Paris. Capital of France. One of the paramount cities of Europe. Home of the final Tour de France stage since 1975. The heralded ‘city of love’ provided a stunning backdrop for the finish of the historic 99th edition of Le Tour, truly a grand finale for this most prestigious of races.
Stage 20 went from Rambouillet to the Champs-Élysées of Paris, the flat road stage that rounds out every Tour de France. As usual the stage was more of a tradition than an actual race for most, a longstanding gentleman’s agreement in the peloton meaning that Bradley Wiggins would not be challenged for his yellow jersey on the final stage. Instead the peloton took an easy morning with Sky arranging themselves for the usual team photograph, spread across the road with their arms on their teammates’ shoulders.
The jovial mood was clear in the decorations of the riders for day. Each of the leaders of the four classifications - Bradley Wiggins in GC, Peter Sagan in sprints, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) in young rider and Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) in the mountains – was riding a bike that matched their jerseys as the leader of their respective classification. Team Sky had also made some changes to their wallpaper, the characteristic blue stripe on their black uniforms magically turning to yellow overnight, even on the team cars, in celebration of Wiggins’ impending victory.
The first 50 kilometres passed without incident, the highest forms of excitement a puncture in the peloton and six riders forming an ‘escape’ 50 metres ahead of the peloton. The race passed by Versailles, the palatial residence of the last French king, Louis XIV, located in huge grounds on the outskirts of Paris. By now the landmark synonymous with the French city was visible, the Eiffel Tower reaching up in front of the riders like a homing beacon.
Team Sky and its leader, Bradley Wiggins, were staying close to the front of the peloton as George Hincapie (BMC) and Chris Horner (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) led the race over the finish line to begin eight laps of the 6.5 kilometre Champs-Élysées circuit. That was the signal for the attacks to commence, Jerome Pineau (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) happily obliging. He was soon joined by a number of other riders, but it was Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) and Danilo Hondo (Lampre-ISD) who made the cut, taking it in turns to ride on the front. The race began cycling between the landmarks of Paris, the Arc de Triomphe, Place de la Concorde and golden statue of young French martyr Joan of Arc dominating the visions of passing riders.
It was probably the only flat stage in which the intermediate sprint was uncontested, Team Sky following the now three-strong breakaway over the line with 35 kilometres left in the race. Another eight riders rode out to join the leaders, the 11 having less than 30” advantage on the Liquigas-led peloton. An attack from Jens Voigt at 13 kilometres to go shattered the escape group, most being quickly collected by the chase group while Voigt and two companions continued pushing the pedals up the front.
The second-to-final lap was when riders started hearing commands from their sports director to catch the breakaway in their earpieces, ready to set the stage up for a sprint finish. That proved easier said than done, though, Voigt and his companions holding onto enough seconds to stay off the front of the peloton. Only half a lap remained in the Tour de France by the time the Sky-controlled peloton finally caught the leading trio. The chase was now on.
The teams of the sprinters were now visible at the front, each trying to do something for their man to take the most coveted stage victory in professional road racing. Yellow jersey wearer Bradley Wiggins was setting the pace on the front of the peloton, swinging off just past the flamme rouge to make way for Mark Cavendish’s leadout train. Despite launching from the 350 metre mark once again, Cavendish reaffirmed his title as the ‘Manx Missile’, holding off Peter Sagan and Matt Goss (Orica-GreenEDGE) to take his third stage win of the 2012 Tour.
Bradley Wiggins ascended the podium as the first-ever British winner of the Tour de France, Sky teammate Chris Froome and Liquigas-Cannondale’s Vincenzo Nibali standing beside him in second and third places. Tejay van Garderen retained his hold on the white jersey, as did Peter Sagan his green and Thomas Voeckler his polka-dots, while Radioshack-Nissan-Trek took out the teams’ classification and Chris Anker Sorenson claimed the SuperCombativity Prize for the most spirited rider. All should be back next year to defend their titles in the 100th edition of the world’s oldest and most famous Grand Tour, which will be a showdown not to be missed.
