Giacomo 1 

Farrar pretty much said today that at this point he just wants to finish the tour.

I'm pulling for him to do it. He's still wearing the Lantern Rouge, but with all of the riders (a record?) out of this years tour due to accidents and surprisingly fatigue, just to finish would be a gutsy feat after the tour he's had...

Andy_K 

But then he went out and beat Sagan in the sprint. Hopefully, things are beginning to turn around for Tyler.

In other LR news, Christophe Kern finished 154 of 156 today, thus avoiding being the last man in for the fourth day in a row. He obviously severely broke himself setting up Rolland's stage 11 win, which isn't surprising in light of the effort he put in that day. He's got 47 minutes on Farrar right now, but he's falling fast. Looks like he did well to make it to the rest day.

Giacomo 1 

What? I missed that!

Arrgh, I had to shut the TV off and do something right after the breakaway crossed the line. The one day I shut it off early...


Good for Tyler!

bikerjp

I don't think Sagan was trying. Seemed to be just in it for a few points to make sure no one made any big point gains. No point for him to go all out if there isn't a win to contest.

Giacomo 1 

Maybe so, but give him credit for at least being up and able to challenge...

Giacomo 1 

Caught the replay today!

Tyler looked strong. Maybe we'll see him challenge in Paris if he get's throught these two tough mountain stages. Think he's got anything for Greipel?

YMCA

nope

but at least the practice sprints and huge racing miles will bring him to the Olympics with half a chance

mje

Farrar falls off by a minute and a half:

• 152. Tyler FARRAR, Garmin-Sharp, at 3:13:24
• 153. Jan GHYSELINCK, Cofidis, at 3:14:45

Ghyselnick finished last today, 10 minutes later than the previous rider.

HigherGround

I have a lot of respect for Tyler. I think the incident at the Argos team bus was very atypical, but I can see how tempers can flare in the heat of the moment, especially after a crash. Tyler and Johan Van Summeren have shown a lot of guts by continuing when it would have been much easier to pack it in and go home.

I'd love to see Tyler take the stage win on Friday or Sunday. Winning in Paris may still be a bit optimistic, all things considered. Maybe perhaps because he is so far down on the G.C., he can get in a break that might stay away to the end today.

Giacomo 1 

What? Nobody is blaming Tyler for hitting that dog and going down? No jokes? No laughs? I'm shocked!

Seriously though, he had a really good 6th place finish considering that stupid dog incident. (why does anyone bring a dog with them anyway!?) The field was moving so fast all day, I have no idea how the heck he caught up with the leaders to make that very good sprint finish...

HigherGround - Good post, I agree, very atypical for Tyler to react that way, but that's sports. I give him a shot in Paris!

ultraman6970

"(why does anyone bring a dog with them anyway!?"... some people no matter the country or continent you are will do stupid things like that. And the problem is not taking the darn dog, the problem is letting the dog go from the leash, or let the f.. leash go. CLearly in the picture you have the grandparents with the kid, the kid maybe asked to take the dog, stupid old man gave the leash to the kid and there you have it. A 120 pounds dog moving around the road.

Sincerely people doesnt get it and think, not nothing is going to happen but at high speeds to crash a dog that big is like crashing with a f.. wall. Sure the dog has no scratches but now many riders are pretty... f... up. IMO the Belgian had the right to be pissed off. Hope the stupid guy learn the lesson and lucky for him nobody was seriously injured.

As for farrar, the guy is good but not good enough IMO. Not close to Cav or Sagan... IMO he should be stay racing in the US, here sure will win races but in europe I think his time is gone. Wonder if he can figure it out how to win w/o a lead out, Cav and Sagan showed everybody that can be done w/o any problem neither excuses.

Laggard

Yeah, he only had nine wins last year and four this year. Clearly time to give it up.

ultraman6970

Maybe is time for him to change training and grab the bull by the horns or next year will be worse. One of the accidents was his stupidity so who knows. Many guys lose control or imagine what is going on a sprint when they are doing road and using a lead out too much. I was farrar i would stay in europe doing track big time to get the legs back to what they were. The bad news is that he will gain some weight. The problem with sprinters is EGO but there is a cruel reality with them, the fastest guy in a clean sprint will win all the time no matter what lead out or god the guy sold his soul to win races. In the case of farrar he lost some of his speed for some reason and im not talking about the accidents he got, that was like 3 weeks ago. So i cant say more than he lost it...

Cav does track every year, in a matter of fact he is world champion in the track a few times already.

YMCA

Farrar is trying to develop into a Classics guy.