The God of Thunder (Thor Hushovd) pulled on the yellow jersey by the barest of margins over our own Cadel last night, but what was more apparent was the strength and showing from their respective US teams. Garmin-Cevelo were always predicted to perform well in the TTT, but BMC did a fantastic job, which will hopefully give them and Evans some confidence for the coming weeks.
Redon 198 km
The battle for Green begins. Cavendish - most would suspect that this is his stage. A great team around him, a high point on the stage of just 67 metres and his burning desire to wear green all bode well for the brit. What will be interesting for not only Cavendish and HTC, but for all the teams, will be the strong Atlantic winds that in previous years have split the peleton into bunches.
HTC-Columbias' Bernhard Eisel says..."Heavy Brittany roads and crosswinds… We're not like the GC team guys who can ride themselves in over the first week, we have to pull straight away. It's actually less pressurised because you're not waiting for it to happen – you're making it happen…".
Should be a great stage to watch, especially if the winds are up, I wouldn't expect a break away from the likes of Voeckler or Chavenel to succeed, but expect a fair bit of team jostling from 40km out and a huge bunch sprint.
Beer for the stage:
Samuel Smith's Oatmeal Stout. Given Stage 3's proximately to the Atlantic coast, a fresh serve of oysters (might be popular with the wife) at 10pm would be ideally washed down with a pint of Sammy Smiths great stout. Near enough to opaque, this beer delivers in all the right areas, incredibly silky in mouthfeel, a rich complex texture, a velvety dry character across the palate and a roasted sweet finish.
Bière locale: Brasserie de la Cote de Jade. The 10hL brewery was established in 2003 in Pornic, in the department of Loire-Atlantique, and is located about halfway into Stage 3, only 10km from the route proper. They tick out a blonde, amber and brown ale as their workhorses and also deliver two fruit beers, a strawberry/raspberry and a blackberry/cassis as limited releases. Nearby Nantes also has a great little brewery Les Trois Brasseurs (The 3 Brewers) who also do a great range from a white ale through to a Christmas release.
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