Tumultuous Tour Start Continues Tuesday
During the first two stages of this year’s Tour de France, more than 100 riders have been affected by crashes. A slippery surface, a narrow path or a sharp turn can end a rider’s stage and even put an end to their entire Tour. And the worst is yet to come.
So far in this year’s race, the list of crash victims has quickly filled up. Among the overall favourites, top contenders Lance Armstrong of Team RadioShack, Team Astana’s Alberto Contador, and Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank have all crashed, the latter injuring his arm halfway through Monday’s Stage 2.
While none of the crashes suffered by these three have landed decisive blows to their overall hopes in the Tour, others have not been so lucky.
Australian Adam Hansen, who was set to play a critical supporting role for his Team HTC-Columbia teammate Mark Cavendish during the sprint-friendly stages, broke several ribs and his left collar bone during Stage 1, ending his Tour prematurely.
Team Garmin-Transitions Christian Vande Velde, tipped by many to finish on the podium this year, is 9:50 behind current yellow jersey holder Sylvain Chavanel, who took over the lead from Italy’s Fabian Cancarella during Stage 2.
Extensive crashes have taken place throughout the history of the Tour, but this year’s chosen route has been said to increase the risk of crashes, particularly during the early stages.
The prologue and first two stages of the Tour took place in the Netherlands and Belgium, the streets of which have been blamed by some riders for the extent of the crashes so far this year.
Robbie Hunter, racing for Team Garmin-Transitions, said on his Twitter page that “no grand tour has any business in these northern countries.” With five of its riders suffering significant setbacks as a result of the crashes to date, his team will be eager to enter France to race on what are said to be better roads.
But the Tour organisers have a treacherous stage in store for the riders on Tuesday. Running from Wanze in the Belgian Ardennes to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut in France, the 214km long stage contains 13.2km of cobbled streets over seven stretches.
These cobbles have been laid over the past two centuries, forming an irregular surface that poses serious threats to the riders’ balance and their equipment. While mindful not to crash, they will also not want to lose too much time in the overall standings during tomorrow’s stage.
But with narrow roads, at times less than 2 metres wide, crashes seem inevitable. When the peleton of cyclists has to squeeze through the ancient streets, tomorrow’s stage seems certain to yield more than a few victims.
While undoubtedly adding an element of excitement for spectators, the stage is hazardous and downright frightening for Tour riders. “Remember in the ancient Rome, the gladiator fights they had?” German veteran Jens Voigt said to the press after Stage 2.
“It’s going to be awesome, it’s spectacular for the people on the sofa, having a little Bud Lite on the side. But for us poor fellows on the road there, it’s terrible. It’s hard, dangerous, stressful and basically has chaos, mayhem and broken bones all over it.”
Most expect tomorrow’s cobbled stage to produce some decisive outcomes for this year’s Tour. Last time, when cobbles were included in the route, in 2004, then favourite Iban Mayo crashed, causing his hopes of contending for the overall title to diminish.
In 24 hours, we will not be much closer to determining who will win this year’s Tour, but we may at least have a clear idea of who will not.
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