Tour de France - Roche: Saxo Bank missed a trick

Eurosport - Mon, 06 Jul 18:40:00 2009

Eurosport expert Stephen Roche believes the Saxo Bank team missed a big chance to put serious time on race favourite Alberto Contador on stage three of the Tour de France.

CYCLING 2009 Tour de France Cavendish 3e étape SLIDE - 0

With 30 kilometres to go, the Columbia-HTC team put in a big acceleration that split the peloton in two, and the Saxo Bank team were left with only yellow jersey Fabian Cancellara in the lead group.

"Contador was no big loser as all the main contenders were back with him, but Cancellara would have been in a good position if he had one or two team-mates with him," Roche said.

"He ended up not riding in the break, as Andy Schleck was behind, but he could have helped drive the lead out to a minute or a minute and a half on Contador.

"We talked about them [Saxo Bank] today, and said they were the ones to watch with the open fields and crosswinds, but in fact they were all caught out except for Cancellara."

In the end the Swiss time-trial specialist extended his lead in the general classification, though their team leaders Andy and Frank Schleck remain 1:41" and 2:17 off the pace respectively.

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  1. reply to comment 1.....thats was pretty much true in­ the early 2000 years (all he had to do was show­ up)....there hasnt been any real talent from that side­ of the pond until recent years....oh and let me guess­ your a mercks fan....he was great...BUT lance is better­ then Great......Have a great Day!!!!!! LIVESTRONG

    From Samuel A, on Tue 7 Jul 5:45PM

  2. All the pre Tour magazines I have read & all the­ expert tacticians like Stephen warned that cross winds­ could be a feature of Monday`s stage - so what on earth­ were the likes of Evans, Contador, the Schlecks &­ Menchov doing -- sleeping?
    So much for the use of­ radios & team managers warning their riders what­ was coming up - or did Bruyneel keep quiet?mmmmmmmmmmmm­ - food for thought!

    From Bikefan, on Tue 7 Jul 9:04AM

  3. To be a champion u must think as a champion,however,any­ time gained up front today is not likely to make a­ difference when the race lands in the big mountains.

    From Pat, on Tue 7 Jul 3:49AM

  4. Wouldn't want to disappoint "Our­ Dave"...so I'll throw in a comment from across­ the pond.

    I'm certainly not saying Lance is going­ to win the Tour, realistically (on paper)...No he's­ not a favorite to do so.

    However, to not consider­ him a "serious contender" is a bit arrogant,­ and perhaps dangerous. He just might prove the folks­ on your side of the pond wrong for an Eight time!

    And­ if not, regardless of who wins, Lance will still have­ at least 5 more TDF victories than them. NOT BAD, even­ a "Lance hater" such as yourself has to admit­ that's pretty impressive!

    From livestrong, on Tue 7 Jul 3:21AM

  5. Careful Stephen, you'll upset all of Strongarms­ fans on here. Obviously like me you don't see him­ as a serious contender. It's going to be­ interesting to see just how many comments come from the­ other side of the pond, all telling you that he's­ going to win just because he's showed up

    From ^^^* Our Dave*^^^, on Mon 6 Jul 10:10PM
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