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I'll admit I don't watch classic 1 day races like Paris - Roubaix and I have a real dislike for racing on cobbles but today's Stage 9 around Roubaix was as brutal a day in Le Tour as i've ever seen and i've been watching on and off for 35 years. I've got to feel sorry for Romain Bardet. He had 4 punctures, (1 with a crash) in 1 day. That's just disgustingly bad luck. Back to proper tarmac flat stages with a few mountain and time trial stages thrown in please. Today was a lottery. Nasty.
Oh, and the pre race 2nd favourite had to abandon the tour after 10K today. Survival of the luckiest rather than the best.

[semibluff]

I've never seen MontVernier in the Tour de France before. If you want to see an insane sporting venue then Google an image of Lacets de Montvernier.