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Posted: July 14, 2005 Cycling: TOUR DE FRANCE TIMES - Volume 3, No. 11 (July 14, 2005) By James Raia
Publisher's Greeting For the second straight day, Lance Armstrong has retained his 38-second margin over Mickael Rasmussen (Rabobank) of Denmark following the 12th stage as David Moncoutie (Cofidis) of France claimed the day's event after a long solo effort in the ride from Briancon. With several teammates around him, Armstrong finished 41st in the stage, 10:33 behind. Moncoutie improved to 40th overall, and there were no changes among the top overall contenders. The heat has returned to the Tour as the temperature reached into the 90s. It's expected to remain in the same range for days. For live updates throughout each stage and for full results, visit the Tour's official web site: www.letour.fr. News, Notes & Quotes Manuel Beltran (Discovery Channel) of Spain crashed during the 12th stage and abandoned the race. Beltran was unconscious for a short while and was taken to a local hospital for testing. He didn't suffer serious injury, but left the race via his team physician's decision. Beltran's departure marks the first time Lance Armstrong will not finish the Tour with a full complement of teammates since 2001 . . . The 12th stage also marked the departure of four other riders, mostly notably Tom Boonen (Quick-Step) of Belgium. Boonen, who with Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) of Australia are the race's double stage winners, crashed in stage 11. He rode a warm-up attempt prior the Thursday's stage, but knee swelling from the crash prevented his continuation . . . The race is now down to 162 riders from the original field of 189. Iker Flores (Euskaltel) of Spain remains the the red lantern, of the last rider in the field. He trails Lance Armstrong by 2 hours, 18 minutes and 30 seconds. Flores trails the next-to-last rider, Nicolas Jalabert (Phonak) of France, by more than nine minutes . . . The 12th stage passed within a few kilometers where Lance Armstrong two years ago avoided the crash of Joseba Beloki of Spain and rode briefly through a hayfield. Alpes 1, a French radio channel, distributed a press release inviting media members to visit the site. According to release, thousands of cyclists from around the worlds have visited the knoll outidse of Gap and have attempted to imitate Armstrong's famous ride. The radio station has erected a sign on the spot that reads: "Passage Armstrong." Armstrong's brief trek through hay occurred on July 14, 2003, Bastille Day. French television featured a segment of its post-Tour stage on the incident. Former Two-time Tour winner Bernard Thevenet of France, now a television commentator, said Armstrong benefitted from luck. At the time, Armstrong said the brief journey was successful because of his cyclo cross experiences.
Postcard From The Tour As the Tour de France meanders its way through France and neighboring countries, riders, race officials, media, sponsors and VIPs follow the course via detailed guidelines in "The Bible." That's the unofficial name for the Roadbook, a thick directional guide that provides extraordinary details of each stage. Vehicles following the race use a direct route or and indirect route from the start to the finish of each stage. The direct route is the race course, and every major city and small village in the Tour passes is listed with an estimated time of arrival at three different speeds. The motivation of riders, weather conditions and if the race has been slowed by crashes or other unforeseen obstacles, are all time-of-arrival factors. The indirect route for stage 11 from Courchevel to Briancon was estimated as a 5 1/2 hour drive, often on major auto routes. The direct route was shorter, but more difficult. It included driving on sometimes precarious smaller roads, over three steep climbs, through throngs of rabid fans — all high into the jagged peaks of the Alps. It was a wondrous, sometimes chilling 4 1/2-hour grind — in a car. On a bike, forget it. More from: Tour de France Times
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. More from: Tour de France Times © Copyright 2005, James Raia Posted with the permission of James Raia. Subscribe to James Raia's Endurance Sports News and Tour de France Times at: www.byjamesraia.com. They're free and spam-free. Comment on this story. |
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