Jul 6, 2008
Thor wins stage after four Frenchmen breakaway
JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images
The four musketeers were giving French cycling renewed hope in today’s stage 2 in the Tour de France. You could not get a better mix to please the French public than Thomas Voekler, Sylvain Cavanal, David Le Lay and Christophe Moreau in a long breakaway. It’s been a long time since the Tour experienced such a sign of French virility at the Tour. Racing in the region of the last Tour de France winner Bernard Hinault you could get a sense that maybe just maybe the Tour is getting over the doping plague of the past few seasons. Then reality hots as you remember that Aleandro Valverde was riding for Kelme and had his name mixed up in the Operation Puerto, but only peripherally. Hopefully no one finds anything incriminating during or after the Tour just as Valverde’s Tour hopes start to get real.
Today’s stage almost up ended the sprinters. Pippo Pozzato won here years ago riding for Fassa Bortolo taking advantage of the climbs to the finish in a well timed break. This year it looked like he could repeat the feat as he bridged up to an attacking Fabian Cancellara. But they did not have the extra gas as the peloton roared up with Thor Hushovd taking first place and two Team Columbia’s in second and third.
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