TdF Stage 4: Cholet - Cholet (29.5km ITT)

The Tour de France got underway for real yesterday in many peoples eyes with the first individual time-trial, and stage that properly sorted out the GC. The winner of the stage though, and new yellow jersey leader, was a bit of a surprise — Stefan Schumacher — no relation to thee Schumacher (as far as I know) — who went round the 29.5km circuit in a very impressive 35′44. He was the only man to go under 36 minutes. MORE»

TdF Stage 3: Saint-Malo - Nantes (208km)

So the thin dream of seeing Valverde actually go from start to finish of the entire Tour in Yellow has died today. Quickly on that thought . . . has anyone actually done that? I cannot be bothered to do the research but I would very much doubt that it has happened? Anyway, it’s not happening this year thanks to a four man break that managed to last the distance and keep clear of the split peloton. The winner of the stage was Samuel Dumoulin of France and the yellow jersey taken by third place on the stage man, Romain Feillu, also of France. MORE»

TdF Stage 2: Auray - Saint-Brieuc (164.5km)

This stage is 33km shorter than yesterdays but it is already long underway. The coverage on TV here doesn’t start until a little later and with the F1 on but hopefully I can catch the end of the race. Hopefully it is a little dryer than the race here in Silverstone. It could be interesting today because after Valverde many riders have the same time so a decent attack today could see you carry the yellow jersey for a number of days.

THE STAGE
It is a very flat stage though their is a category three stage halfway through. It may help a break already away or spring a break to the finish. Still there is a long way to go after that climb and it is very flat so it could and probably should be a day for the big sprinters.

PREDICTION
Mark Cavendish. Any breaks will be realed in like yesterday but with a flatter finish I think it’ll suit the big Brit sprinter.

OUTCOME
A break of two early on later became a break of four but they never got a lead that lead you to believe the big sprinters wouldn’t reel them in by the end. In the end they were caught and it came down to the sprint finish. So much for my prediction however as Cavendish was nowhere leaving it to my prediction from yesterday, Thor Hushovd to take the win from Kim Kirchen and Gerald Ciolek on the line. MORE»

TDF Stage 1: Brest - Plumelec (197.5km)

So its July and it’s the Tour de France and the odd thing about this opening stage is that it is not a prologue. As long as I have been watching the Tour de France the opening stage has been a prologue time-trial so this will make for different but interesting viewing. Everyone will have a shot at Yellow today.

The winner of stage 1 was one of the pre-race favourites, Alejandro Valverde. The race opened with a race and not a prologue time-trial, and it worked. The race finished at the top of a 1.5km climb and it separated the men from the boys.

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If you have turned on the Tour de France today, liked what you see but are not to sure what is going on then worry not. The Guardian newspaper’s website has an excellent guide to the race for new comers. It has an interactive route guide, and guide to the tactics of the race and a section on how the teams are structured. The site also has regular race news and views as well as in the paper if you cannot get to the computer too often.

Take a look at it here.

Here are some facts, figures and information about the upcoming 95th edition of Le Tour de France starting tomorrow. MORE»

This weekend the world’s toughest sporting event, the Tour de France gets underway and as always I will be as hooked as ever.

Drug scandals year-after-year has put a lot of people off but although I often threaten it, I cannot help coming back for more in the hope that a clean race will put the spotlight on the great things about the event and that will save the sport in the eyes of the passive on looker.

The race is quite unique this year. There is no prologue time-trial to get the event underway, there is just the two time-trials and the Tour will go up a mountain pass that will take it higher than it has ever been before. The race starts in Bregagne, circles France in an anti-clockwise direction, goes through two mountain ranges, only leaves France when it dips into Italy for a day, and as always finishes up in the heart of Paris.

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It is the end of the line for Floyd Landis almost two years since his tainted Tour de France win. Floyd’s latest court case was at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, but the case was thrown out and now Landis has nowhere else to turn.

