London, 7th of July – 2014
Today’s 155 kilometer long third stage of Tour de France was a rather flat stretch from city containing the icon of universities, Cambridge to London and therefore provided the peloton and home viewers with a stunning insight of the historical aspect of the greatness of England. Tower of London, St Pauls Cathedral, Houses of Parliament and St Katherine’s Dock created the perfect scene for an epic final stage in London where the sprinters were given a perfect opportunity to conquer a stage win.
From the gun, two riders go clear: Jean-Marc Bideau (Bretagne-Séché Environnement) and Jan Barta (NetApp) formed the long-lasting breakaway. Once again, the Tinkoff-Saxo riders were at all times visible on the front of the pack securing Alberto Contador a safe place in the peloton.
But it was a tenaciously working front duo that didn’t want to surrender that easily and Lotto-Belisol’s Lars Bak had to give full throttle in the front of the pack to narrow down the gap until the Tinkoff-Saxo boys lent a helping hand in the pacesetting while the rain created a treacherous road surface in the finale and Nicolas Roche and Matteo Tosatto delivered an impressive performance reeling in the escapees while leading Alberto through the slippery streets of London in a hectic battle for position.
Entering the final 4 kilometers, the sprinter teams took over the control of the pace and on the finish line near Buckingham Palace, German Marcel Kittel conquered stage glory ahead of Peter Sagan (Cannondale). Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador made safely across the finish line and climbed to overall 7th.
“It was a very beautiful stage considering the historical surroundings and the organizers have done a very good job organizing the stages in England. And likewise during the race, everything started out nicely before entering the suburbs of London where the battle for position ran amok and combined with the rain starting to come down, it was a living battle field. But I think our riders secured Alberto really well and he was in no danger at any point despite the many corners and slippery asphalt. Now, we’re moving to France and I expect another classic sprinter stage,” said Mauduit before packing down for France.
