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This was the first boring stage of the 2011 Tour de France. Although it wasn’t great for this fan, I’m sure the riders enjoyed it.
Things did get exciting when a late breakaway occurred with the yellow and green jersey in it. The sprinters teams reeled them in though and the end of the stage culminated in a bunch sprint. Yawn.
The surprise ending was that Mark Cavendish didn’t win. His ex-teammate, Andre Geipel, beat him at the line. In a rare event for any sprinter, Greipel actually came off Cavendish’s wheel and out sprinted him to the line. It had to be a very satisfying win for Greipel since he played second fiddle to Cavendish when they were on the same team.
That was about all the excitement of the stage. I was hoping for green jersey wearer, Phillippe Gilbert to win and for Tour Leader, Thomas Voeckler, to pick up a little more time on the favorites but it didn’t happen. I was surprised Voeckler got away; just wish they would have worked together better because they possibly could have held the sprinters teams off. Oh well, there were no accidents to speak of – so a good day all in all.
Stage 11 will be similar to today’s stage, even less hilly so the sprinters will come out to play. Put your money on Cavendish he will be chomping at the bit to win after today’s loss to Greipel.
Tour de France Fantasy Cycling Challenge
For the Love of Bikes team (4loveofbikes) scored just 94 points in Stage 10 with riders Thomas Voeckler (50) and Phillippe Gilbert (44). Unlike most people playing this game, I didn’t change my rider roster during the practice stage. Personally, I don’t think there should be a practice stage, I think all the points earned during the Tour from the beginning to the end should count. Plus, four of my riders being out due to injuries didn’t help either. Oh well, play on and hope for better results in the mountains!
Today I swam 1 mile, my farthest swim to date.
I also swam in a wetsuit for the first time. It will take some getting used to. It did improve my time, 52:23 for a mile isn’t bad. When I started my Aquabike training in June my time for 1/2 a mile was about 40 minutes as I recall. The wetsuit feels so confining though. I think it may be too small but then it’s supposed to feel skin tight so who knows.
I’ll give it some time and use. I have 30 days to return it for a full refund. They even encourage you to swim in it since it stretches in water and with use. I’m hoping for stretching so it doesn’t feel so much like a straight-jacket.
Just for the record, I have never been in a straight-jacket.
Wetsuit = Spanx on steroids.
I didn’t watch the stage until this evening.
Will write more tomorrow, but must say chapeau to current Tour leader and of course, yellow jersey wearer, Thomas Voeckler!
I’m a fan, and had the good fortune to meet him last September in Quebec City when he raced in, and won, the Grand Prix de Quebec.
Today’s stage was an exciting stage, but for many bad reasons – crashes. The first crash was incidental and no one was seriously hurt. The 2nd crash was very serious, knocking out of the race: Vinokourov, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Frederik Willems and Dave Zabriskie. Andreas Kloden the “by default†leader of Team Radio Shack, was also injured (lower back) and could hardly walk after finishing the stage. It is unknown whether he will continue.
The 3rd crash was completely insane. A French TV car, after being told not to pass the riders in the breakaway group passed them anyway, hitting Juan Antonio Flecha and causing Johnny Hoogerland to crash into a barbed wire fence. Flecha was knocked off of his bike onto the road and Hooglerland’s skin was shredded by the barbed wire. Amazingly but still the norm for the riders of the Tour de France, both men got back on their bikes and finished the race. Both men may co-own that television station in the not too distant future. The driver knowingly acted against the instruction of race radio and the whole thing was caught on live television – their television cameras no doubt.
Johan Bruyneel , race director for Team Radio Shack, stated after the race that there are just too many vehicles on the road this year and that it is putting riders at risk. It does appear there are more television cameras just based on the quantity and quality of race coverage. It has changed a lot just in the past 3 years or so. Prior to that the race action was often covered mainly by helicopter (think of all the picture break up we used to have to put up with when there was dense tree coverage) with one or two, maybe 3 motorbike cameramen. It also seems there are more cars with so-called dignitaries – more accurately known as fat-cats.
Tour officials will probably be “encouraged†by the riders and teams to revisit these issues during the off-season.
Last, but certainly not least was another smart and savvy ride by new Tour Leader, Thomas Voeckler. Voeckler is a smart and opportunistic racer. He has been since bursting onto the Tour scene in 2004 when he made a name for himself wearing the yellow jersey for 10 days.
Those of us who have watched him race for a while know his style and knew that Stage 9 was the type of stage he could win. It was similar to Stage 15 in last year’s Tour, which he won. He has that reputation in the peloton and the riders like and respect him. He didn’t win Stage 9, Luis Leon Sanchez did (Voeckler did too much work in the breakaway to have enough left to sprint for the finish), but he took the yellow jersey from the equally terrific bike racer Thor Hushovd. Both Voeckler and Hushovd are tough and aggressive bike racers, Voeckler will bring honor to the yellow jersey just at Hushovd did.
Voeckler has serious time on Tour favorites:
2:26 on Cadel Evans
2:29 on Frank Schleck
2:37 on Andy Schleck
4:07 on Alberto Contador