Aird Mohr ferry terminal, Isle of Barra, Outer Hebrides, 17:00 Monday.
There’s only one bit of road on the entire island where you can get a mobile signal.
And as for the ‘net, I’ve sworn, raged and cried at trying to get solid internet connections in Europe, over the years.
I’ve even had it go down in the T-Mobile Worlds press centre in Salzburg, never mind Barra.
But here we are, five hours out of Oban across the Minch, on the edge of the Atlantic; Marlene opens the iPad, presses two buttons and in the time it take to write this, www.cyclingnews.com pops up.
I’m amazed, she’s nonplussed; ‘it’s always like that,’ she sniffs.
Hood junior had already clued me in on the stage winner by text (there’s about 400 metres of road, just outside the beach airport where you can receive a text); Simon Gerrans (GreenEdge & Australia) the former Aussie champion is a cool guy – when he won Milan-Sanremo I tried to ring him for a quote but went to ansaphone.
Five minutes later he rang me back – even though he was headed out to celebrate in his adopted home of Monaco.
‘Who’s in yellow?‘ I asked my boy; ‘Don’t know, I have to watch Andy at Wimbledon, now!‘
Ah! those Sky HD boxes, no wonder you don’t see kids playing football in the street, anymore.
Bakelants holds on to yellow – and whilst Corsica certainly was a ‘different’ start to the race, all the ‘heads’ are covered by one second.
Albeit there’s been a lot of skin and splintered carbon fibre been left in Mr. Bonaparte’s home.
Is it me or are the Grand Tour organisers in too much of a competition to see who can come up with the toughest/most spectacular/daftest parcours – you choose?
The thing about a prologue to start is that it sorts out the status quo and whilst the first sprint stage is still mad, it’s not totally deranged.
But mind you, changing the finish line twice in five minutes doesn’t help . . .
TTT tomorrow – I love them.
Speed, skill, precision and real team work.
Favourites?
Garmin, despite their poor showing in the Giro, Millar, Martin, Talansky and Hesjedal are all ‘mad for it;’ Sky, obviously, but two of their biggest strongest boys, Geraint and Ian came down hard in Saturday’s debacle; Movistar, second in the Giro TTT and winners in the Vuelta, last autumn; QuickStep are champions of the world at this discipline, don’t forget; whilst BMC ran them close and GreenEdge will be on a high after today.
And on the subject of Greenedge, here’s what they had to say;
“Simon Gerrans made history as the first Australian to win a stage at each of the three Grand Tours.
“He delivered the first World Tour victory for the first Australian World Tour team when he won the Tour Down Under overall last year.
“Gerrans continued his history-setting ways in Calvi with a win on the third stage of the Tour de France. It is the second victory at the French Grand Tour for Gerrans; the first for ORICA-GreenEDGE.
“This is a huge win,” said Gerrans. “It’s a huge moment for the team. We have been so close on so many occasions. Hopefully it’s the first of many more to come.”
“This is obviously our biggest win,” added Sport Director Matt White. “We’ve won more than 50 races since the team’s inception last year. We had already won at the Giro, the Vuelta, the Classics and all sorts of races between, but this is the one box we hadn’t ticked off yet.”
‘Box ticked off ?’
Even the Aussies are using SkySpeak, these days.
A demain; but really I should be using the Gaelic – we’ll do that tomorrow.
