Love Bikes

The 2011 Tour de France was the best Grand Tour I’ve ever seen. It should be noted that I’m no expert, and I’ve probably watched, start to finish, less than a dozen. That said, cycling experts all over the place agree that it was a fantastic event, and perhaps the best Tour de France in many, many years.

I’ll get slated by pro-cycling fans the World over for saying it, but from someone relatively new to the sport, it’s an easy way in if there are Brits doing well - if you’re from the UK. Early in the race, it was easy to see that Bradley Wiggins was in form; Geraint Thomas managed to get his hands on the White jersey for a few days; Ben Swift looked in awe of the race at first, but settled well; David Millar was his usual dandy self; and Mark Cavendish, well he doesn’t need me to tell him that he’s head and shoulders above all other sprinters right now.

Not that I care only about the Brits; some of my favourite moments came from those outwith this little island. Below are my favourite riders, taken from the Top 10 in each classification, but not necessarily the winner of each.

General classification winner: Cadel Evans; Love Bikes pic: Thomas Voeckler

Voeckler defied the naysayers for days, and days, and days. He’s not pure climber so shouldn’t have been able to stay with the GC contenders in the Pyrenees, let alone the Alps, but he held the yellow jersey for 10 days and did France proud. In the end, he knew he was spent and let his super domestique leave his side and push for the win on Stage 21. Pierre Rolland, another Frenchman, did just that.

Points classification winner: Mark Cavendish; Love Bikes pic: Thor Hushovd

This was a fantastic tour for Norway, but ended up being in the shadow of the recent killings that took place in Oslo and Utoya. In fact, before the final stage, both Hushovd and Boasson Hagen - the other Norwegian in this year’s Tour - were photographed observing a moment of silence to commemorate those that had died.

Hushovd himself took two stage wins, one of those an amazing endeavour over the Pyrenees mountains, in pursuit of the ever-present-in-the-breakaways Jérémy Roy. As sorry as I felt for Roy, I couldn’t help but be delighted for the big, likeable Norwegian. 

The God of Thunder showed his class throughout this race and did the World Champions jersey proud.

Mountains classification winner: Samuel Sanchez; Love Bikes pic Johnny Hoogerland

How could you not admire Johnny Hoogerland, after all he went through in the early stages of the race? Taken out by a combination of a French TV car and Sky’s Juan Antonio Flecha, Hoogerland needed the majority of the skin on his legs to be stitched back together, and still carried on, all the way to Paris.

From what I understand, he’s not the most popular man in the peloton, but he definitely won the hearts and minds of the watching public as he fought through the pain to finish the race.

Young Riders classification; winner: Pierre Rolland; Love Bikes pic: Pierre Rolland

Pierre Rolland was as much a part of Thomas Voeckler’s yellow jersey as Voeckler himself was, such was his constant presence alongside the maillot jaune. The White jersey changed hands a few times and finally came to rest on the young Frenchman’s shoulders, ensuring not only that the he achieved legendary status among his countrymen, but also raised expectation for next year’s tour.

If the tour had finished a week earlier, I would’ve had Geraint Thomas in here as the Love Bikes White jersey pic, but the young Welshman faded a bit towards the end and was actually overshadowed by his Norwegian teammate in terms of performances.

All in all, it’s been a great Tour and I’m very much looking forward to the next one. That said, it’s only a few weeks until the Vuelta a España.

Tour de France, Stage 21. Cadel Evans celebrates his victory with Andy and Frank Schleck in 2nd and 3rd places

Cadel Evans today became the first Australian - and the first person from the Southern Hemisphere - to win the Tour de France. At the age of 34, he is the oldest post-War winner and came 1st after two 2nd places in 2007 and 2008. He is now a hero, back home in Australia.

There’s not much more to say that hasn’t been said elsewhere, but I’ll be back to do a wee review tomorrow.

Tour de France, Stage 20. Tony Martin powers home to an Individual Time Trial win

I’ve only just seen the highlights of Stage 20 - having missed the live coverage due to Rangers’ first game of the season - and thought I’d give Tony “Panzerwagen” Martin the pic of the day slot, instead of (soon to be) Tour winner, Cadel Evans - more of whom after the Champs-Élysées.

This is Martin’s 6th ITT win of the year, including the ITT at the Daupiné Critérium, over the same course as yesterday’s Stage 20

Tour de France, Stage 19. Pierre Rolland delights in taking France’s first stage win

In a day that saw the yellow jersey change hands from Voeckler to Andy Schleck, you would expect the French to be in mourning. If not for the young Europcar domestique they might well have been.

Rolland has worked, and worked, and worked for every minute of every day that his team leader has Thomas Voeckler held onto the yellow jersey. At one point during today’s stage, Voeckler told Rolland “it was over” and to “go for the win”, and he did just that. Chapeau!

As for the GC contenders, well it’s all changed. The Schleck’s are into first and second -  youngest first - with Cadel Evans breathing down Frank’s neck in third. The big money’s on Cadel to out time trial both, and he has around 57s to make up on Andy to take the yellow jersey.

I wouldn’t put it past him but I have a sneaky feeling about Frank’s chances.

Tour de France, Stage 18. Andy Schleck shows his relief to take the stage win…

…but, more importantly, a big step towards the yellow jersey.

I had a rant at Schleck Jr a couple of days ago, so credit where it’s due. He was fantastic today. Superb, tactical cycling from Leopard-Trek, executed in a way that was not only effective but exciting, too.

Andy now moves up into 2nd behind Thomas Voeckler who still won’t let go of the yellow jersey. Chapeau!

