With the Tour just a few short months away I thought I’d jot down a few pointers for those who might be considering a trip over here next year.
1. Don’t rent a camper van! OK, this one is just a personal pet peeve, and you are more than welcome to fill up the narrow roads [...]
Archive for the ‘Racing’ Category
Tips on Watching the Tour de France
Posted in Cycling, France, Racing, tagged tour de france tips on October 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Official 2010 Tour de France Route Map
Posted in Cycling, France, Racing, tagged tour de france 2010 route on October 14, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Hot off the presses! This is the official route map, just announced in Paris. Highlights include:
1. Something like 13 km of cobblestone riding (Belgium and northern France).
2. Le Tourmalet (first climbed 100 years ago) will be climbed twice, including one stage finish.
3. Lots of intermediate mountain riding (Jura, Cevennes).
4. No team time trial, which should [...]
Tour de France 2010 Route Map (from the rumour mill
Posted in Cycling, France, Racing, tagged tour de france 2010, tour de france 2010 route on August 17, 2009 | 5 Comments »
This entry is obsolete now. For the official Tour de France route click here.
Hey, this is fun. I just discovered that guessing the following year’s Tour route (officially announced in October) is much like trying to figure out what Apple will bring out to lighten my wallet just a little more, i.e there is an [...]
Tour de France – Stage 7 & 8 – Un Bar and Col d’Agnes
Posted in France, Racing, tagged col d'agnes, lance armstrong, nocentini, pyrenees on July 13, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Friday I did my half day of work (don’t hate me, my salary is as slack as my hours!) and packed up the motorcycle to head to the Pyrenees where, with a little luck, we would catch at least one stage in the high mountains. The French say (and others too, I suppose…) that the [...]
Tour de France – Stage 4 – Montpellier Team Time Trial
Posted in France, Languedoc, Racing, tagged astana, cancellera, garmin-slipstream, lance armstrong, mark cavendish, montpellier team time trial 2009, saxobank, tour de france on July 7, 2009 | 5 Comments »
The day finally came and went. Hard to believe it was February the first time I figured out the route of the team time trial and rode it. I am sure I was one of the first ones, apart from the guys who designed it. Well, I got that going for me at least.
Today’s stage [...]
Tour de France – Stage two – Le Rouret
Posted in France, Racing, tagged brignols, lance armstrong, le rouret, mark cavendish, monaco, stage two, tour de france on July 6, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Stage two saw us in the hills above the Cote d’azur, looking for a place to park. We happened upon the very cute village of Le Rouret, about 20 km east of Grasse. It turns out that the Tour de France is a good excuse for a party because the petanque pitch was filled with [...]
Tour de France – Stage One – Monaco Time Trial
Posted in France, Racing, tagged cancellera, lance armstrong, levi leipheimer, monaco, stage one, time trial, tour de france on July 6, 2009 | 3 Comments »
We left Montpellier before the sun was up and good thing, since it was a cooker today. I had planned to try and take the side roads as far as possible, but gave up around Arles and hopped on the highway. From there we rode, heads bobbing left and right from the wind, all the [...]
2009 Tour de France – It’s Not About The Lance
Posted in Cycling, France, Racing, tagged lance armstrong, monaco time trial, tour de france on July 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Lance Armstrong subtitled his first book ‘it’s not about the bike’, referring to the fact that his amazing story was going to be about cancer survival. Luckily much of it WAS about the bike, therefore I subtitle my own little TdF series the same way. Why? Well, I am no idol worshiper, but Lance, along [...]
2009 Tour de France Team Time Trial Route – Montpellier, July 7
Posted in Cycling, France, Languedoc, Racing, tagged july 7 2009, lance armstrong, Montpellier, team time trial, tour de france on June 14, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Sorry for those of you totally not interested in the Tour de France, but I’ve been getting a few hits recently on my previous maps of the Team Time Trial route and figured I should make sure it is right. This is the latest, and has been updated to show the true route. I got [...]
Mt. Ventoux and Back Again
Posted in Cycling, France, Languedoc, Racing, tagged dauphine libere, mt ventoux. provence, simpson, tour de france on June 12, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Today I took the day off work and travelled over to Provence to see a cycling race. That was my intention at least. The reality was a little less straight forward.
I bought a motorcycle last week to get me a little further afield than my usual 50 km radius of Montpellier, and intended to ride [...]
