Join us tonight for live coverage of Stage 3 of the 2012 Tour de France. The 197-kilometer stage runs from Orchies to Boulognes-Sur-Mer. Live coverage will begin at 8:30PM AEST with updates throughout the stage.
Relatively speaking, the stage can be classified as flat, but with six categorised climbs in the final 65km and an uphill finish, it is not a race for your traditional sprinter.
There are four category four climbs and two category three climbs that come after the one and only sprint point of the race, which is at kilometer 119. The final climb to the finish is 700m long at 7.4 percent.
Depending on the size of the break, I would expect team Liquigas to attempt once again to put Peter Sagan in position to pick up intermediate sprint points to extend his lead on the green jersey. He currently has 78 point, with Mark Cavendish in second place with 63.
Cavendish is likely to contest the points, but with Team Sky working for Wiggins, he may have to do some more train hopping to pick up points at the intermediate sprint.
The finish of stage three, like stage one, favors a classics rider. The likes of Philipe Gilbert, Fabian Cancellara, Cadel Evans and Peter Sagan are the riders to watch. All of these riders have something to gain in tonight’s stage.
Philipe Gilbert is still looking for last year’s form and this could be an opportunity for him to prove he’s back in full force. He finished fourth on similar terrain in stage one and is definitely looking to improve on that performance.
Cadel Evans may try to gain a few seconds on Wiggins with a late attack and a bit of separation from the field on the final climb to the finish. He’s only 10 seconds down on the Brit.
Fabial Cancellara’s goal is simple, keep yellow for another day. Having seen him defend it on stage one, I’m confident he will be somewhere near the finish of stage three. However, team Radioshack-Nissan will have to do a better job of working for Cancellara and helping him near the finish if he’s to win.
Other riders to watch are Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky, Alejandro Valverde of Movistar, and Sylvain Chavanel, who won the 2011 French championships in Boulogne-Sur-Mer. Look for him to try to break away late on one of the climbs.
My pick for stage three is Peter Sagan. He seems to excel on this type of terrain where traditional sprinters fall off the back and has been on phenomenal form since the Tour of California.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Join me tomorrow for Stage 4. Good night!
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Top 10 in the overall: 1. CANCELLARA Fabian 12 RADIOSHACK-NISSAN 14h 45' 39'' 2. CHAVANEL Sylvain 192 OMEGA PHARMA-QUICK STEP 14h 45' 46'' 00' 07'' 3. WIGGINS Bradley 101 SKY PROCYCLING 14h 45' 46'' 00' 07'' 4. VAN GARDEREN Tejay 9 BMC RACING TEAM 14h 45' 49'' 00' 10'' 5. BOASSON HAGEN Edvald 102 SKY PROCYCLING 14h 45' 50'' 00' 11'' 6. GILBERT Philippe 4 BMC RACING TEAM 14h 45' 52'' 00' 13'' 7. MENCHOV Denis 131 KATUSHA TEAM 14h 45' 52'' 00' 13'' 8. EVANS Cadel 1 BMC RACING TEAM 14h 45' 56'' 00' 17'' 9. HESJEDAL Ryder 61 GARMIN-SHARP-BARRACUDA 14h 45' 57'' 00' 18'' 10. NIBALI Vincenzo 51 LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE 14h 45' 57'' 00' 18''
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Top 5 on the stage 1. Peter Sagan (SLO) LIQ 4h42'58" 2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) SKY at 1" 3. Peter Velits (SVK) OPQ at 1" 4. Fabian Cancellara (SUI) RNT at 1" 5. Michael Albasini (SUI) OGE at 1"
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Will get the stage and overall standings in a bit. But with that win, Sagan is now in solid green. Where was Cav again? ;-)
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Huge crash toward the end. And Sagan easily wins!
vitalyg
Roar Guru
He's caught. It's now anyone's game
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Under 1k and he's still in the lead. He's about to get caught.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Chavanel looks like he's cracking.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
He has 7 seconds with 2km to go.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Chavanel is flying. 3km to go for him. Remember, Chavanel won here in 2011 French championships.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
BMC now chasing.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
5km to go, has he gone too early?
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Sylvain Chavanel goes for it. He needs 7 seconds for yellow.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Correction. Valverde is in the main group.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
He's caught. All together.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Basso now setting a high pace on the climb and Grivko is almost caught, only a few seconds of space between him and the main field.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Morkov blew up! Grivko keeps going as a solo break. Only a matter of time for him.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Gap is down to 15 seconds with less than 8km to the finish. Looks like Valverde is also off the back.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
Morkov has picked up another point. And it has now started to rain with 10km left to go in the race. Gap to the break down to 28 seconds.
vitalyg
Roar Guru
12km to go, gap to under 40 seconds. The break will likely be caught on the penultimate climb, and then fireworks could fly!