Posted on 07/02/2010 11:30:15 AM PDT by Ready4Freddy
Hahahahahahahaha!
Don’t I won anything for that? Not even a moose tee shirt?
No, ‘cuz you cheated! lol
Is luv2ski contesting that I made her browser crash & knocked her off line on purpose? I most certainly did not!
And I swear the only time I have ever had EPO in my possession was for injecting my dearly departed Lhasa Shits (really, that's what they're called)in his last months.
Next you’ll pull the (bicycle) race card. ;>)
Geez... I step away for an hour and all hell breaks loose! ;-)
Stage 10 - Chambéry > > > Gap - 179 km
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Chambéry > > > Gap - 179 km
Km 77.0 - Côte de Laffrey - 7.0 km climb to 9 % - Category 1
Km 98.0 - Côte des Terrasses - 3.3 km climb to 7.1 % - Category 3
Km 145.5 - Col du Noyer - 7.4 km climb to 5.3 % - Category 2
Stage 10 - Chambéry > > > Gap - 179 km
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Medium Mountains - A sporting perspective
Memories of Beloki
On this stage, Le Tour will be celebrating the 150th anniversary of France annexing Savoy. The Côte de Laffrey climb, on leaving Vizille, is very difficult. The Col du Noyer pass is also very complicated. Yet, this does not mean it is typical high-altitude racing. The descent is very winding: let’s not forget how badly Joseba Beloki fell in 2003, when he wanted to avoid Vinokourov gaining too much time on him. To avoid the Spaniard, Lance Armstrong was obliged to take a short-cut through a field.
(letour.com)
July 12 post:
The final day in the French Alps is a hilly stage that will likely see a break succeed after the difficult, mountainous stage 9.
Starting from Chambéry, Stage 10 will see the peloton head south passing by Grenoble and over cat 1, cat 3 and cat 2 climbs before the descent into Gap. This is Criterium du Dauphine country and all three of the these cities are frequent start or stops during the month of June for the Tour de France warm-up race. Although Chambéry has hosted twenty Dauphine stages, this is only the second time it has entertained the Tour de France.
Gap, on the other hand, is a crossroads town which Napoleon put on the map and the Tour de France continues to use frequently. This year will mark the 20th time Gap has hosted a Tour stage and it is the location of one of the most dramatic moments in Tour de France history. No one will forget the scene of Lance Armstrong cutting across a field in 2003 to avoid Joseba Beloki, who skided and highsided on the melting asphalt during the descent into Gap, breaking several bones and effectively ending his career:
Astana's Alexandre Vinokourov won't forget that day either because he won the stage while riding for T-Mobile. A Frenchman will especially want to win stage 10 because July 14th is Bastille Day. — Steve
Gap, the capital of the Hautes-Alpes region, is hosting its 20th Tour de France stage this year.
photo credit: Feuillu
(steephill.tv)
Stage 10 - Chambéry > > > Gap - 179 km
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
CHAMBÉRY
• Once a stage town
• Population: 60,000
• Prefecture of Savoie (73)
Chambéry often provides accommodation for the Tour caravan, but up until now had only hosted the start of a stage in 1996 that finished in Les Arcs. Luc Leblanc won there after a day in which Stéphane Heulot lost the yellow jersey to Evgueni Berzin. The town already boasts a cycling tradition as the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré was organised here 20 times. In 1989, Greg LeMond won the World Championship here, thus confirming his comeback success attained on the Tour three months earlier.
Between the lake and mountains, Chambery boasts a slight air of Italy as well as a unique and delicious charm. Its slate roofs, coloured façades and historical heritage combine and contrast with those of its buildings in more of a modern architectural style. On the road to Italy and the great Alpine valleys, this city so dear to Jean-Jacques Rousseau is one of the most dynamic in the Rhône-Alpes region and part of an agglomeration with a population of 125,000. It is a reference in the solar energy sector, as well as for its urban planning and booming associative and cultural scene. The Eureka Gallery and its Espace Montagne exhibition on the mountains help visitors to better understand and appreciate the Alps, especially the protected areas and surrounding mountain ranges. At the edges of the Chartreuse and Bauges regional nature parks, the city also plays host to the headquarters of the Vanoise National Park. Furthermore, 2010 is an outstanding year for Chambery. The former capital of the House of Savoy is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its annexation by France, which will be marked by a wide-ranging programme of celebratory, cultural and sporting events.