Landis was looking to get his 2006 Tour title back after being stripped of it after testing positive for testosterone following his Stage 17 win. The biggest disaster for Landis now is that he must repay $100,000 towards the legal fees of the USADA as well as his own legal fees. The total could top $2 million. Landis wont be eligible to race again until January 2009, if he does in fact chose to race again. MORE»

British Cycling’s top brass have today announced that they have plans in place to have an all British team entered into the Tour de France by 2010. Just as I thought my dreams of riding in the big time were gone, this little news article has seen them spring back to life like Floyd Landis in the 2006 Tour after he looked down and out. Dave Brailsford’s news is to me what that little shot of Testosterone (or a pint of beer) was to Floyd.

I guess within the article I can pin-point the very moment I felt I was back in with a chance: MORE»

Six NDCC men took part in the tough Sperrin Sportive yesterday. There was a choice of 60 or 90 mile routes, with the 40 or so 90 milers having to do one of those infamous ‘extra loops’. All of us chose to do the long run. This was hard in itself but heat on the day was an equally debilitating factor, with gallons of water having to be consumed.

 Starting in Cookstown, the first 30 mile section wasn’t too bad with modest climbs and any steepness fairly short. The 10 minute stop just outside Sperrin was welcome, but no sandwiches - which we have become used to on such runs! Shortly thereafter a right turn into a long steepish single track road deep into the mountains, very scenic and a nice descent, with not a car in sight - great. A few more modest climbs and a fast descent took us into Plumbridge, the only village of the day. Then climbing again back in single track roads before one of the stiff ones - Barnes Gap, which broke things up a lot. MORE»

In 2007 it was the Tour de France, in 2008 it is the Giro.  Young Alberto Contador of Astana continues to build an impressive cycling resume with another major tour victory to his name.  He becomes the first non-Italian to win the three-week race since 1996 when Pavel Tonkov won.  That was a stat I wasn’t aware of until today but it makes his win even more impressive. MORE»

Went with 10 others from the club - North Down, for our annual jaunt to the Tour of Mayo, one of the lesser known cycling tours. Our group and the regulars from Phoenix made up about half the field that did the full course. Its one of the best tours on the callendar with a good mix of quiet flat roads then some testing hills through spectacular scenery before finishing on flat roads home - not the best publicised run, but maybe thats what makes it so different. 4 stops along the way and endless supplies of sandwiches and tea. Mrs Doyle would have been proud. MORE»

You have got to love something different in the big tours.  We seen it once a few years ago in the Tour de France on Alp D’Huez and seen it again yesterday in the Giro — A mountain time-trial.  Lance Armstrong won that TT up the Alp back then and yesterday in the 12.9km ride up Plan de Corones on roads touching a 24 percent gradient it was Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas.

The Italian beat out fellow Italian’s Emanuele Sella by 6 seconds and Gilberto Simoni by 17 seconds. Overall leader Alberto Contador came in 22 seconds back. MORE»

The Giro has finally got going.  Yep we are in the mountains.  It’s time to go out of my way now to watch the racing because this is were the race is won and lost.  Tour de France champion Alberto Contador who in riding for Astana will not be riding the 2008 Tour has put his eggs in the Giro basket and so far it appears to be working.  The young Spaniard has moved into the first place overall.  Sure he lost a little time to former Giro winner Di Luca yesterday but not much and today he finished on a par with the stage winner Emanuele Sella.  So they said that today’s stage was the hardest one of the race and with that behind him Contador has surely got to be feeling confident carrying a 33 second lead on Riccardo Ricco and a 55 second lead on Di Luca. MORE»

The Giro presses on through the week and the last few days have included a time-trial.  Tour de France champions Alberto Contador put in a very good time to move up the overall standings but still some five minutes back on the overall leader who built up his time a few days ago in a big breakaway.

Young Irish rider Phil Deignan came in an impressive 53rd in the TT losing just over 3 minutes.  Today he had a bit of a disaster as a huge split in the group seen him come in over twenty two minutes back as the race finished with two seperate pelotons. MORE»