By Jen Benepe, July 14, 2012 Andre Greipel. took advatange of a split in the peloton to push his way to the front in a final sprint by the Mediterranean Sea. Greipel’s Lotto-Belisol team was there to help him out in the lead out, and behind them in a group separated by climbing and...
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By Jen Benepe, July 13, 2012 In a last minute sprint out of a five man break that he sustained over 211 km, David Millar won the first stage for the Garmin Sharp team today. Millar held off a last minute attack by Jean Christophe Peraud (ALM) to take the line at the finish,...
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German rider Andre Greipel clinched the fifth stage of the Tour de France, this time in a straight match against his arch rival and former teammate, Mark Cavendish. It was an exciting finish to a mostly flat stage where the biggest news of the day went on behind the scenes. That news concerned allegations...
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With injuries he sustained to his hand yesterday, there was some question at the beginning of stage 5 whether Team Sky’s Mark Cavendish would be up to a full scale sprint. Well, at least he answered part of that question, with his sprint win at the intermediate point in Breteuil where he won handily...
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Yesterday’s mostly flat stage ended with a crash 2.6 km from the finish, which took down Robbie Hunter and Mark Cavendish, among others. So when Andre Greipel won the sprint finish into Rouen, he was dissappointed to learn it wasn’t mano a mano with the “fastest man on earth,” Mark Cavendish. Cavendish meanwhile suffered...
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This flat 214.5 km stage from Abbeville to Rouen promises to be a strictly sprinter’s stage, even if there is a breakaway off the front. Predictably a break consisting of three riders, Yukiya Arashiro (EUC) one of two Japanese riders to ever finish the Tour, David Moncoutie of France and the Cofidis Team, and...
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In characteristic missile fashion Mark Cavendish won the final sprint for his 21st Tour de France victory, and his first stage for 2012. The Manx Missile answered all questions about who could win a freelance sprint, and in delicious irony, used the wheel of his previous teammate Andre Greipel to come across the line...
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Today’s stage is sure to answer the one big question mark hanging over the sprinters’ field: Will Mark Cavendish be able to pull off the same wins as last year without his two fast lead out men, Mark Renshaw and Matt Goss? The 207.5 km stage from Vise to Tournai is mostly flat, is...
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Sagan Wins Stage 1: Cancellara Still in Yellow By Jen Benepe, July 1, 2012 A 22-year-old rookie Peter Sagan racing his first Tour de France challenged the Swiss time trial champion to the line in Saraing, Belgium, clinching his first stage win at the big race. It was strong showing for the Slovak who...
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By Jen Benepe, June 30, 2012 This year’s Tour de France starts today, and the biggest buzz surrounds predictions about who will win. With favorites Andy Schleck out with a broken pelvis and planning for competition in the Olympics, and Alberto Contador out for penalties from the Court of Arbitration for Sport for alleged...
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This 167.5 km stage from Blaye les Mines to Lavaur was mostly flat with some short, steep hills in the last hour, followed by a mostly flat final 15 km,  suitable for a mass sprint at the finish. Would the rivalry we saw between Greipel and Cavendish in stage 10 play out again on...
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At the beginning of today’s longest 226.5 km stage from Dinan to Lisieux everyone was guessing Mark Cavendish would win. That’s because last year’s longest stage in the Tour, 227.5 km from Montargis to Gueugnon, was won by the Manxman. But on the rain streaked, uphill finish and with a lead out from his Team Sky...
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