Friday, March 29, 2024

R&R For Some: TdF Stage 13 (mountaintop)

-

HomeJournalsGarmin Physio Toby WatsonR&R For Some: TdF Stage 13 (mountaintop)

After a single day of respite from the searing heat of the majority of this race, we were back into a bright sunny day for TdF Stage 13 with high temperatures. This meant the support crew were back up the road helping our boys as best we were able on the big climbs.

When standing and helping (and watching) on the mountains there are two groups we tend to pay closest attention to: the leaders and the grupetto.

TdF Stage 13
Ryder is doing a great job.

We watch the leaders to see how our man Ryder’s travelling, as well as what’s going down with the race in general, and we watch the grupetto to ensure our boys (if there) are not suffering too greatly, nor that they are in any danger of missing the time cut.

Yesterday was very nice from both of these perspectives. Ryder was looking great up with the leaders — so good he even blew a kiss to his lovely fiancee Ashley (who hung out with us yesterday). While the grupetto had equally good news, with Julian being our only man in the bunch, and he was looking very comfortable at the front.

Ryder had another fantastic day, and is right in contention for a top 10 finish overall. Keep it up Weight of a Nation!

Yesterday was an added bonus for some of the staff as we didn’t need to change hotels. This meant no need to send the truck off to the next hotel super early, no packing the bag before bed, a chance to catch up on laundry (that situation was dire for some) and perhaps even work on the tan. Nice for the hotel crew!

However we’re back into full swing tomorrow: another tough mountain stage for the boys, and a hotel transfer over some mountain passes in the truck for the staff. Game on.

Toby Watson
Toby Watsonhttps://www.veloveritas.co.uk
Ex-Garmin Transitions physiotherapist and soigneur Toby Watson brings you inside the squad, and shows you what it's like to be working with a top team on the biggest races in the world. Through his regular blog updates, Toby shares his sense of drama and fun that were essential parts of his job. Toby is Australian, and currently lives in Girona with his fiancee Amanda. If he has any time, he enjoys reading and running, and occasionally skiing too, when he can.

Related Articles

Winding Down and Firing Up

We have arrived! Well, to be honest, it’s been a few days now, but the dust has only really settled enough to write anything as of today. We’re staying a little out of town, allowing us the opportunity to train without the stress of dealing with the traffic of London, the slog of battling other athletes for everything in the Village, and the chance for the boys to decompress, relax and recover after the Tour.

We Know That We Don’t Know (Preview: TDF12 St14)

Cadel Evans’ aggressive riding late in Stage 13, and the subsequent carnage and one day style “balls to the wall” racing has assured us of one thing this Tour: we don’t know what’s next! Today is a day with two large climbs a long way out from the finish, the second including ramps up to 18%, and peaking some 40km from the finish. The descent ends about 20km from the line, and the whole stage is right by the southern coastline again, bringing wind into the equation.

Strade Bianchi baby!

Strade Bianchi baby! The white roads of Tuscany get another run on the Pro Tour today. This is a relatively new one day classic, and an Italian take on the cobbled classics of the legendary Belgian spring.

Final Defense: Eneco 2010 Stage 6

Final Defense. The final road stage of the Eneco race was again lumpy, this time including roads from the Amstel Gold spring classic. In particular the Mur de Huy, a nasty climb that starts on an increasingly steep grade until a left turn kicks the road up to around 20%.

At Random

Milan – Sanremo 2008 – Day 2

A hard race ? When the World and Olympic road race champion is blown out the back, his eyes wide, shoulders rocking, sweat dripping from him, stuggling up a climb on the inside ring, when only minutes ago he was blasting it on the 53 - that's a hard race. Milan - San Remo has to be seen to be believed: seven hours, with all the major obstacles in the second half. The new climb at La Manie is brutal and might just have contributed to the "pure" sprinters failure in San Remo.

Jamie Burrow – Keeping Busy with Business & Fondos

It's not often that the Comic [Cycling Weekly magazine - editor] inspires me, these days-they don't care, they get my subscription cash-but when I saw the 'minute with' ex Lance team mate and Fondo star Jamie Burrow, I thought; "there's a man I've been stalking, I need to get a grip of him!" His win this year in the Maratona delle Dolomiti was big news in Italia. Here's what he had to say...

Trinidad & Tobago – Day Seven, Taking Stock

All night drive-in pharmacies here in Trinidad & Tobago aren't really the place cyclists should be seen at gone midnight, but Leif liked the 'skin powder' the Red Cross guys used on his abrasions so much that we had to pop in and see if we could get some more. They didn't have any, but it was another one for my 'experiences' file.

Dan Patten Blog; Up and Running

So it's been a fairly quiet start of the season for me, but I can say now on the Dan Patten Blog that things are underway. A blood test here in Belgium revealed lower iron levels, which most likely explains my lethargic start to the new year.