One of the advantages of a pan-flat sprint stage is that the commentators have a lot of time to fill. Just like the rain-affected sessions on Test Match Special, this is a recipe for the subject to wander. On GCN, Adam Blythe was waxing lyrical about the view over the sea, when shortly afterwards his colleague gently pointed out that Hungary is a land-locked country. The meandering discussion then led them into whether Dan(*) Wotsisname’s facial hair gave him an aerodynamic advantage when running to the chip shop. You will of course find no such off topic nonsense on here! (* Hatch! Rob Hatch. Remembered now.)

But the interminable hours of the pack trundling along behind the Drone-Hoppers (what are they?) were all worth it for one of the finest sights in sport: Mark Cavendish raising his arms on the line. I would have liked to see Biniam Girmay get clear to go one-to-one up against Cav, but he was boxed in behind and coasting. It is just brilliant to see the Missile back to his best after such a long battle with health and form (and more recently crimes against his family). Chapeau!

Team of the Day

Not only the highest scoring mini-league team on Day 3 but one of only 3 teams who included all 3 stage winners so far is Philippa’s It’s All Downhill From Here with Cav on the podium and Mr Theuns finishing in 6th:

And that’s the Giro’s first visit to Hungary all wrapped up as they all pack their PE bags and get on the school bus for Sicily, land of blood oranges and home of The Shark of Messina. It’s early days but Paul’s Don’t Ruin it for Me are tops in the velopoints.

And here is how your team is doing with the coloured jumpers and other sundry baubles going into Rest Day #1:

And after 3 stages suitable for puncheurs, time-trialists and sprinters respectively, we have between us amassed a good haul of top ten finishes:

Flag of the Day

The destination town on Day 3 is on the shores of Lake Balaton (which is quite big enough to lead an unsuspecting former professional cyclist to forgetting that Hungary is a land-locked country. But Blythe is in good company with William Shakespeare who, in the Winter’s Tale has King Leontes’ child (Perdita) abandoned on the beach after a sea voyage to Bohemia, today part of next-door-but-one country the Czech Republic.

So anyway, not in anyway getting off-topic from the bicycle race thingey, Balatonfüred is a jolly fine looking tourist destination, with a fairly rubbish flag. It was clearly designed by a council sub-committee who couldn’t decide between the bunch of grapes, the acropolis, the ship’s wheel or the McDonalds, so they got in a flag consultant – never a good move.

When the riders arrive puffed out after a hard few seconds of sprinting, they might want to avail themselves of Hungary’s State Hospital for Cardiology, the town’s foremost employer. Can we have some mountains next, please?