Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Scarponi and Kangert's forcing on the Rosier has distanced Arredondo and Boaro. Chaves holds on as best he can to the Astana duo. The bunch is at 40 seconds.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 54km remaining from 253km Chaves has begun to collaborate with the Astana pair up front and their lead has nudged above the minute mark on the long sweep towards the foot of the Col du Maquisard.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Arredondo has been caught by the peloton, and Boaro is also within their sights. Scarponi, Kangert and Chaves remain a minute clear, with the Astana pair peforming the bulk of the pace-making.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 The Col du Maquisard is 2.5 km in lenght at an average gradient of 5%. It's far from the toughest climb on the agenda but after more than 200 kilometres, efforts like this start to exact an amplified toll. Kangert leads the break and the Estonian is pedalling very smoothly indeed.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 46km remaining from 253km The speed is high in the main peloton, which has been strung out into a long line on the way up the Maquisard. A number of riders are showing signs of struggling towards the back, including Tony Gallopin (Lotto Soudal).
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Movistar's injection of pace in the main bunch has pinned the break's lead back to 45 seconds nearing the top of the Maquisard. Nibali, Rodriguez and Valverde are all sitting comfortably towards the front.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 And down they go... again.. Dominik Nerz (Bora-Argon 18) and Rafa Valls (Lampe-Merida) crash towards the rear of the bunch, but they are both able to remount and give chase.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Scarponi, Kangert and Chaves still hold a lead of 43 seconds as they barrel towards the Redoute.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 And down they go... again..???? A large crash in the main peloton looks to have ended the hopes of Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin), Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEdge) and Nicolas Roche (Sky).
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Pierre Rolland (Europcar) and Nathan Haas (Cannondale-Garmin) are also among the fallers.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 It happened near the front of the group and a lot of riders were held up. Vincenzo Nibali had to unclip but managed to come through unscathed.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar) has an injury to his collarbone. Nicolas Roche gets gingerly to his feet with a cut to his forehead. He looks very groggy and his race is clearly over.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Dan Martin and Gerrans seem to have remounted but they'll have their work cut out to get back on. The unfortunate Martin in particular, looked to have fallen quite heavily.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 38km remaining from 253km The end result of that crash is a vastly-reduced peloton on the approach to the Côte de La Redoute (2 km at 8.9%), and they are just 19 seconds down on the three leaders.
Eugene Oppelt Posted April 26, 2015 Posted April 26, 2015 Etixx-QuickStep are forcing on the front of the reduced bunch at the foot of La Redoute. Maxime Bouet works on behalf of Michal Kwiatkowski.
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