Month: July 2011

There’s no racing today. Instead the riders have a so-called rest day. It’s a chance to recover from the first week but it’s hard to escape the race. Most riders will aim to do at least an hour on the bike if not two, even those with injuries will try to go for a spin or maybe sit on a stationery bike.

The riders will sleep for longer than usual and emerge for breakfast a bit more slowly. The normal race routine is broken twice, first because there’s no need to wolf down pasta and rice for breakfast and again because when riders go back to their hotel room they don’t have to pack because they’ve got another night in the same hotel.

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Many fans were distressed to see the video of Chris Horner from Friday. He crashed late in the stage, the same move that took out FDJ’s Rémi Pauriol and Sky’s Bradley Wiggins but whilst these two were holding their arms in the tell-tale sign of a broken collarbone, the Radioshack rider was apparently unconcious in the roadside ditch. He came to and finished the stage but crossed the finish line unaware of where he was and what was going on around him, seemingly riding the last part of the race on instinct alone.

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Eight categorised climbs today, that’s more than we had during the first five days of the race and the points total available today is greater than the whole race so far. As a result, it’s a key stage for anyone with half an eye on the Mountains jersey, especially those unable to contest the final summit finishes.

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My third piece for cyclingnews.com is now online.

I wanted to take a look at the first hour of racing because sometimes – not every day – the racing can be exciting and dynamic but all too often the TV cameras are not there and viewers miss the action. It’s too easy to switch on the TV for the last hour and watch the breakaway either get reeled in or to see the escape fragment under attacks and think this is the big action of the day when sometimes the riding needed to escape is heroic.

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If you enjoy playing one of the several fantasy cycling teams then Cyrille Guimard is a name to remember. He has correctly picked five of the seven stage winners so far in the race.

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The first week of racing is done and things change with the race heading into the Massif Central area of France. You can see this from the profile alone, the long upward slope and the new altitudes, it doesn’t look like anywhere all day dips below 350 metres above sea level. The lowest point in the day is higher than any point reached so far during the last seven days.

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A few thoughts on who is up and who is down after the first week…

Alberto Contador
First up, it is safe to say things are not going to plan for Alberto Contador. He got booed last Saturday but like I said a week ago, he’d been avoiding the French media and whilst this was ugly, he missed a trick to get the public on side with some TV appearances before the race. At the least he could have started his opening press conference with a “fact pack” for the media.

Image and presentation aside, the real story was his time loss on the opening stage. Scanning the media during the week I couldn’t help notice a few headlines saying he might have lost the Tour de France and to this day bookmakers have been adjusting his odds. Now Andy Shleck is narrowly the favourite to win with the bookmakers.

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During the Giro I gave away a couple of keyrings and it was a fun competition because it was simple. Winning packages were dispatched to Spain and Poland. Now it’s time for a Tour de France giveaway competition.

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