TDF Recap: Stage 10
Category: Sports (Pro/College/HS)...
Posted Tuesday, July 15, 2003 at 10:39 AM [GMT-6]

Today's stage was fairly uneventful, especially compared to yesterday's mountainous dramas. There was no change in the top overall standings.

A breakaway started early and succeeded well, with a group of nine riders finishing up to 20 minutes ahead of the pack. None of the breakaway were threats to the race leaders, so the peloton was content to let them have their moment of glory.

Just a few trivia items to note:

• A group of people moved onto the race course and stopped the peloton briefly. The group apparently consisted of supporters of jailed French "anti-globalization leader" Jose Bove. The pack lost 1 1/2 minutes to the lead group due to the protest, but race officials deemed the disruption an "Incident of the Race" and the time deficit was allowed to stand. Wonder if their ruling would have been the same had the race lead been impacted?
• Only seven of the original 22 teams are still at full strength; the USPS/Berry Floor team is one of them. As we've commented already, this will be a factor in the next Team Time Trial (Stage 19).
• Jimmy Casper has abandoned the race. As you may recall, he was one of the riders injured in the first stage, and was notable for riding the next day in a neck brace.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Go for a bike ride!

Sources for this recap are the OLN live TV feed, and the OLN TDF website.