Dan Moreno won stage four. That’s Dan Moreno, the Spanish cyclist who also won La Fleche Wallonne this year and not Dan Marino, literally the only American football player I can name – although I guess that should be obvious from the context really, what with this being a bike race and all.
The stage was somewhat reminscent of La Fleche Wallonne, actually. There were ridiculously steep bits which shed many of the riders, but basically it all came down to a short final climb. Just as he had in Belgium in April, Moreno timed his attack well enough to hold off his pursuers.
The red jersey
It’s an odd feature of the early stages of this race that the guy who loses the leader’s jersey has generally appeared happier than the guy who has gained it. After stage three, Vincenzo Nibali was happy that his team no longer had responsibility for defending the lead. However, a small, seemingly insignificant gap on stage four led to many riders being given a different time and so Chris Horner now got the chance to beam delightedly at no longer being first. That ‘honour’ has reverted to Vince Nibbles.
Stage five
Looks lumpier, but there’s nowt serious. Here’s the profile. It’ll probably be one of the few sprint finishes. There aren’t really any big-time sprinters in the race, so here’s hoping the magnificently named Geoffrey Soupe wins.
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