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Stage eight: Lilian Calmejane is last man pedalling with purpose
A day of chaos – and chaos always demands that the peloton pays tribute. Stage-winner and former green jersey-wearer, Arnaud Démare, was the first to suffer. The hellish early pace meant he soon found himself 10 minutes behind the peloton – which is not a position in which any rider wants to find themselves when…
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Stage seven: Photography is Marcel Kittel’s friend
Another win for Marcel Kittel, this time by somewhere around half a millimetre, but they all count. I presume the race judges ruled that Kittel had a crucial bit of grit affixed to his tyre or something. Pisser for Edvald Boasson Hagen though. “I tried to make myself three metres longer,” said Kittel afterwards. He…
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Stage six: Marcel Kittel or Arnaud Démare?
A three-week race has to have a bit of ebb and flow. You wouldn’t be able to perceive peaks if there were no such thing as valleys. After a couple days of high drama, stage six therefore provided a much-needed lull. It didn’t even feature breakaways riders who anyone had heard of. Here’s the three…
