Sailor's Tour de France Coverage 2005 - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

sailor · 07-03-2005, 12:11 PM

I sorta summarized each stage of the Tour de France last year for those TFPers unable to otherwise get any coverage of it, and have had several requests to do so again this year. So, without ado, here it is.

First, if you want anymore coverage, including interviews, Bike Porn (coverage of bike technology and all sorts of cool carbon-fiber parts), check out www.cyclingnews.com, www.pezcyclingnews.com, or www.velonews.com. Television coverage of the race is on OLN in the US.

Also, I wrote a good intro to the Tour last year. You can read it here.

Most measurements of distance and speed will be in metric, since cycling is inherently a European sport, and thats how most of the measurements are reported. I may convert a few, but if not, its easy to do so yourself

This year, the 92nd TdF, is 3,607km long. There are 21 stages. Two individual time trials, though one is a shorter one, taking the place of the standard prologue, and one team time trial. The race will go somewhat clockwise around France, heading into the Alps and then the Pyrenees. Interestingly, there is a stage this year that will head through Germany, something I'm sure Lance is looking forward to, given the nasty reception he was given by the Germans during last year's Alpe d'Huez individual time trial. The race will end on July 24th, coming into Paris to do several laps along the Champs-Elysees as it always does.

There are four main jerseys in the Tour. Yellow, the most famous, is for the overall leader, the person whose cumulative time is lowest. Then there is green, the points jersey, which is the sprinters' jersey. Next is the polka-dot jersey for best climber. Then the white jersey of the best young rider.

Finally, feel free to ask me any questions. If you dont understand a term, the tactics used, or simply why Lance doesn't seem to care about the yellow jersey for the first week or so of the race, let me know and Ill do my best to explain it. As with any racing sport, tactics reign supreme, and that can make things confusing to people.

Ok, lets get this started...

martinguerre · 07-03-2005, 12:15 PM

any info on why the german stage was added?

sailor · 07-03-2005, 12:24 PM

Stage 1, July 2nd -- Fromentine - Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile

Normally the Tour opens with a short prologue, a very short individual time trial, usually significantly less than five miles long. It's more of a show, and none of the serious contenders really bother with it, seeking only to limit their time losses. They'll let the other guys compete for it. This year is a bit different, however. In the place of the standard short prologue, there is a 19km individual time trial. While still shorter than most time trials, it is long enough that the big dogs will come out to play, attempting to take time from their rivals. This should, and did, make things interesting.

There really isnt any good way to summarize an ITT except to list notable finishes. First, the guy who won, was Dave Zabriskie, an American rider on team CSC. Still a very young rider, he is becoming quite well known for his time trialing ability, and his ride today only cemented that--he set the fastest average time in a TdF time trial ever, and since it was the first stage, took the yellow jersey as well, becoming only the third American to do so. A simply brilliant ride, but he doesnt have the climbing skills to be a serious threat for the overall.

Then we come to Lance's ride. Two words: Holy. Shit. While he has always been a good time trialer, he quite simply opened up a can of whoopass and poured it all over everyone. Jan Ullrich, the German who has always been Lance's arch-nemesis and chief Tour rival, had started a minute before Lance. Now, Jan is himself a badass of a time trialer. In fact, this is generally where he shines, and where he tends to take most of his time out of his rivals. Lance CAUGHT and PASSED Jan out on the course. Jan has NEVER been caught and passed in a time trial before, and that it happened on such a short one makes it even more incredible. Furthermore, Lance's ride was similarly better than every other contender, and he took at least a minute out of everyone who could be considered a threat on the FIRST DAY. All that is, except the Khazakstani (did I spell that right?) Alexander Vinokourov, who "only" lost 53 seconds to Lance. Any doubts people might have had about Lance's form were silenced.

So what does this mean? Well, the race isnt over yet--three weeks is a long time. However, it does mean that Lance is as strong, or stronger, than ever, while his competitors don't seem to have brought their best game to the race. My view is that barring a crash, sickness, or him just unexpectedly crashing, he has this race won. I know, I know, I shouldnt say that this early in the race, but a MINUTE on the FIRST stage, is a lot of time. He'll probably take more time on Tuesday's Team Time Trial as well. It also means that the vaunted Jan Ullrich is pretty much out of the race, given that his climbing skills have never really been as good at Lance's. I think this is a good thing though, as leadership of his team will pass to Vinokourov, who is a better climber, and more importantly, very combatitive--he might actually attack Lance in the mountains rather than just sort of cruise around France for three weeks on Lance's back wheel. Should make for a good race.

sailor · 07-03-2005, 12:26 PM

The Tour has frequently gone into other countries for a day's racing, to sort of throw a bone to fans in said countries. Its been into probably every neighboring European country, the UK, and almost to Canada, but that one was scrapped because the riders didnt want to have to fly transatlantic and get jetlagged before the most difficult race in the world.

Ill post Stage 2 later tonight, I still havent gotten a chance to watch my Tivo'd footage.

sailor · 07-03-2005, 05:14 PM

Stage 2, July 3 -- Challans - Les Essarts

Well, as expected, not much happened today. A flat stage, and one for the sprinters, none of the big names poked out their heads. There was a breakaway for most of the stage, notably containing Thomas Voekler, the Frenchman who made everyone love him after wearing yellow for 10 days last year, and fighting doggedly to keep it far beyond when anyone had expected. He managed to secure the polka-dot jersey today on the only climb of the race, a category 4 hill (hills/mountains are rated from 5 to 1, with a 5 being the smallest, and a 1 being the hardest... then there is HC, or hors categorie, literally beyond category, the real monsters). But, the breakaway was caught, with the stage coming down to a field sprint. Tom Boonen, the yound former US Postal rider, and winner of this year's Hell of the North, Paris-Roubaix, took the sprint from right under the nose of an unsuspecting Robbie McEwen, who jumped for the line just a bit too soon, surging across the line with a full bike's length between him and his nearest competitor--a mile in the land of sprints.

sailor · 07-04-2005, 01:00 PM

Stage 3, July 4 -- La Châtaigneraie - Tours

Again, another flat stage for the sprinters. As in yesterday's stage, a small breakway got away almost from the start. This one managed to stay away until roughly 3km from the end, when the sprinters' teams, getting organized on the front, swept them up. From here on, it was a textbook sprint, with Tom Boonen again coming around everyone else to win by a bike's length. Interestingly, Robbie McEwen, Austrailian sprinter badass, was relegated to last place in the stage because during the sprint he was practically shoving Stuart O'Grady, another Aussie sprinter badass. It was nasty to watch, and the referees didnt take to kindly to that. Whoops. Lance is still in second and Zabriskie is still in the yellow.

canuckguy · 07-05-2005, 08:46 AM

Nice reviews!

