TdF stage 3
Greenedge boss says Goss is aiming for stage win today! Last 700m at 7% - is he telling the truth or bluffing and hoping Albasini will slip under the radar? I was planning on bringing Goss in for Chavanel tomorrow - do I stick to my guns or make the change a day early? 
I reckon Goss can make it to the end if he's in form, the climbs today are not so bad, but I don't see him winning. Sagan for the win, Cancellara top 20 and Chavanel to have a dig on the last climb in the hope of solo-ing to the line.
I have brought Goss in today though as I'm struggling and wanted to start bringing in sprinters a day early just to try and have some semblance of a decent team tomorrow.
Would be surprised if Goss makes it to the line. Johnnie Hoogerland for the Polka dots today? The profile suits his skills and indomitable need to attack. Did you know he attacks because he doesn't like being locked up in the peloton? He's been having panic attacks ever since last years horrific crash (for which he and Flecja still haven't seen any compensation...insurance companies look at each other...no riders' union to sort things out)
Debarrio
Hoogerland's problem vis a vis compensation is his interview after the incident last year.
I do agree with you that he could be a major figure today but on such an unpredictable stage and sitting 3rd in the TDF I played safe.
Chavanel is probably too close to Maillot Jaune to be allowed a jump but how about Voeckler or even Shrek?
Cancellara(in for Greipel)
EBH(in for Cavendish)
Sagan
Freire
Urtasun
Impey
Boeckmans
Cooke
Cantwell
Hoogerland is only 1 min down on GC and given the climbs are all grouped at the end of the stage you could argue that the peloton (BMC for Gilbert, Liquigas for Sagan and Radioshack for the yellow) won't want to give a break too much time so that they can stay away and win the stage/make up time on the leaders.
Remember, cat 4s only award 1 KoM point, I reckon Hoogerland will wait till Sunday if he really wants the jersey when it's all Cat 1 and Cat 2 climbs.
I reckon a nothing break brought back on the final climb, Chavanel to have a dig but be brought back then a similar finish to Sunday.
Hopeful about moving up today after a pretty average start
Spartacus
EBH
Chavanel(in for Haedo)
Hunter
Edet(in for Zabriskie)
Albasini-top 3 today?
Grabsch
Morkov
Engoulvent
Hoping for some cheap DS' to come to the fore so I can kick out Grabsch and Engoulvent soon.....Gene perhaps?
Need a good day today to make up for yesterday - plenty of transfers saved for tomorrow tho.
Cancellara, Chavanel, Sagan, Van Hummel
Boeckmans, Albasini, Gallopin, Simon, Burghardt
Definitely working from home today - looks like a really exciting day ahead... 
Morkov looks to be at it again
There are five men with a lead of 15". They began their attack at the 5km mark. The riders involved in the first successful escape are:- Bernaudeau (EUC)
- Perez Moreno (EUS), who instigated the move.
- Minard (ALM)
- Morkov (STB)
- Grivko (AST)
Drat, once again I thought about transfering in Morkov but didn't.
Stage hunting.
Philippe Gilbert
Peter Sagan
Daniel Martin
Dries Devenyns
Julien Simon
Michael Albasini
Gorka Izagirre
Anders Lund
Brice Feillu
Break already up to 2 minutes. That's your break for the day guys, 100% certain it'll be brought back together before the end though as Grivko is only 38 seconds down on Cancellara.
Looks like Morkov's another good pick, he should be worth a good 30 points at least assuming noone competes for the KoM points.
Nooooo
I transferred Grivko out for Morkov 
Could of score big time.
Wiggins
Sagan
EBH
Horner
Cantwell
Sprick
Morkov
Horrach
Wynants
starting to think Morkov for Astarloza was a good move, not sure how Horner is going to fare this tour though.
@drheaton - likewise... decided against Morkov to have an extra transfer for tomorrow. 
Turned out as inspired as picking Kittel for yesterday 
I do have Minard - hopefully he can add to the 12 points my DSs have scored me so far in the TdF (yes 12 points for the three stages combined)
ah, Bernadeau and Morkov in the break, eh? *rubs hands*
got EBH, Sagan and Gerrans for the run in too. Hoping for a good day...
Cancellara
Sagan
Goss
Chavanel
Arashiro
Simon
Levarlet
Bernaudeau
Izagirre
Already got my transfers tonight planned out then it's just tweaking until Saturday. Need to make sure I save myself some transfers for the weekend.
my team looks like this
Gilbert
Sagan
Valverde
JJ Haedo
Gallopin (last chance!)
