Chasing wheels

If there is one way for the Tour to be in some way redeemed for its sins this year, then racing right to the final line in Paris is it. This is how the story should go:

- The sprinter's train of Predictor vs the big bad Disco GC train thundering past Chatenay-Malabry to the first intermediate sprint. Wind 'em up, watch 'em go.

- The valedictorians lead the race into Paris. As with Ekimov last year, Boogerd, Merckx and Vasseur (are there any others who have already announced their retirement?) should be allowed to ride at the front across the line for the first pass on the Champs Elysee.

- The racing begins again for the second sprint on the third pass.

- Should needs be then the final sprint should be decisive. Disco, Predictor, Quickstep and allcomers to the line.

Much will be written about this year's Tour as a definitive moment in the history of cycling. Let us not then forget that, for all the controversy, this has been one of the most exciting races since the glorious 1980s heyday.

So close are the top three that they could probably throw a musette bag over them. A matter of 31 seconds covers them which, if it goes unchanged, will give Contador a victory by 23 seconds, the second smallest margin in the history of the race, bettered only by Lemond/Fignon in 1989.

Posted by Alex on 28 July 2007, 20:07 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I grew up being deeply in love with the Manic Street Preachers. I remember an interview with Richey and Nicky in which the former said words to the effect of:

"There no one you can believe in, no one you can trust. All your idols will betray you eventually."

I try to remember that when cyclists I like deceive me. The reports that Alexandre Vinokourov had returned a non-negative blood test result for suspected homologous blood transfusion saddened me. Like David Millar I am a big fan of Vino. There was a presence about him that I loved. As I wrote in my last post, he was a rider I could feel empathy with - he had absolutely rubbish "jour sans" like the rest of us, he seemed fallible. All too fallible it would seem.

Whatever his reasons I would like to hear them. Given his usual taciturn demeanour, that's about as likely to happen as me waking up tomorrow as a race-winning sprinter and graceful climber. Perhaps that other great non-talker, Jan Ullrich, will speak soon and put an end to the questions about his career as well. Boy do I know how to pick a rider!

Today's events, culminating in Rasmussen's expulsion from the Rabobank team and the Tour have left me drained. Tomorrow will be another long day of listening to the usual opinions from people with no interest in cycling about how it's full of cheats and should be scrapped. It's utter bilge in my opinion and totally ignorant of the wider picture in professional sport.

I think I might just go to bed and have a little grumble and a cry. It's not right but if it means the sport changes for the better and has at last recognised what must be done, then it'll all make sense eventually.

Posted by Alex on 25 July 2007, 22:07 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Un jour d'enfer, originally uploaded by leguape.

This is about as bad as it got, going through utter hell on the Port de Bales. This was where I was just clinging on grimly and trying to get over this one without losing the plot. I think this was about 5km from the top so 15km into it.

I've finally got my pics back and they look brilliant. I've stuck them on my flickr account so if you just click on this one you'll be able to find the rest. Timely to see how I suffered after watching Vino ride like a Kazakh warrior today to take the stage. There was something about his attacking and determination not to be broken that really made me feel some proximity to him.

And they be pumped his fist, zipped up his jersey and threw his arms wide open as he crossed the line. It really brought a tear to my eye to know how it feels.

Posted by Alex on 23 July 2007, 20:07 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks ()

Nothing I can add to that realy, other than there being a couple of dogs on the mountain yesterday at the Etape, luckily only going uphill.

Posted by Alex on 17 July 2007, 21:07 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Saturday was brilliant. you can read about my day on the BBC's 606 in reply to our man-in-a-van's post:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/606/A24564800

And this evening spotted this interview with the lovely Victoria Pendleton:

Pendleton strikes the pose of a future Olympic champion

Gentlemen, you'll probably want to scroll down the slideshow. The outfits are rather stunning...

Today was spent in the office but slinging in my comments to 606. Millar was awesome. I never thought I'd see him wearing the King of The Mountains jersey though.

Posted by Alex on 8 July 2007, 22:07 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Great video here from a chap I know:

View from an official ASO car as Alexandre Botcharov rides the Tour de France prologue in London, 7th July 2007 from Alex Balfour and Vimeo.

