Hat Trick for Kittel

Stage 4: Le Touquet-Paris-Plage to Lille Métropole, 163.5km. Flat.

It was tighter than yesterday; tighter than expected, but in the end, the result is what stands and yet again it was Marcel Kittel over the line in first. As Vin Diesel's character said in the Fast and Furious, "It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning." And winning is what Kittel is doing a lot of. Three of four stages to start this tour ... the first man to do that since Freddy Maertens in 1976, and Maertens went on to win eight stages that year.

Kittel probably isn't going to go that far in this tour, though if he does get eight opportunities in all, you fancy he would very well take them. They may have got close today, but everyone still seems so far behind. I said that Cavendish would be missed from the Tour when he crashed out on stage one and I think now we're beginning to see why. It isn't that I don't like Kittel winning, but it would have been great to see how Cav stacked up against him in this form. Especially when it is apparent that Andre Greipel is struggling to come close; managing only sixth today.

Tomorrow will be a different proposition altogether. It's more Paris-Roubaix than traditional flat sprinters stage. From stage two's Liège–Bastogne–Liège look-a-like to this stage tomorrow, these riders sure are being put through the ringer on this first week. That said, it's flat and it'll come down to the power men over the cobbles as the favorites look to avoid crashes and mechanical issues and not lose time to each other, so why couldn't Kittel keep in touch at the front and still come good in the sprint? It's conceivable, though more likely someone like Sagan or Cancellara will deliver the goods.

Of the favorites I think Nibali might enjoy this the most and could build on his slender lead. With form suggesting that Froome and Contador still have an edge on him in the high mountains it is imperative that Nibali -- and a host of other outside hopefuls for that matter -- try to do some damage now. Tomorrow is going to be fascinating to watch ... not just because of the Pave and the Roubaix-esque style of stage but because its part of a bigger picture and how it'll play out on the general classification.

Result:
1. Kittel (GIA) in 3h 36'39"
2. Kristoff (KAT)
3. Demare (FDJ)
4. Sagan (CAN)
5. Coquard (EUC)
6. Greipel (LTB) all s.t.

Overall:
1. Nibali (AST) in 17h 7'52"
2. Sagan (CAN) +2"
3. Albasini (ORI)
4. Van Avermaet (BMC)
5. Contador (TCS)
5. Froome (SKY)
6. Mollema (BKN) all s.t.

One man show on the Mall

Stage 3: Cambridge to London, 155km. Flat

A rest day for the vast majority of the peloton after yesterdays chaos and a chance for a couple of men to go up the road and get their sponsors names on the television for a while before being reeled in for the sprinters to have their day on the Mall in front of Buckingham Palace. And who else should win but Marcel Kittel.

This was a traditional first week of the tour kind of stage and I reckon the riders were delighted to see it. It's just a shame that Cavendish is out of the tour now for it looks as though he's the only man capable of taking the sprint to the big German. Peter Sagan tried but once Kittel got up to full speed the Slovak had no chance of coming off his wheel and around him. It was all too easy. It was like Belfast at the Giro all over again, only this time the Mall in London in the Tour.

Kittel will be hoping his Tour lasts longer than his Giro, though anyone else hoping to take a win from a bunch sprint might be hoping otherwise. You get the feeling this isn't the last we'll see him win and tomorrow when the race heads back to its homeland there's a stage tailor made for him once more.

And once again the crowds were out in force. Watching the peloton charge through the streets of London was like a flashback to the London 2012 Olympics all over again. This three day stop to start the Tour in England has been a huge success. Four million are reported to have turned out over the two days in Yorkshire and another million today for the stage to London. I don't know how they can tell this, but the exact figure doesn't matter. It was the biggest turn out of fans to start a tour ever and as riders would say, it was like the crowds on Alpe d'Huez for the entire route. Things got a little testy when a few fans with their camera phones took advantage of the up-close-and-beside-the-action view that only cycling can provide, but for the most part it went off without a hitch.

And so now with that party over the race should settle itself down as the riders board planes, boats or high speed trains destined for north-east France. The Tour is going home to where the Tour is a more common sight and I get the feeling the riders will be looking forward to a few days of peace and quiet along the road sides!

