Tour Team News: Nervy day for Astana

Borut Bozič suffers mid-stage crash; Concerns remain over tomorrow’s stage

Today’s third stage of the Tour de France from Visé to Tournai was made for a sprint finish, and that’s the way it ended as Mark Cavendish took the stage victory. Borut Bozič was the leading rider for Pro Team Astana, finishing 17th after a mid-stage crash. Jani Brajkovič crossed the line with the same time as the winner and remains 14th in the overall standings, at 14 seconds from the Yellow Jersey of Fabian Cancellara.

Giuseppe Martinelli said: “Today was stressful for the whole team. We kept Jani towards the front of the bunch, and when a sprint finish is on the cards the battle to stay there is always complicated. Today’s sour note was Bozič’s crash halfway through the stage, when he hit his right elbow. We are taking him for some tests to assess the accident’s consequences. Tomorrow we have got a very interesting stage in store, with almost no flat road over the last 50 km, which is all up and down. We will go into the day with two goals: to set the pace in order to go after a stage victory and to keep Brajkovič covered for the general classification.”

Tomorrow’s 197 km run from Orachies to Boulogne-sur-Mer takes the Tour into France for the first time this year. After an initial 95 km on the flat, the riders will face a series of climbs and descents. The major difficulties all come in the last 50 km, where the peloton will have to negotiate two third-category and three fourth-category KoMs, including the uphill finish – a 700 metre climb at a gradient of 7.4%.