The Aussie’s Rule the Day
Simon Gerrans (Orica – GreenEdge) just edged out Peter Sagan
(Cannondale) at the line to win Stage 3 of the 2013 Tour De France. It is the
Aussie’s second career stage win at the Tour De France, but the first stage win
for the Australian team Orica-GreenEdge, in only its second year of existence. Gerrans
was ecstatic at the finish exclaiming, “It is fantastic. I’m thrilled for
Orica-GreenEdge to the get the win.” With most of the sprinter getting dropped
on the final category 2 climb that peaked out just 13.5 km from the finish, the
stage looked set for Peter Sagan to open his 2013 Tour De France bank account.
But it was not to be. A huge surge by Daryl Imprey (Orica-GreenEdge) in the last
500 meters brought Gerrans into second position, ensuring his win over Sagan.
How it All Started
Attacks began from the get go with a relatively short stage
by Tour standards at just 145.5 km. But it was a stage that included four
categorized climbs with the final climb a nasty cat. 2, and an average gradient
of 8.6% peaking out just 13.5 km from the finish. A breakaway looked as though
it may have its first chance to succeed at this years Tour. Liuewe Westra (Vacansoleil-DCM) initiated the first attack right from the 0 km, followed by four riders bridged
up to him immediately—Sebastien Minard (AG2R), Alexis Vuillermoz (Sojasun),
Cyril Gautier (EuropeCar) and Simon Clarke (Orica-GreenEdge)—forming a strong
group.
While the breakaway continued, the Tour saw its first casualty
of the 100th edition with Andrey Keshechkin (Astana Pro Team)
abandoning towards the base of the days first climb with 133 km still to race.
Geraint Thomas (Team Sky), usually a strong rider, was seen at the back of the
peloton throughout the day, nursing a slight fracture of his pelvis he suffered
during yesterday’s tumultuous first stage.
Clarke claimed the first climb of the day, the category 4
the Col du San Bastiano, sprinting from a long way out and barely beating out Vuillermoz
at the summit, gaining a single point. On the descent, the leaders stretched
out there lead to a maximum 4’ 20’’ with 128.5 km still to race. In the valley that
followed the break seemed content to save energy and power on with Sebastien
Minard leading the group across the line at the uncontested intermediate sprint
with 117 km still to race.
The Stage Begins to
Heat Up
As the mercury began to touch 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the
pace in the field began to heat up as they quickly approached the intermediate
sprint, with many sprint trains forming across the road, Cannondale and
Argos-Shimano the most prominent. Marcel Kittle won the sprint for the best of
the rest gaining 10 points to extend his lead over Peter Sagan to eights points
at 57 to 49, respectively, as all of the big name sprinters scored points. The
second climb of the day was the nasty Col du San Martino, a cat. 3 climb
offering two points at the top, double the points that were offered at the top
of the Col du San Bastiano earlier in the day. Again, Clarke won the hotly
contested sprint beating out Vuillermoz.
As the breakaway descended the Col racing quickly towards
the next climb, back in the field the GC teams began moving towards the front,
with Saxo-Tinkoff and Team Sky showing their faces. Cresting the climb, the
teams saw a harrowing descent that was narrow and unforgiving. Tom Veelers
(Argos-Shimano) fell victim to the tight and narrow roads, crashing into one of
the brick guardrails, Team Belkin took control at the front. The break meanwhile
had begun the third climb of the day, the Cote de Porto. At just 2 km in length
it was short, but mighty steep, evident with its category 3 ranking. Clarke
again moved to the front at the top sprinting away to gain maximum points,
again ahead of Vuillermoz. This put Clarke in a tie for first place in the King
of Mountains competition with the category 2 Col du Marsolino still to come
offering up 5 points to the first rider across. As the field crested the summit
of the third climb of the day with the break;s lead a mere 30 seconds, there
was trouble at the back as Mark Cavendish dropped off the field. He would
rejoin on the descent with help from his teammates.
