After the pavé the Tour heads to Reims and the Champagne region. Mark Cavendish must be hoping that today he will win a bunch sprint and start to erode the already commanding lead Thor Hushovd has in the Green Jersey points competition.
Apart from Franck Schleck, who crashed out of the Tour with a broken collarbone, Lance Armstrong looks to have been the big loser in yesterday's stage over the pavé. before the Tour started he had predicted that there would be carnage on the pavé stage. Presumably Lance imagined he would be a beneficiary but that is not at all how it turned out. I think his already slim chance of winning a record 8th Tour de France at 38 (nearly 39) has gone. I don't see how he will take time off Andy Schleck, Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans in the mountains. Much more likley that Lance will lose some time.
