[snipped to save space - Ed]
We seem to be too hard on Cav. Today was a tough dig with 23k ish left from the top. Maybe if Lotto hadn't chased down Vino/Albadini he may of got back.
I've never been up Box Hill or checked out the gradients but is it a hill Cav can do 9 times and be close enough to be bought back to the lead group by 4 team mates before they hit that Landon Or should I be betting on a Sagan/Gilbert type
Elsewhere on the webs, I noticed yesterday that someone had quoted Laurent Jalabert as saying that many riders were going to find that hill to be a nasty surprise. He wasn't wrong.
By itself, the hill might not have been a problem, but it was the strong cross-wind that ultimately led to the back half of the peloton sitting up. You may remember that cross-winds were an issue on stages 3 and 5 of the 2009 edition of the Tour
:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Tour_de_France,_Stage_1_to_Stage_11#Stage_3Regarding Box Hill, I used to live nearby - it's not especially steep, though the part before the first hairpin on the way up always used to feel somewhat "draggy". The pros should be able to ride it on the big ring*. After the last circuit, there should be enough distance back to the finish in that London to get back on if a split forms.
*
My personal opinion is that if there wasn't a level crossing on the road, they should have taken the route further east to Betchworth, and climbed on to the downs up the B2032 Pebblehill Road instead. It's a shorter climb than Box Hill, but it's nastier. When you get to Pebble Coombe, the gradient kicks up dramatically. Put it like this, if I was riding southwards on that road, I could be nudging 50mph at the point between Fraser Wood and Dawcombe Wood...
LinkyEDIT - earlier post quoted for context.