As we “knew” would be the case barring any last-day catastrophe, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali is the champion of the 101st Tour de France– by a huge margin no less! He joins only five other cyclists in history to win all three Grand Tours– the other two of course Italy’s and Spain’s.
For the first time in more than 30 years, France saw two of its own take the yellow podium–Jean-Christophe Peraud in second and best young rider Thibaut Pinot third. This, after Marcel Kittel’s second Champs-Elysees bookending victory shut out a stage win for Peter Sagan, even as a LeTour.fr survey of more than 4000 votes favored the man in green to take stage 21. And let’s not forget our resilient American finishing fifth, Tejay Van Garderen, nor Jens Voigt’s swan song.
And now, the end. So passes another Tour de France into the history books for 164 riders who made it to Paris– big-name losses notwithstanding– complete with all the triumph, tradition and Parisian fanfare that defines the finale. While I’ve yet to get there to see it all in person, for now having Phil Liggett, Bob Roll and all their comrades deliver the action every day for three weeks– plus a commendable first-year commentating job by 2013 retiree Christian Vande Velde— remains an acceptable substitute. I’m happy to have cycled a mere one quarter of the Tour’s total distance during this time, less than I did last year, but nevertheless taking me there every day in spirit. Vive Le Tour!
A time trial for Le Tour’s penultimate stage seems almost like a cruel joke, as fresh legs are not exactly the order of the day. Nevertheless, as the race schedule has been strategically designed this way before, so it happens again– laying out just another test of true endurance.
Stage 20 found a winner in Germany’s Tony Martin, with yet further gain– now approaching eight minutes– for the wearer of le maillot jaune, not to mention France welcoming a not-recently-seen 2-3 Paris podium. While tomorrow is of course still a competitive day, with all the unexpected that could yet occur, at this point it’s a safe bet to say, with little question: Game over.
Back to a sprint day, and along with it came a big return of the rain– not sprinkles, but heavy downpour. Every cyclist knows wet roads mean more tire punctures and higher crash risk, and today was no exception. Add to this two very sharp turns into the finish on water-logged pavement, and predictions for the end of stage 19 quickly proved dicey, to say the least.
Would he finally, we asked? Perhaps getting poised for another shot, all of a sudden– pile-up crash! Thankfully for all involved, it happened within three kilometers of the finish line, meaning each rider gets the same time for the day as their group. Still, not exactly the big return he was hoping, but rather another stage win dashed for “poor” Peter Sagan, courtesy of a rain-plagued wipe out. Instead, a well-earned victory du jour emerged for Team Garmin-Sharp.
The climbing is now over for the 101st Tour de France, but not before the Italian in yellow captured the last summit finish while adding nearly another two minutes to his lead. Sure, we all know anything can happen yet, though I must say here at the end of stage 18 that overall victory in Paris is looking pretty safely wrapped up. At least the polka dots are set, while the green jersey has once again this year remained on the same single dominant back- and we know whose that is!
Then of course there’s white, for the best young rider, in this case France’s bright rising star. Thibaut Pinot has impressively ascended in all rankings throughout his journey, to now sit in second place behind le maillot jaune. Could France see the GC podium in Paris? Likely. Could France see yellow? Unlikely, as this would require a very unusual and surprising seven minutes.
Now heading into the final three days of Le Tour, more now than ever, Vincenzo Nibali will be the champion of the 2014 Tour de France. At the same time, more now than ever– especially with an individual time trial still to come– again, anything can happen yet. Now back to the sprints!
The current King of the Mountains has proven he’s also king of stage 17. This victory du jour marks a second stage win for Poland’s Rafal Majka, as he remains in polka dots another day.
This Tour’s shortest stage by no means any easier, it saw no change to the GC top six– except nearly one more minute of lead time for le maillot jaune. And Italy moves that much closer to Paris. Of all the riders who won’t be there, I’m sorry to see Simon Gerrans added to that list.
The jersey wearers (sans white) start another day in the Pyrenees.
