2005 Tour de France - Stage 6

It seemed like it should be an ordinary day going out for a little group ride with 188 riders. Not to bad to be only 1 short of the original group.

On the light side, Mengin of FDJ gets to show off riding through his home town which is along today?s route. It?s important enough for him to be in one of the breaks that establishes itself. Initially, there was a break with notables Julich and Voeckler. Hincapie came along to cover Julich. After their playtime was over, another group of five that included Mengin made it out to an 8min 30sec gap.

Now that the pleasantries have been established, all hell breaks loose! The rain is causing flats and crashes. If you spray off your driveway with a hose, you notice bits of sand, pebbles, etc. that get loosened up and come to the surface. This is essentially what happens when it rains. A racer flats and may get a little excited to get back to the peloton. Add slippery roads and narrow tires to the impatience and you?ve got problems.

Basso is probably wondering about his luck when he flats. Talk about embarrassing. Mengin shows off a little too much and crashes near the end which shuts down any form of an organized sprint finish. Lance gets held back waiting for bodies and bikes to clear. Lorenzo Bernucci established his claim to fame and pops out of the peloton with less than 1 km to go and wins! He must be thinking about being in the right place at the right time! If I was him, I would go buy a lottery ticket to see if his luck holds out.

In the end, the important players stay the same in the GC. I wonder if the little hills in the next couple stages will see some of the leaders making moves?