Tour De France 2006

[therock67]

Mayo has quit by the way.

[therock67]

Hincapie is behind the Kloden group. There is de la Fuente out on his own then a group with:

Sastre & Schleck (CSC)
Rogers and Kloden (TMO)
Moreau (A2R)
Boogerd and Rasmussen (RAB)
Totschnig, Leipheimer and Fothen (GST)
Evans (DVL)
Landis (PHO)
Zubeldia (EUS)
Parra (COF)
Simoni (SDV)

Kloden will be delighted with this. I hope Zubeldia wins - what odds is he?

[thepiedpiper]

yeah it was. He is being caught now by two riders. main group are slowing down a bit with rabobank doing the work.

[thepiedpiper]

Zubeldia is 20/1. Cunego is favourite at 5/2

[therock67]

If Zubeldia still has a chance put 3 euro on for me. I can't see the race and I'm 10 minutes behind in my text updates so if it's clear the peleton won't catch the leaders then leave it. If Rasmussen et al are still in with a shout then have me a little interest on Zubeldia please. I'd love a Euskaltel win.

[thepiedpiper]

admin said:

If Zubeldia still has a chance put 3 euro on for me. I can't see the race and I'm 10 minutes behind in my text updates so if it's clear the peleton won't catch the leaders then leave it. If Rasmussen et al are still in with a shout then have me a little interest on Zubeldia please. I'd love a Euskaltel win.

done that for you at 20/1. its wide open still rassmussen has done a lot of work so not looking good for me.

[therock67]

Leading trio caught so a small group altogether at the foot of the last climb - finish at the summit:

Azevedo, Sastre, Schleck, Kloden, Rogers, Moreau, Leipheimer, Fothen, Totschnig, Menchov, Boogerd, Rasmussen, Evans, Landis, Cunego, Arroyo, Zubeldia, Parra, Simoni and De la Fuente are the riders lining up for the battle to the summit at Pla-de-Beret

[therock67]

thepiedpiper said:

admin said:

If Zubeldia still has a chance put 3 euro on for me. I can't see the race and I'm 10 minutes behind in my text updates so if it's clear the peleton won't catch the leaders then leave it. If Rasmussen et al are still in with a shout then have me a little interest on Zubeldia please. I'd love a Euskaltel win.

done that for you at 20/1. its wide open still rassmussen has done a lot of work so not looking good for me.

Thanks - wouldn't be surprised if Rasmussen won it. He has been attacking for points all day so he's clearly up for it.

[thepiedpiper]

leading trio still out on front don't no where you got that, rassmussen has been the only one doing work in the main group so would be very surprised if he won.

[thepiedpiper]

zubeldia, rasmussen both dropped. oh well.

[therock67]

I actually think I'm ahead of you. How far to go on Eurosport. Rasmussen just dropped by lead group. Sorry if that spoils it for ya but I think you might be behind the internet which is crazy.

[therock67]

Maybe we are on the same time so - there is nobody out in front. They were all caught and subsequently dropped. The leaders are Boogerd, Menchov, Evans, Landis, Leipheimer, Sastre, Kloden and Moreau

[thepiedpiper]

10km. eurosport must be miles behind (pun intended). thats me off the internet.

[therock67]

Moreau dropped now to 15 seconds behind with Zubeldia - I don't think Eurosport are behind, I'd say you just missed the trio out in front being caught because they were caught before the last climb started.

[therock67]

Menchov Wins The Day: Landis Takes The Lead!
Denis Menchov won the toughest stage so far in the the 2006 Tour de France thanks to great team work by Rasmussen and Boogerd on the approach to the final climb. The overall classification changed thanks to Landis’ time bonus for third place. It was a day when many tried but only the strongest survived at the top of Pla-de-Beret in Spain.

