I’m finally here….my first Tour de France! We’ve been in the Swiss / French Alps for a couple weeks now waiting for the Tour to come to us. As much as I would have loved to have seen the first week, you’d have to be mad to follow around the tour all over the countryside. It would be a logistical nightmare. I’ve been having just as much fun doing my own Tour of France and watching the race on TV most days at a civil hour of the day.
I was advised that a great place to base ourselves for a few days would be Morzine. Stage 8 finished in this small French town, today is the rest day, and tomorrow we’ll see the riders off for Stage 9. That means we get to stay in one beautiful mountain town for 3 days, get some sensational riding in, mingle with the tour riders, and see both the start and the finish of a stage.
During the morning of Stage 8 I decided to ride up the final climb from Morzine to Avoriaz. It’s 13.6km at 6.1%. Those numbers don’t do it justice. I used every tooth of my 26T cassette to grind my way to the top. The highlight of the climb in-between my self-inflicted pain was bumping into Phil Anderson and having a good chat with him. Amazingly nice guy with some stories I wouldn’t believe if they were coming out of anyone else’s mouth. I was riding with a true legend who had ridden some historic stages on this exact same road. I had to pinch myself.
Any of you have have been to the Tour de France will know that the race is only a small part of the whole event. With the race brings the excitement, the anticipation, the engagement, the star power. The festivities and people surrounding the Tour make up the biggest part of the event which makes it phenomenal to be a part of. There’s a whole lot more I could say but my photos should describe it much better than words ever will. I’d only ruin it to try to explain it. Enjoy!
#1: 9am and this guy was already drunk as a skunk
#2: At 35 degrees on the hill Vittel was one of the most sought after sponsors of the tour
#3: These guys really know how to work a crowd for a cheap give-away. An advertisers dream!
#4: The candy freebies were always popular
#5: Girls on rollerblades always popular too
#6: Hello!
#7: Crazy Aussies absolutely everywhere
#8: GabyGaby painting memories on the roads throughout the tour. Check out www.GabyGabyOnTour.com
#9: Thor and the Norway flag were one of the most painted things on the road
#10: Once you get tired of the race caravan and all the freebies you can sit on the grass and watch the race on its way to Avoriaz
#11
#12: A kid's bike race up part of the climb before the real race came. How good would that be for this little guy?!
#13: Say "Fromage"!
#14: Or as they say in France..."Say Frites!"
#15
#16
#17: This Gendarmerie kept trying to act serious but could never hold it together
#18: The Finish Line into the ski resort Avoriaz
#19: Look at the faces of the best cyclists in the world!
#20: Good ol' Canuck Hesjedal moves into 6th on GC
#21: Lance cracks up to Avoriaz "Sometimes you're the nail, sometimes you're the hammer". I'm impressed with how he's handling the end of his era
#22: This is why it's called the "Red Kite Prayer"
#23
#24: The groupetto
#25
#26
#26: The second group coming towards the finish line
#27: Allez Allez Allez!!!
#28: Schleck and Sánchez 300m from the finish
#29: I love you Andy!!!
#30: Viva la France!
#31: Sánchez usually has a good kick but had nothing to respond to Schleck coming over him in the last few meters
#32:Robert Gesink was another popular name written all over the roads
#34: Chavanel had a bad day but one more day in yellow was all he wanted
#35: Matty Lloyd!
#36: Schleck and Raymond Poulidor, known as the eternal second. Second place in the TdF 3 times, 3rd place five times. He never wore the Yellow Jersey in 14 Tours
#37: Lance wasn't the only one who didn't want to talk to the media after the race. Every single rider was completely shattered
#38: The final work of GabyGaby
#39: There was no avoiding the queues on the way back down the hill
#40: Later that night, the Dutch fans watching the World Cup in horror. You could cut the tension with a knife with the Spaniards whooping it up across the street!
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Quiz
The winner of the BMC replica jersey and knicks from Friday’s trivia competition is ***Jii*** Congratulations! Please get in touch with me so I can get you the details. (cyclingtips at gmail dot com)
Today’s prize will be an Apres Velo women’s clothing pack worth $220. It contains a long sleeve hooded T shirt, a V-neck T-shirt, a semi fitted crew neck tee, a watterbottle, a coffee mug, and a pair of low cut socks. (Click image for larger picture).
The prize will go to anyone who gets the trivia answers correct or provides a winning caption for one of the photos (mine are horrible since it’s 2am and I have a drunk Brit talking my ear off next to me).
1. Under an agreement between the UCI and Tour organisers, this year 16 teams are automatically selected by UCI world rankings, with the balance given a wild card from the organisers. Name a team invited because they were not automatically selected?
2. Only 5 riders in history have won all 3 Grand Tours, who was the last to do so?
3. True or False – Andy & Frank Schleck’s father is famous as a politician and former Olympic speed skater in Luxemburg.
4. In the 1971 TdF, Eddie Merckx refused to wear the yellow jersey. Why?
A. It clashed with Merckx’s team nicks.
B. Merckx was protesting at the officials’ heavy handling of his actions in the previous stage sprint.
C. Luis Ocana crashed heavily losing giving the lead to Merckx, who refused to wear it when Ocana pulled out after the stage.
