Originally Posted by
gsteinb
Parting shot:
The bottom line is it was never ever necessary for Garmin to kick up the pace in the last few Ks. They simply needed to put Cavendish on Thor and the worst that would have happened (in the wildly unlikely scenario that Cav didn't come around him) is that he would have lost a point.
Why would Garmin want to put Cavendish on Thor? That would be Columbia's job. Nevertheless Garmin did go to the front and pick up the pace toward the end. I think Garmin picked up the pace to protect Wiggins and CVV's positions and to keep George H out of the MJ. I think that Columbia would do a better job protecting the MJ in the Alps than AG2R and hence do much of Astana's work for them in the coming days. It is in Garmin's interest to avoid that.