Tour de France, Stage 14. Jelle Vanendert takes the stage win A tense day in the mountains (all 6 of them!) saw Omega Pharma-Lotto’s Jelle Vanendert take the stage win, and with it the King of the Mountains jersey. Vanendert has been a permanent fixture at the front of the peloton this year, trying to up the tempo, drop Cavendish and help Gilbert get into the Green jersey. He deserved this win today, for all the work he’s done so far. The final climb today was to the top of the Plateau de Beille, a location that’s been used 5 times previously for stage finales. In each of those, the stage winner has gone on to win the Tour de France. I can’t see this happening this year, but I’ve stuck 50p on Vanendert (600/1; each way) just in case. As much as Vanendert’s win was a surprise - this was his first major race win - the real surprise was the lack of action among the supposed GC contenders. The big hitters all finished within a couple of seconds of each other; no-one was able to make an attack stick.  The fact that each of Evans, Schleck A, Schleck F, Contador (and Voeckler) et al are all - seemingly - performing at around about the same level is probably a good thing. Maybe none of them are doping?

Tour de France, Stage 14. Jelle Vanendert takes the stage win

A tense day in the mountains (all 6 of them!) saw Omega Pharma-Lotto’s Jelle Vanendert take the stage win, and with it the King of the Mountains jersey. Vanendert has been a permanent fixture at the front of the peloton this year, trying to up the tempo, drop Cavendish and help Gilbert get into the Green jersey. He deserved this win today, for all the work he’s done so far.

The final climb today was to the top of the Plateau de Beille, a location that’s been used 5 times previously for stage finales. In each of those, the stage winner has gone on to win the Tour de France. I can’t see this happening this year, but I’ve stuck 50p on Vanendert (600/1; each way) just in case.

As much as Vanendert’s win was a surprise - this was his first major race win - the real surprise was the lack of action among the supposed GC contenders. The big hitters all finished within a couple of seconds of each other; no-one was able to make an attack stick. 

The fact that each of Evans, Schleck A, Schleck F, Contador (and Voeckler) et al are all - seemingly - performing at around about the same level is probably a good thing. Maybe none of them are doping?