Stage 11 – Tarbes to Val d’Aran / Pla-de-Beret, Spain (206.5km) – 13 July 2006

Stage Details
Five climbs: Col du Tourmalet (‘hors category’ – 18.3km with an average gradient of 7.7% at 75km); Col d’Aspin (category-one – 12.4km, 5.1% at 105km), Col de Peyresourde (category-one – 9.7km, 6.8% at 136km), Col du Portillon (category-one, 8.0km, 7.9% at 161km) and Pla-de-Beret (13km, 5.5% at 204.5km).
Intermediate sprints: at Arcizac-ez-Angles (at 17.5km) and Luchon (at 151.0km).
Weather conditions: fine and 23 degrees Celsius in the air; 29 degrees at road level at the start.
Number of starters: 168 riders. No overnight retirements. Official start time: 11.11am

The Progress Report

Four Polka-Dot Hopefuls Establish An Escape…
The attacks began at the 2km mark. Six riders were involved in the initial escape (Voigt, Calzati, Le Mevel, Verbrugghe, Gilbert and Vaugrenard). They were caught at 3km by Geslin and Garcia Acosta. This move was reeled in by the T-Mobile-led peloton at the 5.5km mark. The pace was extremely fast but McEwen attacked to claim six points (ahead of Steegmans & Gilbert) at the first intermediate sprint. De la Fuente and Camano attacked at the 31.5km mark. They were caught by Wegmann and Flecha at 32km and had a lead of 35”; at 38.5km – 3’05 and the peloton, led by AG2R appeared content to allow the escape some leeway. The average speed for the first hour was 45.9km/h.


Col du Tourmalet & Col d’Aspin…
At the base of the Col du Tourmalet the peloton was 8’10” behind Flecha, De la Fuente, Camano and Wegmann – this was the maximum gain of the escape. At the 65km mark, the peloton was 8’00” behind. Mayo was one of the first riders to be dropped. With 5km to climb, the four escapees led the peloton by 5’25”. De la Fuente attacked in the final 200m of the climb to lead Wegman over the summit the other riders to earn points were: Camano, Flecha… Voeckler and Rasmussen attacked the peloton to claim fifth and sixth 3’50” behind the four stage leaders then came Dessel, Totschnig, Moreau and Boogerd at 4’00”. Riders dropped included Rubiera, Savoldelli, Ekimov, Casar, Gilbert…
Voeckler was 3’55” behind the four leaders at the 92km mark; the peloton was at 5’35”. With 5km to climb to the Col d’Aspin summit, Voeckler was at 2’20” and the peloton was at 5’10”. At the top, the points were won by: Wegmann, De la Fuente, Flecha, Camano… at 1’30” was Voeckler… at 3’45” was Rasmussen, Boogerd, Caucchioli and the rest of the yellow jersey’s peloton. The average speed for the third hour was 32.7km/h.

Col de Peyresourde & Col du Portillon…
With 7km to climb, Wegmann attacked the lead group. Camano was dropped immediately then Flecha conceded. With 5km to climb, Wegmann and De la Fuente led Flecha by 30”, Voeckler by 55”, Camano by 1’20” and the peloton by 4’05”. The average speed for the fourth hour was 30.5km/h. Popovych, Simoni, Garzelli, Rubiera, Pereiro were some of the riders dropped near the top of the Col de Peyresourde. At the top of the points were won by: 1. De la Fuente 15pts; 2. Wegmann 13pts at 18"; 3. Flecha 11pts at 2’10"; 4. Rasmussen 9pts at 3’00"; 5. Boogerd 8pts; 6. Caucchioli 7pts at 3’10"; 7. Arrieta 6pts; 8. Goubert 5pts… and the rest of the peloton. Wegmann caught De la Fuente 5km before the sprint in Luchon. De la Fuente led Wegmann over the line in Luchon; Flecha was at 3’10” and the peloton at 3’45”.
Wegmann attacked with 7.5km to climb to the Col du Portillon. De la Fuente couldn’t follow and the peloton began the fourth ascent 3’40” behind Wegmann. With 6km to climb, T-Mobile swamped the AG2R riders at the head of the yellow jersey’s group. Dessel quickly lost contact. The group thinned down to 16 riders: Azevedo, Sastre, Schleck, Rogers, Kloden, Moreau, Boogerd, Rasmussen, Toschnig, Leipheimer, Fothen, Evans, Landis, Zubeldia, Parra, Arroyo and Cunego and Simoni. These riders caught and passed Wegmann. With 1.5km to climb, only De la Fuente remained up front. His advantage was 2’00”. At the summit the points were won by: De la Fuente, Rasmussen at 1’30"… then Boogerd, Landis, Moreau, Sastre, Leipheimer, Schleck… the yellow jersey was 3’40” behind.