Result:
1. Kittel (GIA) in 3h 38'30"
2. Sagan (CAN)
3. Renshaw (OPQ)
4. Coquard (EUC)
5. Kristoff (KAT)
6. Van Poppel (TRE) all s.t.

Overall:
1. Nibali (AST) in 13h 31'13"
2. Sagan (CAN) +2"
3. Albasini (ORI)
4. Van Avermaet (BMC)
5. Froome (SKY)
6. Mollema (BKN) all s.t.

Nibali lays down a marker on brutal stage to Sheffield

Stage 2: York to Sheffield, 201km. Rolling

This stage was one right out of an Ardennes classic. Steady enough for the first half and then suddenly and frequently, short but very sharp climbs. It ripped the field apart as I expected it might and as the roads narrowed down with the weight of tens of thousands on the side of the road of each of those climbs, the route became a wall of noise as the contenders for the GC in this Tour de France suddenly found themselves at the front and contesting a stage earlier than most of them would ever have expected to at a Tour de France.

Typically the big boys don't come out to play until sometime in the second week, but here we were, on day two and on the final climb -- short, but so steep they almost came to a standstill -- Alberto Contador was at the front, dancing on his pedals. Then Froome had a dig and over the top and onto the descent it was Peter Sagan, the only quality sprinter who could maintain contact, that tried to get away.

Finally into the streets of Sheffield and Vincenzo Nibali tried his luck. Contador had tried and they followed, then Froome, and then Sagan, but when the recently crowned Italian champion went, they all looked at one another. Sagan refused to pull them across and nobody else wanted to take it up and so Nibali charged clear hanging on to win his first Tour de France stage by two seconds over the reduced pack of 20. Sagan, who was on his limit to stay with this group, could only manage forth as a result, out sprinted by Greg Van Avermaet and Michal Kwiatkowski, but picking up points towards the green jersey that his rivals couldn't.

It was a superb opportunists move that Nibali is so good at. He knew that all his rivals had taken their chance and none would go again when he kicked. The two seconds doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of the race, but it puts Nibali into yellow and it lays down a psychological marker if anything else.

Once again the crowds were mega to the point of hazardous and you don't often hear of that on stages away from the high Alps or Pyrenees. At times the riders had little more than a metre or two to fit through and it bottle necked the pack when there was a large pack still together. It left those at the rear having to come to a complete stop and given the steepness of some of these climbs, it caused splits in the field earlier than some might have liked. But aside from a few idiots stepping onto the course to take a 'selfie' in front of the oncoming pack, the atmosphere and the numbers were brilliant to see.

Yorkshire should have its own top level classic race on the UCI calendar given what we seen here. This was the stuff of Liège–Bastogne–Liège and it was the men who want to win the Tour de France fighting it out.

Nobody won the Tour today, but plenty lost it. Kittel, never one expected to last long in yellow, came in 19 minutes, 50 seconds down. 146 men in all came in more than a minute beyond Nibali and while it doesn't end their dream officially, it does realistically. Today we got a fair idea by looking at the names in that final group of 20 plus Nibali who was in form to challenge for this Tour de France and it included some the names we expected: Froome, Contador, Valverde, Costa, Van Den Broeck, Van Garderen, Mollema, Talansky, Kwiatkowski, Porte.'

Result:
1. Nibali (AST) in 5h 8'36"
2. Van Avermaet (BMC) +2"
3. Kwiatkowski (OPQ)
4. Sagan (CAN)
5. Gallopin (LTB)
6. Albasini (ORI) all s.t.

Overall:
1. Nibali (AST), in 9h 52'43"
2. Sagan (CAN) +2"
3. Van Avermaet (BMC)
4. Albasini (ORI)
5. Froome (SKY)
6. Mollema (BKN) all s.t.

Huge crowds look on as Cavs hopes of yellow fall away metres from the line as Tour 2014 begins

Stage 1: Leeds to Harrogate, 190.5km. Flat.