The UK has held champion bragging rights for the past two years. Then England hosted this year’s first three stages. Now, however, the 2014 Tour de France is turning out to be not very British, as the withdrawal of Simon Yates leaves just one of four UK riders still in the game.
Rather, those bragging rights this time around remain en route to Italy, while France must surely be excited for its shot at the Paris podium, holding GC spots three, four and five here at the end of stage 16. American Tejay Van Garderen stays in the top 10, down to sixth today overall.
The longest day of this Tour ended a much longer winless streak for Australia’s Michael Rogers, who finally earned his first stage victory in his 10th Tour de France! Talk about a change of luck this time around, for Rogers today a truly great one, while for world champion Rui Costa with respect to his departure— quite the opposite. And so passes this first stage in the Pyrenees.
My mention on this day last year regarding spectators stands just as relevant now, while my fondness for that unforgettable French baker of two years ago has not faded.
On this second rest day, while our minds here at home are permitted to wander, clearly it’s all focus for 161 remaining competitors heading into this third and final week of Le Tour de France. After all, Paris will greet them in just six more stages, by no means a quick or easy stretch after two unforgiving weeks of mounting fatigue, with plenty more hard climbing to come.
Horse racing, TDF style.
In any case, we might say the riders are just barely beginning to see the end. Among all else, perhaps we’ll be treated to one more “horse race” on the way into town, along with any more surprises on the road that, true to cycling, forever remain impossible to predict.
On this transitional stretch between the Alps and the Pyrenees returned another show for the sprinters, meaning of course another chance for a certain second place to become first.
From the start of stage 15 came a two-man breakaway that kept the peloton chasing all 138 miles to the finish line. Then, the closer the end, the shorter the gap– and what for so long looked like victory for New Zealand’s Jack Bauer, sadly for him did not materialize. After an entire day’s work ahead of the pack– through severe wind and rain to boot– Bauer was mere yards from handing his country its first-ever Tour stage win. He really was so close, but then– caught at the line in a bitter defeat that was especially difficult to take. Once again, c’est Le Tour.
As for that number two spot, Sagan did in fact move one place off of his seemingly “usual” second, just not in the direction he would have wanted. But then, Le Tour n’est pas fini!
Just seeing the route map for stage 14 exhausted me, as the grueling ascent to Risoul allowed few if any moments to catch wind. Anyone hoping to catch Nibali faces an increasingly uphill battle, seeing as the yellow jersey wearer’s overall lead increased by yet another minute today.
They’ve reached the Alps, and as always the only way is up. The same can be said for the shoulders of le maillot jaune, as Vincenzo Nibali comfortably upped his overall Tour lead with his third stage win that earned him the “King of the Mountains” polka dot jersey today as well. The big ascents have only just begun, because if stage 13 was hard, tomorrow will come.
Nibali’s solo breakaway finish in Chamrousse strengthens his Tour dominance.
One day after he was still in, he’s out. Andrew Talansky and his team decided his departure is for the best, given his overall physical condition following multiple crashes. At least he had some time to think about it, unlike David de la Cruz who crashed to his sudden Tour end today in an instant out of nowhere. (C’est le Tour, bien sur.)
So rolled stage 12 through France’s beautiful Beaujolais region, ending not exactly for the best for “poor” Peter Sagan. Already sick of second, he must be just a little sicker today after yet another number two stage finish, this time losing out to Norway’s Alexander Kristoff.(C’est le Tour, encore.) Now where are those Alps?
So proceeded this first full race day with American Ted King out, freeing him up for a well-worded blog post of his Tour experience this time around. Despite reports to the contrary a couple days ago, Portugal’s Tiago Machado remains very much in, after his valiant refusal to give up following his Sunday crash, sealed with an official reprieve for finishing outside the time limit.
