Has been quite mental actually

2 days of apocalyptic weather (for bike racing) - rain and wind meant echelons, splits, Contador and Porte losing time (Porte now out of the GC race), and much reduced sprints. Sprint wins for Demare and then Sonny Colbrelli, despite presence of Kittel, Greipel, Kristoff, Degenkolb...

Yesterday was a bit calmer, but still saw a surprise - won by Irish sprinter Sam Bennett (rides for Sagan's Bora Hansgrohe), ahead of all those big names. His breakthrough win, and Bora's first ever World Tour win. Not many would have expected that to come from anyone but Sagan...

Time trial today. Interesting to see if Porte can be arsed now he's 15 minutes down, and how much time Contador can regain. And whether Sergio Henao can limit his losses enough to stay in the driving seat (he's probably the biggest GC contender not to have lost any time yet).

Posted By: Tricky Hawes, Mar 8, 11:19:23