Monday, July 6, 2009

Live text - Tour de France

LATEST ACTION (all times BST)

606: DEBATE

To get involved use 606 or text us your views & comments on 81111. (Not all contributions can be used)

By Chris Bevan

A celeb has been spotted
1234: Ben Stiller just can't get enough of the Tour - he's following the peloton in one of the VIP cars. It's about time a decent cycling film (American Flyers didn't quite cut the mustard for me) was made I reckon. Stiller wouldn't be my choice for the lead though...

Twitter
1231: BBC Sport's Phil Sheehan on Twitter: "Been out for a little 60km ride to spin my legs this morning...well, it was a grind. It's windy down this way. Cross-headwind at the finish."

1227: Those four riders are now together and have opened up a lead of around six minutes on the peloton at the 10km mark.

First aid
1222: We've already had our first casualty of this year's Tour by the way - Belgium's Jurgen van de Walle did not start today's stage after suffering a broken collarbone in a fall on the second stage. The Quick Step rider finished yesterday but went straight to hospital afterwards.

1215: Blimey. There's been an early breakaway right at the start of the stage - Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis) and Maxime Bouet (FDJ) are already around two minutes 30 seconds seconds clear of the peloton, with Ruben Perez Moreno and Koen de Kort attempting to catch them.

1212: And here's a response to that accusation, from Rooijakkers' team-mate Kenny van Hummel, who replied: "Cavendish should not be talking about respect. He needs to keep his hands to himself."
As a few of you have said on 606, there are always a few elbows flying around as people fight for spaces and places at the end...

1205: Interesting to see Mark Cavendish thoughts on yesterday's frenetic finish. Posting on his Columbia team-mate Mark Renshaw's Twitter feed, Cav said: "Yesterday with 3km to go, Piet Rooijakkers (skil shimano) kidney punched me. Is he a:stupid b:crazy c:disrespectful d:all of the above?"

Text in your views on 81111
1202: From Alan in Woking, via text on 81111: "I can't help but feel sorry for Tyle Farrar (after yesterday's finish). Make no mistake, he's one of the fastest guys in the world but to see Cav pull away and win by five bike lengths must have been devastating. Come on Cav, win in green today."

The sun is out
1158: We're just minutes away from the start of Stage Three and it looks like its going to be another hot and humid day for the peloton - maybe that breeze won't be such a bad thing after all...

Get involved on 606
1153: Little_Panda82 on 606: "I'm fully expecting a sprint finish today - no reason a breakaway should survive. That being the case you wouldn't bet against Cav getting his second win."

1149: Lance Armstrong's Astana team-mate Levi Leipheimer on Twitter: "Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor just showed up at the bus. I'm a big fan of both of them."
That Ben Stiller gets everywhere doesn't he..hope he didn't distract the Astana riders too much...

1145: I've never been to La Grande Motte, but by all accounts it is a beautiful seaside resort - the greenest in Europe, according to its tourism office. Not that any of the riders will be taking in the sights today - they're likely to be battling a stiff breeze for most of their time in the saddle, especially in the last 60km when they hug the coast on their way to the finish line.

Mark Cavendish
Green jersey
1140: Yep, Isle of Man missile Mark Cavendish has already made his mark on this year's Tour, sprinting to victory and the green jersey yesterday. Today's stage, 196.5km from Marseille to La Grande-Motte, is perfect for pure sprinters too - fingers crossed he can become the first Briton to stay in green for more than a single day...

1136 BST: Tour de France or Tour de Lance? Neither. It's official folks - 2009 is Le Tour de Manx.

No comments: