Yesterday was the 30th edition of the Clásica San Sebastián-San Sebastián. The route was slightly lengthened this year up to 234 Km to include decisive 7.8km Jaizkibel climb twice instead of once. For the life of my I cannot fathom how these guys are able to back it up after just finishing the TdF and racing some of the post-tour criteriums last week. It’s astounding how they can put their bodies through this much suffering.
Richie Porte (read interview here) was the only Australian racing San Sebastián. He once again proved to us that he’s more than a flash in the pan. Outstanding effort coming in 10th! Before the race he humbly twittered:
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Okay, I promise this is my last post about the Tour de France for another 330 days. I just had to share this sensational photo gallery from Australian photographer Mike Hone. Mike is originally from Sydney but is working in the United States as a designer for Adobe. He’s heavily involved in the cycling scene in the US and is a former teammate of Tyler Farrar. He was lucky to get his first press pass to the Tour de France this year and did a similar trip to what I experienced. Riding, enjoying the Tour, and snapping a bunch of photos. However, Mike is a REAL photographer, not a happy snap photog like myself.
Here is a collection of his work from the 2010 TdF in no particular order. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
Have a fabulous weekend and ride hard!
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As many of you already know the reason I was able to swing my TdF trip was because BMC invited me to their 2011 product launch in Switzerland. It was like winning the lottery. I couldn’t think of anything more perfect since it also allowed me to get back to my primal MTB roots and do the Pass’Portes du Soleil with my good mate Pat.
Both Pat and I attended BMC’s product launch in the small town of Grenchen, Switzerland (pronounced with a strong, back of the throat, German accent). It’s also the capital of many of the Swiss watch making factories. If you want a good example of Swiss precision, this is probably the best place to visit.
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It’s tempting to wish the Tour de France would go on for another month, but all good things must come to an end. However I still have TdF fever and don’t really want to stop talking about it just yet.
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A few weeks ago Alejandro Valverde agreed to an interview where the questions were asked by you, the readers of Cycling Tips. As you all know, Alejandro is under a two year suspension for his involvement in Operación Puerto. He has contested the decision, is fighting to prove he’s innocent, and has announced that he is launching a lawsuit against CONI’s anti-doping prosecutor Ettore Torri .
Thank you to Jarrod Partridge (from Cycling Tribe) for conducting this interview. Alejandro’s English is limited so this had to be translated. It’s difficult to dig too deep and have a good dialogue under these circumstances, but I’m pleased with Alejandro’s openness with us.
If you have any follow-up questions for Alejandro please feel free to post them in the comments section under the post. I’ll do my best to invite him over here to clarify.
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I hope this spoiler didn’t come as a surprise to anyone
I always feel so empty the morning after the Tour de France finishes. Tired, used and beaten up. This year is worst than most. After being there in amongst it all and understanding what the hype is all about I’ve become even more of a cycling fan than I already was. It was already a dream come true getting to go to the Tour this year and even if it never happens again my life will still be complete!
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I’ve arrived safely back here in Melbourne and it seems like a lifetime ago that I was riding the exact same roads as the stage that just took place. I was able to see the first 50km of the race from Singapore airport but the rest of the details are a mystery to me. From what I read we didn’t see the fireworks we were hoping for between Contador and Schleck on the Col du Tourmalet. Nonetheless, after riding it twice myself over the past week I would have loved to have seen the stage.
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Photo by Robin Wilmott
Jens, you are as hard as they come. You chase back onto the groupetto using kids bike with toe clips after crashing at 70km/hr. What else would you do? Chapeau you bloody legend.
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I’m sad to say that this is our last day in France for the 2010 Tour. I’m usually ready to go home after a month of being away, but this has gone by so fast and we’re just getting settled into one of the most beautiful places in the world – the Pyrenees.
We had intended to climb up the Tourmalet to watch today’s stage but the logistics proved to be too difficult. Or should I say, the 35km climb from where we are staying proved to be too difficult! In any case, we planted ourselves in a small town at the base of the Tourmalet to take part in the festivities and watch the riders come through. We still had a fantastic time and managed to get a good ride in as well. What more could we ask for?
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Cycling can be a strange sport sometimes due to the unwritten rules of etiquette. In stage 2 from Brussels to Spa we saw some nasty crashes that brought down half the peloton on some dangerous roads where the cyclists themselves decided to neutralize the race. The very next day we saw similar carnage over the cobbles where the riders took advantage of the splits and misfortune that occurred. The different circumstances in each stage were subtle but to anyone who knows the sport of cycling it’s obvious what is appropriate for each situation.
Last night we saw another rule of etiquette broken – Alberto Contador attacking Andy Schleck while dealing with a mechanical. Schleck attacked, popped it into the big ring, and dropped his chain. Contador, most likely under DS direction (they have satellite TV in the team cars and knew exactly what was happening), attacked Schleck to gain enough time to claim the yellow jersey. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw what was happening.
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