“The Favourites” Of 2006 Come Forward…
Cunego and Arroyo attacked the Landis group on the descent of the Col du Portillon. They caught De la Fuente with 28km to go. They were 55” ahead of Landis’ group. The leading trio was caught 24km from the finish. Cunego and De la Fuentes were dropped with 17km to go. The lead group included all the favourites for the 2006 Tour - Azevedo, Sastre, Schleck, Kloden, Rogers, Moreau, Leipheimer, Fothen, Totschnig, Menchov, Boogerd, Rasmussen, Evans, Landis, Arroyo, Zubeldia, Parra and Simoni.

Rabobank Set Menchov Up For Victory!
Rasmussen set the tempo in the valley between the 4th and 5th climbs then Boogerd came forward and split the group with 10km to go the group was: Boogerd, Menchov, Evans, Landis, Leipheimer, Sastre, Kloden. With 6km to go, Menchov attacked: Boogerd and Kloden dropped from the lead group. Five riders led from that moment on: Landis, Menchov, Leipheimer, Evans and Sastre. The only real attack of this group came from Leipheimer; this caused Sastre and Evans to lose contact 2.5km from the finish. Menchov burst into the lead with 250 meters to go and won his first Tour de France stage.
Landis’ third place time bonus was needed to push him into the lead of the general classification because Dessel finished 3’45” behind the winning trio.

[iamthelaw]

Amazing to see Pereiro take yellow today from 28 mins back at the start of the day. Remarkably poor show on the part of Landis' team not to keep the gap less than that (as there are more riders for rotation & the chance to escape from the wind in the crowd, a motivated peloton should always be faster than a small break-away) and yet Voight (who won the stage) and Pereiro extended their lead throughout, actually gaining an extra 2 mins on the peloton in the last 10 km. Amateur stuff from Phonak.

[therock67]

Phonak certainly look like a weak team - they don't look able to support Landis at all. Having said that they obviously don't view Pereiro or Voigt as threats and why would they if they'd already lost over 25 minutes in the Pyrenees. Cracking stage in prospect tomorrow (Alpe d'Huez).

[therock67]

Cycling: Peak performance
Paul Kimmage at the Tour de France

I first rode the Tour 20 years ago and it hurt. What possessed me to return among a cast of freaks to relive one of the worst stages?


Another Tour, another doping scandal, but its magic continues to enchant; hundreds of thousands drawn each day to catch a 10-second glimpse at the side of the road; millions abandoning lakesides and beaches to watch the final hour on television. What’s the attraction? How do you explain it? The Tour has entered its second day in the Pyrenees, and as the riders edge towards the summit of the giant Col du Tourmalet, a journalist travelling an hour ahead of the race decides to make a brief stop at a small hotel in the town of Borderes-Louron.
He orders coffee, takes a seat in the deserted restaurant and is drawn by the hum of a TV playing in another room. Curious, he edges down a short corridor to the kitchen, where the chef/proprietor, Gill Marsalle, and his elderly neighbour, Robert Correge, are watching the Tour on a small TV set perched on a cupboard.



Monsieur Correge has been a fan of the Tour since childhood and has watched many of its great champions — Robic, Coppi, Bobet, Anquetil, Merckx, Hinault, LeMond — race by his door. Even in his 80th year his enthusiasm hasn’t dimmed. He lights a cigarette and explains to the journalist what’s been happening.

Four riders have crested the summit of the Tourmalet and are being chased on the descent to the valley by the former French champion, Thomas Voeckler. Monsieur Correge checks the names of the breakaways on a small cardboard list. “Voeckler is going better today,” he observes. “Yesterday he really suffered.”