Its a shame about the yellow jersey crashing so close to the finish line today, was only a matter of time before lance had it anyway. I get up every morning to watch the tour on OLN, have been following it (only cycling event i follow!? doh) for about 8 years now. I was hoping that this year would finally bring us a new champion, no offence to lance and his money. Ullrich was my hope, now all i have to watch is when mayo hopefully will give lance a run in the mountains. Not so sure that Basso is up for a repeat of last year.

sailor · 07-05-2005, 09:43 AM

Stage 4, July 5 -- Tours - Blois TTT

The long awaited Team Time Trial today. For those that dont know, a team time trial is just like an individual time trial, except that you do it by team. Five or more of a team's riders must cross the finishline at the same time to give that time to those in the group. As expected, it came down to a fight between Discovery and CSC, probably the two strongest teams in the world. In the end, Discovery pulled it out, winning by just two seconds over CSC. Of note, Zabriskie crashed only 1.5km from the end. CSC didnt (and couldnt) wait for him, as they were concerned with getting Ivan Basso, who is their great hope for placing well in the overall, across the line ASAP. Zabriskie limped across the line a minute after the rest of the team, knocking him into ninth place and passing the yellow jersey to... Lance! A somewhat heartbreaking way to lose the jersey, as he would have kept it had he not crashed. Also, had he only crashed 500m further down the road, he also would have kept the jersey--if you crash within 1km of the finish, you are given the same time as the rest of the group. I'm sure this will be hard for him to swallow.

And if I may now say it, barring a crash, sickness, or a totally unbelievable crack in the mountains, Lance has number seven. His closest adversary is Vinokourov in seventh, 1 minute 21 seconds down. And I don't see the man cracking in the mountains, he looks to be on his best form ever. And this is all on the fourth stage. Unbelievable. I'm hoping that we'll see some good attacks in the mountains though, probably from Vino, maybe from some of the climbers like Roberto Heras or Iban Mayo, though neither of those riders look to be on the sort of form to let them seriously ride away from the group, and both have done so poorly in the time trials that they arent much of a threat to the overall.

sailor · 07-05-2005, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brian1975

Nice reviews!

Its a shame about the yellow jersey crashing so close to the finish line today, was only a matter of time before lance had it anyway. I get up every morning to watch the tour on OLN, have been following it (only cycling event i follow!? doh) for about 8 years now. I was hoping that this year would finally bring us a new champion, no offence to lance and his money. Ullrich was my hope, now all i have to watch is when mayo hopefully will give lance a run in the mountains. Not so sure that Basso is up for a repeat of last year.

Yeah, I'll be ready to see someone else win it, but not this year. I really do want to see Lance go out on top. He's done so much for cycling in the States, is such a great story, and is just an overall badass on the bike. It's fun watching him slaughter all comers

But here's hoping for some great attacks, both from Armstrong and others. Definitely makes the race more interesting to watch.

I really wish Damiano Cunego hadn't come down with mono during the Giro. I was looking to him to add some excitement to the Tour, but he made the right choice in sitting it out.

Ace_O_Spades · 07-05-2005, 07:38 PM

I watched the team time trial today, and it was pretty exciting... I really didn't expect the crash... yeah, that is going to be tough to swallow, but didn't lance crash really badly a few years back early on in the race? Could still be interesting... I hope.

Spartak · 07-05-2005, 11:22 PM

Ouch. Grinding on pavement at 50kph is never pretty.

sailor · 07-06-2005, 05:16 AM

Yeah, Zabriskie needed stitches in his elbow, has several bruised ribs and a swollen knee. Here's hoping he holds out for the rest of the race.

sailor · 07-07-2005, 10:22 AM

Stage 5, July 6 -- Chambord - Montargis

Another sprinter's day. This time, Robbie McEwen, the guy who had been relegated to last place the previous day, managed to come around Tom Boonen for the win. Boonen took second.

Of note, Armstrong didnt start the day in yellow, saying it wasnt right for him to wear it as Zabriskie had only lost it due to his crash. This lasted through most of the neutralized zone before the referees threatened to disqualify him.

Spartak · 07-07-2005, 10:17 PM

I think the Discovery train would have scorched CSR (Zabriskie's team?) whether he crashed or not.

sailor · 07-08-2005, 05:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spartak

I think the Discovery train would have scorched CSR (Zabriskie's team?) whether he crashed or not.

Well, CSC led Discovery at almost every checkpoint, and was ahead by several seconds at the last checkpoint, 3km from the finish. It appears likely that they would have won had Zabriskie not crashed. In any case, Discovery only won by two seconds, hardly a scorcher of a win. One must not forget that CSC is one of the strongest teams in the peloton, second only to Discovery.

But yeah, Discovery is one of the most professional (and best) teams there is. They were definitely the favorites to win the TTT, as they have for three years now. Discovery doesn't race the Tour de France; they lay siege to it.

sailor · 07-09-2005, 04:34 PM

Stage 6, July 7, Troyes - Nancy

Yet another sprinter's day, this one with a bit of a shakeup at the end, thanks to the rain that poured throughout the entire stage. As normal, there was a breakaway almost from the start. When it looked like it was going to be caught, Christophe Mengin, who lives in/very near Nancy, the finishing town, took a flyer on his own, looking for glory in his hometown. Just before the end, with Mengin still just barely away, Vinokourov, the Kazakh and threat to Lance, attacked off the front of the field, and got a small gap as he chased Mengin. Mengin stayed away until about 2km from the end, when he slid coming around a corner and went down, hitting the railing as he fell. Ouch. A couple of seconds behind him, the the rest of the field came around the corner and almost all of the sprinters slid out around the corner into the hay bales that guarded the outside edge. With Mengin out and the field in complete shambles and Vinokourov slowing to avoid Mengin, Lorenzo Bernucci of the Fassa Bortolo team jumped off the front, surging across the line to take the win. It was his first victory as a professional (he turned pro in 2002), and this was his first Tour de France. Vino held off the rest of the field to take second and gain a 12 second bonus for his second place, bringing him to within 1.02 of Lance Armstrong.

Vino is looking to be a serious threat to Lance Armstrong. Like I said, the man won't hesitate to attack. I can't wait to see what happens in the mountains.

sailor · 07-09-2005, 04:41 PM

Stage 7, July 8 -- Lunéville - Karlsruhe

The Tour was into Germany on this stage, and as expected, the crowds were very thick. Again, a breakaway was in the cards for the day, with the German Fabian Wegmann of the Gerolsteiner team spending most of the day alone on a break, gaining a lead of over 8 minutes before he was brought back with around 20km to go. From there, it was a standard field sprint, with Robbie McEwen again winning the sprint.

beetle bailey · 07-09-2005, 05:55 PM

crap. i just lost a REALLY long post. damn. in summary: sailor: good thread. brian1975: pay attention to other races, whether pro, national, or local. [did you know that the world championships were held in hamilton, ontario 2 or 3 years ago? THE WORLD fricking championships!!! talk about compelling.

anyway, i gotta watch the evening's enhanced coverage of today's stage. then hit the hay for tomorrow's 5 hour live coverage!!!!!! of the first real mountain stage.