It’s not over yet, though. Not only are there more mountains to climb tomorrow, but Cadel Evans - probably the greatest time trial cyclist of the top 4 - is hot on their tails, waiting for a chance to shine on Saturday’s penultimate stage.

Tour de France, Stage 17. Norwegian fans celebrate another Boasson Hagen victory

Today - despite more moaning by the Schlecks - I’m going to focus on the stage win and on one, Edvald Boasson Hagen - Eddy the Boss, according to Geraint Thomas.

This is the young Norwegians second stage win of the Tour, and Norway’s fourth (Thor Hushovd with the other 2). EBH’s two victories are Team Sky’s total, ensuring a successful campaign for the British team, even if it might only have come at the expense of losing their GC contender, Bradley Wiggins.

So what about Eddy the Boss? He was in contention yesterday - narrowly missing out after he let Hushovd out-sprint him - and has been a regular feature in the breakaways since Wiggins’ departure. Pre-Tour de France, we were told that he was still recovering from a bout of shingles, but he seems not to have been affected by this and is becoming a real star of both this Tour, and of Team Sky.

Since he’s already won a stage, EBH has already featured on this “pic of the day” thing, so I thought I’d feature the Norwegian fans, hundreds of whom made the journey to Italy today, to revel in another Scandinavian victory.

Thomas Voeckler, still leading the Tour de France, with 4 stages remaining.

Some great images from the Denver Post.

Tour de France, Stage 16. Andy Schleck loses time as we hit the mountains

Today, I think, we saw a fragility of the mind that is not something you like to expose in the last week of a grand tour. Shortly after being beat fair and square, and after losing several seconds to his nearest competitors, Andy Schleck felt the need to complain about today’s route, and to as good as suggest that fast descents should not be included in the Tour de France.

“It was a dangerous finish. I was not feeling great when he attacked and I did a bad descent. People don’t want a race that is decided in a downhill. We don’t want crashes or thoughtless risks.”

The problem with this is that his competitors got down that hill just fine; hell, some of them even seemed to enjoy it! It seems that Schleck Jnr is struggling at the moment, and trying to find someone or something to blame, when really he should work on his bike handling and descending skills.

“I must do something” always solves more problems than “Something must be done”.

Aside from all this, a stage was won! And it was won by The God of Thunder, Thor Hushovd, edging out his younger countryman, Edvald Boassan Hagan after a short sprint. I actually think Eddy the Boss could’ve beaten Thor if he’d been paying attention to Thor when he made his attack. Instead, he was staring off into middle distance, perhaps thinking of his and Geraint Thomas’ next video offering.

Evans, Contador and well, just about everyone made time on the Schlecks, meaning that the GC table looks a little different this evening. Evans is now into 2nd, taking 20-odd seconds out of Voeckler.

I would suggest that Evans is now the favourite, although Contador’s form today suggests he’s got something to bring into the Alps. Outsiders? Well, Sanchez is looking decent and he’s closer to Voeckler than Contador.

Everything will be decided in the mountains. Or, if not, perhaps in the Individual Time Trial on Saturday.

Tour de France, Stage 15. Mark Cavendish beats Tyler Farrar to the stage win

Another sprint stage, another HTC-led Cavendish win. This one giving him a 70-odd point lead at the top of the Green classification standings. I’d say that the Green jersey is now his to throw away; make it through the alps and he should be wearing it on the final podium, no?

Today was one of those days where the breakaway (again, containing a team member of FDJ; they’ve been in every single breakaway this year) led out for most of the race, only to be caught at the end and for the peloton to contest a bunch sprint. There’s only ever going to be one winner in those circumstances, so it wasn’t the most enthralling stage.

What caught my attention today, before, during and after the race took place, was the tidal wave of paranoia that has infested this year’s Tour de France. Fans and competitors alike  have mumbled and groaned throughout, reaching a climax over the past 48 hours.

If it’s not Cavendish moaning about Roman Feillu or ASO, then it’s fans accusing commentators of bias; if it’s not Philippe Gilbert and José Joaquin Rojas accusing of Cavendish of cheating by being towed by race cars, then it’s fans arguing over who loves the sport most; if it’s not Frank Schleck complaining about other riders “not trying”, then it’s fans declaring that cyclists are definitely doping (what happened to innocent until proven guilty?)

All this makes it difficult to like and to get emotionally involved in a genuinely thrilling and exciting sport.

Although, perhaps those that proclaim to love the sport more than I do don’t need me to.

Tour de France, Stage 14. Jelle Vanendert takes the stage win

A tense day in the mountains (all 6 of them!) saw Omega Pharma-Lotto’s Jelle Vanendert take the stage win, and with it the King of the Mountains jersey. Vanendert has been a permanent fixture at the front of the peloton this year, trying to up the tempo, drop Cavendish and help Gilbert get into the Green jersey. He deserved this win today, for all the work he’s done so far.

The final climb today was to the top of the Plateau de Beille, a location that’s been used 5 times previously for stage finales. In each of those, the stage winner has gone on to win the Tour de France. I can’t see this happening this year, but I’ve stuck 50p on Vanendert (600/1; each way) just in case.

As much as Vanendert’s win was a surprise - this was his first major race win - the real surprise was the lack of action among the supposed GC contenders. The big hitters all finished within a couple of seconds of each other; no-one was able to make an attack stick. 

The fact that each of Evans, Schleck A, Schleck F, Contador (and Voeckler) et al are all - seemingly - performing at around about the same level is probably a good thing. Maybe none of them are doping?