shifter/mech failure? Being stuck in a high gear could be very slow and painful
I don't think so because it was quite abrupt, and it didn't look as if he was 'grinding'.
The points go 25 20 16 14 for the stage finish, so if JR has two fourth places or worse then Cav is in red.
Assuming neither gets points in the intermediates nor the ITT. A fairly safe assumption, I guess. No bonus seconds today nor tommorrow, so less incentive for Katusha/JR to chase down any escapees, should any survive for the finales.
Not that it seemed to make any difference to him, more's the pity.
You really don't like him, do you. Is it 'cos of his, er, history?(Avoiding the D word)
It will be touch and go for Cav for red - if he loses it by less than 5 points he will be really annoyed.
I think we saw a foretaste of that yesterday as he crossed the line. He really did seem unjustly annoyed with Guardini, but a later tweet confirmed he was angry with himself for kicking too late and letting down the team.