Today’s coverage of a refreshingly sunny stage 11 continued well past the winner’s finish, for about 32 minutes to be exact. All eyes turned from Tony Gallopin’s win du jour to struggling American Andrew Talansky’s late solo haul. At the end of the day, while Sagan is sick of being out a stage victory, Talansky is still in the game, thanks to his heroic determination– not to mention five minutes to spare on that looming time limit! But then, would his remarkable courage and sportsmanship have earned him the same reprieve as Machado’s? I’m relieved we didn’t need to find out.
And now comes a day to pause, relax and think– at least for those of us at home merely watching NBCSN’s daily broadcasts. Some might enjoy a history lesson once again, others might want to check-in on how Mark Cavendish is recovering, and even more– many more out there along the roads– might finally come to realize that a selfie before the oncoming peloton is just a bad idea. Altogether, we pause to consider what has been and will be amid the wonder of Le Tour de France. Personally, I happen to wonder if those Yorkshire sheep are still yellow!
Back to Day One: The spirit of le maillot jaune lives, at least 150 times!
Wow. Again. It’s a good thing Bastille Day is not a Spanish holiday, or that Alberto Contador is not French. The past champion and serious contender for this year’s victory– yet another big name of Le Tour overall– is out of the race after a serious crash and valiant yet unsuccessful attempt to continue on. A fractured tibia and bike racing, however, just don’t mix.
At least a Frenchman wore le maillot jaune on this Bastille Day, just before returning it to the man from whom he took it yesterday. With mountainous stage 10 largely considered the hardest thus far, safe to say tomorrow’s rest day hasn’t come at all too soon. From there, given the constantly changing dynamics of this crazy Tour, all bets are off.
Move from flats to climbs, and the game changes. No surprise it is, therefore, that le maillot jaune changed shoulders today after its seven-day hold. So comes and goes stage 9, now with France’s Tony Gallopin wearing yellow just in time for Bastille Day!
Bad weather has returned. So too has bad luck for Andrew Talansky, in another late-stage fall that dropped the American from top-ten general standing. “Mano-a-mano” for Contador and Nibali handed them second and third in this first real climbing finish, respectively.
Most of all, it’s turned out to be joyous day for France, thanks to Le Tour’s first French stage victory of the year. With a soaked Blel Kadri climbing to victory in rain-plagued stage 8, Bastille Day weekend is certainly off to an auspicious start for the blue, white and red!
Here now upon the end of Le Tour’s first week, the Twitter question of all questions awaited an answer: “Will today be THE DAY?” Amid more pleasant weather for stage 7, heading east and south from Epernay to Nancy in a peloton largely driven by Ted King and Team Cannondale, that answer sat pending with the most anticipation so far this year.
To answer any questions about le maillot jaune,this is the easy one: It remains on the same back it has for the past six days, as Vincenzo Nibali has yet to be overtaken overall. But for today, oh so close– “by the skin of his bike shorts” to quote Liggett again– it turned out for Peter Sagan. So was today THE DAY? Unfortunately for Peter, though he absolutely could not have come any closer in edging out Matteo Trentin, by sheer millimeters that is, the much-anticipated answer is no.
So, so, SO close for Peter. But no.
One grueling week has passed for now 198 minus 12 riders, not to mention today’s home-stretch wipe out for top-ten American Andrew Talansky. And now they head for the hills. Thanks Ted for the awesome Strava coverage!
Subtract the cobbles, add the crosswinds, keep the wetness, and we get stage 6 through the flat and flowery northern French countryside from Arras to Reims. Apparently Kittel just wasn’t feeling his sprint-finish best after his wipe out yesterday. And Sagan likely wasn’t feeling 100% either following his own tumble today, though as usual he made it back among the top finishers. Rather, Andre Greipel sure felt it, as this became the German powerhouse’s day in the sun, so to speak.
If it gets all the way from France onto local L.A. radio, it must be big news. What an unexpected spoiler it was in my car this afternoon, on this of all days when I hadn’t yet seen the stage.
Calling it quits, sadly enough.
