Tour de London

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Expect the polka dot jersey Stephane Auge to try to latch onto an early breakaway to defend his position with a potential 12 points on offer today wth four minor climbs. A shorter stage means the sprinters' teams should be able to time their pursuit of the escapees better than yesterday. Milram, Lampre and T-Mobile will be getting twitchy with only three more flat stages before the serious climbs.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

One's to watch

 

***Robbie McEwen

 

**Robert Hunter

 

*Mark Cavendish

 

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

IN THE JERSEYS:

 

Yellow - Fabian Cancellara (CSC)

 

Green - Andreas Kloden (Astana)

 

Polka Dot - Stephane Auge (Cofidis)

 

White - Vladimir Gusev (Discovery)

 

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

FAVOURITE WATCH (all time lost on prologue unless stated):

 

2nd - Andreas Kloden (Astana)

11th - Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) @ 17 seconds to Kloden

18th - Alberto Contador (Discovery) @ 22"

19th - Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) @ 22"

20th - Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) @ 23"

32nd - Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) @ 27"

33rd - Denis Menchov (Rabobank) @ 27"

35th - Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Épargne) @ 30"

89th - Carlos Sastre (CSC) @ 43"

91st - Frank Schleck (CSC) @ 44"

 

THE BRITS:

 

3rd - David Millar (Saunier Duval) @ 41" on GC

5th - Bradley Wiggins (Cofidis) @ 43"

45th - Geraint Thomas (Barloworld) @ 1:07"

88th - Charly Wegelius (Liquigas) @ 1:16"

182nd - Mark Cavendish (T-Mobile) @ 3:57"

[cantos]

Is there an advantage in having your forename starting with the letter A?

[Greg_Dyke]

Originally Posted By: cantos

Is there an advantage in having your forename starting with the letter A?

Yes, in the event of a tie, the race is decided on an alphabetical basis

[cantos]

Do you think Mr and Mrs Lennon wanted Aaron to be a cyclist.?

[Greg_Dyke]

If anyone else has any Tour de France questions, i will be happy to answer them....

 

I'll let Westie stick to the race commentary....which is quite something...

 

I have some good facts about the current yellow jersey winner later !!!

[Greg_Dyke]

Originally Posted By: cantos

Do you think Mr and Mrs Lennon wanted Aaron to be a cyclist.?

Actually, he was a very decent water polo player, in his early teens and was selected for the England Boys Team, aged 14.

When it came down to it, the lure of the big bucks of footy, won out, over the ear plugs and shower cap mentality of water polo..

[cantos]

You catching Bitch up in the monthly posters table Dykey,do you have a yellow t shirt to put on.

[Greg_Dyke]

I'd prefer the King of the Mountains..

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Thanks to his fantastic stage win yesterday, Fabian Cancellara has extended his overall lead in the general classification. He now leads by 33 seconds ahead of Andreas Kloeden, with David Millar in third, 41 seconds off the pace.

 

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Stephane Auge is now in the polkadot jersey, though that could well change hands with four fourth-category climbs on teh agenda today. 3, 2 and 1 points are available for the first three to cross each climb respectively.

 

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Tom Boonen is still in the green jersey. Indeed he extended his lead in the points competition yesterday to six over Robbie McEwen. Veteran sprinter Erik Zabel is third, 18 points back. There are three intermediate sprints today, after 69 kilomtres, 122.5 kilometres and 158.5 kilometres

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

Coverage of stage four of the Tour de France, a 190-kilometre trek from Villers Cotterêts to Joigny, will follow shortly.

[Greg_Dyke]

I am ready to cream my pants, in anticipation...

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

The initial start has just been given, so we're on schedule for a 13:00 stage start.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

All times will be in CET today unless otherwise stated.

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

193km to go - The skies are dark and grey again today, though brighter periods are forecast later on. It's also a little warmer than yesterday. Current temperature is 21 degrees.

 

 

[NotTheRealSteveWest]

186km - The peloton is still together 7 kilometres into the stage. No attacks as of yet.