I know not even French TV broadcasts it, but I would have loved to see the
beginning of Sunday's stage. All those breaks trying to get away and team
after team deciding the mix just wasn't right and pulling them back in.
From the Tour site:
"It's part of Tour tradition that a break forms on these days. But what made
the first two hours so frantic was the simple fact that the selection of
opportunists had to be just the right mix.
After 18km it seemed that a group of 20 would cooperate all the way to
Nimes; 14 teams were represented, there was no threat to Voeckler's overall
lead and the US Postal team had no serious rivals in the mix. But for some
reason the yellow jersey's Brioches squad chased it down.
Then came a group of four which included the winner in Draguignan four Tours
ago - in a similar stage to today - Vicente Garcia-Acosta. But Rabobank
wanted a rider in the mix. The Dutch squad chased the break down, put their
boy Erik Dekker in the mix and eased off the gas. But Quickstep had no one
present. And so they chased. on and on went this routine until, finally, 10
riders established a break with the right mix and the right time. They too
should have been pursued for some teams were still absent but there comes a
time when the call of nature is too loud to ignore, drinks need to be
collected and the pace of the chase must ease. This is a part of what
usually occurs around the 50km mark of an intermediate stage. It took twice
as long today."
That sounds like fun!