GAP
• 19 times a stage town
• Population: 40,000
• Prefecture of Hautes-Alpes (05)
Gap has been the scene of magnificent wins by riders like Géminiani, Nencini, Bernard, Zabel and Vinokourov. The Prefecture of Hautes-Alpes was also the start of legendary Tour stages that finished in Briançon, successively won by Bobet, Coppi and Bahamontes. Since then, starts from Gap have tended to finish in Alpe-d’Huez, as in 1991 (victory of Gianni Bugno) and in 2006 (Frank Schleck). The most dramatic image associated with a stage in Gap nevertheless remains that of Lance Armstrong cutting across a field in 2003, following Joseba Beloki’s fall.
Gap, a city with a population of 40,000 and the prefecture of the Hautes-Alpes area, marks the limit between the northern and southern Alps. It is located on the famous Napoleonic route linking Golfe-Juan to Grenoble. With legendary amounts of sunshine, wide open natural spaces, Gap is both home to lavender and edelweiss! Gap is a place for sport in all seasons. Indeed, half of its inhabitants belong to a club. Ten minutes from the city centre, Gap Bayard is a vast plateau ideal for cross-country skiing in winter, whilst in the summer, it plays host to a superb golf course. On the 50 km of the Balcons du Gapençais tracks, families can often be found mountain biking. Gap-Charance is a park open all year round with nature study trails and a garden boasting 600 varieties of ancient roses. Gap-Tallard is the leading French spot for aerial sports: parachuting, paragliding, hang-gliding, hot air ballooning, gliding, etc. Gap-Céüze is a rock climber’s paradise with its 5 km of cliffs.
In Gap, the life of the city is a palette of colourful small squares and pedestrian streets, statues, fountains and coloured façades. Cycling will again have pride of place on Sunday 22nd August, when the Alpigap event takes place.
Click the 'To' option to go to the start of the Stage 10 posts.
The Stage starts at 13:00 local time CEST (6 hrs ahead of US EDT).
velonews.com - "Stage 10 is the last alpine stage, taking riders over only three categorized climbs with the most difficult, the Cat. 1 Cote de Laffrey, falling just 77km into the stage. While the profile looks somewhat benign for a stage in the Alps, history suggests otherwise. On a nearly identical course in 1971, Eddy Merckx experienced one of the most trying days of his Tour career. Unable to follow the accelerations of other top contenders on the Cote de Laffrey, he was forced to chase for 100km behind Spain’s Luis Ocaña. Merckx finished third, almost 9 minutes behind Ocaña. Only 38 riders finished within half an hour of the winner."
FReepmail me to get on or off the 2010 TdF Ping List.
And yet Merckx won th Tour in 1971. Ocana was leading by more than 8 m in in th GC after stage 13, but crashed badly and had to retire during stage 14. The Tour is never over until Avenue des Champs Élysées.
Awww I feel for Cadel. That was painful and he was so gutted at the end.
An-dy! An-dy!
Good point, SB. I knew that Merckx won the 1971 Tour, but wasn’t sure what had happened after the stage mentioned by velonews.
Ocaña won in 1973, only the 2nd Spaniard to win le Tour. 10 more wins after Ocaña, 5 of them being by Indurain. And the last 4 winners.
Bastille Day today. Joyeux Quatorze Juillet!
14:50 - Damiani - Cadel’s Tour is Not over...
“What happened yesterday is cycling… these things happen. I’m not happy because I’d be pleased to see Cadel in yellow in Paris. He is a fighter though and there are more mountains to come. I know him very well and I’m sure the Tour is not over for him yet.”
14:50 - Damiani On Cadel Evans...
“I am not happy about what I saw from Cadel,” said Damiani, Evans’ former directeur sportif (from Mapei in 2002 and Silence-Lotto in 2008/2009). “It’s a great shame for him. I’m really disappointed that this happened because I would be very happy to see Cadel win the Tour. “If you want my opinion, I have to say that I don’t think he did good work with his team. He worked a lot. Why? There was a lot energy spent yesterday.”
