The Chain Letter

Quick Round Up

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:53:07 +0100

Well, that’s it for another year. Don’t panic, we always have the Vuelta. I’m going to try and keep the blog going for as long as possible, give a bit of insight into the other grand tours and maybe a bit of domestic riding if time and money permits!

Thanks to everyone who’s helped with this blog over the past few weeks - big shout outs to Dave Le Grys, and Eurosport’s David Harmon for writing the Ventoux stage for me.

Thanks to my daily “Expert Opinion” who anonymously bought a bit of insight into the stages for us.

My highlights include David Millar’s breakaway in Barcelona, Dave Zabriskie’s bottom wiggle in the TTs, Bradley Wiggins climb up Ventoux (“He’s gone…. He’s BACK… No, he’s gone again… No wait, THERE HE IS… ”), Mark Cavendish’s inability to lose, and Fabian Cancellara just seeming to be the coolest guy in the Peloton (that descent, the bow when he lost yellow, u-turning to fetch Millar’s Garmin gadget that he’d dropped, and finally taking photos of everyone whilst riding stage 21) - Gawd love you, Fab.

And finally, thanks to all the riders - those spectacular, brave, frankly insane people, without whom the race wouldn’t be possible.

Stage 21 - Contador wins le Tour de France 2009.

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 23:36:29 +0100

Le Tour is over. Contador claimed his second victory, Cav maintained his amazing ability to outsprint everyone in the race, Bradley Wiggins surprised us all with his bravery and ability, and the world watched Lance Armstrong with baited breath. It’s been a whirlwind few weeks (except for that steady slog in the middle) and I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted - and that’s not just because I’ve only just got in after two trains and a taxi from Paris.

There’s not much to report from the actual riding of Stage 21 - the riders take it easy and drink champagne whilst nattering amongst each other and posing for photos, and you already know how it ended.

Mark Cavendish crossed the line in a little over 4 hours, with around 120 riders in the bunch immediately behind him, including Green Jersey rival Thor Hushovd. Cav couldn’t scrape together enough points to claim the jersey back, so the Norwegian kept the points jersey. The other jerseys all remained unchanged after the final stage with Pellizotti in polka dot and Andy Schleck in the white ‘young riders’ top.

The top five of the GC remained unchanged also, with Contador at the top (completing the 21 stages in 85 hours, 48 minutes and 35 seconds), Andy Schleck second at 4 minutes 11 seconds down, Lance Armstrong third at 5 minutes 24 seconds down on his team mate Contador, Bradley Wiggins in fourth at 6 minutes 1 second down and Frank Schleck in fifth 6 minutes 4 seconds behind Contador and just under two minutes slower than his younger brother.

Aside from Wiggins finishing in the equal highest position ever achieved by a Brit in the Tour de France (matching Robert Millar’s 1984 position), Charlie Wegelius was the second highest Brit in the GC at 59, followed by David Millar in 85th place and Mark Cavendish at 131.

Cav takes Stage 21.

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:00:00 +0100

Mark Cavendish was, yet again, perfectly lined up by his team mates for his 6th stage win this tour. The Place de Concorde was teeming with fans bearing the heat to cheer on their brave boys and the day that is for them alone.. Full results are yet to come in so more as I hear them.

I would bring you updates but i have no idea what's happening...

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:08:00 +0100

Title says it all really! If you want atmosphere, come to Paris, if you want to know who crosses the line first, watch it on telly! There’s a breakaway with about 9 riders, at an estimate. The pace is really quick for a ‘parade’ stage…

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Danish fans…?

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 16:03:00 +0100

I’m going to go out on a limb and say Danish fans…?

One for Cuddles…

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 14:25:00 +0100

One for Cuddles…

Photo

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:45:40 +0100

Technical Glitches!

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:48:45 +0100

Apologies for the horizontal pictures and cut off text, i’ve never updated a website from my phone before - technophobe that I am! In Paris, the sun is shining, the music is pounding, and the vin blanc is on ice. The riders are yet to be spotted, but the flags are out in force….

The Nike store on the Champs Elysee, giant Livestrong band and...

