TdF, Cavendish relegation and distractions

Well, le Tour is proving as much a disruption to normal life as ever... sitting up till all hours bouncing in the bean bag barracking for Thor or Mikel or Tyler will do that. And how was Thor Hushovd's ride last night?! Tres bon!

In the early stages is was pretty obvious and annoying the way Mark Renshaw would lead Cavendish out... very well mind you... then only to sit right in the middle of the charge and basically play interference for the sprinter. After doing this two or three times Renshaw was then heard complaining at length about the other teams not helping the Columbia HTC crew in their attacks on the road. Well, der.

I was beginning to wonder how far it would go. Indeed, there are supposed to be protocols in cycling, being a European sport with some traditions. Do we want rugby on wheels?

Anyways, after the two of them squashed Thor Hushovd out of the spring the other night, he finally complained and the referrees relegated Cavendish to last spot for that little effort. Fair enough, I thought. He apparently didn't... so Hushovd rode out on the attack on last night's stage and took the available sprint points to clear the air. One of the commentators was saying before the stage tonight that some world class competitors get a bit highly strung and this is probably an example, but it was really good to see Thor riding so well.