Posted by Alex on 8 July 2007, 08:07 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks ()

Yes, It's all go in London for Le Tour. Went for a pootle around the entire prologue course this morning and took some photos which are now on my TDF set in flickr:

My Flickr Tour De France 2007 set

I'll be updating it throughout the day tomorrow and posting to here from my mobile if I get any good stuff.

I was going to borrow the posh camera from work to do a photojournal of the day but thought I'd stick to my formula from Flanders where I did it all on my Sony Ericsson K800i. Those pics didn't turn out too badly and I have grown to like the rawness of photoblogging and phonecam snaps. I might take my little Leica compact as well and snap with that as well to see what I get.

As I was riding I should mention that I went for a Cyclefit checkup earlier this week. Antony put my bike on the turbo trainer and tweaked my position a bit. A few little shifts in the cleat and saddle position have got me feeling a great deal more comfortable on the bike. He told me to take it easy and "ride into the new setup" which I have been doing.

The difference is noticeable as I'm no longer getting the tightness around the left hip and lower back when I put the power down. I found myself flying up Holland Park Avenue this morning at over 30km/h without more effort than I used to need for 10 slower than that.

I'm tapering for the Etape so the next week and a bit is taking it relatively easy and preparing myself mentally. I've got a new 12/27 cassette to try out and see if that extra tooth gives me that little extra I think I might need on the big climbs to keep me out of a cadence range where I feel like I am grinding too much.

Posted by Alex on 6 July 2007, 22:07 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

I spent most of Thursday morning cycling in Central London traffic with Bradley Wiggins. Trying to keep up with Bradley as he weaves through the buses and cars, leaning on cabs at the lights, is quite a challenge.

Following him I get the feeling that riding slowly so that we can keep up is a challenge for him as well. As we head off from the start on Whitehall he quickly becomes a yellow spot in the distance, effortlessly keeping up with the flow of motorised vehicles.

For him it’s a chance to get a handle on the prologue course which, for him, will mark the realisation of a childhood dream – to ride the Tour De France in his hometown. As he tells the pack of journalists who trail in his wheel, for such an opportunity to fall in the prime of his career is about as good as it gets.

The course, he says is ideally suited to a rider of his type: long, flat straights and few technical corners. By his reckoning he’ll only touch the brakes two or three times in the whole 7.9km prologue while aiming to hit speeds in excess of 65kmh.

It’s not something he’ll be able to practice before race day, when he’ll be out testing the corners by holding on to the team car and getting it to slingshot him towards them at 70kmh so he can work out the best line to take. For now he has to settle for picking his way round the buses and answering the flow of questions and requests from the journalists and photographers, including Radio 4, who were preparing a piece on Bradley and the prologue for the Today programme (it went out on Friday morning at 8:25).

Part of the course has a special significance for Bradley as the stretch of road along the Serpentine in Hyde Park is where he first learnt to ride a bike. His mum lives nearby in Victoria, not far from the route

“My mum would put the bike in the car and bring me up here. It was the only bit of closed road where it was safe for me to ride.”

As a Londoner, many of the roads and landmarks will be more familiar to him than other riders, not that he will have time to notice them as he flies by. Given the landmarks and the choice of London he believes this could be the biggest, most spectacular Grand Depart the Tour de France has ever seen.

It’s a spectacle which Bradley knows he could add to by winning the coveted yellow jersey, following in the wheel of Chris Boardman, whose own achievements at the Olympics are what first inspired Wiggins to take up the sport.

You can hear the interview in full here:

bbc.co.uk/cycling

Posted by Alex on 27 April 2007, 13:04 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Riding the prologue with Bradley Wiggins, originally uploaded by leguape.

See? He's one of us with his hanging off the back of black cabs at the lights. He'll be hoping to wear the yellow jersey proper come July. Yes, I got to ride around Central London with him this morning. It's coming and it is going to be the best Grand Depart ever.

Posted by Alex on 26 April 2007, 14:04 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

Posted by Alex on 2 April 2007, 11:04 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()

100 days to Le Grand Depart, originally uploaded by leguape.

Cliff models the freebie T-Shirt we got for turning up in the gloaming of a Friday evening to mark 100 days to go until Le Tour De France rolls down the ramp in London

Posted by Alex on 2 April 2007, 11:04 Digg this | Add to del.icio.us | Reddit | Newsvine | Facebook | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks ()