Author: Alex
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Stage 19: Edvald Boasson Hagen makes a gap
A lesson in the value of riding behind someone else today and the challenge of preventing others from doing so. Drafting means that it is tough to make a gap and gaps need to be created if you’re to leave your rivals behind. Depending on the speed a group is travelling, the rider at the…
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Stage 17: Primoz Roglic unsurprisingly quick downhill
Last year Primoz Roglic was one hundredth of a second away from wearing the leader’s jersey in the Giro d’Italia. He went on to win the second time trial in that race, even though it was the first time he’d ever ridden one longer than 10km. He’s clearly a man who’s still exploring his potential…
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Stage 16: Michael Matthews welcomes hills and crosswinds
Proof that the best way to beat Marcel Kittel in a sprint is to bin him long before the finishing straight. As I said before the race, the German tends to fade a bit as the days go by and he struggled on the first climb of the day. Seeing this, Michael Matthews’ Sunweb team…
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Froome and Aru play pass the yellow jersey | Second Rest Day Wrap
The Rest Day Wrap is an attempt to give an overview of where things stand in the Tour de France. It focuses on the general classification – which is the overall race – rather than stage wins. Preview First Week Wrap Second Week Wrap Final Week Wrap As the first week of the Tour de…
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Stage 14: Fabio Aru learns that the peloton is long
As cocky finishes go, Michael Matthews’ 50m long no-handed roll to the line was up there. Greg Van Avermaet couldn’t catch him even when he stopped pedalling – although the ghost of Peter Sagan had surely long since finished. The finish It’s worth watching the final kilometre, because bigger time gaps opened than on the…
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Stage 11: Marcel Kittel superior to the point of it becoming a bit boring
There are various levels of dominance. When results seem so predictable that no-one’s really interested any more, you really are on top. Marcel Kittel has now won five of the 11 stages at this year’s Tour de France. Speaking after the stage, he said: “Sometimes when you’re on your top level in the sprints, it’s…
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Stage 10: Marcel Kittel sticks with the obvious road to the green jersey
First up, a bit of green jersey housekeeping because I omitted a couple of pertinent developments from stage nine, what with focusing on the general classification and all. Most strikingly, Arnaud Demare, who was doing well in the points competition, is out of the race. He gave it everything to successfully make the time cut…