Tour de France 2009

Day 19 > Stage 17 of the Tour de France. From Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand 169.5 km. This is the stage that tour junkies have been waiting for. This is a series mountina stage through the Alps.

Here is a picture from today's stage of how crazy it gets riding up the big hills with all the fans going nuts.


Lots of rain at the start, which helped cause more than a few crashes, and then it dried out. All the main contenders broke away on the second to last mountain climb. Inlducing Alberto Contador, Armstrong, the Schleck brothers, Kloden and Wiggins.

Contador and the Schleck boys were the ones together at the end and they put a decent amount of time on the rest of the field. Many will say that Lance, who dropped from 2nd to 4th, blew his chance at the title and even blew getting top 3. But he’s comfortably in 4th and the time trial is tomorrow so he should be able to make up time on the Schleck’s. in fact it could be a 1,2,3 for Team Astana come Sunday in Paris; Contador, Armstrong and Kloden.

Top 5 Overall

1. Alberto Contador - Astana at 67h 33' 15"
2. Andy Schleck - Saxo Bank at 02'26"
3. Frank Schleck - Saxo Bank at 03'25"
4. Lance Armstrong - Astana at 03'55"
5. Andréas Kloden - Astana at 04'44"

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Alberto Contador - Astana
Green (Sprinting points leader – Thor Hushovd - Cervelo Test Team
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Franco Pellizotti - Liquigas
White (best young rider) – Andy Schleck - Saxo Bank


Tour Fun Fact

Feed zone and feeding rules

During the Tour, riders must continuously replenish foods and liquids. Before, during, and after stages, cyclists' eating and drinking habits are reminiscent of scenes of stokers shoveling coal into steam engines — they eat and drink that much.

Riders' nutritional needs are the responsibility of individual teams, with some exception. During every Tour road stage, there's a designated area on the course called the feed zone or feeding station. Team representatives carrying musettes, or feeding bags with sandwiches, fruit, and energy bars. They hand off supplies to riders as they advance through the feed zone. It's cycling's version of take-out food. New water bottles are also distributed to riders in the feed zone, but musettes and water bottles must be those supplied by Tour sponsors or otherwise Tour approved.

Outside the feed zone, riders in a breakaway can also receive supplies from their team managers' vehicles or a Tour-supplied motorcycle. Musettes and water bottles can be used in these feeding options, but these resupply situations and the designated feed zone must follow Tour-established regulations.

Tour de France 2009

Tour update - weekend and today.

Alberto Contador or Team Astana is currently in first place and riding his bike like he stole it. Armstrong is in second and being a good teammate (at least in public) and supporting his teammate.

Tomorrow is a killer mountain stage and assuming Contador doesn't have a real bad day he should be the Tour champ come Sunday.

The overall Top 5

1. Alberto Contador - Astana at 67h 33' 15"
2. Lance Armstrong - Astana at 01'37"
3. Bradley Wiggins- Garmmin Slipstream at 01'46"
4. Andréas Kloden - Astana at 02'17"
5. Andy Schleck - Saxo Bank at 02'26"

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Alberto Contador - Astana
Green (Sprinting points leader – Thor Hushovd - Cervelo Test Team
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Franco Pellizotti - Liquigas
White (best young rider) – Andy Schleck - Saxo Bank

Tour Fun Fact

Podium girls

Besides a kiss, the podium girls also give the stage winner a stuffed lion (Lyonnaise Bank is a major sponsor) and a bottle of champagne to shake up and spray. For all you aspiring American Cyclists out there, make sure you are practicing the Euro-Style kissing on both cheeks.

USA Today quickie on the "pecking order in the world of professional kissers."

First, Credit Lyonnaise, the yellow jersey women, who also take on a variety of other promotional duties before working up to the podium.

Next, Champion's polka-dot podium women, who do some other meet-and-greets, as well.

Third, PMU's "racier" green jersey podium women, who also do "wild dance routines ... in the publicity caravan."

Finally, Aquarel's white jersey podium women, who also help pass out the company's bottled water.

Tour de France 2009

Tonnerre

Vittel


Day 13 > Stage 12 of the Tour de France, from Tonnerre to Vittel. 212km. While not a true mountain stage, today’s ride does have 6 decent climbs in it but the peleton should be able to hunt down any breakaway groups and give us another sprint finish, assuming the teams work together

Well apparently the teams wanted to rest up for the mountains and let the breakaway go. Nicki Sörensen of Saxo Bank a made a nice mini break from the 7 that broke away with 2 miles to go and crushed them all.

No change in the top 5 overall.
Egoi Martinez took back the Polka-Dot from Brice Feillu. These guys seem determined to swap it daily.

The overall Top 5

1. Rinaldo Nocentini- AG2R-La Mondiale at 00:00
2. Alberto Contador - Astana at 00:06
3. Lance Armstrong - Astana at 00:08
4. Levi Leipheimer- Astana at 00:39
5. Bradley Wiggins- Garmmin Slipstream at 00:46

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Rinaldo Nocentini – Team AG2R-La Mondiale
Green (Sprinting points leader – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Egoi Martinez – Euskaltel-Euskadi EUSKADI
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Fact

Sign on the line, or you don't pass start
Prior to every Tour stage, riders must sign in on a pre-race staging area. The procedure is required in part as tradition, in part to appease spectators gathered near the starting line, awaiting the arrival of their favorite riders minutes before a stage start.
During road stages, riders and team managers must arrive at the signature registration area at least ten minutes prior to a start. Riders who don't sign in are fined 100 Swiss Francs, or about $85. If a rider is prevented from signing in because of traffic congestion or another unavoidable circumstance, a fine is not levied.
After the entire field registers, the race manager begins a stage in one of three ways;
• A standing start begins at the riders' sign-in or signature area.
• A deferred standing start occurs if a stage begins some distance from the sign-in area because of area restrictions.
• A rolling start or flying start occurs when a stage begins when the cyclists casually pedal from the sign-in area, and then begin at the stage where the course is designated as Kilometer 0 (Mile 0).

Tour de France 2009

Day 12 > Stage onze (11) of the Tour de France, from Vatan to Saint-Fargeau. 192km.

Vatan

Saint-Fargeau

This is another of the fairly flat stages that should see an early breakaway and then the teams reeling them back in for a sprinters bunch finish. Look for Cavendish to go for yet another stage win.

Next week should be the telling week as the tour hits the Alps.

The race officials nullified the 15 second lead that some of the riders had yesterday. So Bradley Wiggins and Levi didn’t lose any time or their positions in the top 5.

Sure enough early on Van Summeren and Sapa jump out ahead of the peloton and get an earlier lead. They managed to stay away free for close to 100 miles but alas they were caught with 3 miles to go and once again Mark Cavendish took the stage win in a mad rush finish. Mark is a beast. He now has 8 stage wins to tie the record, and he did it in just the last 2 years.

Join me again tomorrow for the 211.5km stage 12 from Tonnerre to Vittel.

No change in the top 5 overall.
Cavendish took back the Green from Thor. He’s ahead by a point. And Brice Feillu tokk back the Polka Dot from Egoi Martinez.

The overall Top 5

1. Rinaldo Nocentini- AG2R-La Mondiale at 00:00
2. Alberto Contador - Astana at 00:06
3. Lance Armstrong - Astana at 00:08
4. Levi Leipheimer- Astana at 00:39
5. Bradley Wiggins- Garmmin Slipstream at 00:46

The Jersey’s are as follows:

Yellow (overall leader) – Rinaldo Nocentini – Team AG2R-La Mondiale
Green (Sprinting points leader – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Brice Feillu – Team Agritubel
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Fact

Riding by numbers:

Tour riders are identified by race numbers. The defending race champion wears No. 1, and his teammates follow in order through No. 9. Every rider considered as his team's overall title contender wears the lowest number on his team. He's listed first on all official rider lists; from there, there's an alphabetical order to the numbers.