FIVE HOURS! it really is like riding it yourself, almost. if you get a chance, check cyclingnews.com, any time after 7 am CDT [u.s.] and check out their live coverage. these folks are current or former racers themselves, and they really know their shit.

anyway, loooooooooooove bike racing almost as much as i love women. sometime MORE. the lines on my road bike. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

maleficent · 07-09-2005, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beetle bailey

anyway, loooooooooooove bike racing almost as much as i love women. sometime MORE. the lines on my road bike. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Nekkid woman in glasses vs your road bike?.... and the bike woudl stand a chance? /me shakes head... but thinks you're cute...

Excellent thread sailor -I actually was able to impress my client today wiht some tidbits I picked up here and it actually made it sound like I knew something about cycling...

It's interesting stuff - I really had no idea all that went on...

trickyy · 07-09-2005, 09:50 PM

the mountain stages are much more fun to watch. actually this race is much more fun to watch than most sporting events.

and phil liggett is pretty cool too.

sailor · 07-10-2005, 05:35 AM

Thanks for the encouragement. And yeah, definitely stay tuned for the mountain stages, those are always much more exciting than the flat stages, that, as you have seen, have a breakaway that is inevitably caught, with the stage won by a field sprint. In the mountains, you see some real attacks.

I realize I'm a bit behind on my stages--I was out of town for a bit, but the rest are coming

aKula · 07-10-2005, 06:39 AM

stage 9 just finished and what a stage it was. 167km breakaway by Mickael Rasmussen gives him the stage win and a huge lead in mountain points. It was an amazing ride.

ktspktsp · 07-10-2005, 10:21 AM

Cool thread sailor; I have a question for you:

What is the importance of a team in a cycling race? I read some news the other day about Armstrong's team falling back, and how he had to fend off other cyclists by himself, and how that would be a bad thing if it kept happening.

So how do team members operate to 'defend' the leader?

Thanks

trickyy · 07-10-2005, 12:24 PM

the team members block the wind, block other riders in a crowd, and also get water from the team cars (in the rear of the racers, somewhat chaotic).

sailor · 07-11-2005, 05:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ktspktsp

Cool thread sailor; I have a question for you:

What is the importance of a team in a cycling race? I read some news the other day about Armstrong's team falling back, and how he had to fend off other cyclists by himself, and how that would be a bad thing if it kept happening.

So how do team members operate to 'defend' the leader?

Thanks

Basically what trikyy said. They surround their leader in the pack, blocking the wind for him so he's fresher when it's time to attack, and protecting him from any errant crashes. They also go back to the team cars and fetch water and food for him if/when he needs it. In the mountains, they will pace him up the climbs, again helping him to save his energy to attack when the time comes. The team will also chase down any breaks that are threatening to their leader's position.

Basically, they defend by making their leaders' life as easy as possible, so that when the time comes to make an attack, he is as fresh as possible and hasnt spent most of his energy chasing other attacks and riding into the wind all day.

canuckguy · 07-11-2005, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beetle bailey

crap. i just lost a REALLY long post. damn. in summary: sailor: good thread. brian1975: pay attention to other races, whether pro, national, or local. [did you know that the world championships were held in hamilton, ontario 2 or 3 years ago? THE WORLD fricking championships!!! talk about compelling.

anyway, i gotta watch the evening's enhanced coverage of today's stage. then hit the hay for tomorrow's 5 hour live coverage!!!!!! of the first real mountain stage.

FIVE HOURS! it really is like riding it yourself, almost. if you get a chance, check cyclingnews.com, any time after 7 am CDT [u.s.] and check out their live coverage. these folks are current or former racers themselves, and they really know their shit.

anyway, loooooooooooove bike racing almost as much as i love women. sometime MORE. the lines on my road bike. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...

cheers, yes i was going to go to the race but could not get out of work!

the mountains tomorrow, woo hoo! have a feeling there is gonna be loads of attacks.

ktspktsp · 07-11-2005, 06:02 PM

Thanks trickyy and Sailor, that makes sense

aKula · 07-12-2005, 07:46 AM

In today's stage it was demonstrated rather well why a team is important. Discovery channel set the pace for Armstrong catching the break away and reducing the pelaton into the single digits. Armstrong took it from there. I was most surprised by Ulrich not being able to keep up (always think of him as 2nd best when it comes to the mountains), maybe the crash took a toll on him. Rasmussen showed that he is very strong.

sailor · 07-16-2005, 11:20 AM

Stage 8, July 9 -- Pforzheim - Gérardmer

An interesting stage. Finally, a breakaway managed to succeed. Peter Weening, of the Rabobank team, and Andreas Kloeden, of T-Mobile, and potential challenger for yellow, brokeaway towards the end of the race, coming to the line in a close photo finish that was given to Weenig. Perhaps more interestingly, Armstrong's team was nowhere to be seen on the final climb, leaving Armstrong alone to respond to a flurry of attacks from T-Mobile. Not a good position to be in. In the end, it worked out OK, and we'll see how things go in the coming stages.

There are varying explanations for what happened. According to George Hincapie, one of Lance's teammates, and fellow American (he lives in Greenville, SC), the team was caught in the back when the field was split from attacks up front, leaving the whole team caught in the back and unable to chase back to the front. Yikes.

sailor · 07-16-2005, 11:26 AM

Stage 9, July 10 -- Gérardmer - Mulhouse

Another day for a successful break. The course on this stage was much more hilly, with several Cat 3 climbs, a Cat 2, and a Cat 1 climb, 40km from the end. A good day for a break--the big climb is far enough from the end that none of the major players will be attacking on it, leaving it open for other riders. In this case, Michael Rasmussen of the Rabobank team, attacked almost from the start, initially with one other rider whom he soon dropped. He then kept on going, taking all of the climbs and the polka-dot jersey of the best climber, before winning the stage solo. Notably, Lance's team didnt chase Jens Voight, the German hardman on the CSC team, who also attacked, but was unable to catch Rasmussen. Voight finished away from the group with enough time to put him in yellow. A good thing for the Discovery boys, because they will have a bit less work as they head into the Alps after the rest day tomorrow.

sailor · 07-16-2005, 11:37 AM

Stage 10, July 12 -- Grenoble - Courchevel

The race starts today. After the rest day the day before, the race heads into the Alps. One thing to keep in mind is that the body frequently responds strangely when it gets a rest day after a week of hard racing, and sometimes doesnt like to get back into the race. When you put a mountain stage right after a rest day, things could get interesting. And they did.

We saw the power of Discovery today. Like I said, they dont race the Tour, they lay siege to it. We saw this today, with the whole team at the front driving a high pace almost from the start. Riders started falling off the back rapidly, and it makes things very difficult for riders to get away off the front. As things came to the final climb of the day, the race was reduced to an elite crowd of about 10 riders. Alexander Vinokourov fell off the back and eventually lost 5 minutes, leaving him practically out of the race for the overall. Jan Ullrich, chief challenger, soon dropped off the bike, followed by his teammate Kloeden, and they lost almost two minutes by the end. Basso was soon dropped as well. Soon, there were only four riders on the front--Armstrong, Rasmussen, who won stage 9, and Illes Baleares riders Alejandro Valverde and Francisco Mancebo. About 500m from the finish, Armstrong accelerated and jumped around the others, and only Valverde was able to follow. Just before the line, Valverde managed to come around Armstrong, taking the stage win, while Armstrong took back the yellow jersey.