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:17:00 +0100

The Nike store on the Champs Elysee, giant Livestrong band and all.

Crowds are already gathering on the Champs Elysees.

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 12:00:00 +0100

Crowds are already gathering on the Champs Elysees.

Ventoux 3 - Stage 20: battle for the podium

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 11:18:00 +0100

In only one previous visit to the Mount Ventoux has the victor of the stage ever arrived at the top in the company of another rider. Back in 2000, this year’s returning superstar Lance Armstrong was at the beginning of his run of a record breaking 7 victories when flyweight Italian mountainmeister Marco Pantani pipped the Texan, already in the yellow jersey, to the thin white line that marks the point where you stop racing and become a tour legend.

Marco sadly, is no longer with us, but his rival for glory that day returned to the ‘bald mountain’ yesterday less with victory in mind than the fierce battle at hand to defend his position as 3^rd best rider in this the world’s most prestigious bicycle race.

Forget the seemingly untouchable position of Alberto Contador and the dynamic sparkle of Andy Schleck in the best young rider’s jersey, the only race that mattered on Saturday was the mad scramble for the final step of the podium.

Less than 40 seconds separated 3^rd to 6^th and with Andy determined to help out big brother Frank, Maida Vale Mod pitted against Texan Cowboy and the German Kloden, lurking below the surface like a U-boat, it may not have been shaping up to be a battle of tempo but more a battle of tactics and so it proved.

As one viewer of Eurosport put it, ‘Standard Bruyneel Operating Procedure’ or SBOP had already be achieved by the time the peloton swung out of the village of Bedoin to face the battering of the Mistral on the Ventoux, with less than 40 riders able to hold the pace of Astana on the flat, let alone the mountain itself.

Contador waitied, Schleck Jr attacked, Contador responded….. and so it went on with the lanky Luxembourger displaying brotherly love above all real instinct to race as he spent as much time looking backwards down the mountain for brother Frank as up it for a chance to try and break the yellow jersey. With all instinct to race at the front removed by filial feeling , the focus of every good bikie’s attentions, and that of the moto cameras, focussed largely on the fascinating slow waltz being played out by the aforementioned cast of characters.

And slow was the operative word. So slow in fact did the wheeling, rotating group of protagonists become that riders put on the rivet at the foot of the climb by Astana such as Pellizotti (Liquigas)and Van den Broeck (Silence-Lotto) not only rode back up to the big men but scooted past them sensing that if the dancing stopped and hostilities resumed , just like their own homelands of Italy and Belgium in any war…. they’d be buggered.

But wait, I’m forgetting something here. Podium places aside, the day had started with the inevitable breakaway that, on reaching the climb, had so little advantage over the ravaging hordes that on any normal day it would have been confined to oblivion, but this was no ordinary day. The extraordinary by product of the wheeling and pirouetting behind meant that Spain’s Juan Manuel Garate (Rabobank)and German Tony Martin (Columbia HTC) remained ahead on the road with Garate able to outsprint Martin for the line and write his name in the record books beside those of Gaul, Poulidor, Merckx, Thevennet, Bernard, Pantani and Virenque. The last laugh will be on the dance troupe behind because in 20 years few looking at the record books will remember the struggle for 3^rd in Paris, but all will register Juan Manuel Garate as winner.

Down behind the ecstatic Spaniard it was U-boat Kloden who was first to be sunk, scuppering all hopes the German might have had of making up the 2” deficit on British Battlecruiser Bradley Wiggins. The double Olympic Pursuit champion himself was in choppy waters as he slid slowly back from Frank Schleck and the incredible Lance Armstrong who secured his podium spot but wringing every last drop of horsepower from his motor denied the Luxembourger the opportunity to move to forth in the standings and in the process equalled the best ever position by a Brit in the final general classification.

Today’s final stage should be a procession…I say should….but who would bet against Wiggins going for a long one and 3rd spot overall……

Paris Baby! - Stage 21

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0100

After a huge overnight slog from down near the south coast up to Paris, the riders will be greeted with the sight of the Champs Elysee - the thought which has no doubt kept them going since Monaco.

