPRE – ISD +02:47
20 TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK +03:27
21 LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM +03:38
22 SAUR-SOJASUN +04:38

Hill Climbing

Place Rider Team Points
1 MORKOV Michael TEAM SAXO BANK-TINKOFF BANK 4
2 SAGAN Peter LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 1
3 URTASUN PEREZ Pablo EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI 1

Youth

Place Rider Team Time/Delta
1 VAN GARDEREN Tejay BMC RACING TEAM 10:02:41
2 BOASSON HAGEN Edvald SKY PROCYCLING +00:01
3 TAARAMAE Rein COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +00:12
4 POELS Wouter VACANSOLEIL-DCM +00:14
5 SAGAN Peter LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +00:14
6 VICHOT Arthur FDJ-BIGMAT +00:24
7 NERZ Dominik LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +00:27
8 PINOT Thibaut FDJ-BIGMAT +00:37
9 GALLOPIN Tony RADIOSHACK-NISSAN +00:42
10 KRUIJSWIJK Steven RABOBANK CYCLING TEAM +00:43
11 VALLS FERRI Rafael VACANSOLEIL-DCM +00:51
12 GAUTIER Cyril TEAM EUROPCAR +00:59
13 MALACARNE Davide TEAM EUROPCAR +01:52
14 IZAGUIRRE INSAUSTI Gorka EUSKALTEL – EUSKADI +02:30
15 ZINGLE Romain COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +02:45
16 OSS Daniel LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE +02:54
17 GRETSCH Patrick TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO +03:03
18 DELAPLACE Anthony SAUR-SOJASUN +03:31
19 BOECKMANS Kris VACANSOLEIL-DCM +03:53
20 GHYSELINCK Jan COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +04:02
21 EDET Nicolas COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE +04:38
22 ROUX Anthony FDJ-BIGMAT +08:20
23 KITTEL Marcel TEAM ARGOS-SHIMANO +11:07

23 comments

Skip to comment form

  1. Orchies

    Photobucket Orchies is a commune in northern France. It is the world capital of chicory and especially known for its Musée de la chicorée, the museum of chicory.

    • Stage town on one previous occasion

    • 8,500 inhabitants

    • Head of the canton of Nord

    The riders will appear for the first time in France in Orchies, which submitted a joint candidacy with Tournai as a Euroregion, a unique happening on the Tour. But Orchies is also one of the rare towns that is a stage that does not have a winner! In 1982, only three teams had set off when the team time-trial was interrupted in Denain by strike action, as a protest against the closure of the Usinor Group. On the other hand, last year, the town may have witnessed the birth of a future great champion, with the victory of Germany’s Marcel Kittel in the 1st stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk.

    Many of the streets are cobblestone but Le Tour will be avoiding them.

    Boulogne-sur-Mer

    • Stage town on 3 previous occasions

    • 43,800 inhabitants

    • Subprefecture of Pas-de-Calais

    Although the two last stages of the Tour which ended in Boulogne-sur-Mer were sprint finishes, with the victories of the Dutch Jean-Paul Van Poppel in 1994, and of the German Erik Zabel in 2001, the profile of the third stage is ideal for initiatives like those which allowed Pierrick Fédrigo and Sylvain Chavanel to obtain the French Champion’s jersey. In 2005, the air of the town greatly inspired Fédrigo, who also won the Four Days of Dunkirk’s pink leader jersey a few weeks earlier.

    Originally named Gesoriacum and probably also to be identified with Portus Itius, by the 4th century Boulogne was known to the Romans as Bononia and served as the major port connecting the rest of the empire to Britain. The emperor Claudius used this town as his base for the Roman invasion of Britain, in AD 43, and until 296 it was the base of the Classis Britannica.[citation needed] Zosimus called the city “germanorum”, Germanic speaking, at the end of the 4th century. The city was an important town of the Morini.

    In the Middle Ages it was the centre of a namesake county. The area was fought over by the French and the English and Boulogne was occupied by the English from 1544 to 1550. In 1550, The Peace of Boulogne ended the war of England with Scotland and France. France bought back Boulogne for 400,000 crowns.  

    In the 19th century the Cathedral of Notre-Dame was reconstructed by the priest Benoit Haffreingue after he received a call from God to reconstruct the town’s ruined basilica. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon amassed La Grande Armée in Boulogne to invade the United Kingdom in 1805. However, his plans were halted by other European matters and the supremacy of the Royal Navy (including thousands of Congreve rockets)

    On 22 May 1940 during the Battle of France, two British Guards battalions and some pioneers attempted to defend Bolougne against an attack by the German 2nd Panzer Division. Despite fierce fighting, the British were overwhelmed and the survivors were evacuated by Royal Navy destroyers while under direct German gunfire.[4] On June 15, 1944, 297 planes (155 Avro Lancasters, 130 Handley Page Halifaxes, and 12 De Havilland Mosquitos) of the Royal Air Force bombed Boulogne harbour to suppress German naval activity following D-Day. Some of the Lancasters carried Tallboy bombs, and as a result, the harbour and the surrounding area were completely destroyed. In August, 1944 the town was declared a “fortress” by Adolf Hitler, but it succumbed to assault and liberation by the 3rd Canadian Division in September. In one incident, a French civilian guided the Canadians to a “secret passage” leading into the walled old town and by-passing the German defenders.[5]

    To replace the destroyed urban infrastructure, affordable housing and public facility projects in functional, brutalist building styles were carried out in the 1950s and 60s. The harbour therefore sometimes proves to be a disappointment to tourists looking for a typical northern French harbour scene.

    Main sights

    * Belfry (11th century), part of the UNESCO Heritage Sites List.

    * Medieval castle, whose foundations date to Roman times. It houses an Egyptian art collection

    * Gothic church of St. Nicholas, housing several 15th century statues

    * Cathedral basilica of Notre-Dame, with a dome standing at over 100 m. The crypt is one of the largest in France, and has Roman, Romanesque and Gothic elements.

    * Opened in 1991, Nausicaä – The French National Sea Centre is a science centre entirely dedicated to the relationship between mankind and the sea. It houses Aquaria, exhibitions on the marine fauna, and the exploitation and management of marine resources (fisheries, aquaculture, coastal planning, maritime transport, exploitation of energies and mineral, tourism).

    * The Boulogne Eastern Cemetery, created during the Great War

    There is a very unique exhibit in front of the Boulogne-sur-mer’s city hall, “The Car Versus Nature”

    The result is more garden than graveyard for such auto parts as rearview mirrors, tires, steering wheels and entire bench seats planted among the shrubbery. The group says it’s intended to show that “against the creations of Man, Nature always wins in the end.” Nature is definitely making herself known in the plants growing through the tops of such vehicles as a Citroën 2CV. Walkways are lined with tire treads, leather car seats invite passers-by to stop and have a seat, and gearboxes sit at the main entrances to the display area. In all, six cars, two bicycles, one motorbike and a tractor are “planted” in the installation, along with an uncounted number of vehicle components and accessories.”

    Car Versus Nature Boulogne-sur-mer

    Click on image to enlarge for the article, a slide show and a video.

     

  2. Concussion.

  3. That makes 2 today.

  4. Movistar rider Joaquin Rojas has had to abandon with a broken collarbone.

  5. He won the French championship on these roads. Riding with confidence

  6. retaining the Green jersey. This is his second stage win of the Tour.

  7. of the shore in the rain with several clammers waving to the chopper.

Comments have been disabled.