3:30am - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ok - I'm a little
more awake than I was
Sunday morning, in fact, I pretty much didn't
sleep in anticipation of
today. If you thought yesterday was brutal, today
is carnage. Stage 11
runs 1173k from the top of Courchevel where yeseterday
finished, up the
first HC climb in the tour at 55k up the Col
de La Madeleine, then a
CAT 1 at 110k up Col du Telegraphe, then one
more HC at 133k up Col du
Galibier, then a downhill sprint (if anyone has
any legs left to the
finish in Briançon, the highest town in
France.
I'm also sure it's going to be another massive
crowd. It never ceases
to amaze me, and something I want to experience
at least once in my
life - to experience a stage of the Tour de France.
It looks like one
long insane tailgate party, only with crowds
from every country entered
in the Tour. Portable picnic tables, wine, kegs
of beer, people with
flags, even a streaker the other day up at the
top of one of the
summits. Insane! but I think I'd like to see
a time trial, so I could
get at least a few hours worth after camping
out for so long, rather
than see a few seconds of the peloton wooshing
by.
It's a gorgeous day with temps in the 80s. And
apparently I'm a dork
and have been misspelling PELOTON. whoops.
Yesterday was an amazing day - today will show
just how much damage was
done. According to the commentators, and sportlins.com,
"Dario Frigo
(ITA-FAS) won't start the race. He has been arrested
by the police
after drugs were discovered in a car driven by
his wife." Wow. More
info as it becomes available.
3:50am - A few sprinters are trying to get a breakaway
going, trying to
get to the first sprint stage which is after
the first mountain - good
luck boys, since they finished 38' back yesterday.
Tom Boonen, the
leader in the sprint competition (green jersey)
has crashed, but is
back up and with the peloton.
4:15am - They've begun the climb up Col de la
Madeleine, and Vino and
Mancebo (who is 7th in the GC, and 4' behind
Lance) are in an eight man
breakaway chasing sprinter Thor Hushovd. Gap
is 4'27". Jean-Patrick
Nazon (A2R) who had to be helped across the line
yesterday has
abandoned the Tour.
4:30am - Gap is 3'45", with TDC driving the peloton.
There are already
riders dropping off the back.
4:35am - Valverde is back at the doctor's car..... hope he's ok.
5:05am - 1k to the first summit, Gap is 36". Masses of people at the summit!
5:10am - YIKES! HOLY CRAP! Oscar Pereiro went
over a cliff on the
descent on a turn - at least it was only across
a meadow, but it's
unnerved him, and he's playing catch up to the
breakaway which is now
down to four including Vino.
5:30am - Still on the descent and the gap has
grown to 2'. The
breakaway have hit the feed zone.
WOW - OLN has just done a piece on the logistics
of televising the Tour
- there are 180 TV trucks following the Tour!
That's insane.
6:00am - Gap is 1'37" and they're approaching the 2nd climb.
On every bike, there is a small yellow box just
in back of the gear
assembly, which is a GPS locator. That way they
can track exactly where
each rider is, and what their times are - amazing.
6:15am - The breakaway is down to two riders on
the climb up Col du
Telegraphe, Vino and Pereiro, with a gap of just
around 2'.
6:20am - Kim Kirchen (FAS) who was in 20th place
after yesterday, has
abandoned the tour. The Alps are taking their
toll.
6:45am - The breakaway is back up to three, the
gap is 3'23", and
they've just began the ascent up Col du Galibier.
Manuel Beltran (TDC),
has some bandages on his knee, and there is speculation
he's getting
tendonitis. That would be bad for Lance,
since Beltran is one of his
best climbers.
6:50am - TDC has picked up the pace. and Pereiro
has cracked off the
breakaway and crawling up the hill. gap is 3'11".
7:00am - Vino is on his own, 3'10" ahead. We'll
see if he can keep up
this drive up this mountain, which is the highest
summit of the Tour.
There is a $6000 prize for the first person over
the summit.
7:15am - Gap is 3'01" with 5k to go to the summit.
Ex-Postie Floyd
Landis (PHO) is hanging on Lance's wheel getting
a free ride off of
TDC, (like everyone else.)
7:30am - Vino is over the summit amidst what looks
like billions of
fans, Rasmussen has attacked the peloton to go
over the summit ahead of
Lance, gaining points and bonus seconds at the
top of the summit, then
there is a very dangerous 40k descent to go to
the finish. Rasmussen
could be a threat because he is only 38" behind
Lance.
There's a huge crowd in Times Square watching
the Tour on the
Jumbotron. Cool stuff!
7:40am - Santiago Botero (PHO) just overtook Vino
on the descent. Gap
is 2'33". I LOVE the GPS stuff! Rasmussen is
back in the peloton.
7:50am - They are FLYING down this mountain. Gap is at 2'24".
8:00am - WOW! Vino's GPS transponder is loose,
so it's hanging on the
back bar at the back center wheel, hitting the
spokes..... team car
comes up along side at 50mph, guys leans out
and yanks it off, and NO
ONE DIES!!!! Miracle. Gap is 1'52". 5k
to go.
8:10am - 1k - gap is 1'30".
8:12am - Vino takes it! With an additional 20" time bonus.
8:13am - The peloton hits 1'15" after, Lance stays
in yellow! Vino goes
from 14th to 12th. Moreau, third in the stage
also gets a time bonus
and moves into third in the GC above Basso.
Tomorrow is still in the Alps, but nothing higher than a CAT 2.
I......must........sleeeeepppzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......
Tally's Tour de Lance Stage 12
4:30am - It's not as early as yesterday, but it's still early.
Today's stage moves out of the Alps and into Provence
on the way to the
Pyrenees. Beginning in Briançon it runs
through several climbs, but
nothing higher than two CAT 2s, 187k into Digne-les-Bains.
The
sprinters along with the French riders should
shine today because it's
more of a mild stage, and it's BASTILLE DAY!
It's a gorgeous day, with
highs in the 80s.
Two knee injuries have taken out two major riders.
Tom Boonen who has
led the sprint competition since the beginning,
has abandoned as well
as TDC's major climber Maneual Beltran. Beltran
was beginning to suffer
tendonitis on his knee yesterday, but was caught
in a hard crash today
an hour and a half into the stage. He has
also had to withdraw which
brings TDC down to eight riders. Not good for
Lance.
7:20am - Not the most exciting of days, but the
French take it!
Moncoutie (COF) who went out on an early breakaway,
crosses the line
and wining the stage, keeping the tradition of
a Frenchman winning on
Bastille Day. Thor Hushovd (CA) is the new leader
of the sprint
competition with Boonen's withdrawl.
The overall GC stays the same. Sprint stage tomorrow,
with the
punishing Pyrenees on the weekend.