With the Tour de France on the eve of the mountain stages one thing that has characterised the racing so far has been the crashes. This is often the case, the first week is a nervous time. But this time it has been different, work by cyclocosm has been refined by an architect student and you can see the results on his tumblr blog. Here’s the summary which measures the withdrawals by Stage 9 over the past 10 years:
Today’s start and finish are not far from each other but the organisers have chosen a big S-shaped route instead of a straight line. Even so it’s 167.5km, one of the shorter stages of the Tour. With two small hills along the way there’s every chance this ends in a bunch sprint, especially as tomorrow sees the high mountains, it’s the last chance for the sprinters for a while.
The terrain isn’t hard, the race will pass farmland and a few vineyards and roll through sleepy towns built of pink bricks where normally the only visible life in the afternoon are a few dogs trotting about. Expect photos of the bunch rolling past sunflowers.
Alexsandr Kolobnev has “suspended himself” from competition but I suspect the decision wasn’t taken that freely. After all, here’s the UCI’s press release on the matter:
The UCI Anti-Doping Rules do not provide for a provisional suspension given the nature of the substance, which is a specified substance. However the UCI is confident that his team will take the necessary steps to enable the Tour de France to continue in serenity
You don’t need to be Nico Machiavelli to realise the first sentence contradicts the second, that Kolobnev is free to continue under the rules yet the UCI is waiting for his team to take the “necessary steps”. Or more poetically, to throw Kolobnev down the staircase.
Yesterday was a chance for many riders to catch up with the families, do some reading and maybe update their fan websites. German sprinter André Greipel’s website includes a daily postcard to his fans to describe “My first French holiday“. Like many a postcard the weather gets a mention but he’s yet to write home about his team mates ignoring him, for example “Philippe keeps chasing me down” or “I’m homesick“. The one above is from Saturday, it reads
Fast Phil today had Super-Better legs. Tomorrow we climb further up to the sky. Until next time, André.
If Greipel is writing to his fans, you can also write to him, in fact you can send a postcard to anyone on the race for free. Thanks to the French post office, your letter will be delivered whoever you like on the race, from riders to team staff and others.
A short stage and coming after the rest day it could prove a shock for some as some riders emerge rested whilst others need a day or two to get back into things although given some recent events everyone will welcome a return to the racing.
It’s a scenic route through the Lot area of France, a peaceful area of France where a lot of foie gras and truffles come from the causse although it ends up in a town famous for coal mining instead of rustic traditions. Cycling-wise the curiosity is the lack of roads in the area, there are very few junctions along the way, yet alone villages and towns.
The simple answer is €218,000, about US$305,000. But before you rush out the door for a training session, note this is the average salary in the bunch and averages ignore detail. Simply put a few riders earn millions whilst most collect more modest pay.
The mainstream French press might have headlines about the woes of the Euro currency this morning but nobody’s going to turn down a truckload of money, whether they’re Greek citizens or Belgian cyclists.
Below is a list of prizes earned so far during the race. As you can see, Omega-Pharma Lotto have struck the jackpot thanks to Philippe Gilbert’s consistent riding, and Garmin-Cervélo’s efforts with Thor Hushovd have had a similar effect.
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.
Like any sporting event the Tour de France has its officials, its referees, who are tasked with ensuring the rules are followed and those who break them get caught and sanctioned. In cycling these arbiters are called commissaires, a French word.
They can exclude riders and rule on whether a bike is appropriate for the race but most of their day is spent in a car or on a motorbike whilst the officiate during the race. Every evening a summary of misdemeanours committed is released by the race organisers. Here’s Sunday night’s version.
Just a quick note to say welcome to the new readers on here. If you’re new to The Inner Ring then it’s worth mentioning a couple of things.