Showing posts with label Jens Voigt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jens Voigt. Show all posts
Monday, 23 July 2012
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Stage 10: Mâcon - Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
The mountains
are always the most fun part of the Tour de France. It’s where you get the
uplifting performances, the heart-breaking disappointments, the surprises, the
shocks and the real Tour de France. Today was a day for the surprises, some
unanticipated moves and an unexpected finish keeping things fresh and
interesting after a day out of the saddle.
More riders failed to make the start today, as the Tour toll rose to 23. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) pulled out after the Stage 9 time trial to try and allow his broken scaphoid to heal, while Australia’s Matt Lloyd (Lampre-ISD) lost his Tour to a broken elbow. Rémy Di Gregorio (Cofidis) left under much less savoury circumstances, arrested in a doping scandal and suspended by his team during the rest day.
Stage 10 from Mâcon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine started hard and fast, green jersey wearer Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) jumping away just two kilometres in with two companions. Apparently Sagan wasn’t a popular peloton choice for the breakaway, numerous large groups trying to chase him and Andriy Grivko (Astana) down, the third member of their trio already having been dropped. In the end it took 30 kilometres before two merged chase groups comprising 23 riders finally bridged the gap to the duo, and the race was on. With enough riders to do the pace-making, the mini-peloton out the front built up a lead of 5’55” ahead of the fast-chasing peloton.
That lead was nearer seven minutes as the 25-strong breakaway reached the first climb of the day, the Category 2 Côte de Corlier. Former polka-dot jersey wearer Michael Morkov surged forward to take top points, leading out Grivko, rouleur Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) and French favourite Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). As the peloton neared the top of the climb they were only 6’45” behind, Team Sky beginning to pull back the escapees.
A couple of punctures for leaders Sánchez and Voeckler didn’t stop them, each soon rejoining the breakaway after their respective technical difficulties. They were irrelevant, however, as the intermediate sprint approached, soon revealing the real reason why Sagan initiated the breakaway and why so many sprinters chose to join it. With Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) leading out team sprinter Matt Goss, Goss, Sagan and FDJ-Bigmat sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich raced each other to the line, Goss outmanoeuvring both to take the 20 points on offer for first, chipping another five points off Sagan’s lead in the green jersey competition. Shortly after both the Australian Goss and the Belarusian Hutarovich were seen dropping rapidly off the back of the breakaway, exercise done for the day.
They weren’t the only ones to go, the Europcar riders setting a tough pace that some in the breakaway couldn’t follow. It was a common theme with the peloton, too, where some of the big names were being shelled off the back from the pace set by Sky as they chased the now-16 man escape. The number kept going down until eventually Sanchez, Voeckler, Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) and Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) had shed every one of their breakaway companions. After several minutes of attacks, escapes and catches, Sanchez, Voeckler, Scarponi and Devenyns found themselves alone in the lead on their way up the hors catégorie Col de Grand Colombier.
One could be forgiven for thinking that it was a Norwegian national holiday from all the red, blue and white flags lining the race route up the second climb of the day. Edvald Boasson Hagen’s countrymen had turned out in force to support him as he led the peloton up the HC climb in the Norwegian national jersey, working as a domestique for Sky team leader Bradley Wiggins. The slope of the climb took its toll, though, a handful of the big favourites making it over the climb in a little group, a short way ahead of the remainder of the peloton. Vincenzi Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) led the descending peloton down the other side, Bradley Wiggins and his Sky teammates hovering in constant attendance around reigning champion Cadel Evans (BMC). Without such stringent supervision, Nibali leapt off the front of the group and caught up to teammate Peter Sagan, waiting further on down the road, as the two attempted the same manoeuvre as Andy Schleck did with teammates Maxime Monfort and Joost Posthuma last year, though without Schleck’s level of success. Sky soon wound Nibali back in as the peloton regrouped for the final 30 kilometres of the stage.
Meanwhile, out the front, Voeckler had led the breakaway quartet over the final two climbs of the day, giving him enough King of the Mountain points to take the polka-dot jersey. Inside the final 20 kilometres, the four were so focussed on preparing to race each other for the stage win that they failed to notice Jens Voigt speeding up behind them, having sat in no-man’s land between the peloton and the breakaway for a large part of the day. The addition of Voigt into the mix was not a welcome one, Scarponi attacking early to try and shake the strong German off his tail before the finish line. The rest of the break caught him on the end of the descent, before being surprised as Devenyns jumped off the front. The remaining four were reluctant to chase, Voigt finally taking responsibility to allow himself a chance at the stage win.
Devenyns caught, Voeckler began coming up alongside Voigt, trying to outrace the German, but Sanchez was also coming from behind, trying to salvage a stage win after his efforts of the day. The almost comically slow sprint finish from three very tired riders ended with the combination pain-and-triumph expression so familiar on Thomas Voeckler’s face as he claimed France’s second stage win of the Tour, every effort of the victory etched in his features. As the remaining breakaway riders rolled in from no-man’s land, a black and red jersey could be seen sprinting towards the line, followed by a yellow one. Brad Wiggins refused to let Cadel Evans escape his clutches right to the finish line, chasing far more vigorously than during Jurgen van den Broeck’s (Lotto Belisol) attacks earlier in the stage to defend his yellow jersey.
Stage 11 hits the Alps, with two HC climbs as well as a Cat 1 and a Cat 2. It seems even more unlikely that a breakaway will succeed than it did today, but this is the Tour de France, and anything is possible. The most likely scenario (and a fairly exciting one at that) would have Team Sky hauling Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali, Jurgen van den Broeck and Denis Menchov, plus a few extras, through the Alps at top speed, though Evans’ and van den Broeck’s propensity for attacking will certainly keep things lively. That said, the mountain breakaway has already succeeded once, so just maybe they could pull it off again.
More riders failed to make the start today, as the Tour toll rose to 23. Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) pulled out after the Stage 9 time trial to try and allow his broken scaphoid to heal, while Australia’s Matt Lloyd (Lampre-ISD) lost his Tour to a broken elbow. Rémy Di Gregorio (Cofidis) left under much less savoury circumstances, arrested in a doping scandal and suspended by his team during the rest day.
Stage 10 from Mâcon to Bellegarde-sur-Valserine started hard and fast, green jersey wearer Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) jumping away just two kilometres in with two companions. Apparently Sagan wasn’t a popular peloton choice for the breakaway, numerous large groups trying to chase him and Andriy Grivko (Astana) down, the third member of their trio already having been dropped. In the end it took 30 kilometres before two merged chase groups comprising 23 riders finally bridged the gap to the duo, and the race was on. With enough riders to do the pace-making, the mini-peloton out the front built up a lead of 5’55” ahead of the fast-chasing peloton.
That lead was nearer seven minutes as the 25-strong breakaway reached the first climb of the day, the Category 2 Côte de Corlier. Former polka-dot jersey wearer Michael Morkov surged forward to take top points, leading out Grivko, rouleur Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek) and French favourite Thomas Voeckler (Europcar). As the peloton neared the top of the climb they were only 6’45” behind, Team Sky beginning to pull back the escapees.
A couple of punctures for leaders Sánchez and Voeckler didn’t stop them, each soon rejoining the breakaway after their respective technical difficulties. They were irrelevant, however, as the intermediate sprint approached, soon revealing the real reason why Sagan initiated the breakaway and why so many sprinters chose to join it. With Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE) leading out team sprinter Matt Goss, Goss, Sagan and FDJ-Bigmat sprinter Yauheni Hutarovich raced each other to the line, Goss outmanoeuvring both to take the 20 points on offer for first, chipping another five points off Sagan’s lead in the green jersey competition. Shortly after both the Australian Goss and the Belarusian Hutarovich were seen dropping rapidly off the back of the breakaway, exercise done for the day.
They weren’t the only ones to go, the Europcar riders setting a tough pace that some in the breakaway couldn’t follow. It was a common theme with the peloton, too, where some of the big names were being shelled off the back from the pace set by Sky as they chased the now-16 man escape. The number kept going down until eventually Sanchez, Voeckler, Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD), Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale) and Dries Devenyns (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) had shed every one of their breakaway companions. After several minutes of attacks, escapes and catches, Sanchez, Voeckler, Scarponi and Devenyns found themselves alone in the lead on their way up the hors catégorie Col de Grand Colombier.
