Posted on 07/01/2011 7:58:26 PM PDT by Ready4Freddy
I was used to do a lot of work on the road and if I didn't get spit out on a climb I would be given some time to suck wheels and rest a bit then use what I had left to set up our sprinter. When things worked right we would find our way to the front with (hopefully) four riders in good position at the kilo flag. I would be #2 in line and once our speed man took us up to a good head of steam he would roll off at about 850 meters and I would be expected to put the hammer down for 3 - 400 meters.
I was expected to know where our main challenge was coming from and protect the lane. On a good day I would be able to hold our speed and maybe even gain just a shade. By the time I was spent I would be looking for a safe line to hold and if my job was done good there would be an opening for our 3 man to start the jump and take our sprinter with him. Our preference was for me to find the windward side of the road and stay far enough in from the shoulder that anyone trying to surprise us would have to push wind to pass. If no one was there, that is the lane I would roll off in. Sometimes I would just think about spinning the smallest circles I could until I just had no more, then just hold my line, let them pick their route and watch the mayhem begin.
To see a pair of my mates blow by me accelerating like they had a nitro boost and spot my teammate's arms go up at the line was an unexplainable feeling of accomplishment. One sprinter I rode with for a couple of years was so fast, it was a delight to see him turn it on.
ANYWAY ... when I watch the kind of team work that is going on at the front it is the best part of the race to me. The aerial views of the run up to the line are spectacular. Seeing Thor working to lead out Tyler Farrar for an American win on the 4th of July was as good as it gets. I LOVE THIS SPORT!
Stage 6 - Dinan > > > Lisieux - 226.5 km
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Km 99.5 - Côte de Saint-Michel de Montjoie - 2.4 km climb to 5.9 % - Category 3
Km 156.5 - Côte du Bourg d'Ouilly - 2.7 km climb to 5.6 % - Category 3
Km 197.0 - Côte du Billot - 1.3 km climb to 6.5 % - Category 4
Stage 6 - Dinan > > > Lisieux - 226.5 km
Thursday, July 7, 2011
En ligne - A sporting perspective
JEAN-FRANÇOIS PESCHEUX’S ANALYSIS : An opportunity for the puncheurs
“The Tour’s longest stage is not flat. Because we are in Normandy, the route is rolling. We will have to wait and see what happens with any breakaway riders. Although it’s not ‘a wall’ of 10%, there is a decent climb 1.5km from the finish in front of the basilica in Lisieux. Some good riders are sure to lose contact there because the peloton is bound to split apart. If a breakaway group is still clear, not all of them will be able to stay with the pace at this point. A stage profile of this type does not suit the Tour’s favourites, and certainly not a pure climber such as Andy Schleck, but will suit a puncheur. Once again, just like the finish on the Mûr-de-Bretagne, the qualities of a rider in the mould of Philippe Gilbert will come to the fore on a stage like this.”
(letour.com)
Stage 6 - Dinan > > > Lisieux - 226.5 km
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Dinan
• Stage town on 6 previous occasions
• 11, 600 inhabitants
• Sub-prefecture of Côtes-d’Armor (22)
Perched on a hillside overlooking the River Rance, Dinan boasts one Brittany’s richest architectural heritages, and doesn’t hide its pride for its city walls, with its 14 watchtowers, its four colossal gates and its imposing keep, constructed in the fourteenth century for Duke Jean IV. With its ancient streets lined with fifteenth- and sixteenth-century timber-framed houses with pointed gables, corbelled floors and wooden porches, its Renaissance hotels, its tall Enlightenment period residences, its churches, its old convents and its chapels, Dinan has retained its charm of yesteryear. It is a city which visitors never forget. Steeped in history, it has consistently fought off invaders who have tried to plunder its riches. And mediaeval area of Dinan is a veritable time machine, inviting visitors to follow in the footsteps of such greats as Bertrand du Guesclin, Duchess Anne of Chateaubriand and Auguste Pavie. Dinan is a fine place to lose yourself while walking.
