Peraud

Book Review: Nouveau Cycle

Nouveau Cycle Pierre Carrey Review

Nouveau Cycle by Pierre Carrey
How was last summer’s Tour de France for you? Chances are the response varies by nationality. It was supreme for many Italians and fantastique for the French with successes, drama and the crowning triumph of two compatriots on the Champs Elysées podium.

This book uses the Tour de France’s summer limelight as means to profile Jean-Christophe Péraud, Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot. It’s not the story of their race but a fuller biography where at times the Tour is almost forgotten. It’s in French but worth sharing with readers of this blog for the insights.

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The Moment The Race Was Won: The Tour de France


Stage 10 and Vincenzo Nibali wins atop the Planche des Belles Filles. It was one of only two days when he wasn’t wearing the yellow jersey but he reclaimed the race lead with a performance so strong that doubts about his form in the mountains were crushed.

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Tour de Suisse Stage 9 Preview

After eight tough stages, it’s now time to settle the overall classification. Tour de Suisse often ends with a time trial but never one like this.

Despite the distance of just 26.8 km, the riders are in for a day full of pain. The profile is extremely brutal with a final section of 10.3 km uphill with an average gradient of 9 %. The first 16.5 km are flat so we can expect the riders to start out on a time trial bike and then change to a road bike before the climb starts.

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Sunday Shorts

thomas lovkvist iam

Thomas Lövkvist wins – Faron agony – “Professor” Péraud’s first win – No TV – Ruta Del Sol fundraiser flop – Wounded Lion King – Scarponi still missing – Oman test

Thomas Lövkvist has won the Tour Méditerranéen on the last stage. Overnight race leader Maxime Montfort of Radioshack lost out as the bunch split on the way to the finish line in Grasse, a town famous for its perfumes and spread on the flanks of hill. It’ll hurt Monfort more as he lives in the area and knows the roads well. Jurgen Roelandts won the stage and he too is a prospect, more than a just wagon in the Greipel sprint train.

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More money, more problems

Yesterday the UCI put out a short press release on the apparent financial health of the pro peloton. Two statements stood out

  • the budget of the 40 top teams is €321 million, an increase of 36.5% over three years
  • the average annual salary is €264,000, up from €190,000 three years ago

It sounds great, money is pouring into the sport and riders wages are going up. Only the more I think about it, the more these trends are not healthy.

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Mont Faron

The first summit finish of the season? It depends if you include the Tour of Langkawi but the Tour of the Mediterranean always includes the climb of Mont Faron. Mont Faron is a cliff-like mountain above Toulon, amongst other things base of the French navy. There is a narrow road – so narrow it’s one … Read more

Lonely Lotto

Following Samuel Sanchez’s aggressive win in the Queen Stage of the Tour of the Basque country yesterday, Omega Pharma-Lotto are now the only Pro Tour team not to have won a race this season. When will their numbers come up? You might ask “so what?”, there will always be a team that has to wait … Read more