Every rider must have an official double-sided number plate on each side of his bike frame and in a designated position. Riders must also wear two numbers, one over each hip. During individual time trial stages, cyclists' two small hip numbers are replaced by a larger single number affixed on their lower back. Race organizers provide number plates and race numbers, and they must be worn without alterations.

Yellow Jersey holder Rinaldo Nocentini and wife.

Tour de France 2009

Weekend through Tuesday update. After the weekend stages, an off day Monday and Stage 10 today. It was all basic racing the past few days with no changes at the top other than KLÖDEN Andréas replacing Wiggins in the Top 5. That now gives Astana 4 riders in the top 5. The Green and Polka Dot jersey's also have new leaders

In todays 121 mile stage Mark Cavendish won his 3rd stage of this years tour.

The overall Top 5

1. Rinaldo Nocentini- AG2R-La Mondiale at 00:00
2. Alberto Contador - Astana at 00:06
3. Lance Armstrong - Astana at 00:08
4. Andréas Kloden - Astana at 00:54
5. Levi Leipheimer- Astana at 00:54

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Rinaldo Nocentini – Team AG2R-La Mondiale
Green (Sprinting points leader – Thor Hushovd – Cervelo Test Team
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Egoi Martinez – Team Euskaltel
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Facts

Oh, no, we're wearing the same outfit
Every rider must wear his team's official outfit — shorts, jersey, socks and shoes, gloves, and helmet. Unless a rider withdraws prior to the event, each of the 21 participating teams has nine riders, attired identically, at the start of the race.
Several exceptions exist, however. Leaders in overall standings and best climber (polka dot), sprinter (green), and young rider (white) competitions wear their respective colored jersey. Each of the sub-competition jerseys includes the appropriate team advertising banners. In individual time trials, competition leaders are provided with appropriately colored skinsuits instead of jerseys and shorts.
If a rider leads more than one race competition, he wears the jersey in accordance to priority of importance: yellow jersey, green jersey, polka-dot jersey, and white jersey. The runners-up or next highest-place riders in the competitions wear leaders' jerseys in the remaining categories.
The reigning world road race titlist wears a white jersey with horizontal adjoining blue, red, black, yellow, and green bands during the Tour. The rainbow jersey also includes the rider's team sponsors' logos. Reigning national road titlists also wear their national champion jerseys with the same allowance for team names and advertising banners.
Riders can wear additional clothes over or under their jerseys, including rain gear, tights or leg warmers, or other overgarments. And they can wear additional clothing at the start or during a stage. A rider seeking additional attire during a stage drops back to receive items from a team vehicle or from motorcycle drivers designated by race organizers.

Tour de France 2009

Stage 7 > Day 7 > 224km today’s stage goes from the seaside city of Barcelona to the ski resort of Arcalis in the independent principality of Andorre. I have never heard of the country of Andorre, guess I should have paid more attention in 10th grade Geography.

The riders head into the Pyrenees today – let the racing begin. The final climb is roughly 20km and should separate the wheat from the chaff.

A group of 9 busted out to a large early lead of over 10 minutes. Over the last long climb those 9 will split up and more than likely get caught by the huge pack that will be hunting them.

Astana is doing most of the work on the front of the Peloton – maybe planning to try and get the Yellow for Lance, Contador or Levi. No one in the front 9 is a threat to lead the race so they might not get hunted down. With 30 miles to go the lead 9 are 12+ minutes ahead of the Peloton. But we could see a race leader try and break out of the main pack on the final ascent and put some time-distance between themselves and the other contenders.

I take that back, if the lead doesn’t come down there are a few in the front 9 that could take the yellow jersey, they would not be able to keep it long but they could get it for a day or two.

Cancellara has blown up on the final climb and is slipping off the back of the main pack, there will be a new yellow jersey holder tonight.

Contadar took off like crazy at the end and finished about 20 seconds ahead of Lance…so who will be in yellow? Its gonna be all bunched up near the top of the standings. Best stage yet of this year’s tour.

Let’s not forget Brice Feillu (Agritubel), who takes the win for his native France and also puts himself in the Polka Dot jersey.

And its Rinaldo Nocentini (let’s hear it for the Italians) in yellow by 6 seconds then Contador and Lance is 2 seconds behind him.



The overall Top 5

1. Rinaldo Nocentini- AG2R-La Mondiale at 00:00
2. Alberto Contador - Astana at 00:06
3. Lance Armstrong - Astana at 00:08
4. Levi Leipheimer- Astana at 00:39
5. Bradley Wiggins- Garmmin Slipstream at 00:46

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Rinaldo Nocentini – Team AG2R-La Mondiale
Green (Sprinting points leader – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – BriceFeillu – Team Agritubel
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Fact

How does a team worker help his leader?
Although an individual wins the Tour de France, he could not do so without the help of his eight teammates. The duties of a team rider (or “domestique”) include:

Riding “tempo” at the front of the pack to control the pace and prevent riders from rival teams from advancing up the road

Riding in front or to the side of the leader to protect him from the wind

Slowing down or dropping behind the field of riders to fetch fresh water bottles or food from the team car and taking them up to the leader

Stopping when the leader has a puncture, crash or mechanical problem, and helping pace him back to the peloton

Giving the leader one of his wheels (or his entire bike!) if the team car doesn’t arrive quickly enough to help

Pacing the leader up to a threatening breakaway

Pulling the leader up a mountain climb as long (and fast) as he can, to split up the group, to protect the leader from the wind and to discourage attacks by his rivals

Tour de France 2009

Stage 6 > Day 6 > 182km Today the Tour de France takes place in Spain – don’t ask. We are starting in Girona and ending in Barcelona. This is another somewhat flat stage but it does have a few climbs to that could break things up. Its also raining today in Spain so that might limit the sprinters a bit at the end.

A small group did manage to stay away (barely) all day. At the end it was Norway's Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam)

Looking ahead to tomorrow’s stage, the tour enters the Pyrenees and the fun will be starting in earnest. Here is the description of the stage:
“The Tour’s early entrance into the mountains will be sudden, with a Level 1 mountain pass and one of the highest finishes in its history, at 2,200m elevation. And yet this will not the time of great manœuvres. The fact that difficulties will be spread out throughout the race, as well as the length of the first Pyrenees stage, should enable a bold, sturdy climber who breaks away from the pack early to seize his chance at Arcalis.”

The overall Top 5

1. Fabian Cancellara - Team Saxo Bank
2. Lance Armstrong - Astana at 00:00
3. Alberto Contador - Astana at 00:19
4. Andréas Kloden - Astana at 00:23
5. Levi Leipheimer- Astana at 00:31

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Fabian Cancellara – Team Saxo Bank
Green (Sprinting points leader – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Stéphane Auge – Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Fact

How are mountain climbs categorized?

There are no set rules on how the organizer can categorize hills or mountains. This is how the Tour de France climbs are defined:

- The easiest is a Category 4, which is typically less than 2km long and about 5 percent grade, or up to 5km at a 2-3 percent grade.

- A Category 3 can be as short as one mile with a very steep grade, perhaps 10 percent; or as long as six miles with a grade less than 5 percent.

- A Category 2 can be as short as 5km at 8 percent, or as long as 15km at 4 percent

- A Category 1, once the highest category, can be anything from 8km at 8 percent to 20km at 5 percent.

- An hors catégorie (“above category”) rating is given to exceptionally tough climbs. This could either be a Category 1 whose summit is also the finish of the stage, or one that is more than 10km long with an average grade of at least 7.5 percent, or up to 25km miles long at 6 percent or steeper.

Tour de France 2009

Stage 5 > Day 5 > 196KM Basically flat stage with a few climbs thrown in. Today’s stage takes us from Le Cap d'Agde on the Mediterranean coast inland to the town of Perpignan.