Simon
Edet
Zabriske
Lancaster
A lot of people seem to fancy Valverde for this stage.....rain might put him off? 
Yay, at last, two of the five riders up the road today..... Grivko and Bernaudeau
that was pure luck !
It doesn't get easier, you just go faster.....maybe
From Eurosport website
"Jens Voigt sets the pace. The 40-year-old father of six has an energy gel tucked up his shorts for a sweet boost a bit later on."
From Eurosport website
"Jens Voigt sets the pace. The 40-year-old father of six has an energy gel tucked up his shorts for a sweet boost a bit later on."
No wonder he's a father of six...
A lot of people seem to fancy Valverde for this stage.....rain might put him off?
out of who i could get for 29 credits i thought he was as good a bet as any considering the other day and the fact i will transfer him out for a sprinter for tomorrow, so it a 1 stage deal...
Minard (ALM) has taken 20 points for first place at the intermediate sprint. He was ahead of Bernaudeau (EUC), Morkov (STB), Perez (EUS) and Grivko (AST)
Goss really wants green.
No chance.
Cavendish is on hopping fire.
Anyway, I've got two in the break (Morkov and Bernaudeau) 
I reckon Chav or Sag for today
Sir Velo
Full results of the intermediate sprint
1. Minard (ALM) 15 pts
2. Bernaudeau (EUC) 14pts
3. Morkov (STB) 13pts
4. Perez (EUS) 12pts
5. Grivko (AST) 11pts
6. Cavendish (SKY) 10pts - at 4'30"
7. Van Hummel (VCD) 9pts
8. Sagan (LIQ) 8pts
9. Lancaster (OGE) 7pts
10. Hutarovich (FDJ) 6pts
11. Renshaw (RAB) 5pts
12. Petacchi (LAM) 4pts
13. Goss (OGE) 3pts
14. Boeckmans (VCD) 2pts
15. Cooke (OGE) 1pts
Dissapointing from Goss although perhaps he's saving himself for the finish?
Lotto/Greipel didn't seem at all interested in the sprint there - anyone else surprised by that?
Sivtsov(sky) Abandoned not good for sky's ambition
Really tough on Kanstansin.
Sir Velo
Bad news for Sky - any more and Cav won't have any choice but to ride all the way to Paris whether he was intending to or not...
There has been a big crash at the front of the peloton
At the 166km mark there has been a big crash that has caught up Gerrans as well as a Katusha rider who appears in a terrible state... there are many riders on the ground but we await confirmation of who else was involved
Not great news if you've got Gerrans.
EDIT: Caruso and Rojas also down.
Movistar need to stop pulling!
Gerrans and Rojas down 
Sir Velo
Even Gilbert is at the back, with shoe problems
Sir Velo
Valverde might not be so bad a pick after all if this carries on.
Rojas has abandoned, Cav has been dropped and Gilbert had a puncture and swapped bikes.
Rojas abandoned!
The Gilbert/Cavendish/Voeckler group is 1:10 down on the main peloton (yellow/green jerseeys) and a total of 2:40 down on the lead quartet. Looks like Gilbert won't be competing for the stage win today 
dam Gilbert is he at the back of the chse group or at the back of the main peleton?, hope valverde wins...
dam Gilbert is he at the back of the chse group or at the back of the main peleton?, hope valverde wins...
Yep - still not raining!
Gilbert's group still 1 minute down on the main guys, sounds like Eisel is up in the front working for EBH today as Cav is in Gilbert's group.
10km to go, should be a cracking finish.
Go go go Chavanel!
This is getting worse and worse for my team, bye bye valverde
oh dear wiggins looses 45 seconds
Wow! Great finish.
Albasini 5th! Got lucky there - if Gerrans had been in the main group it might've been him going for it instead...
oh dear wiggins looses 45 seconds
He should be OK - the crash was in the last 3k...
Sagan is Beast
Sir Velo
I had a cracking day today.
Sir Velo
only sagan scoring for me, i give up already
TERatcliffe26 wrote:oh dear wiggins looses 45 seconds
He should be OK - the crash was in the last 3k...
im not so sure, they will somehow see it that he wasnt involved...
1. CANCELLARA Fabian 12 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 14h 45' 28''
2. BOASSON HAGEN Edvald 102 SKY PROCYCLING 14h 45' 39'' + 00' 11''
3. EVANS Cadel 1 BMC RACING TEAM 14h 45' 45'' + 00' 17''
4. VAN GARDEREN Tejay 9 BMC RACING TEAM 14h 45' 45'' + 00' 17''
5. NIBALI Vincenzo 51 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 14h 45' 46'' + 00' 18''
Well that didn't go to plan. Plenty more stage to come though...
He was definitely involved, he hit the deck
Sir Velo
1st and 4th, not amazing but could have been so much worse.
Wiggins only lost 1 second on Sagan, nothing on his major rivals, Froome lost another 2 minutes though so he's no longer much of a backup plan.
ok they have now changed the GC back to normal
Ryder's still in it.
Beast
Sir Velo
Fingers crossed for Brad - it definitely looked from the replay that the crash was to blame. He looked like he coasted in, assuming that he would be given the same time - hopefully he hasn't misread the situation...
Good finish for me - missed the break but got 1st, 4th and 5th, plus some sprint points from van Hummel and even 3 mountain points for Gallopin!
Oh, and Chris Froome finished with Wiggo
Sir Velo
8/9 riders of mine scored points.
I know it sounds kind of awful, bu is it too late to go premium?
Sir Velo
1 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
2 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
3 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
4 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan
5 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica GreenEdge Cycling Team
6 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
7 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
9 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
8/9 riders of mine scored points.I know it sounds kind of awful, bu is it too late to go premium?
Go for it! Would surely be the kiss of death for your team 
8/9 riders of mine scored points.I know it sounds kind of awful, bu is it too late to go premium?
I think you have until stage 4 but I could be wrong.
By the way, if that was too boring for anyone, the Tour of Poland startlists are up! #afterthelordmayorsshow...
Nice day 154, Putting Morkov in saved me, Had Sagan and EBH too + Gallopin finally got some points 
At least my research into Brice Feillu paid off - last man home. 
Wig Billy I salute you!
Hmmm, 4 cat 4s tomorrow, will Morkov go again?
Hmmm, 4 cat 4s tomorrow, will Morkov go again?
Just wrestling with that myself. I need a DS, max 7.6, that I can bring in for Albasini and keep until the TT. Even if Morkov doesn't go for any more breaks, he should still be looking at 15-20 jersey points in that time, but the gambler in me wants to try someone else...
Re the finishing times given - bear in mind that fall, puncture or mech inside last 3km will get you same time as the riders you were with at the time.
Obviously there's a lag between the rider crossing the line in some cases minutes later, with their time in the provisional results recorded via their timing chip, and the time being manually adjusted afterwards.
That in itself doesn't apply if rider doesn't finish stage, in which case he is given last place on stage but time of riders he was with (happened to Phinney on Giro I think on the day Ferrari caused chaos.)
So organisers have to wait till a rider actually crosses the line before adjusting time/position, hence delay.
I've got two transfers and I need to use both to bring in sprinters but if Morkov is going to go again I'm sorely tempted to take the 20 point penalty.
Thank God for Bernaudeau and Morkov. Morkov 48 points today, Sagan 51!
By the way, if that was too boring for anyone, the Tour of Poland startlists are up! #afterthelordmayorsshow...
NB. Do not Hashtag away from Twitter.
It only brings to the surface your addiction.
Sir Velo
ah, Bernadeau and Morkov in the break, eh? *rubs hands*got EBH, Sagan and Gerrans for the run in too. Hoping for a good day...
Not bad for a beginner
I had Morkov, Grivko, Sagan, EBH plus Chavanel for GC points. (Pity the latter didn't win though. I would have got over 200 for the first time then.)
I was only 10 off 200 
Sir Velo
Here's the 3km rule to Wiggins, from Cycling Weekly:
Bradley Wiggins rolled over the finish line at least one minute behind winner Peter Sagan in Boulogne-sur-Mer today.Gaps had opened up in front of him and had it been a straight forward run in to the line he would have lost a good amount of time to the likes of Cadel Evans and Vincenzo Nibali who finished in the top ten on the stage, just behind Sagan.
So why did Wiggins cruise the last 400 metres, looking calm and relaxed?
Because Wiggins knows of UCI rule 2.6.026. This states that 'In the case of a duly noted fall, puncture or mechanical incident in the last three kilometres of a road race stage, the rider or riders involved shall be credited with the time of the rider or riders in whose company they were riding at the moment of the accident. His or their placing shall be determined by the order in which he or they actually cross the finishing line.'
Wiggins was caught up (actually by one of his own team mates) when riders swerved to avoid the crash on the final climb at about 300m to go. He had to stop, put his foot down and get going again.
Wiggins rode in to the finish line slowly, conserving energy, as he knew he was safe, even though he didn't crash.
He came over the line in 53rd place and was given a time difference of one second to Peter Sagan, the same as his team mate Edvald Boasson Hagen, who finished second.
Sir Velo
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