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93rd Tour de France - presented by

Stage 3, Esch-sur-Alzette - Valkenburg, 216K

4 July

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Tour Casualties and Yellow for Boonen

Dust Devil's Daily Wrap, Stage List, Stage Profile, Photos

I don’t know about the rest of you, but the Dust Devil was glad to see the race organizers throw some cat 3 and 4 climbs in the mix for today’s route. It certainly made for some interesting viewing. Both McEwen and Boonen said they thought they could keep it together for a bunch sprint, but I had my doubts.

The finale was a real nail biter. I wasn’t surprised to see Kessler have another try for glory, but I was secretly wishing that Gilbert [Philippe] would have stayed with him and won. But in all fairness, Kessler was a worthy winner. Getting caught 50 meters from the line yesterday must have been a bitter pill to swallow, but hey that’s racing.

Let me now focus my attention on all the crashes today. No less than three big names went down and are now out of the race. First it was Fred Rodriguez and Erik Dekker. Then it was none other than Alejandro Valverde. He was someone who was a legitimate threat for the overall. If he didn’t achieve that, then he certainly would have lit up the roads on the mountain stages. But again, that’s racing.

Finally, I’d like to say a word or two about big Tom Boonen. This guy is a bad ass to the core. He’s in his mid twenties and has done it all. I was talking with the other BiciRace.com staff and we were trying to ascertain the last time the reigning world champ wore the yellow jersey. We concluded that it was Greg Lemond in the 1990 Tour. Please though, if we are wrong send us a friendly email with the correct answer. That’s all for now. I’m heading straight to the espresso machine for a little afternoon pick me up. Au revoir.

~The Dust Devil