Cav beaten by Kittel in a straight fight.

EBH withdraws. Sky are going to miss him, he's a workhorse in the low hills.

Are the new generation laying down the marker to Cav this year that flat straight sprints are no longer his domain? Or have the mountains just taken too much out of his legs?

I think it says a lot that OPQS have hired Mark Renshaw for next season. Wouldn't surprise me if they tried to get Bernie Eisel in as well and go full Blues Brothers in trying to get the old band back together.

Some might say that the Giro took a lot out of him and that it would appear he peaked for that instead of the Tdf.

Some might say that his lead out train is useless. OPQS are a classics squad. A team of riders who break things apart (polar opposite to Sky and the HTC train) and a lead out train needs a team of riders who are experts at keeping races together. Yesterday was described as a day where he had been delivered to the line perfectly but thats not what I saw. I saw a great final lead out by Steegmans but he was blown too soon and Cav then had to go a bit too early.

Having said that.....Cav is not as fast as he has been and something us most definitely up. Or.....perhaps Kittel is the next big thing and Cav is a spent force.

It would not surprise me to see Cav climb off his bike soon.

It would surprise me. It's all about Paris.

Change of tack by OPQS. Huge injection of pace, Argos dropped and forced to expend a lot of energy to get back. Peloton in splinters. Mayhem of the most brilliant kind.

Valverde punctures. Four team-mates with him to pace him back, but OPQS are driving on so quickly they're stranded 35" adrift.

Boring, flat, transitional stage, eh? Not a bit of it. Belkin leap on the front of the peloton, Valverde and his buddies are gone, gone, gone, back in the Kittel group at 1'10"

Saxo have a go at distancing Froome as echelons form in cross-winds. And it might be working

This is setting up for a tremendous final week.

And today they used this skill to perfection.

Normally I'd agree with you. You do know the finish in Paris has been moved closer to l'Arc de Triomphe? Uphill finish, longer to go after the final corner. On this years form I don't fancy him.

It certainly made a flat boring stage interesting. Here's hoping Bert fancies bashing Froome next week.

www.up-shack.com/assets/up/10866 ... 40c8b4.swf

www.up-shack.com/assets/up/10866 ... 40c8b4.swf