The race heads into the Pyrenees but as with past stages this year, a visit to the mountains doesn’t always mean a decisive stage even if it includes some steep slopes. This is still a very hard day that should offer action instead of siesta.
But the final climb, as hard as it might be, is still some way from the finish. Expect big crowds on this tiny road.
Enjoying the Tour de France? If you’re visiting these pages for previews and information then note that Selle Italia sponsor this website and without them the coverage would not be the same. So this is another message of thanks to them.
Their sponsorship has helped directly, for example making it viable to visit the Planche des Belles Filles, the Grand Colombier and the Arc-Besançon TT route in order to get useful information beyond the stage profiles and average gradients. Ok, the trips were combined with other activities but nevertheless the support and growing level of readership encouraged me to swing off the autoroute and head for the hills armed with notebook, laptop and, of course bike.
The prince owns everything in the kingdom, except the wind.
Victor Hugo, La légende des siècles
An air of summer holidays as the race heads across the south of France on the 14 July, the French national day. Whilst those in Paris are treated to a North Korean style military parade, the south should see a hard day’s racing. At first glance this looks like a day for the sprinters. But there are two surprises waiting for the riders in the final 40km: the Mont St Clair and a crosswind.
The longest stage of the race, when the route was unveiled last October I was disappointed with the choice. It starts with some exciting climbs but then leaves the Alps behind for a more gentle finish.
That said, we had a summit finish yesterday and there’s no need to repeat this and today’s route should offer a good battle for the stage win.
This is a French documentary on the one day race Paris-Roubaix but skip to 1m45s you can see some FDJ riders on a cyclo-cross trainig camp. Team manager Marc Madiot always makes his riders do this so they can improve their handling skills and bond during the off-season and watch whilst manager Martial Gayant is talking and the group approaches. It’s Wiggins who wipes out.
“In Alps you are an eagle or a cretin”
Victor Hugo, Philosophie Prose
The hardest stage of the race? One of only two Alpine stages in the Tour this year, the question only arises because of the 148km distance which makes it one of the shortest stages this year. But all the better to make the race come alive as riders will have relatively fresh legs all day so whilst some will soar today others risk failure.
Even better this is another stage that will be televised from start to finish so if you’re lucky you won’t miss a pedal-stroke of the action.
“I’ve read what they’ve said but as they’re not licence holders so I don’t know how they can ban them or what they can be banned for”
“From the UCI’s point of view we can’t see how these guys can be sanctioned for life,” said McQuaid. “They are not UCI licence holders, so under what grounds can they be sanctioned?”
Those are the words of the Pat McQuaid, president of cycling’s governing body, the UCI. The first quote is after speaking to cyclingnews.com, the second is after speaking to Velonews. He was commenting today on the lifetime ban issued by the US Anti-Doping Agency to Luis Garcia del Moral, Michele Ferrari and Jose “Pepe” Martí, all three staff or helpers of the US Postal Cycling team.
Only President McQuaid needs to check the UCI rulebook . The anti-doping code applies to all licence holders, that is obvious. But Article 18 says it applies to all team staff as well, even if they have no team licence. So there are good grounds for the UCI to apply USADA’s ban worldwide.
The first mountain stage of the race, some have dismissed today’s route as the main climb is too far from the finish, meaning there’s time for riders to regroup and recover instead of allowing an attacker to power to the finish. That’s true, but only just as the climb is so big that time taken isn’t easy to pull back.
The Tour’s handbook lists this as one of only three étapes de grande difficulté or “stages of great difficulty” owing to the climbing and the distance.
In the Dauphiné race back in June Bradley Wiggins beat Cadel Evans in the time trial stage by a margin of 103 seconds. He did the same again yesterday, but on a course that was over 10km shorter; far from peaking too soon, Wiggins’ performance advantage over Cadel Evans seems to have grown, although take care not to extrapolate one day’s racing too far. Still, Wiggins’ background is on the track and taking almost two minutes in a time trial is the equivalent of catching your rival in the pursuit race.
But all is not lost for the others. The race is still not at the halfway point and all the media like to say anything can happen. There’s an element of desperation, a message of “don’t touch that dial” in case the audience begins to switch off. But it is also true, there are random events, the errant spectator who knocks Wiggins off his bike, the hairpin bend on a wet day or the tiny shard of glass that lies waiting somewhere on a French road. But there are also tactical considerations, the events that riders can shape.
He might ride for the French lottery, he might have a four-leafed clover on his jersey but yesterday Thibaut Pinot didn’t get lucky. Instead his stage win was clever tactics coupled with strong riding rather than a breakaway finally beating the odds. I’ve tipped him on here and it seems even Team Sky are watching him closely.