{ 45 comments }
1 . BMC
2 Stephen Roche 1987, also won the world championships that year I think.
3 (A guess) – true
4 No idea and I'm not going to google it – II'm guessing that he did not agree with or was not happy with the reason it was bestowed on him. Maybe after previous holder suffered some misfortune? Tom Simpson… Really clutching at straws, but I'm sure the truth will emerge from other more knowledgable readers.
Great coverage of the Tour CT!
GO CADEL!
Ah, you sly dog. I was looking at the photos thinking they were all yours! :)
Excellent photos from you and Sirotti. If you need someone to carry your bags next trip, consider my hand up.
Oops – Have now read all of the questions and edit my answer (guess) to 4 c
1. BMC Racing
2. Alberto Contador
3. False. He was a pro cyclist and now, businessman
4. C
VIVA EL CICLISMO…VIVA EL TOUR DE FRANCE.
MUCHAS GRACIAS POR ETAS IMÁGENES…. FELICIDADES…
1. WADA
2. The fifth one, obviously
3. True (but Lux so small that all citizens are famous for something)
4. He didn't think he'd earned it, yet (and anyway, it kept making him hum 'Yellow submarine' right through the stage – he hates that song)
1. BMC “Oh we have the Yellow Jersey and Rainbow Jersey..just as well you invited us” Racing
2. Alberto Contador – Tour dF in 07 and 09, Vuelta and Giro double in 08. No rider has won all three in the same year.
3. False. Rode in 7 Tour dF's
4. C. Done out of respect to Ocana.
Great Pics Wade. I had to look twice and three times before realising that some of the pics had Sirotti on them. Hard to tell the difference. Great camera work.
#23. “Hey..You with the Camera….Pull your head in I can't see them coming!!!”
1) BMC
2) Alberto Contador
3) False
4) C
Heard at the BV breakfast this morning that Italian cycoling coach Paolo Bettini and some of his team (incl. Pellizotti) arrive tonight to scope out the worlds course.
Look out for some very slick suntanned dudes on the bikes tomorrow down Geelong way…
MAGNIFIQUE! How fantastic! The only place I want to be right now.
GabyGaby … FantasticFantastic! … the new Banksy, what a publicity machine!
BMC
Contador
False, (ex-PRO)
C
(… isn't that the Danish flag?)
Ok as a girl I'm crossing all my fingers and toes for this prize!
1) BMC
2) Alberto 'Pistolero” Contador
3) False
4) Eddy was too much of a hard man to go with answer b on this one so I'm going for C.
Caption for photo 40. Anyone else got a hankering for frites with tentacles? That octopus is dead I tell you – dead!
Photo #1
Cavendish makes it to the line at last, trialling the new HTFU helmet.
Photo #12
Robbie McEwen gets smaller every year. This shot was just taken before he rode into the camerman's knee.
Photo #15
If these are normal kids, 5 seconds after this photo was taken the mascot would have been kicked and punched and robbed of his lollies.
Photo #31
Sanchez' last resort is to punch Schleck in the ass.
Photo #35
35 degree day and Matt Lloyd has goose bumps? Is the guy reptilian?
Wade, nice quest appearance on the GabyGaby Lance Video too! :)
1. Radioshack – doesn't hurt to invite the 7 time winner
2. El Pistolero – Alberto Contador
3. FALSE. Like Father, Like Son – an ex elite cyclist
4. C – out of respect for Luis Ocana. Armstrong tried to do something similar in the 2005 tour de france He refused to start in the yellow jersey after David Zabriskie crashed out in Stage 4, but put it on after the neutral zone on request of the race organisers
#38 Is that Lance splattered all over the road again?
FYI Simpson was 67
1
The current selection system is not based on world rankings, the new one (starting 2011) will be… Footon may be in trouble…
This system was based on the 18 Protour teams of 2008
Anyway, I think I can list them all, BMC, Cevelo, (which are Pro -Continental) and Radioshack, Sky, Katusha and Garmin (which are ProTour). The original agreement was for 18 Protour teams at the time, however, since then 2 have disbanded (Credit Agricole and ??) but the new ProTour teams do not automatically take their place. Garmin was Pro-Continental at the time, so it was not included
Also in a typically French way BBox and Cofidis are no longer ProTour, and have gone back to Pro-Continental yet they get to keep their guaranteed invite. I just remember shit like that and I spend WAY too much time reading CyclingNews
2 Alberto Contrador, nice revenge for Astana being excluded.
3 False, Schleck Senior was a professional cyclist, with some success. That doesn't make the other things false… I just think they may be.
4 C, because everyone else thinks so and it seems reasonable
Great set of Pics CT, I must admit I felt like I was cold turkey yesterday ;-)
I love how Gesink (in shot #32) is pulling that exact same face in every photo I've ever seen of him!