Every year the commentators of the Tour will say something about the crowds being the best they have ever seen, but for once, when they said it today, they were right. The stage was 190.5 kilometres in length and it resembled the side of Alpe d'Huez for all 190.5 of those kilometres. Millions on the road to watch the Tour de France, either as old fans excited to see it pass through England or as new fans eager to get a look at what it was all about; to cheer on collectively the British entrants who in recent years have become so prevalent at the sharp end of the sport. No Wiggo or Millar, but plenty of Froome, Simon Yates, Thomas and, of course, Cavendish.

Nothing could spoil the party, not for that many people over that many hours making that much noise and seeing that much action. The closest anything could come to ruining the day was Cavendish crashing and failing to grab that illustrious yellow jersey. And so it happened.

Last year it was the Orica-GreenEdge bus. Stuck under the finish line, a last minute decision by race officials to switch the finish to the three kilometre mark only to move it back to its original spot once the bus was removed, reeked havoc in the bunch and caused a crash that held up the Isle of Man sprinter taking him out of a shot for opening stage, and yellow jersey, glory.

This year it was an Orica-GreenEdge rider. Simon Gerrans had Cavendish boxed in and in a moment of desperation at the sight of the stage slipping away, Cav leaned on his Australian rival and both crashed to the ground. The fault this year could only fall on the shoulders of Cav who just two hundred metres from glory watched as the same German who took the yellow jersey twelve months before, once again swept over the line with his arms aloft. Marcel Kittel.

The big German has become a thorn in the side of Cavendish in recent years. Not so long ago Cav had sprints his own way. Winning four, five or even six stages in a Tour was the norm and if this years tour had been back then, his taking of the yellow jersey would have been a foregone conclusion as would another win two days later on the Mall in London. But Kittel has upset the apple cart. He took four stage wins of his own last year to Cavendish's two, including snapping his four win streak on the Champs-Élysées on the Tours final stage in Paris.

Kittel has taken the belt for Worlds best sprinter away from Cav for the first time in his professional career. This year I was hoping that perhaps he could rediscover his old form to make one big push at that yellow jersey. He's far from over the hill but you got the sense that all momentum was with Kittel. Still, there was a lot of hope which came crashing down with Cav as he hit the deck.

Whether he would have won the stage we'll never know and at the time of writing it's up in the air as to whether we'll find out at all how his form is in this tour. He's clearly banged up and even if he should continue it'll hardly be at 100 percent. Given the difficulty of tomorrow's stage it could be a long day in the saddle.

As the 2014 cycling season built towards this Tour I couldn't help but get very excited over the possibilities: Contador back to his best for a real showdown with Froome and Nibali going for the Tour rather than defend his Giro. Then the Cavendish, Kittel, Greipel, Sagan battle in the sprints. Every day had something to look forward to. And yet I told myself to temper that enthusiasm ... that it was probably too good for all these battles to come off without incident. The Tour is to punishing to be so kind. It's three week battle that would take its victims. Someone would crash out or get held up in a crash or get ill or lose time in some unlucky way. It happened to Irish cycling fans at the Giro when their big hope Dan Martin crashed out on the opening stage in Belfast.

And so it happened to the British fans in England with Mark Cavendish. The sprinters duel has lost a key member and the race will be that little bit lesser for it. Not less enough to ruin it however ... the Tour is always too big for that, there's always too many ready to step in and liven up the race. And so with that in mind we'll hope somehow Cav will recover and press on to give Kittle a run for his crown later in the race, but we'll do so in the knowledge that even if he does it'll be without the chance to have seen a 25 time stage winner in the Tour without the yellow on his back for yet another year. Soon the prologue will return and more time will go by and who knows when they'll return to British soil, especially for a Grand Depart tailor made for the Manxman.

Result/Overall:
1. Kittel (GIA) in 4h 44'07"
2. Sagan (CAN)
3. Navardauskas (GRM)
4. Conquard (EUC)
5. Rogers (TIN)
6. Froome (SKY) all s.t.

2014 Tour de France: The greatest show on earth

Well, it's that time of year again. Christmas eve for the cycling fan as I like to think of it and here I am sitting down in front of the keyboard at the last minute trying to piece together some form of preview with my thoughts on the upcoming race. I liken it to going out to get my Christmas shopping on Christmas eve and sitting down in the late hours of the evening to finally wrap them, and given that I've done that plenty of times in the past, it should come as no shock that I find myself now scrambling at this unmovable deadline.