Rain, mud, cobblestones, and carnage at literally every turn– cyclocross day as Phil Liggett put it– stage 5 could not have been a worse journey in some respects, as if cobbles in good weather weren’t enough. And then that big news: Chris Froome, 2013 defending champion, after two more crashes today following yesterday’s– even before reaching those unforgiving cobblestone roads– is out of this year’s Tour de France. One more big name has fallen, in just the first week.
Oh, those cobbles. And three sections were eliminated!
Stage 5’s wet, mud-splattered finish.
At the end of this unrelenting day, the stage win came “easily” to Team Belkin’s Lars Boom. All the more privileged I feel to have ridden a leisurely 25 miles with him in Thousand Oaks on the Monday morning after this year’s Tour of California. Now, despite today’s treachery and loss, at least one more rider sees victory. And tomorrow’s another day in France.
France welcomed Le Tour’s defending champion with a serious case of road rash. A former TDF champion was forced to withdraw because of injury. And the dominating “Giant” German scored his third stage win, edging out the champion of Slovakia, again.
Froome post-fall. Trust me, it hurts.
Translation: Chris Froome crashed, Andy Schleck is out, and Marcel Kittel won stage 4— meaning Peter Sagan did not, despite his best rebound-from-mechanical-issue efforts.
C’est Le Tour, now on French soil.
Unlike Paris, here’s something London doesn’t see every day, nor every year: The Tour de France rolling into town. While rainy weather made for a wet welcome, it certainly didn’t keep tens of thousands of fans from filling the sidewalks around Buckingham Palace and beyond.
Click for more Stage 3 photos.
Stage 3 out of Cambridge ended with not only a second stage victory for Marcel Kittel, but an ironic second second-place finish for Peter Sagan. What is it with second for Peter? Surely it doesn’t thrill him, sprint classification aside. In any event, at least he’s on par with last year’s Tour, when he came in second THREE times before his first stage victory. His first one this year, safe to predict, is imminent as he carries his “still second” status. We won’t say again who was absent from London’s royal sprint finish today… ahem. 😦 Moving on now, across the Channel.
Sure enough. The very first thing we heard at the top of today’s broadcast certainly came as no surprise, all-around disappointment notwithstanding. Mark Cavendish is out of the Tour de France. With this, stage 2 went on with 198 riders minus one.
It’s difficult to imagine the next three weeks without the Missile, especially with Le Tour still in England today and tomorrow. Nevertheless, as we’re left to picture how Cavendish would surely have dominated the peloton through his homeland, the race shall go on as always.
As it did, today’s route from York to Sheffield ended with minus one photo finish. Winner du jour Vincenzo Nibali just couldn’t be caught, crossing the line “well ahead” of the pack with his two-second lead. Next stop, London! (Sorry, Cav.)
Stage two’s finish in Sheffield, England. (Photo: AFP)
From a royal send-off to fittingly colorful sheep, the big first day got underway with full fanfare in the English city of Leeds, followed later in the day by polka dot victory for this year’s oldest rider. Then, as instantaneously as everything can change in cycling, stage 1 did not end as hoped for the day’s largely anticipated winner. Not only did the region’s star competitor lose the day– but rather, complete disaster prevailed. With the rare chance to capture yellow in a sprint finish on not just his native soil but his mother’s hometown of Harrogate– before the eyes of William, Kate, Harry, Prime Minister Cameron and thousands of supporters, not to assume any pressure of course– shockingly, painfully, and in a cycling instant, it did not happen.
The 101st Tour de France appears likely to resume with one less rider at the start of stage two in York, a huge loss indeed to the next 20 days of racing. Sadly enough to say, for as “royally” as his day began, his crash on finish line approach looks like a pretty bad one for Mark Cavendish.
As we’ve already known for a while now, it will begin in the United Kingdom. While not a first, it’s all the more fitting this time around, given a defending champion of the same nation of course.
Behold, the route for the 2014 Tour de France has hereby been unveiled, avec distinctly British spin.
Ryan R. Sanderson 