The town is the birthplace for the French Women’s Champion on many occasions, Edwige Pitel, but its history with cycling began long before that date. Every year, between 1927 and 1931, the Tour stopped in the small port on the banks of the River Rance, where five different winners were crowned. The Tour’s last visit there was in 1995, with the start of a stage which finished in Lannion that was won by Fabio Baldato. Since then, the leading cyclists have continued to go to Dinan, for the Ruban Granitier Breton which has since become the Tour of Brittany.
Lisieux
• Stage town on 3 previous occasions
• 24, 000 inhabitants
• Sub-prefecture of Calvados (14)
The Pays d’Auge, of which Lisieux is the capital, is real Normandy picture-postcard territory – a preserved natural environment, and home to horses, cows, cheeses and apple trees, combining everything that the collective imagination of Normandy conjures up, and complemented with a quite exceptional geographical location. Thanks to its position at the heart of the triangle which makes up Normandy’s three main cities – Caen, Rouen and Le Havre – Lisieux is more than justified in selling itself as being at the heart of Normandy life. It’s a human-sized town, with easy access to such amenities as a theatre, an aquatics centre, activity halls, a nursery school and access to higher education, combining to offer a privileged lifestyle. It’s both a ’country town’, with plenty of parks and open spaces, and a town with plenty of shops, enjoying a good level of tourism thanks to its international reputation as France’s most visited site of pilgrimage after Lourdes. A diverse, dynamic and modern city, Lisieux prides itself on looking after its visitors as well as it does its own inhabitants.
The renowned pilgrimage city of Lisieux will welcome the Tour’s cyclists for the fourth time. In 1964 just like in 1970, the two arrivals which took place there were both after «Breton-Norman» stages, had a sprint finish and were won by Belgian cyclists, Edouard Sels and Walter Godefroot. During the Tour’s last visit there in 2006, the race route went in the opposite direction, starting in Lisieux and finishing in Vitré and another sprinter was victorious there: Robbie McEwen, the most Belgian of Australian cyclists.
Carly Hibberd - a female cyclist - was hit and killed by a car in Italy yesterday during a training ride.
Wasn’t it about 2 years ago during that TdF that a car took out 6 or 8 female riders on a training ride killing a number of them - also in Italy (?).
What a day yesterday.
What an interesting tale of cycling from one who knows! Please share more of your racing experience!
What an interesting tale of cycling from one who knows! Please share more of your racing experience!
You may or may not believe me but my cat walked across my laptop while that last one was posting and hit the trackpad. Voila! Double post! =^..^=
Stage 7 - Le Mans > > > Châteauroux - 218 km
Friday, July 8, 2011
No categorised climbs in Stage 7
Stage 7 - Le Mans > > > Châteauroux - 218 km
Friday, July 8, 2011
En ligne - A sporting perspective
JEAN-FRANÇOIS PESCHEUX’S ANALYSIS: How will the yellow jersey play it?
“Today’s profile is the flattest of this year’s race and that will probably result in a victory for one of the contenders for the green jersey. Of course, the terrain decides the nature of the route, and in order to get to the Pyrenees from Normandy we have to cross an area where there are no real difficulties. Because of the nature of the stages that have been completed so far, the yellow jersey will not be on the shoulders of one of the race’s favourites, but it will still be in the possession of a strong team because one of those stages will have been the team time trial. It might perhaps be a Rabobank rider that has it, like Gesink, or an HTC rider, like Martin. But if they are truly determined on contending for the overall title they will no doubt want to pass it on to someone else as quickly as possible. But if someone like Gilbert has it, his Omega Pharma-Lotto team will do all they can to hang to it.”
