The remarkable 22-year-old Peter Sagan claimed his third Tour stage win in today's stage to Metz. He comfortably outsprinted André Griepel, who was on for his third successive stage win. Griepel, however, crashed twice today and his directeur sportive had said that he wouldn't be sprinting today leaving that to his team mate Greg Henderson. However, a big crash in the peloton at 24K from the finish must have changed that. Matt Goss was third and Kenny van Hummel was fourth.
This crash held up a number of possible overall contenders and also Mark Cavendish, who again missed out on a sprint that might well have suited him. Although none of the big favourites were affected, following the crash there were some big losses:
2.09: Frank Schleck, Janez Brajokovic, Michele Scaponi, Edvard Boasson Hagen and Alejandro Valverde
3.31: Robert Gesink
13.24: Ryder Hesjedal (winner of the Giro) and Irish rider Daniel Martin
Following the crash Mikel Astarloza, Tom Danielson, Hubert Dupont (broken arm), Oscar Freire, Wout Poels (three cracked ribs and other injuries), Amets Txurruka, Davide Vignano and Martin Wynants are reported to have abandoned the Tour. Incredibly Wynants completed the stage with apparently two broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Whether this was a sensible thing to do, it does put the antics of football's drama queens into stark contrast! Also reports that Ryder Hesjedal and Johan Vansummeren may not be able to continue.
Following the crash Mikel Astarloza, Tom Danielson, Hubert Dupont (broken arm), Oscar Freire, Wout Poels (three cracked ribs and other injuries), Amets Txurruka, Davide Vignano and Martin Wynants are reported to have abandoned the Tour. Incredibly Wynants completed the stage with apparently two broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Whether this was a sensible thing to do, it does put the antics of football's drama queens into stark contrast! Also reports that Ryder Hesjedal and Johan Vansummeren may not be able to continue.
Fabian Cancellara still leads overall by seven seconds from Bradley Wiggins and Sylvain Chavanel, followed by Tejay Van Garderen (10 secs), Denis Menchov (13), Cadel Evans (17), Vincenzo Nibali (18), Peter Sagan and Andréas Klöden (19), and Maxime Monfort (22). In the Green Jersey competition Peter Sagan now has 209 points followed by Matt Goss on 178.
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