But I think I prefer it that way. I think with professional cycling and writing as a hobby, it works best. I haven't got a glossy magazine to publish with indepth coverage required to get to print and onto the shop shelves in time and nor do I have a TV show to produce, so I can leave it late to say what I have to say. Consider it: Had I put it all online in early June I might well have wrote something about Sir Bradley Wiggins being in there and had I put it online last week, I'd have talked about David Millar riding his final Tour and how he was a sure fire bet to get in on a break and a decent bet to win a stage. Today however we know that neither will take part.

Before I truly get into the meat of it, let's get one good ol' annual cliche out of the way: This tour looks set to be one of the best for years and predicting how it might unfold seems almost impossible.

Often said, but with the Tour de France, it's always true. And let's face it, coming in 2014 few would have thought Chris Froome could lose this Tour, but a shakier build up than he'd have hoped for coupled with the reimergance of Alberto Contador back to what looks like his best suddenly has the race up in the air as regards to who will win come Paris. And as I found out while trying to list my picks for the top 10, there are so many riders in with a shout, if not for the Yellow jersey, then certainly a top five finish.

But there really is something mouth watering about this Tour and what might lie ahead and I think it's as much the route itself than the fact there are so many men going into such a wide open race.

The Tour starts in England for the second time; the first time it has gone north of London. The Grand Depart in Leeds will see the race spend two days in Yorkshire, the heartland of English cycling in the eyes of many. But this ain't no traditional start ... there's no prologue and the first week is far from flat and made purely for the sprinters. Stage one has several nasty little climbs, probably not enough to spoil a shot at a first Yellow jersey for Mark Cavendish, but stage two certainly could. Many have likened it to the Liège-Bastogne-Liège due to the number of tough little hills and it's felt that a big favorite could lose time here. A third stage into London will suit the fast men again before the race returns to France.

Then there is stage five and a date with the cobbles. From the Liège-Bastogne-Liège lookalike on stage two to a Paris-Roubaix like stage three days later. They had better hope it doesn't rain, but even if it stays dry, splits are a certainty and some of those splits will contain big favorites who don't really like the rough stuff. And that's not mentioning pure bad luck which often plays its part in Paris-Roubaix. A badly timed puncture could throw the race into chaos if it comes the way of a GC contender.

From there they head south towards the mountains. First the Alps, then the Pyrenees. 6 mountain stages in all, 5 summit finishes. And just when you think they've had their fill and things have been sorted our on that final climb to Hautacam, they'll tackle the loan time-trial of this years Tour, a 54 kilometre effort on the penultimate day. Given the distance of that time-trial, minutes could be won and lost and so I'd say that while the British style bergs, Roubaix cobbles and the traditional high mountains will create all the losers of this Tour, that time-trial will give us our winner.

The Tour de France always has a little bit of everything, from the stages supplying the action to the men riding it. A twenty-one stage drama fit for any good movie, TV show, book or stage production. Reality TV at its best and so many stories developing with every turn of the road. There may be the battle for the overall glory that will be the focus of our general attention over the three weeks, but intertwined into the fabric of it will be the individual stages, the individuals glory, the crashes, the controversy, the scandal, the heroic efforts, the brilliant performance, the heartbreak, the winners and losers from Yellow jersey to Lantern Rouge, all in front of the backdrop of some of the most beautiful scenery. Such beauty mixed with such suffering, the Tour develops before us each day and writes itself into history right as we watch along.

One day I hope to find the money and time to travel with the race around France and immerse myself in the whole thing from sipping a hot tea or a cold beer on the patio of some little cafe or bar at the side of the street of some small French town as the race rolls through, to watching on the side of some giant mountain, camped out and surrounded by thousands of fanatic fans as the riders grind their way up to the top of yet another energy sapping climb. Until then, I'll be following along from the armchair at home once again and as the story develops I'll pass along my own thoughts here.

How it will turn out is impossible to say and given all the variables I have mentioned, you can see why the Tour de France is so much more than just a race. Still, it would be wrong not to climb off the fence and give a prediction. My heart says Rui Costa, the Portuguese reigning World Champion who is at last on a Lampre team that are going to give him the chance to go for the general classification. A nice guy of the peloton and a superb talent, I hope it can come together for him. My head however says Alberto Contador. A superb rider who finally looks to have found his best form yet again and who should push a Chris Froome who has taken a few knocks coming into this years edition, further than last year.

