"I don’t remember such a slow stage on the Tour with riders talking to each other"

Rafael Carrascoformer professional cyclist and former director of historic Kelme cycling teamdiscusses cycling and the Tour for MD.

In his opinion, these are the keys to the second third of the French round:

THE STAGE

A brave man escaped, Magnus Cort Nielsen, the leader of the mountain and they caught him about 50 kilometers away. They left him a maximum difference of six minutes and eventually they caught him. From then on, all the cyclists hurried, until the last kilometers all the sprinter teams came out. But I think the stage was very slow, on the Tour I don’t remember a stage as slow as now and the riders were talking and just speeding at the end. In fact, I once thought I didn’t see a Tour stage

THE FAVORITES

Today there was a lot of calm with the favorites. They did not bother each other, and in the last kilometers they were able to avoid falling. They achieved this and passed the stage without a problem

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THE SPANISH

Enric Mas, who was the Spanish rider with the most options to do a good thing in the Tour de France, entered the peloton first and avoided the final pileup. Yes, there were other Spanish runners who lost a few seconds when they joined it, but the important thing was that Mas came in with the best.

THE DETAILS

On this Tour, there are people wondering why there are no more attacks or breakaways, but these stages are very flat and there can be no differences, and both the sprinter teams and the favorites will have great career control. It does not accompany the route or the race situation

STAGE THIS MONDAY

The teams and the runners moved to France. There is no stage of competition but it is a long stage of transition. A difficult day for everyone, before arriving in France and on Monday going out for a ride, with time for massages and a little rest before returning to racing on Tuesday