The race was seriously shaken up on this stage. Everyone who was thought to be a challenger was essentially eliminated. We'll see who arises as chief rivals to Armstrong, because as of now, there arent any. He looks to be stronger than ever. Maybe Rasmussen?

sailor · 07-16-2005, 12:01 PM

Stage 11, July 13 -- Courchevel - Briançon

The second and last day in the Alps, and the return of Vinokourov.

There was a break early on in the race, strangely containing many large names, including Vinokourov, Santiago Botero of the Phonak team, Chris Horner of Saunier Duval, an American riding his first tour after years of dominating the racing scene in the United States (and an arrogant bastard, but thats another story). This break was let go for a while because after the previous day, no one in it was a threat anymore. Soon however, their gap started to come down, but before they were caught there was a counterattack out of the group led by Vino and Botero. This counterattack was soon reduced to just Vinokourov and Botero, and the duo managed to stay away to the finish, with Vino easily sprinting around Botero to take the win, with the rest of the field coming in 1:15 later, leaving the GC mostly unaffected.

sailor · 07-16-2005, 12:10 PM

Stage 12, July 14 -- Briançon - Digne-les-Bains

Bastille Day, and the stage won by a Frenchman.

A much flatter day than the two previous, with several Cat 2 climbs, but overall not one for the climbers. Again, breakaways were the theme of the day. One got clear almost from the start, but was caught after 58km. Soon, however, Manuel "Triki" Beltran, one of Armstrong's most important domestiques, crashed and had to withdraw from the race with a concussion. Bad news for Armstrong, Beltran was one of his most faithful and best teammates. Ouch.

Soon, another breakaway was clear, including Axel Merckx, son of the great Eddie Merckx. David Moncoutié of the Cofidis team soon attacked out of this break, and managed to stay away all the way into the finish. The rest of the field came in over 10 minutes back--no problem though, as all of these riders were far enough down that it doesn't affect any of the the serious contenders.

Notable abandons include Tom Boonen, the sprinter who dominated the early stages. He withdrew because of injuried sustained in an earlier crash, and did not start the stage.

sailor · 07-16-2005, 12:27 PM

Stage 13, July 15 -- Miramas - Montpellier

Another one for the sprinters here. But not before the breakaways gave it a shot.

The notable break of the day contained Chris Horner and Thomas Voeckler, the Frenchman that wore yellow for 10 days last year after a huge win on a breakaway. The break stayed away almost to the end, with the remains of the break, including Chris Horner, being caught less than a kilometer from the finish. Once caught, the hard-charging sprinters quickly set up and went for it, with Robbie McEwen taking the win and moving himself closer to the green jersey. Notable abandons included Alejandro Valverde, the man who beat Armstrong a few stages prior, who withdrew with knee pain caused from a crash.

Next, the race goes back into the mountains, this time the Pyrenees. These mountains will be harder, with steeper climbs and hotter weather to deal with. Should be interesting.

beetle bailey · 07-16-2005, 04:58 PM

what a fun day for lance with his friends!

from a quote found in dailypeloton.com, lance says "I was not alone at all, I was with Ullrich and with Basso, and I also had some good moments with them", he said in an ironic tone.

seriously, if you were lance, and this was your going-away party, isn't THIS EXACTLY how you'd want to go??

having the very best in the world trying to kick your ass, and being able to give it back in spades?

as a bike racer myself, that's what I'VE always enjoyed most. a good hard workout is the very best. god-DAMN! what a wonderful stage today. can't WAIT until tomorrow's stage!

beetle bailey · 07-16-2005, 05:11 PM

a word for the flatter stages, too!

the subtleties of teamwork are readily apparent in the flatter stages, too, rickyy. witness the comeback of robbie mcewen's team chasing down chris horner and sylvan chavanal in the last 200 meters!!!

robbie had four guys pouring out their guts to bring back the break. these pros are superb in their timing. they let them sit out front for 15-20 kilometers before reeling them the rest of the way. if chris had been willing to settle for second place, he would have had his only chance to win, but refusing to pull through at 800 meters cost both him and chavanal the race. isn't 2d better than 10th?

that was a great stage, either way, but watching the coverage you can really understand how important a team is in the flatter stages, too.

i miss chippo!

and mal, going on a hard five or six hour ride can match--but never replace--a five or six hour sexcapade. but doing it for so long on a bike is what makes it possible to do it so long in the bed.

it's all about quality "saddle" time!!! [and you should know that my bike has NEVER cheated on me or broken my heart, mal. but that doesn't stop me from loving women or loving my bike!]

sailor · 07-17-2005, 12:09 PM

Stage 14, July 16 -- Agde - Ax-3 Domaines

The first day in the Pyrenees, and as expected, there were plenty of fireworks. Again, there was a break clear early on, but not including anyone that was a serious threat to the overall. However, on the first serious climb, an HC rated monster (check the stage profile here), T-Mobile finally decided to something about Lance's apparent domination of the Tour, and his team's siege tactics: they attacked. And attacked. And attacked some more. And it worked. As the pace upped suddenly, all of the Discovery was once again nowhere to be found, leaving Lance alone again to respond to all comers. Not a good thing again, and something that makes one wonder about Discovery this year--despite having the strongest team on paper, including the guy that just won the Giro d'Italia, the Italian equivalent of the Tour, Lance has been left alone twice now to fend for himself. But it was good to see T-Mobile finally do something about Discovery's gridlock on the Tour, rather than just sit there and hope they didnt get ridden off the back. Lance was left in a field that contained the best riders of the tour, guys like Ullrich, Basso, Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden, and Floyd Landis, as well as mountains leader Rasmussen. Soon, Basso attacked, and Lance and Ullrich followed, along with Leipheimer and one other rider, leaving these five to crest the top of this climb together, still chasing after the remains of the morning's break, some of whom were still in front. Coming up the final climb to the finish, there were more fireworks. There were soon only three riders left--Armstrong, Basso, and Ullrich. The three at first seemed to be working together to bring back the lone rider in front, Georg Totchnig. Soon, Ullrich attempted to make a move which was quickly covered by Armstrong, who immediately counter-attacked and cranked up the pace and Ullrich once again fell off the back, leaving just Armstrong and Basso climbing to the top. Armstrong again attacked in the final 200 yards, and Basso fell of the back, leaving Lance to take second to Georg Totchnig, who took the biggest win of his career.

