Wow, what a stage. Since when are the streets of Holland paved with oil? Tyler Farrar bounced up from an earlier crash, got himself and a few teammates in position, and executed a textbook sprint over a devastated field for the stage win. Bradley Wiggins got stuck behind the latest big crash, a mass-pileup with about 7km to go, and that was after Wiggins crashed hard earlier. The second group contained a few of the favorites, who never quite made it back. But one cagey veteran, Cadel Evans, survived the split and put on the maglia rosa for the second time in his life. Given the presence of time bonuses and Farrar lying a sole second back of Evans, the World Champion figures to hang on to the jersey for about as long as he did last time. But no matter, he probably only wants a token appearance in the lead at this early stage regardless. Stage results:
- Tyler Farrar, Garmin
- Matt Goss, HTC, s.t.
- Fabio Sabatini, Liquigas, s.t.
And the GC:
- Cadel Evans, BMC
- Farrar, at 0.01
- Alexandr Vinokourov, Astana, at 0.03
Screencap du jour?
Happy Mother's Day!