To christen a Tour De France as a best ever renewal 13
stages in would be hyperbole for some but this renewal has barely moved past
halfway and we’ve had some of the best racing in recent memory. Yesterday was
meant to be a flat procession towards a flat finish but crosswinds wrecked the
peloton and broke the race wide open. Mark Cavendish went a long way towards
fixing a fairly disappointing tour with a comprehensive win over Peter Sagan,
but that doesn’t begin to tell the story of the crosswinds.
Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel were unable to contest the
sprint but Ajandro Valverde, second behind Froome but now out of the reckoning,
was the day’s biggest loser at just over 10 minutes, despite the help of his
team barring Nairo Quintana. Thankfully for us, he lost no time to Michel
Kiwatowski, although our Movistar bet for top team is now wishful thinking
barring some sort of complete collapse for Saxo Tinkoff, Belkin, Radioshack and
AG2R along the way.
The biggest winner in the grand scheme of things was Alberto
Contador, taking all the time he lost back in the time trial along with Lars
Boom, Laurens Ten Dam and Romain Kreuziger all taking time. Froome obviously
was exposed again, but still holds a lead of 2’28 over his nearest rival and
was able to stay with the field when left alone on Saturday, so it will take
some power to dislodge him and put that time into him even on Mont Ventoux
while the second time trial on Stage 15 will suit him down to the ground.
As for today, put short and simply, this has to be the day a
break makes it but even then I’m not so sure about it not to back Peter Sagan
at 4/1 and Sylvain Chavanel at 16’s. Both could get into a group – they’re no
threat on GC – are quick enough in a sprint, and strong enough to try and distance
others on the climbs, which is all the criteria you could want even though the
list of winners is 100 long.
Advice
1 pt Peter Sagan (4/1 Skybet)
1 pt each/way Sylvain Chavanel (16/1 Skybet)
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