[Nesti (Mark)]

Stage 3, well what can you say; it seems the entire Pro Peloton has just been taught a major lesson in Belgium road tactics by Team Columbia-Htc; brilliant play, they deserve to win!!! Cavendish, rode and led his team like a TDF winner. He rolled through with his team to establish the break and then directed from the last wheel. I haven't seen that control since the days of Super Mario (Cipolini). McEwen didn't have that.



My little rant:
When a 40-50 strong train drags a break back to 18sec and failed to close the gap, because it failed to keep the pressure on, because it failed to communicate, that's embarracing, that's B Grade racing!!! I bet there was some serious yelling going on in the hotel rooms last night, especially in the Silence-Lotto rooms who failed dismally under pressure. Although I like him and desperately want him to win, I'm sorry, but from a tactical standpoint, I'm now totally convinced that Evans doesn't have what it takes mentally to be a TDF winner. Last year Evans didn't win because he was bounced around by a very strong CSC. His team wasn't strong enough to help. This year Evans HAS a very good team...but where's the leadership, where's the control, where are the decisive moves which separate a TDF winner from a good all-rounder??? You watch the excuses he comes up with when an SBS commentator interviews him. Again, I'm sorry, but it is the truth.

A Pro riders with tour aspirations DOES NOT miss the oldest trick in the European racing book. Armstrong and Cancellara read the play 15km before it happened and positioned themselves accordingly. Contador, Schleck, Evans and Sastre have some serious soul-searching to do, sitting in the ladies lounge reading the paper is not the tactic of a TDF winner.

Personally, I think the use of team radios places more responsibility on the Director Sportif (Mgr's) than on the riders themselves. And even with the radios and on-board TVs, the managers still couldn't position their men. I mean, Armstrong's in the first 1/10th and his own team leader (past-tense if he keeps it up), Contador, is playing scrabble and knocking back martini's with Evans in the middle somewhere...it's a headwind-cross on the flat with 30ks to go, when the road winds to become a cross, it's time for "Full Gas". For those who don't know cycling, that is THE OLDEST trick in road racing...and what's Bruyneel doing, playing virtual scrabble with the boys???

All-in-all, that was one of the best stages of any TDF. It shows the newcomers and reminds the established, that cycling is all about thinking on the fly; communicating and controlling while suffering in the red zone. It has also demonstrated to me that Armstrong still has it in him; using his brain to pick-up an easy 40 seconds and that team managers cannot replace a brain on the saddle...about time!!!

Cheers