The weather was beautiful, the scenery magnificent and the ambiance as we’ve come to expect from le Tour fans – warm, friendly, fun.
It has to be said though, that it’s warmer, friendlier and more fun, after the caravan has off loaded the goodies.
With the benefit of hindsight, if I was doing it again, I’d have missed yesterday’s stage – which was never going to be decisive – and gone to the Ventoux.
It was simply impossible to stop on the lower 60% of the climb, the crowd was perhaps the biggest I’ve ever seen at a bike race; apart from Alpe D’Huez in the early 90’s, when it was still, “Dutch mountain.”
We got lots of shots of “crazies,” but had no opportunity to stop and chat to folks, take pictures of the countryside – and it would have been nice to wander round Bedoin, again.
Dave, Viktor and I were on the Ventoux in 1987, when “Jeff” Bernard won the time trial up the climb.
We took tents down but had to bail out of them and into the mini bus in the middle of the night because it was so cold.
The water bottles froze solid – by noon the next day, the heat was extreme.
We had to be on the mountain the previous night due to the road being closed at around 2:00 am.
I remember Bedoin being relaxed and friendly; there was an old gypsy caravan in the town square which had a wood burning oven that produced the best pizza we had ever tasted – and back then, prices in France were reasonable.
Bedoin was just a blur today, crowds, noise, heat and just glimpses of the town – ah, well!
The climb was wild, about the craziest I’ve ever seen.
Garate won the stage today, sprinting past Tony Martin on the last bend, where we were stood!
It’s getting close to midnight now, so bon nuit.
Talk to you from Gay Paris, tomorrow.
Tour 09 Stage 20 Map.
Tour 09 Stage 20 Profile.
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Al Hamilton
Hinault: “Contador puede ganar cinco Tours” that’s today’s front page headline in AS. Bernard Hinault thinks Alberto Contador could equal his five Tour wins.
The big question is for which team would he be riding for? The F1 driver; Fernando Alonso is serious about his project of having a Protour team by 2011 with Contador as the leader.
But what about 2010? If he stays with Astana for the second year of his contract, which will be with Vinokourov, he might not be able to ride the Tour.
Contador has behaved with dignity and total professionalism.
Bad news was the loss of two Euskaltel riders; Amets Txurruka and Alan Pérez finished 30:58 after Mark Cavendish won the sprint and they were out of the time limit.
Their team leader, Astarloza, is battling for 9th place overall as he is only 1 second behind Le Mével.
“De Cavendish al Ventoux.” The British sprinter won his 5th stage yesterday. Today the last battle”. The Mont Ventoux looms large on all the riders on the Tour and this could change the podium and the top ten overall.
The mythic mountain of death, not just Tom Simpson, but the many riders who have had problems on its slopes. The battles between Kubler and Mallejac, Gimondi and Poulidor.
De Cavendish al Ventoux.
Then in 1958 between Gaul and Bahamontes who went on to be the first Spanish Tour winner the next year. The deception of Delgado in 1987 by Hinault and Herrera, more recently the triumph of Pantani over Armstrong and the arguments that caused! We can only hope there will be action today!
Ed and Martin, our top team! They try to do the local Time Trials, the Grand Tours and the Classics together to get the great stories written, the quality photos taken, the driving done and the wifi wrestled with.
Dernys, you love them or you hate them, they’re a big part of the Sixes; and always with a capital ‘D’ — Roger Derny et Fils first manufactured them in Paris, in: 1938. There’s some real Derny history on the boards here at the Rotterdam Six Day — the tall, slim, grey haired man who chases the riders up to their events here at the is Bruno Walrave.
It wasn’t until inside the last kilometre at Peyragudes that the drama really unfolded; Bardet confirms, as does Aru, Froome cracks a little, Quintana cracks A LOT and much as it pains me; ‘one season too many, Bert!’ And Bennett and Martin impress, especially the latter who’s carrying injuries from that horrible crash with Porte on Sunday.
Today is Strada Bianchi day. Once you have your Giro d'Italia creds you feel better, despite the fact that a colleague had organised them for you a week ago, it's still a relief to hang that pink lanyard round your neck and stick those big lumps of sticky-back plastic on the hire car windscreen.
Gathering Momentum... The result in Lierde was backed up with an 8th in Geluwe (13/03/10). A chase of the lead group over the last 30km led to an exciting finish. Unfortunately the chase group I was in just run out of road to make the junction with the leaders... another km maybe would of done it! Even though some of the riders were pulled back six remained just in front and would fight it out for the win.
There is no doubt that British cycling is alive and well at the highest echelons of performance - Britons won the Tour, the world champs and pretty much the entire velodrome; there's also no doubt that British cycling is alive and kicking at the grass roots level too - membership has doubled since 2007. It makes sense to assume that all is well in between, too, right?
Unfortunately not; BC is the governing body for beginner’s racing, Regional racing (2nd and 3rd cats), all levels of women's road racing, National level racing (Elites and 1st cats) and the semi professional/professional teams below Sky. All of these parts of the sport are in trouble - but particularly at the higher end.
Due to the fact that I read about/talk about/write about bike racing every day I have a monstrous ego regarding le velo and hate to get anything on the subject wrong. However, I would be delighted if the following statement proves to be erroneous; ‘Christopher Froome of Team Sky has won the Tour de France already.’
I was out on the bike at crack of dawn today - my buddy John comes over, we go for a potter up the coast then have a coffee and a scone at the Beach House in Portobello - if you see us, give us a smile; scowls use a lot more energy, guys.
We humbly ask for your help to support our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed Hood. Ed suffered a devastating stroke in February last year and faces an uncertain future.
As a result of the stroke, Ed has lost his ability to speak, and to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He’s working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time.
Ed ran his own business installing windows but will not be able to work again and his financial future is uncertain, so please consider joining us to make a contribution to the GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure Ed's future. Thank you.