One could be forgiven for thinking that it was a Norwegian national holiday from all the red, blue and white flags lining the race route up the second climb of the day. Edvald Boasson Hagen’s countrymen had turned out in force to support him as he led the peloton up the HC climb in the Norwegian national jersey, working as a domestique for Sky team leader Bradley Wiggins. The slope of the climb took its toll, though, a handful of the big favourites making it over the climb in a little group, a short way ahead of the remainder of the peloton. Vincenzi Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) led the descending peloton down the other side, Bradley Wiggins and his Sky teammates hovering in constant attendance around reigning champion Cadel Evans (BMC). Without such stringent supervision, Nibali leapt off the front of the group and caught up to teammate Peter Sagan, waiting further on down the road, as the two attempted the same manoeuvre as Andy Schleck did with teammates Maxime Monfort and Joost Posthuma last year, though without Schleck’s level of success. Sky soon wound Nibali back in as the peloton regrouped for the final 30 kilometres of the stage.
Meanwhile, out the front, Voeckler had led the breakaway quartet over the final two climbs of the day, giving him enough King of the Mountain points to take the polka-dot jersey. Inside the final 20 kilometres, the four were so focussed on preparing to race each other for the stage win that they failed to notice Jens Voigt speeding up behind them, having sat in no-man’s land between the peloton and the breakaway for a large part of the day. The addition of Voigt into the mix was not a welcome one, Scarponi attacking early to try and shake the strong German off his tail before the finish line. The rest of the break caught him on the end of the descent, before being surprised as Devenyns jumped off the front. The remaining four were reluctant to chase, Voigt finally taking responsibility to allow himself a chance at the stage win.
Devenyns caught, Voeckler began coming up alongside Voigt, trying to outrace the German, but Sanchez was also coming from behind, trying to salvage a stage win after his efforts of the day. The almost comically slow sprint finish from three very tired riders ended with the combination pain-and-triumph expression so familiar on Thomas Voeckler’s face as he claimed France’s second stage win of the Tour, every effort of the victory etched in his features. As the remaining breakaway riders rolled in from no-man’s land, a black and red jersey could be seen sprinting towards the line, followed by a yellow one. Brad Wiggins refused to let Cadel Evans escape his clutches right to the finish line, chasing far more vigorously than during Jurgen van den Broeck’s (Lotto Belisol) attacks earlier in the stage to defend his yellow jersey.
Stage 11 hits the Alps, with two HC climbs as well as a Cat 1 and a Cat 2. It seems even more unlikely that a breakaway will succeed than it did today, but this is the Tour de France, and anything is possible. The most likely scenario (and a fairly exciting one at that) would have Team Sky hauling Cadel Evans, Vincenzo Nibali, Jurgen van den Broeck and Denis Menchov, plus a few extras, through the Alps at top speed, though Evans’ and van den Broeck’s propensity for attacking will certainly keep things lively. That said, the mountain breakaway has already succeeded once, so just maybe they could pull it off again.
Monday, 9 July 2012
Stage 8: Belfort – Porrentruy
When it comes to exciting in the Tour de France, it’s the mountains that
deliver, and we’ve only just seen the beginning of the hills in the Grande Boucle.
Today’s stage from Belfort to Porrentruy was gripping, exciting and
tantalising, and this was only a taste of what’s to come once the Tour
reaches the Alps and the Pyrenees.
Today was tipped as a day for the breakaways and that certainly turned out to be the case. The race moved east under sunny skies towards the French-Swiss border, 11 riders from various teams jumping off the front of the peloton a few kilometres in. They hovered 20 to 30 seconds off the front of the peloton for almost 10 kilometres, until the peloton managed to reel them in.
Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), however, pre-empting the breakaway’s capture, attacked on his own and began a solo breakaway up and over the first climb of the day. The oldest man in the Tour de France was sitting 30” ahead of the bunch as various groups of riders tried to bridge the gap to the super-domestique. A group of eight and a group of four managed to stay away from the peloton long enough to join forces and begin attempting Voigt’s capture. Before they could achieve it, though, the peloton surged forward to swallow them up, and instead Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank) had a try.
The theme of fluid breakaways would continue over the course of the day, as a stubborn Jens Voigt refused to be caught. The feat was eventually achieved by a group of six riders that soon swelled to a breakaway of 11, but as the peloton once again threatened to catch them Voigt took off on his own again. Steven Kruijswijk of Rabobank decided to join him, and the pair led a field that was split into four or five groups with riders constantly being tailed off the back. The first few groups on the road amalgamated to form a super-breakaway of 24, still only a handful of seconds ahead of the peloton.
