The Jensie—-Spoiler Alert

Who knew a power house like Jens Voigt (and really you have to say it with a strong German accent) would be able to do what he did today in THE Tour? I mean I know he’s good but man on man, or to quote Phil Liggett, “Oh my goodness gracious me!”

The Jensie, as he is nicknamed by those in the cycling world, or as he calls himself on twitter, made it into a breakaway group of 25 riders that was started by the Slovakian rider, Peter Sagan.  During the feed zone in Stage 10, a poor BMC rider missed grabbing his lunch sack and it fell to the ground. Ever the nice guy, Jensie shared from his own fee bag. Okay that makes it sound like they are animals, his lunch sack, he shared the bounty of his lunch sack.

There was one outside category climb on the day’s stage and Jensie was dropped on the climb. He might have been dropped by the 25 riders in the breakaway but he was not picked up by the peloton. He would live to rise again.

Following the descent down the HC Climb Jensie managed to catch the 4 remaining riders in the breakaway. It was an exciting sprint and time trial all rolled into one by Jensie. What a show of great riding!

In the end poor Jensie did not manage to eek out the stage win. Even though all of us at home were cheering him on. He finished  3rd on the day, losing to Tommy Voeckler (who took the stage win) and Luis Leon Sanchez.

Peter Sagan fought Matthew Goss for the intermediate sprint. Peter managed to come in 3rd on the sprint and I can’t remember who else contested the sprint and just eeked out the second place points available but Peter Sagan still holds the green jersey.

American rider, TeeJay Van Garderen was dropped on the climb and nearly lost the white jersey. He needed to keep within the sights of the peloton by a minimum of 43 seconds. He showed some pretty fancy and risky maneuvers to make sure he kept it.

Most notable because of it’s absence was the crashes. Since the first stage there have been crashes, more than one a day and today there were none. At least none they talked about.

Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, American rider and former teammates, managed to hang on to the peloton by the skin of their very teeth at times. Levi maintains his 19th place and Chris Horner managed to jump one spot, from 23rd to 22nd.

I would love to see Chris and Levi get in a breakaway. Will it happen? I’ll have to keep watching to find out.

 

Tour of What?

Ahhh it’s July, the month of hotter than hot weather, fireworks, Independence Day (the Original, not the movie with Will Smith), birthdays and the Tour of France. Or if you’d rather, Le Tour de France.  I don’t do very much during July because I allow my bum to become well acquainted with my recliner while I waste untold hours in front of the tv watching THE Tour.

THE Tour (aka Le Tour de France) is the granddaddy of all bicycling tours. Riders aspire to ride THE Tour. To win the maillot jaune for just one day makes a rider’s career. To win THE Tour means you’re counted among the best of the best.

Who would have guessed a 22 year old from Slovakia would win 3 stages in THE Tour this year so far?  In fact until earlier this year I had never heard of Peter Sagan.  I’m not sure he is yet of the caliber of Mark Cavendish, but really who is? Sometimes I wonder if Mark Cavendish is a sprinter of the caliber of Mark Cavendish.  But give Peter a few more years, a little maturity as a rider and I expect great things from him.  I think my girls favorite part of watching Peter win is his victory dances as he crosses the finish line.

Last year in THE Tour, I believe it was Phil Liggett who called it the “Tour Of Crash”. And boy howdy was it ever a tour of crash. This year is shaping up to be more of the same. Almost every stage  has seen multiple crashes. Poor American Cyclist riding for Garmin-Sharp, Tyler Farrar has hit the ground almost as much as he’s been in the saddle. He is pretty battered and bruised, especially his pride. He did not contest any sprints yesterday in Stage 6 and he did not contest the mid-sprint in today’s stage. He’s trying to recuperate as much as he can before the next sprint finishes. He just hopes to haul his sore body through the mountains. I look for great things from Tyler in this year’s Tour.

American Chris Horner, a late pick by the Radio Shack Nissan Trek team (and what a shame that was! He should have been their top pick), found himself on the ground during Stage one. But it wasn’t because of a bike wreck. It seems he stopped for a natural break, put his foot down on what he thought was dry, solid ground, only to find out it was mud. He says he went down, got up, finished his duty and got back on the bike.

Also riding for the Radio Shack team this year is Frank Schleck, brother of Andy. Poor Frank lost precious time and his top 5 spot due to a crash 20km from the finish in yesterday’s stage.  Today I’m sad to say my favorites all lost time. Hopefully Chris Horner and Levi Leipheimer can make up some of their deficit but I’m not holding out much hope for a podium finish for either of them.