We left Fougères this morning and Martin summed it up best; ‘normally you’d have expected Cav to be all but unbeatable in those circumstances.’ I felt the same, especially with Tony Martin winning the chrono, QuickStep morale being sky high and Cav being desperate to make amends after his brush with Veelers the other day.
On Thursday in Tours, I thought The Missile launched just a fraction too early – maybe trying that wee bit too hard?
Al Hamilton reckons that it’s Steegman’s fault; he’s not quick enough to be Cav’s last wheel?
Whatever the story, Cav gets his chance for revenge on Friday in the 173 K to Saint-Amand-Montrand – it’ll be a crazy one.
Getting the creds today was a joy, no hassle; the lovely Juliette had everything ready for us – would it was like that all of the time.
The size of the press hall reminds you that this is sport at the highest level – and who should park next to us as we popped the stickers on the car?
None other than Tricky Dicky himself; his presence on the race always makes me shake my head – if ASO are serious about spreading the ‘clean sport’ message, what the hell is he doing here?
Duly credded up, we headed back into the old town of Tours for a last look at the cathedral, L’Équipe, a kir at our morning bar and a beer at our race watching, afternoon bar – we’re going to miss you, Tours…
L’Équipe has more about Cav’s horrific experience in the chrono; ‘les pisse froid’ they say – if I tell you that ‘froid’ is ‘cold’ you can work out the meaning of the other word – referring to the perpetrator as a ‘cretin.’
Enough said.
Our angle today was what happens after the finish – interviews, warm downs, stressed staff, injured riders…
That involved scurrying around firing off shots at what we thought would interest readers.
We watched the finale on the finish line monitors.
That was one sore crash where Boasson Hagen came down and broke his scapula; we saw fellow victim Marcel Sieberg later in the day.
The German giant came down on his radio transmitter which had been forced into his spine – it looked extremely painful.
Our photog chum, Wessel Van Keuk was on duty for the Cor Vos agency – he was telling us that he was at the Belkin bus in the morning, before the start and took 500 shots…
Froome pulled up next to us, he’s just so skinny – but didn’t look troubled at all by his day’s effort.
Sky’s PR man, Dario Cioni was there to usher him through the chaos to the podium.
For some of the riders it was a quiet one – as long as they avoided the finale madness – Garmin’s Dan Martin told our Martin that it was close to a ‘day off’ for him.
But the likes of Tony Martin looked wasted – he’s gone deep in the previous day’s chrono and had to work hard for Cav today – with no adrenalin or champagne to celebrate a win with.
The Argos lead out guys were in demand with the press but were all still too tired to be smiling and ‘high fiving.’
Tins of fizzy drink were high on agenda for many – back in the 70’s it was only water you drank after the finish – and if it was fizzy, the soigneur was supposed to shake the bubbles out of it.
But no matter how tired or thirsty you are, the press want your story and it’s just part of being a pro to stand beside the bus – or even on the steps and get asked the same old, same old.
For the management it’s even worse, the reporters won’t take pity and let you go because you look so tired after the stage; you have to ‘man up’ and be prepared for banal, searching and downright impudent questions.
The Belgian and Dutch media in particular take this sport very seriously and if your team isn’t doing the biz – beware.
It was good to see Rudi Kemna back as Argos DS and looking good – he took a ‘voluntary suspension’ earlier in the year for being involved in doping, earlier in his career.
To our minds he was one of the last guys to sanction – he knows the score and would be the first to explain to young riders that things have changed and what paths not to go down.
And spare a thought for GreenEdge’s Shayne Bannan, he’s a magnet for every crazy Aussie in Europe.
‘Warming down’ is now a big thing with the teams, most of them have the turbos set up so that Phil Gilbert, Andrew Talansky, Cuddles and the rest can break that lactic up.
Some are chatty as they sit there, some are spent – Cuddles looked very much in the second category to us.
As the time ticks by after the finish, the crowds get bigger in the bus park – huge around QuickStep, Sky, Argos and Europcar but still big around even the like of Sojasun.
Brice Feillu is still popular – and possessed of the world’s highest cheek bones – albeit he hasn’t won a race in four years.
And through the throng, the mechanics have to get the bikes on the roofs and into the busses so as the circus can roll.
Sir David Brailsford looked pensive – but then so would you if you’d heard that you’d just lost one of your locomotives – Eddy BH joins Vasili Kiryienka as an ex-2013 Sky team Tour rider as a result of the same ‘chute’ which nailed Sieb