Boonen came through again today, putting a bike length between his rear tire and the madness behind it. Though McEwen was the third man across the line, his head-butt on fellow Aussie Stuart O’Grady was judge “irregular sprinting” by the race jury, who relegated the Australian champ and two-time Green Jersey winner to 186th place. Even McEwen admits that this puts him all but out of contention for the points competition, but Robbie was quick to add that he “doesn’t really care.”
The GC remained largely unchanged, with most serious contenders saving their efforts for tomorrow’s TTT. The only real shake-up took place in the “mountains” competition, where Erik Dekker’s effort in the day’s long break gave him a meaninglessly small lead on overnight maillot pois Thomas Voekler.