Feel free to disagree with my predictions below ... reality will probably do the same in three weeks time:

Overall:
1. Alberto Contador
2. Chris Froome
3. Vincenzo Nibali
4. Andrew Talansky
5. Rui Costa
6. Alejandro Valverde
7. Thibaut Pinot
8. Jurgen Van den Broeck
9. Bauke Mollema
10. Romain Bardet

Others: Laurens ten Dam, Joaquim Rodriguez, Jakob Fuglsang, Michal Kwiatkowski, Daniel Navarro, Tejay Van Garderen, Pierre Rolland, Chris Horner, Richie Porte, Mickel Nieve, Rafal Majka, Nicolas Roche.

Points: Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish, Marcel Kittel

Mountains: Pierre Rolland, Jurgen Van den Broeck, Joaqium Rodriguez

White: Andrew Talansky, Thibaut Pinot, Romain Bardet

Team: Tinkoff-Saxo

Most stage wins: Mark Cavendish

Wiggins: "I won't be at the Tour"...the fallout is almost complete

Today, Sir Bradley Wiggins announced to the BBC (and not Sky) that “as it stands, I won’t be [at the Tour de France], probably," and going on to say that "I will probably have to leave Team Sky" to ever ride the Tour again. A shame really for all cycling fans hoping to see how the form he showed in winning the Tour of California might carry over into the Tour de France and how it might stack up in aid of, or against, his teams' leader, Chris Froome.

And by 'against' Froome, I mean the idea that Wiggins might have the form to show up with the instructions to help Froome but end up taking time of his own and putting himself into contention. As a past winner of the Tour de France, it would hardly be beyond all possibility that he could do it. Take time on the cobbled sections early in the Tour, limit his losses in the mountains and take more time back in the time-trial just before Paris.

I had said after that Tour of California in May that despite what he said about 'riding for Froome' at the Tour that I felt he had designs of his own on competing for the Yellow jersey again...clearly, Sky (and Froome) have thought this too.

Wiggins isn't being dropped because he lacks form, but because he's a risk to challenging Froome and thus destabilizing the defending champion, and given the harmony in which Sky like things to operate, they cannot have this. It would be like Mercedes F1 dropping Nico Rosberg because he's too big a threat to beating Lewis Hamilton. Thankfully La Via Clair didn't operate this way in 1986 when it came to selecting Greg LeMond to their Tour team to take on their defending champion Bernard Hinault.

As things are Froome would probably beat Wiggins head-to-head in this Tour even if he did show up and try take on his team-mate, but we're going to be denied finding out for sure and Froome (as well as the fans), should he win, will be left forever with the question 'what if Wiggins had been there...' hanging over him. This would be the second straight Tour he has won and it would be the second straight Tour in which the champion that came before him was not available to challenge him.

A Froome v Wiggins showdown is all going a little Mayweather v Pacquiao on us.

In a purely professional, robotic, singular minded focus of winning the Tour, of which Sky tick all the boxes, I suppose it makes sense in a way, but for fans of cycling and of good competition and of wanting the most in-form riders all there, and of those who like a bit of drama to their sport, this is not good news today.

That said, I believe you should pick your best possible team and worry about inter-team rivalry later in the race, should it crop up. Having two men challenge one another for the title is a luxury any other team would desire. But there is more: In a three week grand tour, anything can happen and often strange things do happen. Froome could have a bad day in the mountains, he could puncture and lose time on the cobbles, he could slip on a wet manhole on the first day and crash out. Then what Sky? Wiggins would give Sky a plan B; another option. If Wiggins's words today are true, Sky are very much choosing to put their eggs in one basket. It worked last year, will it work again?

Quintana seals the deal; wins his first Giro ... the first of many

Yesterday I finished the stages report by saying that Nairo Quintana would amble over the line today into Trieste and win his first, but surely not his last grand tour. And he did just that on a stage won in a bunch sprint by Luka Mezgec, but what I should have said, was that Quintana would win his first but probably not his last grand tour -- this season.

