Turn that damn radio off and let me think!!

Well, I think it's more like ASO turning off the team radios and making the riders think. At least that's the plan for tomorrow's stage, which is the first of two to be conducted without team radios , much to the displeasure of most riders and team directors. The tour organizers are responding to claims that racing has become formulaic as team directors watch the race unfold on in-car TV's while relaying directions to their team, resulting in breakaways being predictably run down in the last couple of kilometers time after time. There are good reasons to keep the radios and some interesting sporting reasons to take them out. I don't think this little exercise will change anybody's mind. The stage should end in a sprint, so look for Columbia to control the breaks in order to assure Mark Cavendish a shot at grabbing back the green jersey.The lack of a constant stream of information on the gap to a breakaway should make the teams very attentive to any break, so don't look for Cadel Evans to sneak off unnoticed.