The big question is whether the break will stay away. They start off on a climb, so there is sure to be a break right off the bat.

If the break stays away, Zakarin will be in it, and he'll take the stage win.

On GC, Mollema, Valverde, and Yates will fade. Porte, Aru, and Bardet will move up. Quintana will stay about where he is. Martin will drop out of the top 10.

places 2-6 are close but Aru in 7th was the best of the rest of the GC guys yesterday. He will once again try to do something with Astana. Let's just hope its something a bit more effective than extending the Sky train. Send some guys with the break. I think Mollema will lose some time again unfortunately. His strong form has faded a bit, and he will have to fight to stay top 5 in Paris. I'm still on the fence about Yates. Whatever he does it will be a great Tour for him, I think he will also fall off the podium. Rising men are Porte, Bardet, Aru. They're also of the attacking kind which is always appreciated. Would be nice if TJ, Bakelants, and Nibali could go for the break to help their GC leaders later on in the race. Even though the green is decided, I still think that Sagan will go as well today and maybe even tomorrow, the intermediate sprint is so early in the stage and Sagan is not one to rest on his laurels.

If a breakaway stays in front, it's gotta be time for a damn French stagewin, no? Gougeard (doubling as possible help for a Bardet attack if he doesn't have the legs to win), Edet, Sicard, Alaphilippe, Gallopin? Non froggies, I need to see some life in Kelderman, ffs man. What about Navarro, Buchmann, Reichenbach, Pauwels again?

THE 20 LEADERS ARE:
Alexey Lutsenko (Astana), Robert Kiserlovski and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff), Alexis Vuillermoz (AG2R-La Mondiale), George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac),

Markus Burghardt and Amaël Moinard (BMC),

Natnael Berhane (Dimension Data), Laurens ten Dam (Giant-Alpecin), Emmanuel Buchman (Bora-Argon 18), Rui Costa (Lampre-Merida),

Thomas De Gendt and Tony Gallopin (Lotto-Soudal),

Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step), Daniel Navarro (Cofidis), Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange), Eduardo Sepulveda and Vegard Breen (Fortuneo-Vital Concept).
Time gap: 4.15 at km 5.5

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http://www.truckeecyclocross.com
California

All of team Sky and Chris Froome do domestique duty for their old buddy Porte. They shred everyones legs on the second last climb leaving on the podium hopefuls hanging in and then Froome pulls Porte into 2nd. Let's see if Teejay can be as good as the Sky domestiques during this plan or if Porte just has to use the Sky guys.

Sky won't care, but BMC and Astana will keep the break on a lease. The remnants of the break will get swept up on the final climb. Mollema and Yates will simply try to hang on with the GC riders, while Bardet, Porte, and Aru will try to attack. (Forget about Quintana.) Porte will eventually make it off the front to win the stage (holding hands with Froome as the two of them cross the finish?) but he'll only gain a few seconds on Mollema and Yates. If only he hadn't had that puncture on Stage 2................

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"Human existence is based upon two pillars: Compassion and knowledge. Compassion without knowledge is ineffective; Knowledge without compassion is inhuman." Victor Weisskopf.

I'm definitely rooting for Richie Porte to make the podium. He always seems to catch a bad break at the worst possible moment (e.g. last year's Giro) but still manages to sound positive in the post-stage interviews, as though he's just happy to be out there riding his bike for a living!

He deserves to be there on merit this year considering not only the puncture in the early stages, but also the pile-up on Mont Ventoux where it was looking as though he was going to put a considerable amount of time in to all the guys currently above him in the GC apart from Froome and (possibly) Mollema.

Why is Astana at the helm of the peloton?

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http://www.truckeecyclocross.com
California

Looks like Teejay will be ZERO help as he falls off the back already...

TJ already dropped. Break is definitely not gonna stick, Astana and Katusha are too hungry, even though I doubt either will win. Still, its a bit more entertaining than Sky at the front.

Dumoulin, dang it.

How technical is the Rio TT? Any chance he can grin and bear it for an hour or so?

What happened? Just tuning in now.....

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

man, that sucks

looks like a lot guys are just hanging on today and then some rain?.....long day

Low speed crash uphill... Abandon and taken away by ambulance. Maybe just precautionaey but apparently he was crying in the ambulance. Wrist possible broken. How long did it take Hayman to get back?

Schitt.....that sucks.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

*Good* news is if it's a broken wrist he'll at least be able to ride a trainer soon. Guess TT position is a matter of where the break is and what angle he grips. Bummer, I hope it's not too bad.

Rolland, geez, it looked like he was on a skating rink. Scary.

crash, crash and crash. The rain is playing havoc on the race right now.

Mother Nature is having second thoughts about this being over...

I wonder how smart it is to continue racing the Tour when you are hopeful to win a medal in Rio?

Well....the proverbial schitt just hit the fan.

ETA - was that Porte who was down and getting tended to by the medics? Definitely a red jersey and a red / black helmet. Dunno if he rides Mavic shoes, though.

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

It aint over till its over.

These corners are covered with water+oil+painted words...talk about a skating rink. I wonder how much time Froome lost. Froome is on a teammate's bike They are saying Mollema crashed too. Door open for Bardet and Porte?

Dev

Right shoulder looks pretty bad. I love working from home.

Bardet looking good. Froome looks like he is riding a kid's bike with 145mm cranks!

Froome looks like he is in complete control and will have yellow.
As long as he finishes, Majka has the Polka Dot locked. I'm not 100% sure but I think is almost mathematically certain of Green.
The white is likely to go to Yates.

Nothing really left but to enjoy the last few days of scenery.

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Remember - It's important to be comfortable in your own skin... because it turns out society frowns on wearing other people's