Break is almost 10’ ahead of peleton as they completed the Cat 3 climb on Côte des Terrasses
~74 km to go including Col du Noyer - 7.4 km climb to 5.3 %
14:23 - No Former Stage Winners In Escape
Of the six men ahead of the peloton - Aerts, Paulinho, Kiryienka, Devenyns, Bouet or Rolland - none have previously won a stage of the Tour. The best in the general classification is Mario Aerts (OLO) who is 44th after nine stages, 32’55” behind Schleck.
15:49 - Leaders At 97km Mark
Cancellara leads Nicki Sorensen, Matti Breschel and Stuart O’Grady as the peloton reaches the 1km to climb sing on the cote des Terrasses. This is a 3.3km long ascent with an average gradient of 7.1 per cent.
15:46 - Advantage Up To 10’00”
With 80km to go, the six escapees are 10 minutes ahead of the peloton that continues to be led by the eight Saxo Bank riders.
15:44 - Result Of Second Climb
The points for the cote des Terrasses were won by: 1. Aerts (OLO) 4pts 2. Kiryienka (GCE) 3pts 3. Rolland (BTL) 2pts 4. Paulinho (RSH) 1pt
I think I just heard that no FRA rider has won on Jul 14 since 2000...
15:11 - No Red, White & Blue Finishing Straight...
Gap hosted the stage finish of the Tour in 2003 on 14 July. On the day of Alexandre Vinokourov’s first victory in the race, the finishing straight was painted red, white and blue. That’s not the case for this stage on Bastille Day.
Nice to see RSH take a stage win. Go the Paulinho!
And RSH is now back in 2nd place in the Team category, 31” behind CAISSE D’EPARGNE.
Overall standing for the GC after Stage 10:
1. SCHLECK Andy 11 TEAM SAXO BANK 49h 00’ 56”
2. CONTADOR Alberto 1 ASTANA 49h 01’ 37” + 00’ 41”
3. SANCHEZ Samuel 181 EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 49h 03’ 41” + 02’ 45”
4. MENCHOV Denis 191 RABOBANK 49h 03’ 54” + 02’ 58”
5. VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen 101 OMEGA PHARMA - LOTTO 49h 04’ 27” + 03’ 31”
6. LEIPHEIMER Levi 25 TEAM RADIOSHACK 49h 04’ 55” + 03’ 59”
7. GESINK Robert 195 RABOBANK 49h 05’ 18” + 04’ 22”
8. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon 161 CAISSE D’EPARGNE 49h 05’ 37” + 04’ 41”
9. RODRIGUEZ OLIVER Joaquin 77 KATUSHA TEAM 49h 06’ 04” + 05’ 08”
10. BASSO Ivan 41 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 49h 06’ 05” + 05’ 09”
11. KREUZIGER Roman 44 LIQUIGAS-DOIMO 49h 06’ 07” + 05’ 11”
12. HESJEDAL Ryder 54 GARMIN - TRANSITIONS 49h 06’ 38” + 05’ 42”
13. ROCHE Nicolas 81 AG2R LA MONDIALE 49h 07’ 19” + 06’ 23”
14. VINOKOUROV Alexandre 9 ASTANA 49h 07’ 27” + 06’ 31”
15. ROGERS Michael 118 TEAM HTC - COLUMBIA 49h 08’ 00” + 07’ 04”
16. SASTRE Carlos 91 CERVELO TEST TEAM 49h 08’ 09” + 07’ 13”
17. WIGGINS Bradley 31 SKY PRO CYCLING 49h 08’ 14” + 07’ 18”
18. EVANS Cadel 121 BMC RACING TEAM 49h 08’ 43” + 07’ 47”
19. LÖVKVIST Thomas 37 SKY PRO CYCLING 49h 08’ 59” + 08’ 03”
20. KLÖDEN Andréas 24 TEAM RADIOSHACK 49h 10’ 01” + 09’ 05”
Good on you, Mr. Evans! Bonne chance to make it to Paris.
Popo went down hard, too. I'm watching at 103km to go right now.. first climb.
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