Notable points from the stage today--Ullrich looks to be doing better, but still can't hold on when things get hairy. Basso is increasingly looking to be Lance's biggest rival, as he was last year. And Vino... Well, Vino has some balls, and I'm not sure what T-Mobile was thinking. He was attacking all day--he'd blast of the front, be brought back and dropped, where he would then dig deep and rejoin the group... And then, without taking a break after chasing back on, would immediately launch another attack. Incredibly enough, Ullrich and Kloden, who is a close personal friend of Ullrich, were the ones that would immediately chase him down, hinting at a bit of inter-team rivalry. As such, I'd expect him to be on the Discovery squad next year--his contract is up this year, and Disco is the only place he's said he would go other than T-Mobile, and I think that after his own teammates chasing him down everytime he was clear, he won't want to be there anymore. We'll see.

I'll post today's stage after I get a chance to watch the rest of it--suffice to say, it's a good one.

Spartak · 07-17-2005, 06:05 PM

It was shocking what Ullrich did to Vinokourov, this further renforces my thoughts that Ullrich is a big selfish jerk.

sailor · 07-18-2005, 05:01 AM

Here's a great link to a story I found Slate running about the workings of a cycling team. It might do a bit better job explaining than I did.

I'm gonna try not to get as behind on the stages as I did earlier. Hopefully I'll get to post about yesterday's monster tonight. Suffice to say, it was the hardest stage of the tour, and with a surprise ending.

sailor · 07-18-2005, 05:06 AM

Man, here's another good link about the team aspect, this time from the BBC: Linky

07-03-2005, 12:11 PM	#1 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Sailor's Tour de France Coverage 2005 I sorta summarized each stage of the Tour de France last year for those TFPers unable to otherwise get any coverage of it, and have had several requests to do so again this year. So, without ado, here it is. First, if you want anymore coverage, including interviews, Bike Porn (coverage of bike technology and all sorts of cool carbon-fiber parts), check out www.cyclingnews.com, www.pezcyclingnews.com, or www.velonews.com. Television coverage of the race is on OLN in the US. Also, I wrote a good intro to the Tour last year. You can read it here. Most measurements of distance and speed will be in metric, since cycling is inherently a European sport, and thats how most of the measurements are reported. I may convert a few, but if not, its easy to do so yourself This year, the 92nd TdF, is 3,607km long. There are 21 stages. Two individual time trials, though one is a shorter one, taking the place of the standard prologue, and one team time trial. The race will go somewhat clockwise around France, heading into the Alps and then the Pyrenees. Interestingly, there is a stage this year that will head through Germany, something I'm sure Lance is looking forward to, given the nasty reception he was given by the Germans during last year's Alpe d'Huez individual time trial. The race will end on July 24th, coming into Paris to do several laps along the Champs-Elysees as it always does. There are four main jerseys in the Tour. Yellow, the most famous, is for the overall leader, the person whose cumulative time is lowest. Then there is green, the points jersey, which is the sprinters' jersey. Next is the polka-dot jersey for best climber. Then the white jersey of the best young rider. Finally, feel free to ask me any questions. If you dont understand a term, the tactics used, or simply why Lance doesn't seem to care about the yellow jersey for the first week or so of the race, let me know and Ill do my best to explain it. As with any racing sport, tactics reign supreme, and that can make things confusing to people. Ok, lets get this started... __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato Last edited by sailor; 07-03-2005 at 05:21 PM..

07-03-2005, 12:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
martinguerre whosoever Location: New England	any info on why the german stage was added? __________________ For God so loved creation, that God sent God's only Son that whosoever believed should not perish, but have everlasting life. -John 3:16

07-03-2005, 12:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 1, July 2nd -- Fromentine - Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile Normally the Tour opens with a short prologue, a very short individual time trial, usually significantly less than five miles long. It's more of a show, and none of the serious contenders really bother with it, seeking only to limit their time losses. They'll let the other guys compete for it. This year is a bit different, however. In the place of the standard short prologue, there is a 19km individual time trial. While still shorter than most time trials, it is long enough that the big dogs will come out to play, attempting to take time from their rivals. This should, and did, make things interesting. There really isnt any good way to summarize an ITT except to list notable finishes. First, the guy who won, was Dave Zabriskie, an American rider on team CSC. Still a very young rider, he is becoming quite well known for his time trialing ability, and his ride today only cemented that--he set the fastest average time in a TdF time trial ever, and since it was the first stage, took the yellow jersey as well, becoming only the third American to do so. A simply brilliant ride, but he doesnt have the climbing skills to be a serious threat for the overall. Then we come to Lance's ride. Two words: Holy. Shit. While he has always been a good time trialer, he quite simply opened up a can of whoopass and poured it all over everyone. Jan Ullrich, the German who has always been Lance's arch-nemesis and chief Tour rival, had started a minute before Lance. Now, Jan is himself a badass of a time trialer. In fact, this is generally where he shines, and where he tends to take most of his time out of his rivals. Lance CAUGHT and PASSED Jan out on the course. Jan has NEVER been caught and passed in a time trial before, and that it happened on such a short one makes it even more incredible. Furthermore, Lance's ride was similarly better than every other contender, and he took at least a minute out of everyone who could be considered a threat on the FIRST DAY. All that is, except the Khazakstani (did I spell that right?) Alexander Vinokourov, who "only" lost 53 seconds to Lance. Any doubts people might have had about Lance's form were silenced. So what does this mean? Well, the race isnt over yet--three weeks is a long time. However, it does mean that Lance is as strong, or stronger, than ever, while his competitors don't seem to have brought their best game to the race. My view is that barring a crash, sickness, or him just unexpectedly crashing, he has this race won. I know, I know, I shouldnt say that this early in the race, but a MINUTE on the FIRST stage, is a lot of time. He'll probably take more time on Tuesday's Team Time Trial as well. It also means that the vaunted Jan Ullrich is pretty much out of the race, given that his climbing skills have never really been as good at Lance's. I think this is a good thing though, as leadership of his team will pass to Vinokourov, who is a better climber, and more importantly, very combatitive--he might actually attack Lance in the mountains rather than just sort of cruise around France for three weeks on Lance's back wheel. Should make for a good race. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-03-2005, 12:26 PM	#4 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	The Tour has frequently gone into other countries for a day's racing, to sort of throw a bone to fans in said countries. Its been into probably every neighboring European country, the UK, and almost to Canada, but that one was scrapped because the riders didnt want to have to fly transatlantic and get jetlagged before the most difficult race in the world. Ill post Stage 2 later tonight, I still havent gotten a chance to watch my Tivo'd footage. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-03-2005, 05:14 PM	#5 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 2, July 3 -- Challans - Les Essarts Well, as expected, not much happened today. A flat stage, and one for the sprinters, none of the big names poked out their heads. There was a breakaway for most of the stage, notably containing Thomas Voekler, the Frenchman who made everyone love him after wearing yellow for 10 days last year, and fighting doggedly to keep it far beyond when anyone had expected. He managed to secure the polka-dot jersey today on the only climb of the race, a category 4 hill (hills/mountains are rated from 5 to 1, with a 5 being the smallest, and a 1 being the hardest... then there is HC, or hors categorie, literally beyond category, the real monsters). But, the breakaway was caught, with the stage coming down to a field sprint. Tom Boonen, the yound former US Postal rider, and winner of this year's Hell of the North, Paris-Roubaix, took the sprint from right under the nose of an unsuspecting Robbie McEwen, who jumped for the line just a bit too soon, surging across the line with a full bike's length between him and his nearest competitor--a mile in the land of sprints. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-04-2005, 01:00 PM	#6 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 3, July 4 -- La Châtaigneraie - Tours Again, another flat stage for the sprinters. As in yesterday's stage, a small breakway got away almost from the start. This one managed to stay away until roughly 3km from the end, when the sprinters' teams, getting organized on the front, swept them up. From here on, it was a textbook sprint, with Tom Boonen again coming around everyone else to win by a bike's length. Interestingly, Robbie McEwen, Austrailian sprinter badass, was relegated to last place in the stage because during the sprint he was practically shoving Stuart O'Grady, another Aussie sprinter badass. It was nasty to watch, and the referees didnt take to kindly to that. Whoops. Lance is still in second and Zabriskie is still in the yellow. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-05-2005, 08:46 AM	#7 (permalink)
canuckguy I read your emails. Location: earth	Nice reviews! Its a shame about the yellow jersey crashing so close to the finish line today, was only a matter of time before lance had it anyway. I get up every morning to watch the tour on OLN, have been following it (only cycling event i follow!? doh) for about 8 years now. I was hoping that this year would finally bring us a new champion, no offence to lance and his money. Ullrich was my hope, now all i have to watch is when mayo hopefully will give lance a run in the mountains. Not so sure that Basso is up for a repeat of last year.

