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Hey cycling fans,
What an unpredictably strange start to the Tour it has been. Beyond the prologue, who could have suspected what the last two days stages' have brought. Big pile ups in stage one, kilometers from the finish, allowing some of the old veterans that snuck through the carnage a chance at victory. It seemed that very few of the favorite sprinters made it through the road block of crashed out bodies and bikes just 3 and 4 k from the finish. Veteran sprinter Alessandro Petacchi made it through and he was followed by Mark Renshaw (Cavendish's leadman), and Thor Hushovd, and Robbie McEwen.
In stage 2 it was even more odd (and exciting). Numerous crashes on the slippery course made it nearly impossible to survive the stage without falling down. At points throughout the stage the peloton seemed the most disorganized we've ever seen. Small groups of crashed riders lay strewn about the course and it looked likely for a time that the general classification list of favorites would be mixed up beyond all reasonably predicted recognition. But then something changed...
The peloton decided that the stage was just too odd and unpredictable, not to mention dangerous, to be a fair determinant of grand tour stage racing success. In an act of protest, or agreement, the peloton strolled across the finish line 3 minutes behind solo stage winner Sylvain Chavanel in unison, almost a neutral stage start formation. None contested for the second place finishing spot.
Now, we await to see what will happen tomorrow as the Tour travels over 13 kilometers of the nastiest cobbles in France! Pure carnage surely awaits the unsuspecting and unlucky riders that fall on these cobbles. Let the GC selection lottery begin!
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