Lloydy looks SHATTERED. Speaking of, can I share this video with the group? http://www.youtube.com/v/Xem58NKQigs
1. BMC
2. Alberto Contador
3. False
4. C (because most everyone else says C)
Nice photos, hope you are enjoying the Tour experience.
here's my quiz answers. I need the prize because it's my wife's birthday coming up and I'm clean out of good present ideas…
1) BMC were invited as a wild-card
2) Contador
3) false
4) because Ocana had crashed.
Q1 Cofidis
Q2 Contador
Q3 Joe Scleck rode for Bic cycling team
Q4 C
@haitch love the video Bring back the Biff!
1. BMC Racing
2. Alberto Contador
3. False. He was a pro cyclist and now, businessman
4. Not sure, but I'll go with C
Normally I don't like the US Tour coverage, but…
http://video.competitor.com/2010/07/cycling/vel...
Thank you Holly, another outstanding job…
Is it just me, or does photo #31 look like Sanchez is stabbing Schleck in the leg with a big knife? Surely that's cheating? No wonder Andy was waving his arms around like a lunatic
#1 BMC,
#2 Alberto Contador.
#3 False, the boys followed in his pedal steps.
#4 C, in respect of Ocana after he crashed
Is it just me or does Lloydy have an alfoil skullcap on? (photo #35)
I guess it would reflect the heat but it can't be too breathable…
1. BBOX
2. Alberto Contador
3. False, his older bro is the politician, Father an ex pro. I'm pretty sure The Schlecks are actually 4th generation cyclists.
4. C, respect for Ocana. Interestingly Lance tried to same thing after Zabriskies crash in 2005, no dice though.
1. RadioShack, BMC, Garmin-Transitions, Katusha, Cervelo, Sky
2. Alberto Contador (2007 – TDF, 2008 – Giro & Vuelta)
3. FALSE. This is a case of “Like father, Like Son”
4. Because Ocana dropped out shortly after smashing Merckx by 8 mins in stage 11. (Obviously couldn't bring himself to put it on after being beaten)
#18 – After Robbie McEwen's post stage crash, all officials are now required to wear crash protective clothing……
#23 – A young Jan Ulrich????
#31 – They aren't waiting to go home…. they've all been drinking too much beer….
is gerolsteiner the other one?
Yes, thank you BC, how quick we can forget, only it was only 3-4 years ago there were about 1000 Gerolsteiner's doing beach road… then Schumacher, and Tintin (later Kohl) and then no sponsor..
1 – BMC
2 – Alberto Contador
3 – False
4 – c
I think Andy Schleck is trying to out-do Contador for the worst celebration prize. That dancing or climbing monkey thing just looked ridiculous.
I'm not surprised that Lloydy looks shattered. It was very hot and humid on Sunday.
I watched the race on the Ramaz climb (the first cat 1 of the day). Not quite as mad as on the Morzine, but still thousands upon thousands of people watching.
The Ramaz reminded me very much of Donna Buang, in terms of . A bit shorter, slightly steeper (the steepest bit is probably a tad steeper than Donna Buang), but with the same overall profile – moderately hard at the bottom, the steepest bit in the middle, then it eases off for that last bit, with one final kick (though Donna Buang's kick at the end is harder).
I didn't have a bike, which is bad on two counts – one, you really, really want to ride the climb yourself to get a sense of the difficulty, and two, it's by far the easiest way to get on and off the mountain (assuming the weather's OK). It's like doing the Alpine Classic with a cheer squad. It was like the back end of the Alpine Classic in another way, too – there were a lot of people really struggling up the hill.
Oh, and another thing – Lance was dropped well before he even got to the foot of the Morzine climb. He was struggling up the Ramaz. Boy was he pissed-off – but if I'd had his day, I'd probably be pissed-off too.
your picture #9 is probarbly of a Danish flag
Great shots Wade, I'm very jealous, although it was a great stage to watch on TV…
1 Team Sky
2 Alberto Contador
3 False
4 C
Unless the guy in #9 has some blue paint stashed out of view, that's gonna end up a Danish flag. ;)
1) BMC
2) Alberto Contador
3) False
4) C
Caption #37…. If I took drugs, do you think I would have bonked?
1 BMC
2 Contador
3 False
4 C
#37 “I knew I should have had FOUR weetbix and a banana…”
1. BMC
2. El Pistolero
3. False
4. C
I have a question for you CT, will you be getting a media pass for the World Champs this year like you did with the TDU?
Hope your having fun!
Well, it could easily turn into a Norwegian flag (Blue cross in the white one). But at the stage it is a Danish one.
Else superb pics. I love the expression Basso and Kreuzinger have.
Out of competition answers:
1. Cervelo
2. Contador
3. False
4. C
caption for #23… F*** this purple thing, where is my vuvuzela!!!!
Ah yes…to avoid confusion, the photos watermarked “cycling tips” are mine, and the ones “cycling tips sirotti” are taken by stephano sirotti
I figured that out after a while. The Sirotti tag is pretty small though. You need to jump on the back of a moto and see how you go. I reckon it would be hard work myself.
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