'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 Daniel Teklehaimanot made the first attack of the day, bringing 10 riders with. The attack was eventually taken back but we have two riders out front in Liuewe Westra (Astana) and Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin).
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 The pace is high on this opening climb and a number of riders have been distanced, including Peter Kennaugh, Mark Cavendish and one of yesterday's escapees Simon Yates.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 The two riders out front have been caught by 21-man counter attack that includes Peter Sagam (Tinkoff-Saxo), Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep) and Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka).
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 Serge Pauwels takes the two points at the top of the climb with Lieuwe Westra taking the other point available. Despite passing the KOM point, there is still some climbing to do. The leaders currently have 22 seconds on the peloton.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015  So we have 27 riders out front currently with a 45-seconds gap on the peloton. Strap in, because here's the full list of escapees as it stands. Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Garmin), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-La Mondiale), Serge Pauwels (MTN-Qhubeka), Michael Rogers (Tinkoff-Saxo), Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo), Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), Cyril Gautier (Eruopcar), Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), Joaquim RodrÃguez (Katusha), Rigoberto Uran (Etixx-QuickStep), Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal), Simon Geschke (Giant-Alpecin), Bob Jungels (Trek Factory Racing), Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin), José Herrada (Movistar), Paul Voss (Bora-Argon 18), Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep), Kristjan Durasek (Lampre-Merida), Winner Anacona (Movistar), Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida), Lieuwe Westra (Astana), Perrig Quimeneur (Europcar), Thomas de Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) and Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Garmin).
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 Despite having RodrÃguez in the break, Katusha are pulling on the front of the peloton. They don't want to give the break too much room as their sprinter Alexander Kristoff is in with a shout of victory in Valence.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015  Of course, RodrÃguez isn't the only jersey wearer in the break. Peter Sagan is also in there, most likely looking to take the points at the intermediate sprint. He did the same yesterday and extended his lead over André Greipel in the green jersey competition. This is how it stands at the moment. 1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Tinkoff-Saxo 322 pts2 André Greipel (Ger) Lotto Soudal 261 3 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Giant-Alpecin 228 4 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Etixx - Quick-Step 192 5 Bryan Coquard (Fra) Team Europcar 120 6 Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) BMC Racing Team 112 7 Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky 109 8 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Etixx - Quick-Step 78 9 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 77 10 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Lotto Soudal 7613:37:42 CEST
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 It's an interesting move by Sagan. He obviously wants to increase his lead over Greipel but he's also a contender for the stage win. The break is still only 45 seconds up but if they are successful then he is the clear favourite for the win. If they don't make it then perhaps he's ruined any chance at the win. It's a gamble from Sagan.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 !!! Jean Christophe Peraud has been dropped by the main peloton on this traverse to the next climb. He's still struggling with his injuries following a crash earlier this week.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 As the peloton close in on the escapees, the leading group has split into two. There are now 10 riders in the lead with 17 chasing them. the 10 who have made it out front are: Pinot, Rogers, Sagan, Bak, Geschke, A. Yates, Kwiatkowski, Trentin and Hesjedal.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 The peloton have caught up with the chasers and they are now 41 seconds behind the nine escapees. There is a third group of stragglers, including Mark Cavendish, that are a further 30 seconds down.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 !!! Sebastian Langeveld has abandoned, he was struggling very early on in the stage.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 This nine-man group is much more manageable for the peloton than the previous 27 strong group that first got away. The peloton are sitting up and the gap has grown to 1:05.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 Â A reminder of who the nine men out front are: Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Michael Rogers and Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo), Lars Bak (Lotto-Soudal), Siomn Geschke (Giant-Alpecin), Adam Yates (Orica-GreenEdge), Michal Kwiatkowski and Matteo Trentin (Etixx-QuickStep) and Ryder Hesjedal (Cannondale-Garmin)
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 Of that group, Sagan is the favourite for the win but you can't discount the speedy Matteo Trentin. The Italian beat Sagan into Nancy last year so can certainly hold his own against the Tinkoff-Saxo rider.
'Dale Posted July 19, 2015 Posted July 19, 2015 Â With yet another day in the break, Michal Kwiatkowski is on course to take the super combatif prize in Paris. He's already been awarded the combativity prize twice in this Tour de France and we can expect him to try something off the front of this leading group at some point today, giving Etixx a number of options today.
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