Do I need to tell you about Paris? Oh, okay, I will. It’s the capital of France, it’s famously expensive, and I will be reporting there live (or as live as can be expected when I’m over excited and possibly inebriated) on Sunday. The tour has finished on the Champs Elysee since 1975 - prior to that it finished in a stadium just to the west of Paris - and it’s the perfect opportunity for showboating, sprinting, or desperately trying to grasp those last few seconds needed to put you on the podium. It’s a circuit race that covers 164km through the tourist spots and sights of the city before finishing on the Champs Elysee, which is perhaps fittingly French for Elysian Fields - the final resting place of the heroic and brave in Greek Mythology. A title deserved of most riders in this crazy event.

I’m writing this in advance so as to get it to you before I leave, but as of today, I can’t see any big upsets taking place on the boulevard. Any major alterations to the GC will have occurred on the Ventoux, and I imagine today will be chance for Mark Cavendish to have one last moment in the sun after forfeiting the green jersey last week.

What do the experts think?

“The showcase day and hopefully everyone enjoys it, a strolling pace to the Seine with a bit of photography and fooling about involved then the speed gradually increases as the bunch passes the Eiffel Tour and the yellow jersey team lead onto the finishing circuits. It’s a script everyone knows and Astana will enforce without too much trouble, there might be a few dissenters but the sprinters’ teams will soon take control and the inevitable showdown will take place. Mark Cavendish is the fastest and the big favourite to take the stage he really wants to win but Columbia will need to get the leadout done perfectly otherwise there’ll be plenty of chancers willing to take a flyer before the final corner.”

So, I guess all that remains to be said is that I’ll see you in Paris! Vive le Tour.

Montelimar to Mont Ventoux - Stage 20

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:00:00 +0100

Didn’t that come quickly? The penultimate stage of the 2009 Tour de France is upon us. Montelimar, Nougat capital of the world, sees the riders depart on a 167km route to the summit finish as HC mountain, Mont Ventoux - The Giant of Provence.

I’ve already explained a little of Mont Ventoux’s history and significance in Le Tour, so I won’t delve too far into that again, but suffice to say this is the bad boy and will separate the men from the, well, lesser men.

Your Ventoux round up will hopefully be bought to you by a very special guest writer as I will be in Paris awaiting the final stage, and with no internet connection. This does mean that you’ll hopefully (if I can figure out how to do it from my phone) be receiving exclusive updates and photos from the finish line. Huzzah!

So, what do the experts have in mind for Stage 20?

“Ouch this is a finish which is going to hurt, even if you are in the grupetto there’s no way up to the top of the Ventoux without lots of suffering being involved. Contador only has to control the situation then maybe this is the chance for Lance to show he can still win mountain stages. So if Astana keep the race fairly tight on the way to the last climb then the usual escape group will get toasted by the GC guys. An interesting battle will take place for the podium places specially if the time trial has left only small gaps between those involved, there’ll be some desperate faces and lots of courage showing today.”

Cav takes Stage 19. I'm off to Paris.

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:18:07 +0100

Wow, didn’t see that one coming.

The Category 2 climb at the end of today’s stage didn’t dampen any sprinters’ aspirations as the Columbia HTC train dragged Mark Cavendish to the front of the peloton to allow him to give it a shot. Usual compatriot Mark Renshaw was nowhere to be seen, so Cav had to sprint for the line slightly sooner than anticipated to pre-empt Hushovd and the other sprinters congregating behind him.

Possibilities for Cav to get back in green? Well, he probably won’t be able to get any points on the intermediate sprints tomorrow, what with there being two Category 3’s in the way - so unless something awful befalls Hushovd on the Champs Elysee and Cavendish can take the full 35 points of the sprint finish, I’d say the winner of Green has been decided.

Well, I’m off to Paris in 4 hours, so I’ve pre-written the previews of tomorrow and Sunday and hopefully this clever little gizmo will publish them at the right time. As previously mentioned, all being well (read: if the hotel has internet/if he doesn’t forget..) we have a special guest writer for tomorrow’s Ventoux stage review - I’ll let him introduce himself - and then I will be reporting live from Paris (assuming I’m not drunk, or far too over excited) so keep checking back for news and pictures from the Champs Elysee!

