Whilst the tar was melting, sun irradiating the riders and the race hotted up, revenge was on the mind of several riders. I attacked first and he beat me for the gold medal in Beijing. This is revenge. So said Andy Schleck after beating Samuel Sanchez for the stage win. Also when several riders hit … Read more
Oh the irony! For years the first mountain stage was the stage where Lance Armstrong killed the Tour de France. A summit finish would often see him gain control of the race. First his team would shrink the bunch, then one or two lieutenants would select the pace for a select group and then we’d … Read more
Whilst the media will swarm around Armstrong, don’t forget who’s just taken the yellow jersey. Bravo, as they say, for Cadel Evans. Swapping the rainbow jersey for yellow is something I don’t think has happened since 1990 when Greg Lemond won the Tour de France, it’s a little bit of history. Evans has to be … Read more
This is the first mountain stage of the race. Whilst Saturday’s stage up to the ski station of Les Rousses saw some climbing, the uphill sections often averaged below 5%. Indeed Les Rousses is more the sort of place where people do XC skiing. Morzine-Avoriaz on the other hand is where you go for downhill … Read more
Click to enlarge A reader sent in the above photo by email taken from the route of Stage 8 to Morzine. I’ll let them take over the story (I’ve edited the text for brevity): I’m on holiday in the Alps… …the whole area is getting ready… …the route is being decorated. The village of Mieussy … Read more
Whilst today sees the riders head into the Alps, it’s only the Jura and the climbs are not too hard. So it’s tomorrow and the 10% sections of the Col de Ramaz that actually mark the start of the terrain for the climbers and GC contenders. The final climb up Les Rousses is steady, well … Read more
It’s hot. It might be raining in the Village Départ this morning but the forecast is for dry, hot weather. Yesterday Sylvester Szmyd said his SRM recorded the temperature at 39°C during the stage. And there’s no end in sight, the forecast says another week of temperatures well above 30 degrees (above 100°F for US … Read more
It’s been an eventful opening of the Tour de France given the numerous crashes. Painful for the riders but it also means extra work for the team staff. Mechanics will stay up late rebuilding bikes and team physios are attempting to rebuild the riders. If you want an inside look on this, take a look … Read more
A family-friendly two fingered-salute Visibly sitting up yesterday, it wasn’t a day to remember for Cavendish. Whilst many waiting journalists had been prepping headlines about Champagne for the British sprinter, it wasn’t to be. Now clearly Cavendish isn’t on the same form as last year. But for me, it was a collective loss for the … Read more
Man down. TV ratings up. The cobbles proved controversial, especially with Frank Schleck going out of the race. But for me at least, their inclusion in the race is fine. It’s all about the quantity of pavé. Past visits have included a lot of more stretches of cobbles, for me under 14km is fine, especially … Read more