(letour.com)
Stage 7 - Le Mans > > > Châteauroux - 218 km
Friday, July 8, 2011
Le Mans
• Stage town on 7 previous occasions
• 150, 000 inhabitants
• Prefecture of Sarthe (72)
The Le Mans 24 Hour motor race attracts 200,000 spectators to its circuit each year, and has made the town of Le Mans famous the world over. But sport in general in Le Mans and the Sarthe department attracts more than 100,000 practitioners of all abilities, with access to 1,700 sporting clubs. This is reflected by the huge sports complex, the Pôle d’Excellence, which brings together a motor circuit, a karting circuit, a racecourse, an equestrian centre, a velodrome and the MMArena – the new home for the Le Mans FC football team. Opened at the beginning of this year, the stadium doubles as both a sports arena and a venue for live musical and theatrical events. Just 15 minutes away by tram from the TGV train station, it’s accessible from Paris in an hour. In addition, both Le Mans and the Sarthes general council remain extremely active when it comes to cultural events, hosting the Festival de l’Epau, devoted to classical music, as well as La Nuit des Chimères – a summer-long laser light show – in Plantagenêt, the old town area of Le Mans.
Thanks to the rich history of the 24 Hours, one of the monuments of motor sports, the prefecture of Sarthe is renowned throughout the world. It is also the birthplace of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and of … Jimmy Engoulvent. Firstly, when he was a small boy, the French cyclist was present when Laurent Fignon won the individual time-trial at the beginning of the 1984 Tour. Engoulvent also saw the peloton pass in front of his family home in July 1988, where Jean-Paul Van Poppel outsprinted the daily breakaway, much to its despair, as well as that of Jérôme Simon and his young supporter from Le Mans.
Châteauroux
• Stage town on 2 previous occasions
• 49, 000 inhabitants
• Prefecture of Indre (36)
The ’Château Raoul’ is the name of the town’s fifth century château, which belonged to Lord Raoul Le Large, and from whom Châteauroux got its name. The town is also the birthplace of celebrated French actor Gérard Depardieu. Châteauroux is a sporting town that boasts 12,000 practitioners across around 50 different sports, with 35 kilometres of bike paths and 193 secure bike parks in which to lock up your pride and joy. Among the town’s main sports clubs are the Berrichonne football team, the 2004 French Cup finalists, the elite level Castelroussin 36 triathlon club and the Rugby Athlétique Club Castelroussin, who ply their trade in the second division. Situated two hours from Paris, Châteauroux is well known for its metallurgy and farm-produce industries, but also for its expertise in aeronautics, electronics and information technology, ensuring development in the high-tech sectors. The future combines the new HEI school of engineering and an 850-hectare international business park built adhering to the ’High Quality Environment standard’ principles of sustainable development.
The only two stage finishes that took place in Châteauroux were ten years apart, with the victory of two exceptional sprinters, who together have notched up a total of 27 stages wins. Indeed, in1998 Mario Cipollini was the winner in the prefecture town of Indre. Then in 2008, Mark Cavendish experienced his first stage win on the Tour in Châteauroux. Since then the town has continued to host the Châteauroux-Classic de l’Indre, where Jimmy Casper and Anthony Ravard were successful during the last two editions.
My, my that finish was a thing of beauty!
Wow! Mark Cavendish is a bad man.
Yep a great finish. It would have been interesting to see the finish had they not had all the crashes taking some of the riders out of it.
Probably the naked people..................
All that wasted fuel. ;)
I have Eurosport on while I work so I can't speak to what you heard. Everyone uses the same France 2 feed, though, so pictures from the race are all the same.
They do show close ups of the injured riders. The cameras are inches away looking for signs of torn clothing, road rash, blood, pain, etc.
Yesterday, they had a motorcycle riding alongside Boonen as he was trying without succcess to catch up to the pack after his crash.
The Eurosports guys were saying that it was the epitome of SUCK to have a camera in your face when your're fighting a losing battle and in obvious, extreme pain.
The cameras were inches away from Bradley Wiggins in distress today, too.
I would not be surprised if viewers were referring that.
Usually the French feed doesn't show racy spectators, etc., and I can't remember anything else unusual the last couple of days.
The one you linked to won't play for me. But, I remember it well because even the chain ring was spinning.
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