Quintana has lit up this Giro with his talent. Falling behind the leaders in the first week, he turned on the style come the high mountains clawing his lead back on a controversial stage over the Stelvio but then cementing his domination over the rest on stage 19. Quintana is 24 years of age and so much lies ahead of him. He isn't slated to ride this years Tour de France, but a run at the Vuelta is likely and who would bet against him winning it? Indeed, should his team change their minds and put him into the Tour, Quintana looks like one of those rare birds who might have a shot at doing that famous Giro-Tour double. We'll see.

And what in particular reminds us of Quintana's youth is the fact he was still eligible for the young riders competition which, of course, he won. And it's the youth -- this new generation of talent -- that this Giro will truely be remembered for.

Quintana, Aru, Majka, Kelderman ... all under 24 ... the top four in the young riders competition, and all four in the top ten over the general classification. All four sure to contend grand tours in the years that follow and who could rule out all four of them winning at least one along the way?

Cadel Evans came in looking to win the Giro aged 37, believing it possible after what the 41 year old Chris Horner had done the year before at the Vuelta. Evans took the Pink jersey for a while and things looked good, but aging legs eventually caught up with him when this collection of young riders turned on the jets in the high mountains. Ryder Hesjedal, now 33, won the Giro two years ago and while we seen shades of his best stuff on stage 16 when he finished second just behind Quintana, he too often struggled against the young ones. In the end Evans and Hesjedal finished 8th and 9th respectively, but behind Quintana, Aru, Majaka and Kelderman.

In all five men wore the race leaders pink jersey. The Canadian Svein Tuft following the team-time-trial in Belfast, his Orica Green Edge team-mate Michael Matthews a day later and for six days, his fellow countryman, Cadel Evans for four stages, Colombian Rigoberto Uran for four more stages, and finally another Colombian, Nairo Quintana for the final six stages. Quintana of course wore it when it truly mattered -- on stage 21 -- while Uran finished second to him. Evans settled for 8th while Matthews, injured, failed to finish. Tuft on the other hand slid right down to the opposite end of the standings finishing second last in 155th, over 5 hours behind Quintana and 10 minutes ahead of the Lanterne Rouge of Jetse Bol, but finish it he did. 42 did not make it the full 3,445.5 kilometres from Belfast to Trieste.

It seems a long time ago now since that start in Belfast, but it has been an epic journey. A saga of many twists and turns from Australian dominance in the first week, to a neutralized/non-neutralized stage, to attacks from all comers looking to grab the title in what quickly became the most wide open Grand Tour in years, in a race that started in the rain, traveled through the snow and came out bathed in sunshine by the finish. A true passageway into the summer season of cycling.

Result:

1. Luka Mezgec (Giant-Shimano) in 4-23-58

2. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) + s.t.

3. Tyler Farrar (Garmin Sharp) + s.t.

4. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) + s.t.

5. Roberto Ferrari (Lampre) + s.t.

6. Leonardo Duque (Colombia) + s.t.

Final overall: 

1. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in 88-14-32

2. Rigoberto Uran (OPQS) + 2-58

3. Fabio Aru (Astana) + 4-04

4. Pierre Rolland (Europcar) + 5-46

5. Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R) + 6-32

6. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) + 7-04

7. Wilco Kelderman (Belkin) + 11-00

8. Cadel Evans (BMC) + 11-51

9. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin Sharp) + 13-35

10. Robert Kiserlovski (Trek) + 15-49

Lanterne Rouge:

156. Jetse Bol (Belkin) + 5-15-19

Points classification: 

1. Nacer Bouhanni (FDJ.fr) 391 pts

2. Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek) 265 pts

3. Roberto Ferrari (Lampre) 186 pts

Mountains classification: 

1. Julian Arredondo (Trek) 173 pts

2. Dario Cataldo (Sky) 132 pts

3. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) 88 pts

Young rider classification:

1. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) in 88-14-32

2. Fabio Aru (Astana) + 4-04

3. Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) +7-04

Team classification:

1. AG2R La Mondiale in 264-30-55

2. Omega Pharma Quick-Step + 19-32

3. Tinkoff-Saxo + 27-12