The Calm Before the
Storm
The course continued along the coast with rolling hills and
sweeping bends that seemed to never go in one direction for a particularly long
time. With 64 km to go Niki Terpstra (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) and about 5
other riders hit the deck just after the feed zone. Terpstra was seen grimacing
in pain and holding his wrist as he waited for a new wheel. He would rejoin the
bunch and call off the doctor’s car, eventually finishing the stage along side
Mark Cavendish. With 50 km to go and the break’s lead pushed back out to 2
minutes, the work on the front of the peloton fell to RadioShack-Leopard-Trek. Just
10 km later, the break lead fell to 1 minute, with RadioShack’s Jens Voight setting
a fast tempo on the front. At about the same time, the Champion of France
Arthur Vichot (FDJ), hit the deck appearing to fall victim to a touch of
wheels. It was clear the nerves began to show as the riders anticipated fireworks
on the final climb, peaking just 13.5 km from the finish.
Boom Goes the
Dynamite
With 21 km to go the infighting had begun as Simon Clarke
attacked his breakaway companions with only Sebastein Minard able to follow.
Clarke appeared to be a man on a mission to stand on the podium today wearing
Polka Dots. The duo hit the climb hard, but the field was fast approaching,
still being driven by Voight. At 17 km to go the field was imploding with the
likes of Mark Cavendish and Marcel Kittle moving backwards along with the rest
of the sprinters. At 16.6 km to go,
just 3.1 km from the summit, Clarke chose to go alone with another acceleration
that detached Minard. Just 15.8 km to go and Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi),
a former leader of the Vuelta a Espana, attacked the bunch in pursuit of Clarke
and a potential stage win. One km later and just 1.3 km from the summit, EuropeCar launched the classic
two pronged attack with Pierre Rolland sitting second wheel decked head-to-toe
in Polka Dots and looking determined to hold onto the jersey he said he would
not defend before the stage. Simon Clarke’s mission ended just half a kilometer
later as the EuropeCar duo made contact with Clarke and then continued on.
Clarke attempted to follow the EuropeCar riders, but to no avail, a day in the
break clearly tapping him out. Igor Anton, who had been stuck in no-man’s land
and had been passed by the EuropeCar duo, passed Clarke and made contact with
EuropeCar riders at 14.3 km to go and 800 meters from the summit. The field
absolutely decimated behind with all of the big teams at the front and the
yellow jersey of Jan Bakelants (RadioShack-Leopard-Trek) sitting perfectly in
third position. The three riders up the rode held a slim 10-second advantage.
With the summit in sight a slew of riders attacked and Rolland conserved his
lead by winning the climb. He hit the descent hard dropping his companions and
continuing alone in search of a stage win.
A
Mad Dash to the Line
With just 10 km to go Rolland held a slim 10-second gap,
but Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) was attacking the field. At 7.8
km to go a quartet formed at the front including Lars-Peter Nordhaug (Belkin),
Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Rolland, and a clearly determined Sylvain
Chavanel. They came ever so close, just being swept up with 3 kilometers to go as
Team Cannondale drove the pass at the front of the field. The crowd was screaming
in anticipation at the finish. With no other big names there, only one question
left – how would Sagan celebrate this one? As they came around the sweeping
bend with 500 meters to go Orica stole the front from Cannondale with Gerrans
sitting second wheel and Sagan moving in right behind. As they came to the line
it was shoulder to shoulder and both men threw their bikes in an effort to
outreach the other. They crossed the line and looked at each other—who had won.
In the end it was Simon Gerrans who stole the show. Jose Rojas (Movistar Team)
rounded out the podium in third. As a consolation prize Sagan took over the
lead in the Sprinters Competition and pulled on the green jersey. The top of
the General Classification remained unchanged with Jan Bakelants pulling on a
second yellow jersey at the end of the day and still holding a one-second
advantage over 93 riders. The
stage was a fitting end to an unpredictable three days of racing on the French
island of Corsica. Tomorrow the teams will show their faces at the Team Time
Trial around Nice are destined to shake up the General
Classification.
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