07-05-2005, 09:43 AM	#8 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 4, July 5 -- Tours - Blois TTT The long awaited Team Time Trial today. For those that dont know, a team time trial is just like an individual time trial, except that you do it by team. Five or more of a team's riders must cross the finishline at the same time to give that time to those in the group. As expected, it came down to a fight between Discovery and CSC, probably the two strongest teams in the world. In the end, Discovery pulled it out, winning by just two seconds over CSC. Of note, Zabriskie crashed only 1.5km from the end. CSC didnt (and couldnt) wait for him, as they were concerned with getting Ivan Basso, who is their great hope for placing well in the overall, across the line ASAP. Zabriskie limped across the line a minute after the rest of the team, knocking him into ninth place and passing the yellow jersey to... Lance! A somewhat heartbreaking way to lose the jersey, as he would have kept it had he not crashed. Also, had he only crashed 500m further down the road, he also would have kept the jersey--if you crash within 1km of the finish, you are given the same time as the rest of the group. I'm sure this will be hard for him to swallow. And if I may now say it, barring a crash, sickness, or a totally unbelievable crack in the mountains, Lance has number seven. His closest adversary is Vinokourov in seventh, 1 minute 21 seconds down. And I don't see the man cracking in the mountains, he looks to be on his best form ever. And this is all on the fourth stage. Unbelievable. I'm hoping that we'll see some good attacks in the mountains though, probably from Vino, maybe from some of the climbers like Roberto Heras or Iban Mayo, though neither of those riders look to be on the sort of form to let them seriously ride away from the group, and both have done so poorly in the time trials that they arent much of a threat to the overall. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato Last edited by sailor; 07-05-2005 at 09:49 AM..

07-05-2005, 07:38 PM	#10 (permalink)
Ace_O_Spades The Death Card Location: EH!?!?	I watched the team time trial today, and it was pretty exciting... I really didn't expect the crash... yeah, that is going to be tough to swallow, but didn't lance crash really badly a few years back early on in the race? Could still be interesting... I hope. __________________ Feh.

07-05-2005, 11:22 PM	#11 (permalink)
Spartak Bang bang Location: New Zealand	Ouch. Grinding on pavement at 50kph is never pretty. __________________ I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

07-06-2005, 05:16 AM	#12 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Yeah, Zabriskie needed stitches in his elbow, has several bruised ribs and a swollen knee. Here's hoping he holds out for the rest of the race. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-07-2005, 10:22 AM	#13 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 5, July 6 -- Chambord - Montargis Another sprinter's day. This time, Robbie McEwen, the guy who had been relegated to last place the previous day, managed to come around Tom Boonen for the win. Boonen took second. Of note, Armstrong didnt start the day in yellow, saying it wasnt right for him to wear it as Zabriskie had only lost it due to his crash. This lasted through most of the neutralized zone before the referees threatened to disqualify him. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-07-2005, 10:17 PM	#14 (permalink)
Spartak Bang bang Location: New Zealand	I think the Discovery train would have scorched CSR (Zabriskie's team?) whether he crashed or not. __________________ I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

07-09-2005, 04:34 PM	#16 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 6, July 7, Troyes - Nancy Yet another sprinter's day, this one with a bit of a shakeup at the end, thanks to the rain that poured throughout the entire stage. As normal, there was a breakaway almost from the start. When it looked like it was going to be caught, Christophe Mengin, who lives in/very near Nancy, the finishing town, took a flyer on his own, looking for glory in his hometown. Just before the end, with Mengin still just barely away, Vinokourov, the Kazakh and threat to Lance, attacked off the front of the field, and got a small gap as he chased Mengin. Mengin stayed away until about 2km from the end, when he slid coming around a corner and went down, hitting the railing as he fell. Ouch. A couple of seconds behind him, the the rest of the field came around the corner and almost all of the sprinters slid out around the corner into the hay bales that guarded the outside edge. With Mengin out and the field in complete shambles and Vinokourov slowing to avoid Mengin, Lorenzo Bernucci of the Fassa Bortolo team jumped off the front, surging across the line to take the win. It was his first victory as a professional (he turned pro in 2002), and this was his first Tour de France. Vino held off the rest of the field to take second and gain a 12 second bonus for his second place, bringing him to within 1.02 of Lance Armstrong. Vino is looking to be a serious threat to Lance Armstrong. Like I said, the man won't hesitate to attack. I can't wait to see what happens in the mountains. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-09-2005, 04:41 PM	#17 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 7, July 8 -- Lunéville - Karlsruhe The Tour was into Germany on this stage, and as expected, the crowds were very thick. Again, a breakaway was in the cards for the day, with the German Fabian Wegmann of the Gerolsteiner team spending most of the day alone on a break, gaining a lead of over 8 minutes before he was brought back with around 20km to go. From there, it was a standard field sprint, with Robbie McEwen again winning the sprint. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-09-2005, 05:55 PM	#18 (permalink)
beetle bailey Insane Location: iowa	crap. i just lost a REALLY long post. damn. in summary: sailor: good thread. brian1975: pay attention to other races, whether pro, national, or local. [did you know that the world championships were held in hamilton, ontario 2 or 3 years ago? THE WORLD fricking championships!!! talk about compelling. anyway, i gotta watch the evening's enhanced coverage of today's stage. then hit the hay for tomorrow's 5 hour live coverage!!!!!! of the first real mountain stage. FIVE HOURS! it really is like riding it yourself, almost. if you get a chance, check cyclingnews.com, any time after 7 am CDT [u.s.] and check out their live coverage. these folks are current or former racers themselves, and they really know their shit. anyway, loooooooooooove bike racing almost as much as i love women. sometime MORE. the lines on my road bike. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... __________________ beetle bailey, pfc: veteran of the acid wars, six tours, distinguished conduct medal, honorable discharge

07-09-2005, 09:50 PM	#20 (permalink)
trickyy ►	the mountain stages are much more fun to watch. actually this race is much more fun to watch than most sporting events. and phil liggett is pretty cool too.

07-10-2005, 05:35 AM	#21 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Thanks for the encouragement. And yeah, definitely stay tuned for the mountain stages, those are always much more exciting than the flat stages, that, as you have seen, have a breakaway that is inevitably caught, with the stage won by a field sprint. In the mountains, you see some real attacks. I realize I'm a bit behind on my stages--I was out of town for a bit, but the rest are coming __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-10-2005, 06:39 AM	#22 (permalink)
aKula Psycho	stage 9 stage 9 just finished and what a stage it was. 167km breakaway by Mickael Rasmussen gives him the stage win and a huge lead in mountain points. It was an amazing ride. Last edited by aKula; 07-10-2005 at 06:47 AM..

07-10-2005, 10:21 AM	#23 (permalink)
ktspktsp Addict Location: Reykjavik, Iceland	Cool thread sailor; I have a question for you: What is the importance of a team in a cycling race? I read some news the other day about Armstrong's team falling back, and how he had to fend off other cyclists by himself, and how that would be a bad thing if it kept happening. So how do team members operate to 'defend' the leader? Thanks

07-10-2005, 12:24 PM	#24 (permalink)
trickyy ►	the team members block the wind, block other riders in a crowd, and also get water from the team cars (in the rear of the racers, somewhat chaotic).

07-11-2005, 06:02 PM	#27 (permalink)
ktspktsp Addict Location: Reykjavik, Iceland	Thanks trickyy and Sailor, that makes sense

07-12-2005, 07:46 AM	#28 (permalink)
aKula Psycho	In today's stage it was demonstrated rather well why a team is important. Discovery channel set the pace for Armstrong catching the break away and reducing the pelaton into the single digits. Armstrong took it from there. I was most surprised by Ulrich not being able to keep up (always think of him as 2nd best when it comes to the mountains), maybe the crash took a toll on him. Rasmussen showed that he is very strong.

07-16-2005, 11:20 AM	#29 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 8, July 9 -- Pforzheim - Gérardmer An interesting stage. Finally, a breakaway managed to succeed. Peter Weening, of the Rabobank team, and Andreas Kloeden, of T-Mobile, and potential challenger for yellow, brokeaway towards the end of the race, coming to the line in a close photo finish that was given to Weenig. Perhaps more interestingly, Armstrong's team was nowhere to be seen on the final climb, leaving Armstrong alone to respond to a flurry of attacks from T-Mobile. Not a good position to be in. In the end, it worked out OK, and we'll see how things go in the coming stages. There are varying explanations for what happened. According to George Hincapie, one of Lance's teammates, and fellow American (he lives in Greenville, SC), the team was caught in the back when the field was split from attacks up front, leaving the whole team caught in the back and unable to chase back to the front. Yikes. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-16-2005, 11:26 AM	#30 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 9, July 10 -- Gérardmer - Mulhouse Another day for a successful break. The course on this stage was much more hilly, with several Cat 3 climbs, a Cat 2, and a Cat 1 climb, 40km from the end. A good day for a break--the big climb is far enough from the end that none of the major players will be attacking on it, leaving it open for other riders. In this case, Michael Rasmussen of the Rabobank team, attacked almost from the start, initially with one other rider whom he soon dropped. He then kept on going, taking all of the climbs and the polka-dot jersey of the best climber, before winning the stage solo. Notably, Lance's team didnt chase Jens Voight, the German hardman on the CSC team, who also attacked, but was unable to catch Rasmussen. Voight finished away from the group with enough time to put him in yellow. A good thing for the Discovery boys, because they will have a bit less work as they head into the Alps after the rest day tomorrow. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-16-2005, 11:37 AM	#31 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 10, July 12 -- Grenoble - Courchevel The race starts today. After the rest day the day before, the race heads into the Alps. One thing to keep in mind is that the body frequently responds strangely when it gets a rest day after a week of hard racing, and sometimes doesnt like to get back into the race. When you put a mountain stage right after a rest day, things could get interesting. And they did. We saw the power of Discovery today. Like I said, they dont race the Tour, they lay siege to it. We saw this today, with the whole team at the front driving a high pace almost from the start. Riders started falling off the back rapidly, and it makes things very difficult for riders to get away off the front. As things came to the final climb of the day, the race was reduced to an elite crowd of about 10 riders. Alexander Vinokourov fell off the back and eventually lost 5 minutes, leaving him practically out of the race for the overall. Jan Ullrich, chief challenger, soon dropped off the bike, followed by his teammate Kloeden, and they lost almost two minutes by the end. Basso was soon dropped as well. Soon, there were only four riders on the front--Armstrong, Rasmussen, who won stage 9, and Illes Baleares riders Alejandro Valverde and Francisco Mancebo. About 500m from the finish, Armstrong accelerated and jumped around the others, and only Valverde was able to follow. Just before the line, Valverde managed to come around Armstrong, taking the stage win, while Armstrong took back the yellow jersey. The race was seriously shaken up on this stage. Everyone who was thought to be a challenger was essentially eliminated. We'll see who arises as chief rivals to Armstrong, because as of now, there arent any. He looks to be stronger than ever. Maybe Rasmussen? __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-16-2005, 12:01 PM	#32 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 11, July 13 -- Courchevel - Briançon The second and last day in the Alps, and the return of Vinokourov. There was a break early on in the race, strangely containing many large names, including Vinokourov, Santiago Botero of the Phonak team, Chris Horner of Saunier Duval, an American riding his first tour after years of dominating the racing scene in the United States (and an arrogant bastard, but thats another story). This break was let go for a while because after the previous day, no one in it was a threat anymore. Soon however, their gap started to come down, but before they were caught there was a counterattack out of the group led by Vino and Botero. This counterattack was soon reduced to just Vinokourov and Botero, and the duo managed to stay away to the finish, with Vino easily sprinting around Botero to take the win, with the rest of the field coming in 1:15 later, leaving the GC mostly unaffected. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato Last edited by sailor; 07-16-2005 at 12:16 PM..