Bourgoin Jallieu to Aubenas - Stage 19

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 19:36:13 +0100

A hilly stage travelling south west from Bourgoin Jallieu (twinned with Dunstable, for those keeping track…) to Aubenas through the Ardeche valley.

Ardeche (the region, named after the river) is home of the Chauvet Cave, and it’s paleolithic paintings - unfortunately there’s nothing much as interesting to be said about the start and finish lines of stage 19. Oh, except Aubenas is famous for its chestnuts.

A tough stage to call what with how little time seperates the GC favourites. Normally they would sit back and conserve energy for Mont Ventoux, but they might be in the frame of mind that any time gap is a good time gap.

But what does the expert think?

“If you were designing a stage to produce a fairly large breakaway group it would look like this one, lots of small hills at the start then a long period of flat to re-establish some order, and finally a big hill to decide the winner. The ascent and descent of the last climb will certainly wake up those fighting over the GC places so they had better hope they recovered from the time trial yesterday because everyone else in the race had a easy day with nothing to prove and they’ll be perky for the first hour. Expect to see a large escape group full of Spanish riders.”

Contador takes Stage 18.

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:48:28 +0100

Alberto Contador blew away his nearest rivals by coming first in three of the four checkpoints during the stage, and crossing the line 3 seconds ahead of last year’s World Time Trial Champion, Fabian “Swiss Bear” Cancellara who had led the stage until the last rider.

The climb towards the end of the stage proved a problem for some of the pure time triallists, and the weather slowed down many of the earlier riders to make the finish times slower than expected.

Katusha’s Mikhail Ignatiev was only fifteen seconds behind Contador, with Saxo Bank’s Gustav Larsson in fourth at 33 seconds down. Britain’s David Millar was 5th at 41 seconds, and team mate (and GC contender) Bradley Wiggins was 6th just 2 seconds behind him.

Contador is now a clear 4 minutes 11 seconds ahead in the GC. Andy Schleck’s finish today in 20th, kept him 2nd in the overall GC. Lance Armstrong moves back up to 3rd position, and Bradley Wiggins moves back into the Top 5 of the GC at 5 minutes 35 seconds down on Armstrong and two seconds ahead of Andreas Kloden in 5th.

Annecy to, erm, Annecy - Stage 18

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:37:00 +0100

The final Time Trial, usually the penultimate stage, in the Tour de France is usually where the GC is decided. It was the scene of the famous battle between Laurent Fignon and Greg LeMond in 1989, and where many of the Armstrong/Ullrich races were decided.

Not so, this year. The TT is the fourth to last stage now, after the organisers decided to insert one last hilly stage and a cheeky climb up Mont Ventoux on the eve of Paris. The windy mountain will have enough of an impact on the riders that the TT isn’t as be all and end all as it could be - however, it will still be a chance for Bradley Wiggins to claw his way back into the Top 5, or for Contador to extend his lead (He is the Spanish TT Champion after all).

Annecy itself, whilst twinned with Cheltenham, is a typical Alpine commune situated on Lac D’Annecy - the second largest lake in France. It is this lake that Stage 18 circumnavigates.

Interesting fact: Cycling Weekly informs us that Annecy is the home of the Mavic Headquarters (they own neutral service vehicle - the bright yellow car with all the bikes on it, that help out any rider in need) as well as the site of the first ever Carrefour Supermarket, who sponsor the Polka Dot Jersey now.

What does our expert opinion think the final Time Trial holds in store for the riders?

“You wouldn’t think a time trial around a lake would be too bad, and this isn’t, so that’s why they throw in a ten percent climb near the end to liven things up. The GC ought to be decided by now so the battle for the podium placings will be the only interest and given that Astana seem to have the stranglehold on tt’ing then one of them will probably win, maybe Contador will let Kloden have this one.”

Schleck (Snr) take Stage 17.

