Stage Three Results – 2005 Tour de France
Second stage win for Tom Boonen gives the Belgium power-house sprinter additional lead for the green sprinters jersey. It was another very exciting stage yesterday with a typical early breakaway consisting of three riders:
- Eric Dekker
- Nicholas Portal
- Rebens Bertogliati
It was an amazing effort put forth by all three of the break away riders however special nod has to be given to Erik Dekker, the guy would not go down without a dam hard fight. It was a very close catch for the pack (many times it is however) closing in with about 2k to go. The break away did manager to stay away for both king of the mountain “hills” giving Dekker the polkadot jersey as he won both “hill top sprints”. Dekkar now leads Frenchman Voeckler by just a few points, it will be interesting to see if Voeckler trys makes a bid for the jersey in the early days (I don’t think he is good enough to win the jersey over all but he might want to wear it if possible for a couple more days).
Boonen Defeats Robbie McEwen & O’Grady Once Again In Final Sprint
With the breakaway being caught up by the blood hungry peloton in the closing meters Fabian Cancellara made a bid for the win with an attack off the front with about 1.5 to 2k to go. It was a very brave move from a man that can back it up with his prologue time trial speciality. None the less it was not meant to be and he also got scooped up with just 1 k to go. From their the sprinters had the finish they had hope to have. This sprint is a bit tricky in that the road is flat and long making it tough to judge just how far off the finishing line is. Boonen launched at the perfect timing muscling his way to another victory and securing the green jersey (as well as shorts and even helmet – picture above) for yet another day.
Robbie McEwen was a bit over-the-top with his head butting technique as he tried to slow-up or generally just mess with fellow Australian O’Grady. Too bad he was fined and moved from second place to 186th overall in the stages results, maybe he learned his lesson for next time?
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