07-16-2005, 12:10 PM	#33 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 12, July 14 -- Briançon - Digne-les-Bains Bastille Day, and the stage won by a Frenchman. A much flatter day than the two previous, with several Cat 2 climbs, but overall not one for the climbers. Again, breakaways were the theme of the day. One got clear almost from the start, but was caught after 58km. Soon, however, Manuel "Triki" Beltran, one of Armstrong's most important domestiques, crashed and had to withdraw from the race with a concussion. Bad news for Armstrong, Beltran was one of his most faithful and best teammates. Ouch. Soon, another breakaway was clear, including Axel Merckx, son of the great Eddie Merckx. David Moncoutié of the Cofidis team soon attacked out of this break, and managed to stay away all the way into the finish. The rest of the field came in over 10 minutes back--no problem though, as all of these riders were far enough down that it doesn't affect any of the the serious contenders. Notable abandons include Tom Boonen, the sprinter who dominated the early stages. He withdrew because of injuried sustained in an earlier crash, and did not start the stage. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato Last edited by sailor; 07-16-2005 at 12:29 PM..

07-16-2005, 12:27 PM	#34 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 13, July 15 -- Miramas - Montpellier Another one for the sprinters here. But not before the breakaways gave it a shot. The notable break of the day contained Chris Horner and Thomas Voeckler, the Frenchman that wore yellow for 10 days last year after a huge win on a breakaway. The break stayed away almost to the end, with the remains of the break, including Chris Horner, being caught less than a kilometer from the finish. Once caught, the hard-charging sprinters quickly set up and went for it, with Robbie McEwen taking the win and moving himself closer to the green jersey. Notable abandons included Alejandro Valverde, the man who beat Armstrong a few stages prior, who withdrew with knee pain caused from a crash. Next, the race goes back into the mountains, this time the Pyrenees. These mountains will be harder, with steeper climbs and hotter weather to deal with. Should be interesting. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato Last edited by sailor; 07-16-2005 at 12:31 PM..

07-16-2005, 04:58 PM	#35 (permalink)
beetle bailey Insane Location: iowa	what a fun day for lance with his friends! from a quote found in dailypeloton.com, lance says "I was not alone at all, I was with Ullrich and with Basso, and I also had some good moments with them", he said in an ironic tone. seriously, if you were lance, and this was your going-away party, isn't THIS EXACTLY how you'd want to go?? having the very best in the world trying to kick your ass, and being able to give it back in spades? as a bike racer myself, that's what I'VE always enjoyed most. a good hard workout is the very best. god-DAMN! what a wonderful stage today. can't WAIT until tomorrow's stage! __________________ beetle bailey, pfc: veteran of the acid wars, six tours, distinguished conduct medal, honorable discharge

07-16-2005, 05:11 PM	#36 (permalink)
beetle bailey Insane Location: iowa	a word for the flatter stages, too! the subtleties of teamwork are readily apparent in the flatter stages, too, rickyy. witness the comeback of robbie mcewen's team chasing down chris horner and sylvan chavanal in the last 200 meters!!! robbie had four guys pouring out their guts to bring back the break. these pros are superb in their timing. they let them sit out front for 15-20 kilometers before reeling them the rest of the way. if chris had been willing to settle for second place, he would have had his only chance to win, but refusing to pull through at 800 meters cost both him and chavanal the race. isn't 2d better than 10th? that was a great stage, either way, but watching the coverage you can really understand how important a team is in the flatter stages, too. i miss chippo! and mal, going on a hard five or six hour ride can match--but never replace--a five or six hour sexcapade. but doing it for so long on a bike is what makes it possible to do it so long in the bed. it's all about quality "saddle" time!!! [and you should know that my bike has NEVER cheated on me or broken my heart, mal. but that doesn't stop me from loving women or loving my bike!] __________________ beetle bailey, pfc: veteran of the acid wars, six tours, distinguished conduct medal, honorable discharge

07-17-2005, 12:09 PM	#37 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Stage 14, July 16 -- Agde - Ax-3 Domaines The first day in the Pyrenees, and as expected, there were plenty of fireworks. Again, there was a break clear early on, but not including anyone that was a serious threat to the overall. However, on the first serious climb, an HC rated monster (check the stage profile here), T-Mobile finally decided to something about Lance's apparent domination of the Tour, and his team's siege tactics: they attacked. And attacked. And attacked some more. And it worked. As the pace upped suddenly, all of the Discovery was once again nowhere to be found, leaving Lance alone again to respond to all comers. Not a good thing again, and something that makes one wonder about Discovery this year--despite having the strongest team on paper, including the guy that just won the Giro d'Italia, the Italian equivalent of the Tour, Lance has been left alone twice now to fend for himself. But it was good to see T-Mobile finally do something about Discovery's gridlock on the Tour, rather than just sit there and hope they didnt get ridden off the back. Lance was left in a field that contained the best riders of the tour, guys like Ullrich, Basso, Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Kloden, and Floyd Landis, as well as mountains leader Rasmussen. Soon, Basso attacked, and Lance and Ullrich followed, along with Leipheimer and one other rider, leaving these five to crest the top of this climb together, still chasing after the remains of the morning's break, some of whom were still in front. Coming up the final climb to the finish, there were more fireworks. There were soon only three riders left--Armstrong, Basso, and Ullrich. The three at first seemed to be working together to bring back the lone rider in front, Georg Totchnig. Soon, Ullrich attempted to make a move which was quickly covered by Armstrong, who immediately counter-attacked and cranked up the pace and Ullrich once again fell off the back, leaving just Armstrong and Basso climbing to the top. Armstrong again attacked in the final 200 yards, and Basso fell of the back, leaving Lance to take second to Georg Totchnig, who took the biggest win of his career. Notable points from the stage today--Ullrich looks to be doing better, but still can't hold on when things get hairy. Basso is increasingly looking to be Lance's biggest rival, as he was last year. And Vino... Well, Vino has some balls, and I'm not sure what T-Mobile was thinking. He was attacking all day--he'd blast of the front, be brought back and dropped, where he would then dig deep and rejoin the group... And then, without taking a break after chasing back on, would immediately launch another attack. Incredibly enough, Ullrich and Kloden, who is a close personal friend of Ullrich, were the ones that would immediately chase him down, hinting at a bit of inter-team rivalry. As such, I'd expect him to be on the Discovery squad next year--his contract is up this year, and Disco is the only place he's said he would go other than T-Mobile, and I think that after his own teammates chasing him down everytime he was clear, he won't want to be there anymore. We'll see. I'll post today's stage after I get a chance to watch the rest of it--suffice to say, it's a good one. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato Last edited by sailor; 07-17-2005 at 12:12 PM..

07-17-2005, 06:05 PM	#38 (permalink)
Spartak Bang bang Location: New Zealand	It was shocking what Ullrich did to Vinokourov, this further renforces my thoughts that Ullrich is a big selfish jerk. __________________ I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

07-18-2005, 05:01 AM	#39 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Here's a great link to a story I found Slate running about the workings of a cycling team. It might do a bit better job explaining than I did. I'm gonna try not to get as behind on the stages as I did earlier. Hopefully I'll get to post about yesterday's monster tonight. Suffice to say, it was the hardest stage of the tour, and with a surprise ending. __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato

07-18-2005, 05:06 AM	#40 (permalink)
sailor beauty in the breakdown Location: Chapel Hill, NC	Man, here's another good link about the team aspect, this time from the BBC: Linky __________________ "Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws." --Plato