Blurring the message Something tells me July didn’t exactly follow the spreadsheet scenarios designed by Team Sky. The only success was Stage 3 of the Brixia Tour and I bet you don’t even know where Brixia is. Faced with the need for success Team Sky’s mastermind Dave Brailsford says in an interview with French sports … Read more
I don’t know about you, but for me this picture sums up the 2010 Tour. Contador in yellow and Andy Schleck in white stare at the each other with an intense glare, man-marking as they ride. Meanwhile Rabobank’s Denis Menchov does his thing in the background. The rivalry between Contador and Schleck was the defining … Read more
The King of the Mountains jersey is known in French as the “Maillot à Pois“, literally the Pea Jersey. Only with Anthony Charteau’s win, it’s more like petit pois. I salute his win but last year he wasn’t even picked by Caisse d’Epargne to ride the Tour. How it should be: polka dot and yellow … Read more
The French stage winners were invited to a function at the Elysée Palace, the Presidential office and residence. President Nicolas Sarkozy is suffering in the polls and this reception was a first: after the disastrous football world cup showing, a photo opportunity with sportsmen who win can’t go amiss, even if some tastelessly loud shirts … Read more
The Tour de France’s lanterne rouge was Lampre’s Italian rouleur Adriano Malori. He seemed to battle on but didn’t suffer from any big illness or injury but he’s a heavier rider who spent a lot of energy helping Alessandro Petacchi to secure the green jersey. Here are a few other observations on the race: Most … Read more
Don’t worry, there’s only 344 days to go until the Tour de France starts again. The presentation of the 2011 route takes place in late October. If that’s too long to wait, here’s some conjecture on the route for next year: The start will be in the Vendée region, that’s been announced already. A team … Read more
“Aux Champs Elysées” by Joe Dassin. Apparently Andy Schleck was singing it at breakfast and I’m sure others had the tune in their heads today.
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