But I can think of worse things to do...
So after a rest day, which we were told repeatedly wouldn’t be much of a rest as most of the cyclists would be out on their bikes for an hour or two, just to keep the muscles supple, it was back for another one hundred miles round France on stage ten.
Remarkably both Fletcha and Hoogerland started stage ten, the latter in the king of the mountains polka dot jersey and with thirty stitches in his legs and backside. Despite a long breakaway and an attempt by Philippe Gilbert to pinch a solo win off the front of the peloton, the stage came down to a bunch sprint and a Cavendish win. Er, no actually, despite the usual HTC lead out train Cavendish seemed to misjudge the sprint and lost out to former team mate Andre Greipel, who had to leave HTC to get a ride in the Tour.
Greipel, who really ought to be nicknamed ‘the muscles from Rostock’ had plenty to say about being second string sprinter to Cavendish. Cavendish of course gave as good as he got, on and off the track. Apparently the two buried the hatchet after Greipel’s win, helped by Cavendish conceding that Greipel had produced a near perfect sprint.
Overall, little changed as the leaders came in together ahead of the Pyrenees.
The very next day amid violent rain storms, Cavendish gets his revenge. Led out by Mark Renshaw as always, Cavendish takes the stage and in the process takes the green jersey. Asked about the finish Cavendish said; ‘I just kick, I don’t care who’s there.’
The next day and the Tour finally reaches the mountains, with three climbs including a 10 mile assent of the Col du Tourmalet. One of the oldest climbs in Tour history, when the Tourmalet first appeared in a stage riders called the route orgainsers ‘assassins’. With Contador still 4 minutes down a move from one of the favourites was predicted, with the Schleck brothers predicting they would blow the field apart.
But before all that Cavendish grabbed more green jersey points winning the intermediate sprint and signalling his intention to compete for the green jersey in Paris.
As the climbing starts Geraint Thomas makes a good early showing, attacking early, but getting reeled back in before the Schlecks started to test out their rivals. But Basso and Voeckler join Evans and Contador to cover a series of attacks until Frank Schleck rides away from the main contenders at the finish, to gain a handful of seconds over the leading contenders, who came in as a bunch except for Contador who lost another minute on them.
Stage winner Samuel Sanchez showed used his win to climb the general classification. If he shows form like that in the Alps a podium finish is not beyond him. Cavendish retained the green jersey and more surprisingly, Thomas Voeckler stayed with the general classification contenders and remained in yellow for another day.
Stage thirteen had just one climb and a long straight decent and it was Thor Hushovd who proved the best downhill rider, reaching speeds of almost 70 miles per hour, he caught the breakaway leader and went on to win alone. A remarkable victory for a man who had previously won flat stages and it continues to be an amazing Tour for the Garmin Cervelo team.
Stage fourteen was billed as the toughest of the race so far – no argument there – and possibly even of the whole race, featuring six mountain climbs.
Despite the number of climbs, by the start of the last mountain of the day all the main contenders were together. The Schlecks tried a few moves without success, before young Belgian Jelle Vanendert was allowed to go off the front as he was no threat in the overall classifications and climb all the way to the stage win.
Ironically only Samuel Sanchez could follow the Belgian, coming home second to produce a mirror image of the top two in stage twelve.
With the Pyrenees over, Cavendish has the green jersey and Voeckler is still 1:49 minutes ahead of second placed Frank Schleck after the mountains were supposed to find out the pretender. But if he’s still there – is Voeckler now a contender?
No rest day after the mountains, but a flat coastal stage to Montpellier. Cavendish said last week that this and Paris were his only chances of stage wins after the Pyrenees. Almost predictably he did win it. But almost as impressive he won the intermediate sprint too. If he wins the green jersey, this is the stage he won it.
The whole HCT team did their job, controlling the race, a feat in itself after the previous multiple mountain stage. Thomas Voekler is still in yellow and insisting he cannot win, despite being two minutes ahead of Evans and four minutes in front of Contador.
Jelle Vanendert is just two points clear of Samuel Sanchez in the king of the mountains classification and with the Alpine stages to come that is still wide open. Cavendish meanwhile looks good in green. Rojas may be second but the more realistic challenger is third placed Phillipe Gilbert, who is 71 points adrift in third.
Ironically the green points jersey will be won and lost in the Alps. Can Gilbert gain points on Cavendish and will the Manx Missile survive the mountains? Surprisingly the latter is a question that a lot of the French media are asking.
Cavendish can be a spiky character and HTC work so hard for him that other sprinters may feel he has an advantage, but as Cavendish always points out when acknowledging his team mates, they work so hard for him because they know that far more often than not, he delivers.
It is true that Cavendish abandoned on his first Tour in 2007 after a couple of crashes and the following year dropped out after 14 stages to prepare for the Olympics. But in 2009 Cavendish didn’t just reach Paris, he won on the Champs-Élysées. Last year Cavendish again completed the three week Tour and with the incentive of finally winning a green jersey and a team dedicated to him, barring injury or illness, Cavendish will make Paris and be on the podium in green.
The received wisdom remains that Voeckler cannot win, despite the fact that he negotiated the Pyrenees with his lead intact. If he manages the same feat in the Alps then maybe a few more people will take him seriously. But even if he does, I suspect Voekler will be vulnerable in the individual time trial.
As for the overall winner, I am still going with Cadel Evans who has looked untroubled, riding day after day at the head of the field, always with the support of BMC team mates. But it might be too soon to write off Contador. Sanchez must also attack in the mountains and Ivan Basso is a good outside bet for a podium finish.
What I hope will happen is that Thomas Voekler can at least hang on for the top three finish in Paris, his performances in yellow deserve.
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