Result - Le Tour de France 2013 – Stage 3: Ajaccio > Calvi
Stage Result
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Cannondale Pro Cycling
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
4 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
5 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
6 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
7 Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Astana Pro Team
8 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
9 Julien Simon (Fra) Sojasun
10 Gorka Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
11 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling
12 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
13 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team
14 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
15 Elia Favilli (Ita) Lampre-Merida
16 Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre-Merida
17 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
18 Davide Malacarne (Ita) Team Europcar
19 Jan Bakelants (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
20 Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
21 Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Katusha
22 Daryl Impey (RSA) Orica-GreenEdge
23 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
24 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team
25 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol
26 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
27 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team
28 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
29 David Millar (GBr) Garmin-Sharp
30 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Merida
31 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp
32 Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
33 Guillaume Levarlet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
34 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
35 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
36 Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
37 Julien El Fares (Fra) Sojasun
38 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Astana Pro Team
39 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol
40 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana Pro Team
41 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
42 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
43 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team
44 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
45 Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
46 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin-Sharp
47 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
48 Wouter Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
49 Bram Tankink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
50 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling
51 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
52 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
53 Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team
54 Andreas Klöden (Ger) RadioShack Leopard
55 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha
56 Andy Schleck (Lux) RadioShack Leopard
57 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack Leopard
58 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin-Sharp
59 Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa (Por) Movistar Team
60 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
61 Maxime Monfort (Bel) RadioShack Leopard
62 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
63 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
64 Jose Rodolfo Serpa Perez (Col) Lampre-Merida
65 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
66 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
67 Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
68 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
69 Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp
70 Brice Feillu (Fra) Sojasun
71 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida
72 Lars Petter Nordhaug (Nor) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
73 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team
74 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol
75 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha
76 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ
77 Andrey Amador Bakkazakova (CRc) Movistar Team
78 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ
79 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) FDJ
80 Maxime Mederel (Fra) Sojasun
81 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar
82 Jerome Coppel (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
83 Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin-Sharp
84 Kristijan Koren (Slo) Cannondale Pro Cycling
85 Michael Albasini (Swi) Orica-GreenEdge
86 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) FDJ
87 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Sojasun
88 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
89 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar
90 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 0:00:17
91 Alexis Vuillermoz (Fra) Sojasun 0:02:29
92 Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Team Europcar
93 Jérémy Roy (Fra) FDJ 0:03:40
94 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
95 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Astana Pro Team
96 Jon Izaguirre Insausti (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
97 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha
98 Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Movistar Team
99 Samuel Dumoulin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
100 David Lopez Garcia (Spa) Sky Procycling
101 Anthony Delaplace (Fra) Sojasun
102 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
103 Lars Boom (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
104 Jean-Marc Marino (Fra) Sojasun
105 Boy van Poppel (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:05:02
106 Alan Marangoni (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
107 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
108 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Lotto Belisol
109 Yury Trofimov (Rus) Katusha
110 David Veilleux (Can) Team Europcar
111 Cyril Gautier (Fra) Team Europcar
112 Tony Gallopin (Fra) RadioShack Leopard
113 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:06:13
114 Brett Lancaster (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
115 Alexander Kristoff (Nor) Katusha
116 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Sky Procycling
117 Maarten Wynants (Bel) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
118 Laurent Didier (Lux) RadioShack Leopard
119 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha
120 Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
121 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Sky Procycling 0:08:26
122 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
123 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling
124 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
125 Rohan Dennis (Aus) Garmin-Sharp
126 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
127 José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Movistar Team
128 Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Blr) Katusha
129 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
130 Jack Bauer (NZl) Garmin-Sharp
131 Roy Curvers (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano
132 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
133 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ
134 Sébastien Minard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
135 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
136 Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
137 Matteo Trentin (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
138 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) BMC Racing Team
139 Jerome Cousin (Fra) Team Europcar
140 Yohann Gene (Fra) Team Europcar
141 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
142 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
143 Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
144 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
145 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Team Saxo-Tinkoff
146 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
147 Kévin Reza (Fra) Team Europcar
148 Ramunas Navardauskas (Ltu) Garmin-Sharp
149 Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel-Euskadi
150 Svein Tuft (Can) Orica-GreenEdge
151 Stuart O’Grady (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
152 Matthew Harley Goss (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge
153 Murilo Antonio Fischer (Bra) FDJ
154 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol
155 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
156 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling
157 Thomas Leezer (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team
158 John Degenkolb (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano