2011 Tour de France – Stage 15 Wrap-Up/Discuss

Pavé would like to thank Handspun, Clément, and Laekhouse for supporting our coverage of the 2011 Tour de France

There’s really not much to say about today’s Stage 15 of the 2011 Tour de France other than what else can you say about Mark Cavendish and Team HTC-HighRoad? With Cav’s fourth stage win of the race, the Manxman now has a solid grasp on the green jersey competition. So here’s my question for your Sunday:

With stages on Tuesday and Wednesday that suit his talents, does Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert still have a shot at becoming the first rider since Sean Kelly in 1989...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France – Stage 13 Wrap-up

Today’s stage 13 from Pau to Lourdes saw an ideal situation for the contenders, who found themselves on a reasonable stage between two extremely trying days in the Pyrenees. Despite the peloton holding a torrid pace for the first part of the stage, a large group broke off – including the disparate bunch of Alessandro Petacchi (whose legs must be fresh because I don’t think he rode any of the previous stages), Edvald Boasson-Hagen, David Moncoutie, Thor Hushovd and the perennially off the front Jeremy...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France – Stage 12 Wrap-up

The overall picture of the 2011 Tour de France became a bit more clear during today’s Stage 12. But even after 211 kilometers and three major cols, we’re still nowhere near having any idea who will emerge as the victor. Here’s what we noticed:

1. The day began with the usual suicide breakaway of Frenchman and Basques (it was Bastille Day, and this is the Pyrenees, after all). FDJ once again placed a rider in the early move, with Jeremy Roy once again getting...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France – Stage 11 Wrap-up

Pavé would like to thank Handspun, Clément, and Laekhouse for supporting our coverage of the 2011 Tour de France

Today brought another win by HTC-Highroad’s Mark Cavendish. Fresh from a defeat at the hands of Andre Greipel, Cavendish executed everything perfectly, using his acceleration to open a gap that ensured no one was able to cling to his wheel. For a while, it looked like HTC might have been overextending itself to bring the breakaway in, with Bernie Eisel taking an especially large turn in the final 10 kilometers and Matt Goss suffering from the effects of an undisclosed illness. Obviously, things...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France – Stage 10 Wrap-up

Pavé would like to thank Handspun, Clément, and Laekhouse for supporting our coverage of the 2011 Tour de France.

With an exciting Stage 10 in the books, it looks like yesterday’s rest day did the riders well. Here’s what we had out eye on:

Stage 10 had pretty even odds between attackers and sprinters, and with 15k to go, Phillipe Gilbert’s Green Jersey and Thomas Voeckler’s Yellow Jersey were joined by HTC’s Tony Martin, Cofidis’s Tony Gallopin, and Quick Step’s Dries Devenyns took a dig off the front. Gilbert was the most committed – hunting a stage win for maximum Points – and...Continue Reading