Tag: Le Tour de France 2010

Le Tour de France, Stage 11: Sisteron – Bourg-les-Valence; Reinstate Renshaw?

We headed to Bourg-les-Valence today, but first, Big Macs... they may pig you out towards an early grave, but damn, the wi-fi is good in there! Thursday was hectic, finished off with a train journey via Carstairs - I was a bit worried they might grab me - to Penrith, where I was meeting Dave to head to Stansted and La Belle France.

A Hard “Easy” Day: TdF Stage 10 (breakaway)

A Hard "Easy" Day. Yesterday was always going to be the day that the breakaway succeeded. The profile of the course and the stages on the days either side of it meant that neither the GC nor the sprinter teams would be interested. It wasn’t hard enough to separate the GC lads, but wasn’t easy enough for the sprinters to make it to the finish with the main bunch.

Another Day, Another Epic: TdF Stage 9 (mountains)

Another Day, Another Epic. Yesterday’s stage was a 204km monster through hot weather over a series of significant climbs, totalling about 4.5km (vertical) of climbing all up. The climbs were spread at the start and end of the race, with a relatively flat section through the middle of the day. Enormous by any standards.

Le Tour de France 2010, Stage 10: Chambery – Gap; Lance Don’t Employ No Cissies

It couldn't go on like that. Men can only 'death race' for so long and then they need a 'blaw.' Today, on the stage out of Chambery, they took the chance to lean on their shovels and left the minnows to grab the glory. I really didn't expect to see the finalé but when the box kindled up, there it was - with 12 K to go and a race average of 34 kph.

Allergic to Stairs: TdF 2010 Rest Day 1

Allergic to Stairs. I can remember watching the Tour in the years before being a part of the race. I was always completely gutted that just when things got interesting and they’d had a few mountain stages, there would be a rest day.

Le Tour de France, Stage 9: Morzine-Avoriaz – Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne; Time to Stop Dreaming

Before we talk about today’s stage from Morzine-Avoriaz, let’s spare a moment to remember the man who died on this day, July 13th 1967 on Mount Ventoux, Provence — world champion, winner of Paris - Nice, Milan — Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders and the Tour of Lombardy. Tom Simpson is sadly missed but a legend, never to be forgotten.

Le Tour de France 2010, First Rest Day Rant

Dear VV readers, we present our TdF2010 Rest Day Rant. It started when Vik phoned; "Have you seen the Sky website? "Bradley was limiting his losses, ho, ho, ho!"

Double Challenge: TdF 2010 Stage 8 (mountaintop)

Double Challenge. Mountain stages in bike races are inevitably decisive in sorting where riders finish in the race overall. They pose a number of challenges to a team atop the obvious physical barrier of the terrain itself.

Le Tour de France 2010, Stage 8: Station des Rousses – Morzine-Avoriaz; Schleck Takes First Blood

Great racing today to Morzine-Avoriaz, and whatever Astana pay Paolo Tiralongo (Italia) and Daniel Navarro (Espana), it's not enough. Tiralongo has been around a long time, third in the Baby Giro in 1998 he turned pro in 2000 and arrived at Astana this year after three years with Fassa, three with Panaria and four with Lampre.

Weight of a Nation: TdF 2010 Stage 7 (hilltop)

Weight of a Nation. Today was the first mountain stage of the race, and the second chance for the big hitters to test each others' legs and see who was looking dangerous and who not. I just love the mountaintop stages in these races!

Le Tour de France, Stage 7: Tournus – Station des Rousses; Bravo Chavanel!

Chavanel! A great day for him and QuickStep - their second stage, the maillot jaune regained and the polka dot jersey retained in gallant fashion.

Book out the window: TdF 2010 Stage 6 (bunchie)

Book out the window. There was a quote one of our boys gave on a day he crashed twice in 200m: “I thought I was pretty good at riding my bike.” Upon watching the final sprints and the way our boys have set up the lead-out train in the past two days, I think I could be forgiven for thinking something similar about what I do for a job.

Le Tour de France 2010, Stage 6: Montargis – Gueugnon; Top Mark Renshaw

We're in Montargis today, talking about Mark Renshaw; he has some nice wins in his palmares; the 2006 Tro Bro Leon, a stage in the 2008 Franco Belge and a hand in shattering Garmin's dreams to win the TTT in the 2009 Giro.

Relativity of Time: TdF 2010 Stage 5 (bunchie)

Relativity of Time. I have a great mate who has a theory on the relative speed of time passing. He believes that time should be measured experientially, rather than chronologically (similar to Dunbar in Catch-22, who believes if he does nothing for long enough, time will drag out to the point that he will effectively live forever).

Le Tour de France, Stage 5: Epernay – Montargis; Welcome Back Mark

Nice to have to you back, Mark! Columbia didn't dominate the finale here at Le Tour de France Stage 5 - Garmin did that - but the men in white and yellow did a huge amount of the work in the last hour. Renshaw was brilliant, not afraid to exchange bumps with Hushovd and weaving through Hunter and Farrar with ease, taking time in the chaos to calmly look back to check that Cav was where he was meant to be - ice cool!

