I’ve put together a guide for the 2011 Tour de France. It’s got a permanent link at the top of the page so it’s easy to find.
Go there and you’ll find profiles and concise analysis of each stage, a start list that’s currently a work-in-progress as well as explainer for the different jerseys plus a breakdown of the prizes payout.
Hopefully it’s got lots of useful information in one place and if you’d like more things there, just leave a comment or drop me an email.
Le briefing
In addition, on the morning of each stage there will be a concise daily preview, updated to include additional factors from the weather to rider-related news as well as precision on the key strategic points of the stage. Think of it as the equivalent of a rider briefing.
And in case you are wondering, “tous fous du tour” means “everyone’s crazy about the tour”.
Have you got the official team book? That’s what you want!!
I found the guide lakcing an eye for deitail. It was offensive when Hinualt tips Xavier Tondo,as he had tragicaly died before publishing. and There was a need for one more proof read. one photo shows ca winning in paris, but labels it as him winning in Bordaux and when the riders weights are listed some weights have units after them but others dont.
I would not recomend it for people with prior cycling knowlage as it witt drive you-like me- insane.
If I remember correctly, you had the roadbook of the last Giro d’Italia. Do you perhaps have the roadbook of the TdF and willing to share? Would be great! Love to see that book. The one from the Giro was awesome.
Great job. Maybe an evaluation of the strength of the teams in presence could be interesting, but let’s wait until all teams have confirmed who’s taking part.
Matt Davies, was that supposed to be ironic? You talk about the guide “needing one more proof read” in a post with 82 words, 8 of which are misspelled. You post has 5 sentences, 3 of which do not begin with a capital letter. The appositive in the final sentence is set off with dashes rather than commas. Overall, your point is unclear, and it isn’t helped by your grammar either.
About the guide, however, I have nothing but good things to say. I’ll definitely be checking it through July. Excellent work!
Ah, and I am mortal myself. My third sentence should begin with “Your” not “You”.
It would be nice to know the key stages so I can stand a chance of watching them on TV. I know they can all be important, but how about a top 5?
One thing I’ve always wondered about the last stage: why do they not circle the arc de triomphe When they need to head back down the other direction? Would seem to make so much sense on that end rather than the temp barrier.
bryan: I think they don’t circle the arc de triomphe in order not to block the traffic, even though it is not so dense on a sunday of July. Plus, there are a lot of people willing to pay for access to the monument in this particular day, and they’d have to forbid access to it if the riders would circle it. Well, that’s only my guess. Personnally I’d love to see the riders get round the Place de l’Etoile.
What does the coefficient value mean after each stage in the guide?
Matthew Taber / John B.: more on that once the race’s “media centre” opens up next week.
Matt Davies: which guide was that?
Nathan: easy. I don’t mind spelling mishtakes so long as we can all make ourselves understood.
Balint: the coefficient is used to describe the difficulty of the stage and the points available. Scroll down the guide and see the green jersey competition.
Don: good idea, I’ll do that.
inrng: It was the “le tour de france 2011 official programme” as part of future publishing’s “souvenir pack”. The referance to Xavier Tondo being Hinault’s “favour” is on page 200, and page 46 gives a picture of cavendish “winning the final stage in paris” when I recognise it is stage 19, not 21.
Nathan: My spellings not perfect, but as you’re reading what I’m writing for free it doesn’t matter. Whereas if £9.99 is charged for my litriture then they should try to have more attention to deitail, and not disrespectfully tip tragincally dead riders (the guide came out after his terrible accident) or stupidly label pictures wrongly, when I could see the mistakes (and I’m not a paid cycling writer).