The Spin – Stage 15

One week to Paris, a rest day tomorrow and only 158km for today, things look easy, no? Except time is running out for several teams to shine in this race. Liquigas, Lotto-Belisol and Sky have monopolised the race so far with three stage races each and the arithmetic means many teams will leave the race empty-handed.

Consequently many will want to make the breakaway in the hope the move stays away, all whilst Orica-Greenedge want to bring any escape back so they can set-up Matthew Goss for an elusive stage win.

Read more

Hard As Nails

Rabobank Tour de France

Today’s stage of the Tour de France saw a clever win by Luis Leon Sanchez who attacked Peter Sagan just as the Slovak was riding one handed to eat some energy food. Behind the bunch took it steady on the Mur de Péguère, the steep slopes didn’t incite attacks. Instead the drama came from a section of road that was littered with nails, provoking a wave of punctures. This enlivened the racing but it was not good television. Instead of attacks, we got tacks.

The event has made the TV news bulletins in France. This isn’t the first time it has happened in the race. A century ago nails were almost part of a rider’s tactical arsenal and their appearance on the route of the Tour led to fundamental changes in the race.

Read more

The Spin – Stage 14

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.

Read more

Thanks to Selle Italia

Selle Italia factory

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.

Read more

The Spin – Stage 13

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.

Read more

The Spin – Stage 12

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.

Read more

Tour Shorts


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.

Read more

The Spin – Stage 11

“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.

Read more

UCI President Mistaken Over USADA Case

“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.

Read more

The Spin – Stage 10

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.

Read more

+ More