That was when Jérémy Roy, SuperCombative rider of the 2011 Tour, decided the day just wasn’t interesting enough and bridged the gap to the breakaway and passed them, beginning a solo time trial in the lead. The main peloton was having its own kind of excitement, as yet another crash of the kind that has defined this year’s Tour forced Euskaltel-Euskadi’s main man Samuel Sanchez to retire with a broken collarbone and hand. Alejandro Valverde of Movistar also took another tumble, adding to his list of bad luck in this year’s Tour.
Meanwhile Roy had left France behind him altogether and entered Switzerland, leading Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar) and their group of 20 chasers over the fourth climb and into the trilingual country. Roy was soon joined by Fredrik Kessiakoff, who had leapfrogged Kiryienka to take the lead, 3’40” ahead of the peloton. The duo were quickly caught by four other riders, including Roy’s FDJ-Bigmat teammate Thibaut Pinot, as they made their way over the fifth climb of the day, the Category 2 Cote de Saulcy. Having taken maximum points, Kessiakoff decided to go it alone, vaulting off the front of the leading sextet and building up almost a minute’s lead for himself.
The peloton was taking the day off, the number of escapees meaning there were no points up for grabs at the intermediate sprint. The teams kept the pace high, though, continuing to shell riders off the back as they went up and down the Jura mountains. The action was still on out the front, the chase on for lone leader Kessiakoff by the Frenchmen Pinot and Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek). Pinot soon dropped Gallopin and started coming for Kessiakoff, less than a minute ahead, as the peloton fractured and died, the only group on the road a small collection of the top GC contenders, including yellow jersey wearer Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Cadel Evans (BMC) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Three minutes ahead, Pinot was bolting for the finish line, FDJ-Bigmat sports director Marc Madiot bellowing at him from the team car with more and more enthusiasm as Pinot raced closer and closer to home. Though he was being chased by the elite group of GC riders and climbers who were coming ever closer, the 22-year-old Frenchman held off the hordes long enough to raise his arms in tired but exultant triumph as he crossed the line in Porrentruy, the first French victory of the Tour. Behind him Evans and Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) were playing mind games with their enemies, Wiggins marking Evans carefully to avoid losing time to his rival. Despite Evans’ attacks, the group crossed the line as one, Evans taking second and the previously dropped Gallopin hanging in for third.
The general classification received another good shake-up today, though nothing has changed between top contenders Wiggins and Evans. Tomorrow’s time trial will certainly keep things interesting, and it’s hard to go past Wiggins or Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek). Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Tony Martin may or may not be in the mix, depending on how well his wrist has healed up. Watch out, too, for Cadel Evans. Though not as good a time triallist as the other three, Evans is in superlative form and he may prove a surprise in his attempt to claim the yellow.
Today was tipped as a day for the breakaways and that certainly turned out to be the case. The race moved east under sunny skies towards the French-Swiss border, 11 riders from various teams jumping off the front of the peloton a few kilometres in. They hovered 20 to 30 seconds off the front of the peloton for almost 10 kilometres, until the peloton managed to reel them in.
Jens Voigt (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), however, pre-empting the breakaway’s capture, attacked on his own and began a solo breakaway up and over the first climb of the day. The oldest man in the Tour de France was sitting 30” ahead of the bunch as various groups of riders tried to bridge the gap to the super-domestique. A group of eight and a group of four managed to stay away from the peloton long enough to join forces and begin attempting Voigt’s capture. Before they could achieve it, though, the peloton surged forward to swallow them up, and instead Pieter Weening (Orica-GreenEDGE) and Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank) had a try.
The theme of fluid breakaways would continue over the course of the day, as a stubborn Jens Voigt refused to be caught. The feat was eventually achieved by a group of six riders that soon swelled to a breakaway of 11, but as the peloton once again threatened to catch them Voigt took off on his own again. Steven Kruijswijk of Rabobank decided to join him, and the pair led a field that was split into four or five groups with riders constantly being tailed off the back. The first few groups on the road amalgamated to form a super-breakaway of 24, still only a handful of seconds ahead of the peloton.
