Friday's relatively flat transitional stage almost lived up to that tradition that would have had the day's breakaway succeed. Almost.

...where grown men and women crush small children up against the barriers to get an autograph or a look at Lan

Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Our man Casey Gibson captured scenes of the day's stage before, during and after the heart-breaking finish into Montpellier, where Saunier Duval's Chris Horner was caught just meters from the line after being on the attack for more than 160km.