I’ve been listening to the Pro Cycling / cyclingnews.com podcasts. If you haven’t tuned in, they cover some of the racing but also the daily grind of covering the Tour, and there’s a lot of chit chat between the staff who are on the road. Frequently recorded over dinner, it’s an audio version of the … Read more
Sunday’s photograph takes shape already We’ve had one of the most mountainous Tours in recent memory and Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck are barely indistinguishable, a mere 8 seconds after 88 hours of racing. That’s a margin of 0.0025%. There’s some irony in the 52km time trial as the course is so flat that the … Read more
[insert superlative here] Mark Cavendish has now won four stages in this year’s Tour. Any rider who bagged four stages during their entire career would be considered pretty useful but four in one tour is exceptional. Cavendish’s total now stands at 14 stage wins. That puts him just one win short of übersprinter Freddy Maertens. … Read more
Siestas are popular in south-western France, it must be the Spanish influence. I suggest you consider having an afternoon nap too as this afternoon’s stage promises to be a dull one. Certainly it’s a day to focus on the day job, to clean the bike or generally avoid the race. Just tune in for the … Read more
The war of fog I’ve got the blues this morning, after an incredibly close battle for the overall it feels like the Tour de France has already finished. Certainly riders claimed they could see the Eiffel Tower yesterday through the mist on the Tourmalet and the remaining stages to Paris look like a procession. It’s … Read more
Right, this is a blog and not a newspaper or website with high standards of journalism to uphold. It’s not cyclingnews.com either. I feel I can float ideas even when I can’t get them officially confirmed. Fran Contador is a busy man So here goes. Astana can’t afford to keep Contador. His brother, acting as … Read more
Astana and Katusha are two cycling teams with state sponsors, sports teams that are designed to radiate the national glory of the motherland. Well now there could be a third state-sponsored cycling team: Vendée. The Vendée is a small départment in France that’s not famous for a great deal. But in order to spread the … Read more
There are huge industries dedicated towards predicting the future. Meteorologists try to predict the weather, only they struggle to get things right when they look more than four days ahead. French radio often carries adverts for clairevoyants, literally someone with clear vision, one call on a premium phone line and you can speak to somebody … Read more
It’s the biggest stage of the Pyrenees but – whisper it – it’s not that hard. Yes the first climb up the Col de Marie Blanque has sections at 13% but it’s short. Yes the Soulor is a long climb and of course the Tourmalet is hard. But look again at the profile and note … Read more