Le Cap d'Agde

Perpignan

Who was hurt the most by yesterdays TTT? Probably Cadel Evans (2nd place each of the last 2 years) and Carlos Sastre (the defending champion). They are down by 2:59 and 2:44 respectively. A huge chunk of time to make up legally.

With a basically flat but windy stage it looks to setup as another bunch sprint finish, assuming the peloton reels in the breakaway group that is sure to take off early in the race.

Well there was a nice breakaway group of 6 today and they almost got caught by the peloton but Thomas Voeckler managed to just hold on and take his first ever stage win by 7 seconds over the main pack.

No change in the overall standings or in any of the jerseys.

The overall Top 5

1. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank
2. Tony Martin Team Columbia - Htc, at 0:33
3. Lance Armstrong Astana at 00:40
4. Alberto Contador Astana at 00:59
5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream at 01:00

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Fabian Cancellara – Team Saxo Bank
Green (Sprinting points leader – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Jussi Veikkanen – Francaise Des Jeux
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Fact

The shortest rider is Samuel Dumoulin of Team Cofidis at 5’2” and the tallest is Stijn Vandenbergh of Team Katusha at 6’6”.

The heaviest rider at this year's Tour is Cofidis rider Rein Taaramae at 198 pounds. The lightest rider is Team Caisse d'Epargne's Rigoberto Uran, who weighs in at an Ally McBeal like weight of 119 pounds.

Tour de France 2009

Stage 4 > Day 4 > 39KM Team Time Trial (TTT) in the town of Montpellier

For the TTT all 9 riders of each team ride together, at least 5 from the team have to finish. The clock stops after the 5th rider for the team crosses the line.

The TTT just looks plain cool. So if you haven’t seen one, check out the Versus reply tonight.

Today’s time trial will give Lance a very realistic chance of getting back into Yellow for the first time in 3 years. Team Astana is a very strong Time Trial team and Lance is only 40 seconds off the lead in 3rd place.

Well that turned out to be s truly exciting race. Yes really, it’s true. I know that it might not seem thrilling to watch 9 men in skin tight spandex ride bikes for 46 minutes (unless of course you are Madonna or Richard Simmons) but trust me it sure can be.

So as I said, Lance was down by 40 seconds overall and his team beat Fabian’s team (Team Saxo Bank) by 40 seconds. But alas the Tour can’t have 2 riders wearing yellow at the same time. Ties are like Kissing Your Sister. The Tour doesn’t normally record time in 100th of seconds but they did this time. So Lance is in second place by a few one-hundreds of a second. In addition to Lance, Team Astana also has riders in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 11th and 18th place. An astounding 7 of their 9 riders are in the top 20. Their other two rides are in 165th and 177th place. I wonder if those two slackers have to eat at a different table.

Complete Stage 4 Results

1. ASTANA 00:46:29
2. GARMIN - SLIPSTREAM 00:46:47 00:00:18
3. TEAM SAXO BANK 00:47:09 00:00:40
4. LIQUIGAS 00:47:27 00:00:58
5. TEAM COLUMBIA - HTC 00:47:28 00:00:59
6. TEAM KATUSHA 00:47:52 00:01:23
7. CAISSE D’EPARGNE 00:47:58 00:01:29
8. CERVELO TEST TEAM 00:48:07 00:01:37
9. AG2R-LA MONDIALE 00:48:18 00:01:48
10. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI 00:48:39 00:02:09
11. RABOBANK 00:48:50 00:02:20
12. QUICK STEP 00:48:55 00:02:26
13. SILENCE - LOTTO 00:49:05 00:02:35
14. FRANCAISE DES JEUX 00:49:15 00:02:46
15. TEAM MILRAM 00:49:18 00:02:48
16. COFIDIS LE CREDIT EN LIGNE 00:49:28 00:02:58
17. LAMPRE - N.G.C 00:49:54 00:03:24
18. AGRITUBEL 00:50:47 00:04:17
19. BBOX BOUYGUES TELECOM 00:51:11 00:04:41
20. SKIL-SHIMANO 00:51:52 00:05:23


The overall Top 5

1. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank
2. Tony Martin Team Columbia - Htc, at 0:33
3. Lance Armstrong Astana at 00:40
4. Alberto Contador Astana at 00:59
5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream at 01:00

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Fabian Cancellara – Team Saxo Bank
Green (Sprinting points leader – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot (King of the Mountain) – Jussi Veikkanen – Francaise Des Jeux
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Fact

Helmets: Mandatory, dude!