The Two Day Theory: TdF 2010 Stage 4 (bunchie)

Two Day Theory. It is a very fortunate thing that the situation that Garmin-Transitions is in during this Tour is a first time for all of us involved. The fortune I speak of is partly that we've never had to deal with nigh on half of our team all being pretty badly wounded on the one descent, and partly that the fretting resulting from this would leave us, the staff, nervous wrecks. I have made up a totally anecdotal "two day" theory regarding peoples' responses to injury and trauma. It's completely without scientific evidence or backing, but does explain a pattern of behaviour that I have regularly seen over the years.

Le Tour de France, Stage 4: Cambrai – Reims; Ale Again

Le Tour de France Stage 4 from Cambrai and Dean was good, very good, team mate Hunter finished fastest, swooshing clear of them all - but after the line. Garmin sprinter patron Tyler Farrar sat up to peer over the sea of heaving numbers to see how his boys had done.

The Bounce: TdF 2010 Stage 3 (mini Roubaix)

The Bounce. We came to this Tour with nine guys ready to race. We’re down our leader and facing some injuries, but if yesterday proved anything it’s that we’re still up for it. The day started out with a little stress, considering the injuries some of the guys were going to go over cobbles with.

Le Tour de France 2010, Stage 3: Wanze – Arenberg Porte du Hainaut; That’s Better!

That's better! Hushovd gets his revenge through Arenberg, heroics from Hesjedal, great team work from Saxo and Cervelo, Andy Schleck stops being a mummy's boy, Geraint under scores his arrival and gets a Skoda Yeti and a white jersey, Contador does just fine for an 'ineffectual Spanish climber' and a bad day for Lance.

Perfect Storm of Crap: TdF 2010 Stage 2 (mini LBL)

Perfect Storm of Crap! All talk of the Mock aside, holy crap. What a day. Yesterday’s stage was dubbed a mini Liege-Bastogne-Liege as it covered a segment of the same course as that particular race. For those not in the know, LBL is one of the major Spring Classics on the calendar. It’s a tough race with lots of short, sharp hills on very small old roads.

At Random

John Pierce – Part Two, the Better – and Worse – Aspects of the Sport

John Pierce is one of the world's great sports photographers, he's a friend of VeloVeritas and in our site's best tradition, the man can RANT about the sport he's been a part of for 50 years. In Part One of our interview John told us about his introduction to the profession of cycling photography, his work around the globe and the background to his famous image of Guido Van Caster, Eddy Plankaert and Bernard Hinault sprinting flat out at the end of Stage 12 of the 1981 Tour De France which won 'Action Sports Picture of the Decade' nine years later. In Part Two, John looks at the changes in the sport - and in the photography equipment - through the decades, telling us why he prefers Canon over Nikon and Paris-Roubaix over all other races.

The 44th Davie Bell Memorial Road Race 2009

Ross Creber delivered the win for the dominating Endura Race Team in the 44th edition of the Davie Bell Memorial Road Race. Team mate and reigning Scottish Road Champion, Evan Oliphant took 2nd, narrowly edging out visiting James Sampson of the Candi TV — Marshall’s Pasta team.

Grenoble Six Days 2011 – Fifth Night

Grenoble Six Day 2011... Bed was at 02:00 am so I didn't have too much problem getting up at 07:45 to do some 'real world' stuff. The only trouble with that is I know I won't feel nearly as frisky come 02:30 am. I was meant to have an interview with Luke Roberts today, he was meant to get word about what's happening team-wise for 2012.

Dirk Van Hove – Gent’s ‘Honorary Aussie’ and the man behind the ‘Aussie Cup’

He’s more Australian than most folks from ‘Down Under’ - despite the fact that he’s from Gent in the heart of Flanders. He’s currently writing a history of Australian cycling, he’s the Drapac team’s European Co-ordinator, he’s a photographer at the Gent Six Day, and he’s VeloVeritas' biggest asset and chauffeur at Het Nieuwsblad. He’s Dirk Van Hove.

Le Tour de France – Day 5: Stage 17, Embrun to L’Alpe D’Huez

Ola! Wee bit Spanish there in honour of Carlos, a great ride-one that puts him up with the legends. But?... Is it enough to win him the 2008 Tour de France? We'll find out on Saturday, in the chrono; Cadel has to be the favourite though. It's 9.00 pm and we're still in the Salle de Presse on L'Alpe D'Huez, another long one, but they all are. We spent the night in Pra Loup, a word of advice, do not visit the Club du Soleil les Bergers hotel, it's not the answer!

Inga Thomson – “All I wanted to do was race my bike as hard as I could”

Inga Thompson started racing as a professional cyclist in 1984 and went on to ride the Los Angeles Olympics Road race the same year, where she finished 21st. She rode two more Olympics and has ten National Championships. Add three World championship silver medals and you have a full palmarès.
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