“What about all of the scandals and the doping?” I ask. “Hasn’t it diminished your enthusiasm for the race?” “It’s everywhere,” he says with a shrug. “Before, they used to race for the love of it, but now it’s this.” He rubs his right thumb against his index finger.

“But you still watch?” “Yes.”

“Why?” “It’s the Tour,” he says.



Saturday, July 8: Technical difficulties

This morning, at a small hotel near Rennes, I’m bashing my brains against the laptop when my mobile buzzes with an interview request from a radio station. The timing, to be fair, isn’t great, but they keep telling me the big bucks are in broadcasting, so I decide to oblige.

“Okay,” I announce to the cheery, young producer. “What would you like to talk about?” “Well, I don’t know much about cycling,” he confesses, “but it would be great to have you on for 10 minutes, talking about the Tour and the favourites and how you see the race unfolding.”

I hold my breath and start to count. I think I reach three before spontaneously combusting.

“Listen,” I say, “let’s not waste each other’s time here. Why don’t you find a copy of what I wrote last week and decide if you want to call me back? I am not going to glorify any of these (unfortunate use of expletive here) dopers and cheats.”

A pregnant pause ensues. After a brief discussion the interview is agreed. “We’ll call you back in an hour,” the producer insists.

Twenty minutes later he phones to cancel. “We’ve had a disaster in the studio . . . technical difficulties,” he explains. I laugh and tell him not to worry about it.

What does a guy have to do to earn big bucks these days? Today’s stage, a 52km individual time trial, was the first major rendezvous of the race. There were some very odd performances, and as I scanned the results, I was reminded of a conversation with Bradley Wiggins during the week. “The racing hasn’t been as crazy as I expected,” he said. “There have been all sorts of rumours flying around the bunch that there’s another (doping) list about to come out.”

Interesting.



Sunday, July 9: When God created bike riders

One of my abiding memories from my former life as a professional cyclist is a conversation I had with my manager, Bernard Thevenet — twice a winner of the Tour — on the morning after the stage to L’Alpe D’Huez in 1987. We were descending the 21 hairpins by car to the start at Bourg D’Oisans when we noticed hordes of cyclists — from aspiring pros to pot-bellied 40-year-olds — sweating and panting their way up the mountain.

“They’re timing themselves,” Thevenet explained. “They know exactly how long it took the leaders to climb it yesterday, and tonight they will compare times and work out how many pros they’d have beaten on the stage.”

A few minutes later we rounded the final hairpin. There was a whole line of them, queuing with their stopwatches at the bottom of the ramp, to race up the mountain. “What a bunch of sad bastards,” I thought.

Of course it didn’t take a Bill Gates to figure that there was some serious lucre to be made from accommodating these freaks, and in 1993 the Etape du Tour was formed, offering the cycling besotted an opportunity to race one stage of the Tour de France each year on closed roads. This year the 187km stage from Gap to L’Alpe D’Huez was selected.

Tomorrow at 7am a gigantic peloton of 7,548 riders will take to the start. They’ve been training like demons and shaving their legs for months. Don’t ask me to explain what I’m doing here.

After a mammoth drive through the night from Rennes, I arrive at the tented village to sign on and start to have serious reservations.

In every corner of the merchandise stores there are guys sniffing the shorts that Tom Boonen wears, loading up on Power bars and spending thousands on carbon-fibre wheels. Tonight most will forfeit the World Cup final and go to bed early. Apparently, that’s what Ullrich does.

Not me. I’ve trained minimally and refused to shave my legs. You see, there’s one thing these anoraks will never understand: when God created bike riders, he created thoroughbreds and donkeys.




Monday, July 10: Eeee-awww

Christ! Where to begin? Alarm call at four; fall out of bed; shovel disgusting bowl of raspberry-jam-sweetened-porridge down neck; remove racing kit from bag and apply axle grease to shorts; spend 15 minutes on loo trying to shift last night’s foie gras. Unsuccessful. Not a good start.

05:30 Arrive in Gap after one-hour drive from hotel; bedlam; coachloads of bike riders everywhere queuing to get into the town; abandon car, strip by the side of the road and ride to the start; hand rucksack with spare clothes to baggage truck; sip small cup of coffee; find shaded bush to urinate (yellow, reasonable flow); follow the pink arrows (race numbers 1-350) to my starting corral; I’m No 67, up front with the thoroughbreds.

06:40 Alain Prost is escorted to the front row of the grid; I don’t recall losing to him in qualifying, but decide not to object; he’s riding a Colnago, the Ferrari of racing bikes, and looks as fit as Floyd Landis. A few rows further back I spot the former Dutch professional Steven Rooks, who won the stage to L’Alpe D’Huez in 1988. He looks as fit now as he did back then. Don’t any of these guys work for a living?

06:50 Ten minutes to the start. Tension is starting to build. A few guys have edged past me to steal a couple of lengths. Others are dancing and stretching limbs. The roof of my mouth is like a parched field. My bowel is starting to shift. I haven’t felt this many nerves since the world amateur championships in 1983. And I’m the only guy at the front who hasn’t shaved his legs!

07:00 Bang! We’re off. Two idiots collide and crash after 500 yards.

Somebody else attacks and there’s an immediate split at the front. I notice Prost’s blue jersey ahead and sprint to close the gap. My legs are filling with toxins; my lungs are screaming for air; my inner voice is pounding me with abuse: “You idiot! You haven’t covered two kilometres, and already you’re in oxygen debt!”

07:55 Of course, you never really lose it, do you? The skill of moving your bike around a bunch packed like sardines, that is; the ability to put yourself in a position to avoid all the crashes. We’ve reached Embrun and I’m starting to enjoy myself. The competitive juices are flowing and I am holding my place at the front with the big boys.

As we climb up through the town, I place a friendly arm around Prost and introduce myself. He looks worried. The crashes are obviously getting to him. He seems to be breathing more heavily than me and is visibly under pressure.

“Don’t be afraid, my petit,” I assure him. “You’re in good company here.”

08:25 What you do lose is the horsepower, the ability to shift gears when the going gets tough. I’m almost two stone heavier than I was when I first raced these roads in 1986, and I am starting to feel it as we leave the village of Guillestre and enter the foothills of the Col d’Izoard. At the foot of the climb, a 14.5km brute that rises more than 6,000ft, I calculate that there are about 300 riders in front of me.

But suddenly my legs are powerless and I’m going backwards. I stop at the side of the road for a pee (orange, poor flow) and my bowel explodes with a fart that almost shakes the valley. Considerably relieved, I remount and try to attack the gradient again, but I’m belching like a trooper (that bloody raspberry-jam-porridge) and still going backwards.

A woman glides past me just before the village of Arvieux. (That may sound terribly sexist, but I’ve been cycling since the age of 11, and that’s never happened before). I haven’t passed a single rider since the bottom of the climb. They say age waits for no man? You’d better believe it. I’ve just been left behind by a 60-year-old.

11:45 I stop to take on supplies at the feeding station in Briancon. A reporter from the local radio station requests an interview. At first (because of my number), I think he’s made the approach because he knows I am an ex-pro, but it’s soon pretty obvious that he thinks I’m a donkey.

“How have you found it so far?” he asks.

“Tres, tres dur,” I reply.

“Is this your first time to ride L’Etape?” “Yes,” I say, laughing. “And it’s definitely my last.”

13:45 I stop to buy a cold can of Coke on the summit of the Col du Lautaret. I have always utterly detested this climb and my tank is almost empty. I chew an energy bar and finish the Coke and decide I’ve had enough.

There is no way I will make it to the summit of L’Alpe D’Huez. The plan is to enjoy the long descent to Bourg D’Oisans and climb off. I’ve got a wife and kids to consider. And it’s not as if I’ve anything to prove. No, I’m climbing off, my race is run. And I can’t say that I’ve enjoyed it.

14:45 I’ve reached the outskirts of Bourg D’Oisans and I’m looking skyward towards the ski resort perched on top of the mountain; L’Alpe D’Huez, the Mecca of cycling. As a boy, on training rides after school to the Hill of Howth, I must have won that stage a million times in my head. As a pro in 1986, it wasn’t quite as much fun struggling to keep pace with Hinault and LeMond, but even when you were on your knees, the sight and sound of that crowd was always a buzz.

I stop at the final watering zone at the bottom of the climb and consider going on. It’s only 13km.

I’m thinking, “It’s only 13km . . . that’s an hour-and-a-half at worst.” I climb back on my bike, glance at my watch and begin the ramp to the first hairpin with one thought in my head: “You sad bastard.”

15:45 I’ve covered the first nine hairpins at a painfully slow crawl. It is 37C. I’m starting to hallucinate.

“Why is toilet roll always white?” “Why are there no black riders in the Tour?” “Have I just been passed by a guy with one leg!” I stop and rest in the shade by the side of the road.

It’s the first time in my life I have ever stopped on a climb. There are bodies scattered everywhere; most sitting on the crash barriers; some lying exhausted by the side of the road.

I resume the climb after a 10-minute break. I’m thirsty. The heat is stifling. I’m wondering how much more I can take before having a heart attack. What a strange irony that would be. The muppets in the press room would piss themselves. I pedal for five more hairpins and decide to rest again. At the village of Huez, with 4km to go, I stop for a third time. I can see the finish now, three hairpins over my head. One more push should do it.

16:45 Did it. I cross the line and a guy removes the timing strap from my ankle. Another hands me a medal and says well done. These are the statistics of my ride. It has taken me 1 hour 57 minutes and 12 seconds to climb L’Alpe D’Huez and 8 hours, 52 minutes and 9 seconds to cover the 187km. I have finished 907th in my category (40-49 years old) and set the 2,635th best time.

Alain Prost and Steven Rooks have beaten me by almost two hours. The winner, 21-year-old Blaise Sonnery, was an hour quicker again. I collect my rucksack from the baggage truck and sit down to change my clothes.

On the opposite side of the road, a guy who has just finished is spewing his guts all over the pavement. There are more, lying in the medical tents on drips. They wanted to ride a mountain stage of the Tour; they wanted to live the dream and experience how it feels. And now they know.




Tuesday, July 11: Is this a clean Tour de France?

Spent the day surfing the web and catching up on the papers on the long drive west to get back to the Tour at Pau.

A Velonews poll drew my attention. For a week now the American magazine has been running a poll on its website: “Is this a clean Tour de France?” Readers were invited to tick one of four boxes.

1. Yes, they’re too scared now.

2. It’s mostly clean.

3. No, they’re just careful.

4. Wait and see.

I never pay much attention to these polls — particularly where the subject of doping is concerned — but this one tickled and I decided to click on the results so far. Five per cent chose (1); 27% chose (2); 50% chose (3) and 18% chose (4). At the moment, after the result of Saturday’s time-trial, I’m undecided between (1) and (3), but if you put a gun to my head I’d definitely pick (4).

The mountains will tell us more.




Wednesday, July 12: The remarkable Bradley Wiggins

Bradley Wiggins is not easy to love. He rarely responds to your text messages. He rarely stops for a chat. Offer him a deal in February to write for your newspaper, and you can be sure that in March he will sign for somebody else. I don’t understand him. I can’t figure him out. But there’s something about him I really admire. I think he’s figured this sport out.

In many ways he reminds me of Chris Eubank. Eubank has a higher profile than Brad and a greater sense of theatre, but they are kindred spirits in their attitude to the jobs.

This game can break you up. Don’t put your health in danger. Do the best you can with your ability and get out while you’re ahead.

Of course, you’re always going to ship some damage . . .

I waited for Brad at the finish in Pau and wondered if he’d hold out to Paris. The first mountain stage of the Tour can hurt like a kick in the crotch, and he sounded pretty battered after the 190km from Cambo-les-Bains. “The first climb was mind-blowing,” he said. “There was one stage when I thought, ‘What am I doing here?’ ” But he hasn’t seen anything yet. Tomorrow’s ride over the Tourmalet, the Aspin, the Peyresourde, the Portillon and the finish at Val D’Aran is even tougher. Oh, and next week they enter the Alps. On Monday in L’Etape, as I was climbing the Izoard, I spotted Wiggins’s name painted beside a Union Jack close to the summit. Hope he survives to see it.


Thursday, July 13: Seeing and believing

Want to know what I’ll miss next week about covering The Open? Join me for a moment at the summit of today’s finish in Val D’Aran. The first three riders — Denis Menchov, Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis have just crossed the line after a fantastic finish. Menchov has won the stage. Landis is the new race leader.

I’m standing in the press pen, a couple of metres after the finishing line when Landis stops and climbs off his bike. A helper hands him a bottle of water. He pulls off the top, takes a swig and pours the rest over his head. He unzips his jersey to dry his sweat-covered chest, and every fibre of his being is twitching with exhaustion. A friend embraces him with tears in his eyes. He is escorted to the podium to be presented with the maillot jaune.

I’d kill to interview Floyd Landis. He is one of the toughest athletes in sport and his Mennonite background fascinates. I want to tell the world your story, Floyd. I want to believe in you. I have no reason not to, but how can I be sure I won’t be betrayed? That never happens in golf. It’s what I love about The Open.




Friday, July 14: More men behaving badly

A funny thing happened after the Etape on Monday. I was sitting on the terrace of a quaint restaurant near Grenoble, complaining to my wife about the miserable day I’d had, when I noticed these cheery Londoners sitting at an adjoining table. David Lewin and Simon Oliver had just completed the Etape and were reliving the adventure with Simon’s father-in-law, John Baker.

We got chatting. It transpired that we were all the same age, hadn’t shaved our legs and had all climbed the “Alp” in similar states of agony. We also agreed that we would never attempt it again. This morning David sent me an email.

“The agony of the last two hours spent on the Alp has been forgotten, permission from the wife for next year’s Etape has been granted and planning for a new training regime is about to begin. My God our memories are short. I swore to myself a million times struggling up that mountain — never again. What about you? Have you changed your mind yet?” I laughed. Sad bastards.

[bandage]

Cheers, I love reading his stuff.

[therock67]

The Alps starts today with l'Alpe d'Huez - the most famous climb on le Tour.



l'Alpe d'Huez itself:

The climb up Alpe d'Huez is 13.8km at an average gradient of 8.1% with 21 hairpin bends marked with panels honouring the winners of each stage that has finished there.

[bandage]

Was it in the Pyrenees (spelling?) or the Alps where Roche stormed back on Delgado in 1987?

[therock67]

bandage said:

Was it in the Pyrenees (spelling?) or the Alps where Roche stormed back on Delgado in 1987?

It was the Alps.

[whyohwhy]

TG4 tonight, Highlights of the stage, not to be missed at 5 to 11.

One of the greatest sporting events of all time, the aforementioned L'aple De Huez stage finish.

If any of the top five in GC get a decent win today, it should be all over, provided their team can protect them tomorrow and Thursday

[therock67]

An early (and strong-looking) breakaway today:

Discovery Channel - Hincapie and Martinez
Team CSC - Schleck, Voigt and Zabriskie
T-Mobile Team - Mazzoleni
AG2R Preyovance - Arrieta
Gerolsteiner - Wegmann
Rabobank - Flecha
Phonak - Merckx
Lampre-Fondital - Cunego and Vila
Caisse d’Epargne - Arroyo and Garcia-Acosta
Credit Agricol - Charteau
Euskaltel - Landaluze
Cofidis - Chavanel
Saunier Duval-Prodir - De la Fuente and Lobato
Francaise des Jeux - Eisel and Vaugrenard
Liquigas - Albasini and Garzelli
Bouygues Telecom - Pineau
Milram - Knees

They are about 4 minutes clear at the foot of the first climb. Can't believe Voigt has the energy to sustain another break. Hincapie, Flecha, Landaluze, De la Fuente all in there.

[whyohwhy]

De La Fuente has been terrible since he got the Mountain jersey in the Pyrenees (admittedly it was a savage days riding by him then). The days rest must have done him good!

Cant see the T-mobile team n(and phonak for that matter) letting them get away, they will have to drive the peleton on the catch the group up