To reduce or eliminate deaths from crashes, every rider in the Tour must now wear a helmet during every stage of the race, including time trials. At their own risk, cyclists may remove their helmets during the final climb to the summit if the climb is at least 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) long. A Tour course marker designates the point on the course where cyclists can remove their helmets. Removal of helmets on mountain stages is never allowed before the start of a climb.

Tour de France 2009

Day 3 - Stage 3 - 196.5km. Marseilles (It is the Tour's 33rd visit to this harbour on the Mediterranean, first appearing in the very first Tour in 1903) to La Grande-Motte.

Marseilles

La Grande-Motte

This should be another 'sprinters stage'. Watch for an early break away by some riders with the pelton chasing them down so each teams sprinter can have a crack at a stage win. For the teams without a strong contender for the overall race win, winning a stage is huge. It keeps their team in the spot light and keeps the sponsors happy. The other option is that the peloton just chills today and lets the breakaway have their day in the sun. If the breakaway contains none of the 'A' riders then they might just let them go and save their legs for the mountains.

Sure enough, 4 riders broke away and stayed away for a decent amount of time but they were eventually caught. The interesting thing today was that the peloton/pack broke in two in some heavy winds. A group of about 25 (including Lance Armstrong and current leader Fabian Cancellara) reeled in the 4 and finsihed about 40 seconds ahead of the main peloton. "Co-Captain" of Team Astana (Lance's team) was not in the main group. This should make for interesting dinner conversation tonight on the team bus.

At the very end Mark Cavendish once again showed why he is one of the best sprinters in the world and took his second stage win in as many days.

Tomorrow is the Team Time Trial (TTT) and with Astana being a very strong team, Lance could actually find himself in Yellow tomorrow night.

The overall Top 5

1. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank
2. Tony Martin Team Columbia - Htc, at 0:33
3. Lance Armstrong Astana at 00:40
4. Alberto Contador Astana at 00:59
5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin - Slipstream at 01:00

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow (overall leader) – Fabian Cancellara – Team Saxo Bank
Green (Sprinting points leader – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot (King of he Mountain) – Jussi Veikkanen – Francaise Des Jeux
White (best young rider) – Tony Martin - Team Columbia

Tour Fun Fact

What is the gruppetto?
This is the group of riders that forms at the back of the race, usually on mountain stages. They ride at a pace just fast enough to finish within the day’s time limit (a varying percentage of the stage winner’s time). The gruppetto (Italian for “a small group”) is sometimes called the autobus, the bus or the laughing group — but this is no laughing matter. Riders at the back are often sick or injured and struggling just to finish the stage

Tour de France 2009

Day 2 – Stage 2 > Monaco to Brignoles – 187km.

This is non-mountain stage. Rugged terrain but not super hilly. It will be a sprinters bunch finish today. The overall leaders will just stay reasonably close to the sprinters and try and stay out of trouble – ie no crashes. The big boys will let the sprinters have their day in the sun and pick up some points and a stage win. The sprinters will all fade away when the tour hits the mountain stage anyway.

And yes it did turn into a sprint for the finish with Mark Cavendish, the Brit who rides for Team Columbia, pulling out the victory today.

There was no change in the top 10 overall standing.

The Jersey’s are as follows

Yellow – Fabian Cancellara – Team Saxo Bank
Green – Mark Cavendish – Team Columbia
Polka Dot – Jussi Veikkanen – Francaise Des Jeux
White – Roman Kreuziger - Liquigas

Tour Fun Fact

Why do riders race in a pack?