That was when Jérémy Roy, SuperCombative rider of the 2011 Tour, decided the day just wasn’t interesting enough and bridged the gap to the breakaway and passed them, beginning a solo time trial in the lead. The main peloton was having its own kind of excitement, as yet another crash of the kind that has defined this year’s Tour forced Euskaltel-Euskadi’s main man Samuel Sanchez to retire with a broken collarbone and hand. Alejandro Valverde of Movistar also took another tumble, adding to his list of bad luck in this year’s Tour.
Meanwhile Roy had left France behind him altogether and entered Switzerland, leading Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar) and their group of 20 chasers over the fourth climb and into the trilingual country. Roy was soon joined by Fredrik Kessiakoff, who had leapfrogged Kiryienka to take the lead, 3’40” ahead of the peloton. The duo were quickly caught by four other riders, including Roy’s FDJ-Bigmat teammate Thibaut Pinot, as they made their way over the fifth climb of the day, the Category 2 Cote de Saulcy. Having taken maximum points, Kessiakoff decided to go it alone, vaulting off the front of the leading sextet and building up almost a minute’s lead for himself.
The peloton was taking the day off, the number of escapees meaning there were no points up for grabs at the intermediate sprint. The teams kept the pace high, though, continuing to shell riders off the back as they went up and down the Jura mountains. The action was still on out the front, the chase on for lone leader Kessiakoff by the Frenchmen Pinot and Tony Gallopin (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek). Pinot soon dropped Gallopin and started coming for Kessiakoff, less than a minute ahead, as the peloton fractured and died, the only group on the road a small collection of the top GC contenders, including yellow jersey wearer Bradley Wiggins (Sky), Cadel Evans (BMC) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale).
Three minutes ahead, Pinot was bolting for the finish line, FDJ-Bigmat sports director Marc Madiot bellowing at him from the team car with more and more enthusiasm as Pinot raced closer and closer to home. Though he was being chased by the elite group of GC riders and climbers who were coming ever closer, the 22-year-old Frenchman held off the hordes long enough to raise his arms in tired but exultant triumph as he crossed the line in Porrentruy, the first French victory of the Tour. Behind him Evans and Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) were playing mind games with their enemies, Wiggins marking Evans carefully to avoid losing time to his rival. Despite Evans’ attacks, the group crossed the line as one, Evans taking second and the previously dropped Gallopin hanging in for third.
The general classification received another good shake-up today, though nothing has changed between top contenders Wiggins and Evans. Tomorrow’s time trial will certainly keep things interesting, and it’s hard to go past Wiggins or Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek). Omega Pharma-Quickstep’s Tony Martin may or may not be in the mix, depending on how well his wrist has healed up. Watch out, too, for Cadel Evans. Though not as good a time triallist as the other three, Evans is in superlative form and he may prove a surprise in his attempt to claim the yellow.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Tour Down Under - Stage 1
Today was, for Australian cycling fans, a rather exciting day - the beginning of new Aussie ProTour team GreenEDGE's first World Tour race. The Adelaide suburb of Prospect's streets were gratifyingly full, and the crowd was two or three people deep along the fence as the race started, some of cycling's big names rolling off as Eddy Merckx fired the starting gun.
It was a horribly hot day - Marcus Burghardt's description of its effect on human beings was 'boiling' - and as such sitting in Clare waiting 5 hours for the peloton to arrive didn't seem advisable. Instead I offer a selection of photos from today's stage as well as the elite men's road race at the National Championships last weekend.
(In case you don't recognise them, the photos above are: with Stuart O'Grady from GreenEDGE at nationals; Mick Rogers from Team Sky signing on at nationals; GreenEDGE leading the peloton to the KOM at nationals; with Jeremy Roy from FDJ-Big Mat at TDU; with Jens Voigt from Radioshack-Nissan-Trek at TDU; with Hayden Roulston from Radioshack-Nissan-Trek at TDU; with Jesse Sergent from Radioshack-Nissan-Trek at TDU; with Geraint Thomas from Sky at TDU; with Mathew Hayman from Sky at TDU; Jens Voigt and Linus Gerdemann from Radioshack-Nissan-Trek prepping for stage one at the TDU; the beginning of stage one at TDU.)
Keep your eyes peeled for tomorrow's post from the stage two finish at Stirling!
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