Greig Leach

With both Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) having decided that this would be the stage that they could claim the most King of the Mountain points, ending the stage by standing on the podium bedecked in red spots, the pair found themselves sprinting to the top over and over. Rodriguez got the better of Voeckler mountain top after mountain top, but the little French man had no intention of backing it in. With the number of marquee men of this Tour having had to abandon the race, starting on the very first stage way back in England, no rider can assume that he won't have a change of fortune, either for the good or the bad. Rodriquez knows this all too well having crashed out of the Giro d'Italia when he was in the top ten on the General Classification. The pair had finally gotten rid of the two Omega Pharma Quickstep men, Tony Martin and Michal Kwiatkowski, so they were also hoping for the stage victory to add to the King of the Mountain's Jersey.