Posted: July 11, 2005

Cycling: TOUR DE FRANCE TIMES - Volume 3, No. 9 (July 11, 2005)

By James Raia
www.ByJamesRaia.com

Publisher's Greeting

In a word, "repos."

Monday was an off day from competition at the Tour de France in Grenoble.

The jagged peaks of the Alps are on the horizon and the riders who will make a decisive move to the overall title will begin their quests in the next two days.

For live updates throughout each stage and for full results, visit the Tour's official web site www.letour.fr.

News, Notes & Quotes

Most riders and race observers believe the "real" race begins with Monday's 10th stage from Grenoble to Courchevel. It's followed by Tuesday's challenge, the more difficult effort from Courchevel to Briancon. Here's a capsule of each stage:

Stage 10 takes the field 192.5 kilometers from Grenoble to Courchevel. The stage concludes with the first mountaintop finish of the Tour, with a category 1 climb to the famous ski resort. The concluding ascent extends 22 kilometers at an average 6.2 percent grade.

Stage 11 takes the field 173 kilometers from Courchevel to Briancon. The day's effort includes three of the most famous climbs in Tour history: Col de la Madelaine (25.4 kilometers, 6.1 percent grade), Col du Telegraphe (12 kms, 6.7 percent grade) and Col du Galibier (17.5 kms, 6.9 percent grade) . . .

Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) of Germany crashed during the ninth stage, but avoided serious injury after tumbling down an embankment.

During an off-day press conference, Ullrich's T-Mobile team reported X-rays taken at a hospital after the stage were negative. Ullrich, however, does have facial bruises and looks like a prizefighter who lost his match. He's been given clearance to ride . . .

Tour officials have altered the route of the 10th stage to show solidarity with a group of French cattlemen. A several-minute protest will occur before the official start of the race, just outside of Grenoble. The peloton will be immobilized for a short time.

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Postcard From The Tour

Rest days at the Tour de France are always misnomers. No competition is held and the pace of the day eases, but it's hardly a day off.

Teams hold press conferences in their hotels and various Tour officials have receptions and social gatherings.

In today's instance, the press room was on the infield of a velodrome, in the Palais des Sport in Grenoble. The facility was a venue for the figuresksting during the 1968 Olympics and is now used for one of the most unique competitions in cycling - six-day racing.

As for the rest day, it was a 425-kilometer drive this morning to Grenoble, mostly along auto routes. It took just under four hours (including two 15-minutes stops), and I believe I averaged about 130 kilometers or 81 miles per hour.

Speaking of driving, I have a diesel Citroen, a four-door sedan with manual transmission. Today, I surpassed 3,000 kilometers of driving for the Tour, about 1,863 miles. The price of diesel fuel is around 1.15 Euros per liter or 4.37 Euros per gallon or about $5.25 gallon. Gas fuel is about $1 more per gallon. So far, I filled the gas tank three times, about 60 Euros per tank.

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© Copyright 2005, James Raia

Posted with the permission of James Raia.

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