Most of the riders took a day off on the ride to Gap yesterday – understandable given Tuesday's very tough stage and the continuing heat. This allowed a breakaway of six riders to succeed. The break included two Frenchmen hoping to claim a victory on Bastille Day. However, the six were whittled down to two on the final climb of the day – unfortunately both Frenchmen were dropped. On the sprint to the finish 30-year-old Sergio Paulinho (RadioShack) won with barely half a bike wheel to spare. Paulinho comes from Oeiras, on the western side of Greater Lisbon beside the Tagus. It was a rare Portuguese win in the Tour – there last stage winner was Acácio Da Silva, who got the last of his three stages wins in 1989. Paulinho's win was also the first good news that Armstrong's RadioShack team has had so far this Tour.
Good ride by Nicolas Roche yesterday breaking away from the main bunch on the final hill and gaining 1.21 mins to move him a few places up overall. In contrast Armstrong dropped a further 1.28 mins overall as the bunch must have split on the descent. Still as he is over 17 minutes behind Andy Schleck this is all academic now.
Good ride by Nicolas Roche yesterday breaking away from the main bunch on the final hill and gaining 1.21 mins to move him a few places up overall. In contrast Armstrong dropped a further 1.28 mins overall as the bunch must have split on the descent. Still as he is over 17 minutes behind Andy Schleck this is all academic now.
Today's stage from Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence, close to Valence, will see the sprinters come out to play again, especially as the Green Jersey competition is pretty tight between Hushvod and Petacchi. Mark Cavendish will fancy his chances for another stage win providing there isn't a successful breakaway.
