no revolution on the cobblestones

The sentence on the pediment of the chapel of the citadel of Arras seemed to have been written by them, these 169 runners with a mask of fear: "Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis" ("Mother of God, pray for us"). The Movistar bus had parked under the Saint-Louis chapel to prepare for the departure, as if it needed the support of a superior force to spend the day that was said, for its three Spanish-speaking leaders, possibly fatal

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                Tour de France: John Degenkolb wins the 9th stage on the cobblestones
    

The clock indicated noon, and the citadel's Place d'Armes, crowded and dusty, rustled with names, those who were said to be losing the Tour in the afternoon. Too clumsy, too light, poorly accompanied, poorly equipped … the answer was known in crossing Rœux, 8 km from Arras: the Australian Richie Porte, one of the most unlucky of his corporation, or the less tightrope walkers, it is according to, was on the ground and stood shoulder. The Tour de France stopped there, away from the pavement, at 9 ^e stage, where he had already fallen last year, when we saw in him the rival of Christopher Froome.

For the rest, the Tour has not rejected any of his contenders Sunday, July 15, and the reading of the ranking invites to review all his prejudices about cycling in hostile land: in the peloton of 31 who crossed the line in Roubaix, he there is the immense Nils Politt, 1.92 m, and the pocket climber Domenico Pozzovivo, 1.63 m; the robust Andre Greipel, 82 kg, and the fragile Rafal Majka, 62 kg.

This Tour will be played in the mountains

The augurs were wrong, they who predicted a turn of the Tour, the flames and spades for the leaders thrown on roads too rough for their frail carcbades. The organizers had placed 21.7 kilometers of pavement under their wheels, a record for thirty-five years: "When it's short, we can only have the wrong side of the pavement, that is to say a fall and not a selection " had argued the technical director of the Tour de France, Thierry Gouvenou. He was wrong: no team of favorites really tried to make the decision, unlike the memorable stage of 2014. Rigoberto Uran, second last year, lost a minute and twenty-eight seconds on fall, which is damaging but not irremediable. This Tour will be played in the mountains, on Tuesday, when the change in gear promises to be devastating.

Christopher Froome, who keeps his elbows spread on the pavement as in the neck, Vincenzo Nibali, who let slip, there, a great opportunity, or Nairo Quintana, still at the forefront, have become, thanks to multiple recognitions, regulars pavers. They arrived at the same time in Roubaix, that is to say, twenty-seven seconds of a trio that reminded us of the clbadics of April: two winners of "hell of the North", l German John Degenkolb and the yellow jersey Greg Van Avermaet, and the Belgian champion Yves Lampaert. They skated in the penultimate sector, that of Camphin-en-Pévèle, and competed for victory in front of the velodrome.

Bardet betrayed by the tires

Belgium has perhaps the best team of football and the world's biggest paver runners, but it was written that it would remain on the margins of fame on Sunday: Greg Van Avermaet and Lampaert were outpaced by Degenkolb.

The proximity of the final of the The FIFA World Cup in Russia was obvious on the course, with the white and blue flags adding to the red of the bricks. We crossed jerseys of the Blues of all eras, especially those who win. Under the dodger, the North had opened his chaise longue and pushed hard behind Romain Bardet, but the calicoes are of no help against bad luck or bad tires: the Frenchman has punctured three times, on the first pavement, the last and in the middle, and was left, each time, for a frantic pursuit. Bardet did not lose the Tour, and on arrival, mud mask on his face, he could only thank his team. "How much have I lost? he asked his teammate Silvan Dillier. "Seven seconds, informed the Swiss. With all that happened, it's not bad, right? "