14 DAY TRIAL // Modern cycling Grand Tours are under a lot of pressure to offer variety and that means offering an entire first week for sprinters, with flat stages and wide open avenues at the finish, is no longer an option.
ASO are changing things up with the third stage of the Tour de France, offering a stage that's designed to be a shorter take on a spring classic, with the finish taking gamers to the legendary Mur de Huy, borrowed from the Fleche Wallone.
The major contenders for the Yellow Jersey have a clear chance to get some gaps and maybe take control of first place, although some teams do not want to do that too soon.
At the same time, spring classic specialist will see this day as their big chance to get a win and will make their own squads work in order to secure a good position before the peloton hits the wall.
In the real world, there will be a lot of attacks and the race might end up with a very surprising winner.
Trek Factory Racing will focus on Cancellara or Schleck, depending on their daily form and the way the race shapes up.
Prediction: One of my riders will triumph in PCM 2015 and Valverde will be the winner in the real world.
Yesterday my Kristoff bet did not pay off and Greipel used the windswept stage to get a win.
Nibali leads the peloton on the Mur
I wasn't even close when it came to the winner, with Vincenzo Nibali managing to take first place ahead of Gilbert by a small gap in the video game, while my own team tried to separate attacks but failed to make an impact.
When the initial break was caught I used Felline and Jungels as a unit and tried to get the former to create a solid gap, but Astana pulled hard and managed to close him down with about five kilometers to go.
I then tried to get Cancellara to do something but the uphill was too brutal for him, and he only got a twelfth place.
Disappointment linked to the stage win masks the fact that Trek Factory Racing now has the Yellow Jersey because Tony Martin lost a lot of time, and his team failed to properly defend him.
In the real world Cancellara put in a good sprint yesterday to also lead the race.
Here's a clip from the third stage of Le Tour:
