Stage in the Somme region, through the places of memory of the Great War, the Tour, as was the tradition of the past in the first week of the race, is back in the hands of the sprinters: and among the sprint specialists, André Greipel is the one who has so far dictated law, stunts and power unleashed elbow to elbow at full throttle. First in Zealand, the German Gorilla did an encore in Amiens, at the foot of the largest Gothic cathedral in France, burning Peter Sagan and Mark Cavendish, at the end of a nervous stage, due to the perils of the wind and rain, but which he moved the standings with all the best players joining together in the leading group of around eighty units.
Toni Martin kept the yellow jersey, which finally didn't change hands after it passed on the shoulders of four different riders in the first four stages: Dennis, Cancellara, Froome and Martin himself. In the points classification Greipel, already green jersey from the second stage, with the 50 points he earned yesterday is increasingly the leader: he is the main sprinter of this Tour which, with the exception of the absent Marcel Kittel, aligns the best that the world cycling. But for now Cavendish and Sagan like Kristoff and Degenkolb (yesterday fourth and sixth respectively) have to bow to the superiority of the German giant.
Another big name in the sprints, Nacer Bouhanni, sadly abandoned the Tour after a crash 18km from the start in Arras. For the French, after Thibaut Pinot's start-flop, they also lose their standard bearer for the stage victories. Stage of suffering for the Orica GreenEdge who practically escorted Michael Matthews, aching from the injuries sustained in the terrible crash on Monday, in the hope that the strong Australian rider, one step away from retirement, can partially recover in view of the team time trial of Plumelec next Sunday.
Yesterday Matthews with the help of his companions managed to finish the stage arriving in a large group of latecomers almost a quarter of an hour behind the leaders. In this group there was also Ryder Hesjedal, the Canadian winner of a Giro d'Italia, who finished fifth in the last one won by Contador. Richie Porte had also already lost his way, and even in the Giro he had started as one of the four favorites of the pink race. After just five stages, the Tasmanian dropped to 153rd in the standings, 37 minutes behind Martin.
Today the Tour, starting from Abbeville, heads towards Le Havre: stage with a few whetstones and arrival with a discreet rise due to the wind from the Channel, moreover. risks making it as insidious as those disputed up to now. Fifth-ranked men are alerted. Watch out for fans. Waiting for the Pyrenees which will start on Tuesday, after the rest in Pau, another sprint finish is foreseeable with Greipel in the sights of the other colleagues who have been dry so far.