By riding behind other cyclists — called drafting — on a flat road, a rider uses roughly 30 percent less energy than he would riding alone. When the speed is extremely high (in chasing a breakaway or in the final hour of a flat stage), the pack stretches into a single line as each rider fights to stay in the draft created by the fast-moving group.

Tour de France 2009

Day 1 - Stage 1 – The Prologue

Le Tour starts today in Monaco with a 15.5km individual time trial. Each rider is on his own and basically goes pretty much all out for about 10 miles with the fastest times being just under 20 minutes. Roughly 30mph. The riders wear more streamlined aerodynamic clothes and use a special time-trial bike that is also more aerodynamic. These bikes aren’t allowed to be used in the regular stages. They handle much too flakey to be riding in a large pack of other riders. See Pictures below.

Since Lance seems to be the rider that most people care about, he did very well for an old guy who has been off for 3 years. Plus ‘his’ team (team Astana) had 3 other riders in the top 10 and leads the team competition. Astana may have the old problem of two many chiefs and not enough Indians. Look for the who’s the leader question to be answered later this coming week when the riders hit some of the harder mountain stages. If Lance can hang with the leaders when they get to the big hills then it will be his team, otherwise it will be up for grabs with Contador and Leipheimer the mostly likely to come out on top.

Results
1 Fabian Cancellara
2 Alberto Contador
3 Bradley Wiggins
4 Andreas Kloden
5 Cadel Evans
10 Lance Armstrong (40 seconds off the lead)

The Jerseys:

Yellow – Fabian Cancellara in first place by 18 seconds
Green – Bradley Wiggins
Polka Dot – Alberto Contador
White – Roman Kreuziger

Fun Tour Fact –
What is a peloton?
It’s a French word meaning “platoon” that’s used to describe the largest group of riders. The peloton is also referred to as the pack or the bunch.


Time Trial Bike - Used only for time trials and triathlons

Road Bike

Tour de France 2009

The Tour is back! The Tour is back!


The world's most prestigious cycling event starts today. This, the 96th Tour, is made up of 21 stages and covers 3,500 kilometers (2,170 miles).

These 21 stages have the following profiles:

10 flat stages,
7 mountain stages,
1 medium mountain stage,
2 individual time-trial stages,
1 team time-trial stage

20 teams, each with 9 riders, are entered in this year's race.

Besides competing for the overall win (the Yellow jersey) there are other jerseys up for grabs to:

Yellow - The maillot jaune is worn by the general classification leader.

Green - The maillot vert is awarded for sprint points. At the end of each stage, points are earned by the riders who finish first, second, etc. Points are higher for flat stages, as sprints are more likely, and less for mountain stages, where climbers usually win.

Polka Dot - The King of the Mountains wears a white jersey with red dots (maillot à pois rouges), inspired by a jersey that Félix Lévitan saw at the Vélodrome d'Hiver in Paris in his youth. The competition gives points to the first to top designated hills and mountains.

White - The maillot blanc (white jersey) is for the best rider under 25 on January 1 that year.

Most Combative - The prix de la combativité goes to the rider who most animates the day, usually by trying to break clear of the field. The most combative rider wears a number printed white-on-red instead of black-on-white next day.

The main story of this years tour will be Lance's return. Love him or hate him, he brings much needed attention to the Tour. How will Lance do? Can he compete for the Yellow Jersey after 3 years off and at the age of 38? Is he even the leader of his team (team Astana)? Albeto Contador of Spain (the 2007 winner), would seem to have a legitimate claim on being the leader. And Levi Leipheimer of the US is no slouch either.

I will be posting daily updates on the race and a Fun Fact each day - I'm sure y'all will be waiting with baited-breath.

Here are few useful links:

Versus TV schedule

General TV and Internet Streaming Info

Official Tour Site

Tour de France for Dummies

Tour de France 101

Tour de France Predictions