Ale-jet flyin' to stage 1 glory...
Renshaw (2nd), Hushovd (3rd)!
Who let that dog out?
Stage one was up for grabs in Brussels for the sprinters classification and at the 50 km mark a dog ran out and brought down Millar (green jersey), Basso, Roche, Kloden, Leipheimer, Ballan, Devenyns, Ivanov, Rohregger, Verdugo, Freire, Lorenzetto, Hansen and Oroz. All the riders & canine appear unhurt. Which begs the question... Why was that dog unleashed? Dogs and bike racers do not mix and catastrophe often happens.
Celebrating the 65th birthday of Mr. Merckx.
Mark Cavendish looked in position to contend the sprint, when on a sharp right hander, 2 kms from the finish, lost control bringing down a group of riders to the tarmac. Oscar Freire, the Cat, was caught in this madness and taken out of the green mix.
With 1 km to go, and I've never seen this, a huge crash brought most of the pack tumbling down to a standstill. Only a few reacted especially Petacchi riding like a bullet and winning this 'dog' stage from Renshaw (2nd) and Hushovd (3rd). Taking advantage of misfortune, Ale-jet flew and grabbed the stage win (first since 2003) & the green jersey. Certainly a miscue by Hushovd not to take more of an advantage for the stage win but positive that he acquire the important points to keep him in the green game.
A wild day of racing and I certainly hope the dog day(s) are muzzled!
Lloyd Mondory's 'dog bite'
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