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:20:01 +0100

Bradley Wiggins was a marked man in today’s stage of the Tour de France, from Bourg Saint Maurice to Le Grande Bornand. Realising they probably couldn’t beat Yellow Jersey Alberto Contador over the next four days, all the attacking GC contenders targetted the time trialler Wiggins (as he has the most chance of gaining time tomorrow in the TT).

Entertainingly, a cat and mouse game between Astana riders Contador, Andreas Kloden and Lance Armstrong played out as team kits were forgotten and eyes were on the prize. You can issue as many magnanimous statements as you like, but when your legs are lead and you feel like you’re bleeding through your pores, you discover who your friends are - right?

Contador caught on to the back of a breakaway by the Schleck brothers and stayed there. Literally. Dragged up the hill by the Luxembourg tag team, Contador reserved his energy and, for their troubles, the Schlecks were offered the stage without having to contend a sprint finish after 5 hours in the Alps. White Jersey holder Andy Schleck awarded Stage 17 to his older brother Frank as a thank you for his help over the climbs.

Armstrong and Vincenzo Nibali fought ahead to cross the line 2 minutes 18 seconds behind the front group, and Andreas Kloden (earlier dropped by Contador and the Schlecks) rolled in 9 seconds behind them. Bradley Wiggins managed to keep 3 minutes 7 seconds behind Frank Schleck, and 1 minute 2 seconds behind him was his Garmin team mate Christian Vande Velde (who, along with David Zabriskie had worked in tandem to keep Wiggins as near to the front as possible) and French rider Christophe Moreau.

The jerseys remain unchanged but both Schlecks have found their way into the Top 5 of the GC, of which Contador is still number 1. Andy Schleck moves up to number 2, Frank Schleck is now 3rd, Armstrong and Kloden drop to 4th and 5th respectively. Bradley Wiggins drops out of the Top 5 to 6th overall.

Bourg Saint Maurice to Le Grand Bornand - Stage 17

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:40:11 +0100

Stage 17’s course heads north east for 75km before doubling back southwards for the remainder of the 170km route covering four, yes, that’s right, four Category 1 climbs and one Category 2.

The Tour last visited Le Grand Bornand in 2004, and to be honest, after a quick glimpse at the history of the commune, that seems to be one of their highlights. Flood, earthquake, murder and fire seem to be the order of the day - Let’s hope Le Grand Bornand has slightly more luck as the peloton roll over the finish line.

Whilst this would look like an obvious fighting ground for the yellow and polka dot jerseys, let’s see what the expert opinion thinks?

“Time to dance, there’ll be no hiding on this stage. The first two climbs are long long slogs and only the brave will be trying to escape early on. Those who just survived yesterday will be doing more surviving again with the mid point of the stage being the crucial point for them. The main players for the overall will have to assume their responsibilities from the feed zone onwards. Cote d’Araches will be unpleasant surprise to the legs after the calm of the valley then it’s probably full speed to the little known Col de Romme where there ought to be a major sort out. The final climb of la Colombiere might only be classed a 1st cat climb but it’s as difficult as anything the TdF will go over this year and will be the end of many GC contenders illusions. This stage has Contador’s name written all over it.”

Astarloza takes Stage 16, Jens Voigt crashes out.

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 21:13:00 +0100

Spanish Euskaltel-Euskadi rider, Mikel Astarloza crossed the line in Bourg Saint Maurice after a four and a quarter hour trek through the Alps in a stage that took in three different countries over a span of 159km.

Astarloza escaped a breakaway of four, including the polka dot jersey, to finish with a lead of 6 seconds. The remainder of his breakaway was caught by a second bunch of riders which included Sandy Casar and Ireland’s Nicholas Roche.

The main GC contenders finished together, just under a minute down on the winner, leaving the Top 5 of the General Classification unchanged.

Big news of the day is the horrific crash of Jens Voigt who came a cropper on the downhill of the final climb and had to be airlifted to hospital after a pretty nasty facial injury that left him unconscious for a few minutes. Latest news is that he’s currently awaiting an MRI scan to check for head/spinal injuries but the most serious injuries appear to be to his face and arm. My thoughts go out to Jens, he has always been a favourite of mine in the peloton and I wish him a speedy recovery. The Chain Letter will keep you posted on developments.