David’s Tour du Jour – Individual Time Trial and Tour Wrap-Up

The last day of my Europeds Tour de France adventure was a great one.  The weather was fine, and we were only a few miles from the finish line of Stage 19, the individual time trial that would determine the outcome of the 2010 Tour.  Everyone was excited to see the last day for the yellow jersey contenders (since the final stage into Paris is just for the sprinters), so we were up early to grab our petit dejeuner on the back porch of our hotel, the elegant Chateau Pomys (although calling it a back porch doesn’t quite do it justice, does it):

Before watching the excitement that was sure to come at the time trial finish in Pauillac, most folks broke up into groups to cruise the French countryside for one last ride.  I headed out into the vineyards with TJ, and we were amazed that the roads were so free of any traffic while the pandemonium of a Tour de France stage finish was only a few miles away.

Did I mention that there are a few chateaux in this part of France?

After a nice 30 mile jaunt, we headed to the coast of the Gironde, where it was a straight shot down to Pauillac and the finish line village.  While riding along the water, we got a little taste of the breeze that would devastate the Tour riders during the time trial itself.

When we arrived in Pauillac, the excitement level and crowds were already building.  While not overwhelming at all, the crowd was definitely in full effect near the finish line (along with the press booths that are erected overnight for every stage).  It’s pretty amazing how quickly this infrastructure is put up and taken down every day–just the night before none of these structures or signs were in place on this final stretch.

And soon after I arrived, I saw my first rider of the day (someone from the Cervelo Test Team).  After a while watching the time trial, you kind of found a rhythm for watching the race, as riders came by every 1 minute (and later every 2 minutes).  You could hang out and talk to people, and then, when you saw the lead motorcycles and officials’ cars zoom by, rush to the fence to see the next rider (or 2, if someone got passed on the road).

Here is Tony Martin, from Team HTC-Columbia, powering his way to nearly the fastest time of the day.  The riders who went out early definitely had the advantage of not facing as bad a headwind as started blowing later in the afternoon.

But the man that almost everyone picked to win didn’t disappoint; reigning World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara, of Team Saxo Bank,  blistered the 52km time trial course in a time of  1 hour 56 seconds (that’s an average pace of 32 miles an hour, for those who didn’t do the conversion–insane!)

The setting for the last kilometer of the course was quite pretty, as it ran down a waterfront promenade, with shops and restaurants along one side and a stately line of trees along the other.  Here’s a rider from Team Milram cruising by the marina on his Focus bike:

Some fans found a higher vantage point to watch the race, and the nationalities were pretty mixed judging by the flags on display.

But there’s no missing who this next rider is, with his Captain America attire.  It’s none other than Dave Zabriskie, the American Time Trial Champion of Team Garmin-Transitions, who did the Stars and Stripes proud with a 5th place finish on the day.

As the afternoon wore on, I started to wander down the course a ways just for a change of pace.  Here I am passing the flamme rouge, or the 1km to go banner, as a Team Katusha rider blurs past.

And here’s a rider from Team Astana, Bejamin Noval Gonzalez, barrelling around a corner, not even getting out of his aero tuck:

If you walked far enough along the race route, you reached the vineyards and open fields where the wind was blowing right into the riders’ faces.  The only thing blocking the wind were the hundreds of camper vans parked along the side of the road, like this cluster shielding a BMC Racing Team rider:

I’m not sure what the theory was with the outfit, but this guy said he was a Contador fan (and he did match his dog, which was a nice touch):

Back in town, the fans were getting fired up for the final riders to appear on the home stretch:

One of the best places to get a better look at the riders (since they were moving so fast out on the road) was the stretch of road after the finish line and before the team buses.  Here’s American Road Race Champion George Hincapie rolling along after finishing up the time trial (too bad he wasn’t wearing that cowboy hat, though, as that would have been a great picture).

And in case you didn’t think that this time trial was a totally draining experience, just look at the glazed expression on World Road Racing Champion Cadel Evans’ face as he was ushered back to the comfort of the team bus:

Lance Armstrong didn’t waste any time when he finished up  his ride, slicing through the crowd to find the safety of a camper van, setting off a chase by fans and reporters alike:

Finally we were getting close to the big finale, as everything would be settled by the last few riders.  The announcer was calling out updated split times all day long, so we definitely knew where things stood as the time trial was winding down.  The energy in the crowd was building to a fever pitch as the last riders hurtled down the final hundred meters.  Fans would start cheering and slapping the barricade signs as riders approached, like here with Robert Gesink of Team Rabobank:

By far the most impressive ride of the afternoon was thrown down by Denis Menchov, whose time of 1 hour 4 minutes 47 seconds was a good 3-4 minutes faster than the average time for the later finishers, and was easily enough to vault him into 3rd place overall.

But the duel that everyone was waiting for didn’t disappoint, as Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador battled back and forth all day long, just as they had for the rest of the race.  As the split times rolled in, Schleck seemed to be closing in on Contador’s overall lead, at one point cutting the “on the road” gap down to 2 seconds.  Alas, it was not to be (much to the dismay of most of the fans), as Schleck faded just a bit down the final few kilometers, and couldn’t close out those last 8 seconds, even though he turned in a fantastic time trial.

Then there was only one man left on the course, and, in a blaze of yellow (and the roar of the crowd plus a few helicopters), Contador went flying past. He finished in a time of 1 hour 6 minutes 39 seconds–31 seconds better than Schleck’s time, assuring him another Tour de France victory.

I hustled over to the awards’ podium to catch the winners’ presentation, braving the crush of fans who squeezed in with me.  First up was Cancellera, who was awarded the stage winner’s bouquet by the PowerBar girls:

Then, without any preamble, it was time for the yellow jersey presentation.  Contador was hamming it up a bit much, but it was undoubtedly a long 3 weeks of racing as the favorite, so the relief he felt after this stage was evident:

And what Contador victory would be complete without his “pistolero” salute (sorry, I only caught the recoil):

Next up was Alessandro Petacchi in his recently re-acquired Green Sprinters’ Jersey (which he held on to during the final stage in Paris):

Then Anthony Chartreau of French Team Bbox Bouygues Telecom did the host nation proud by donning the final polka-dot Climbers’ Jersey (and you’ve got to love those wacky umbrella dresses worn by the podium girls):

The final jersey awarded was the White Jersey for Best Young Rider, which of course went to Andy Schleck, who was oh-so-close to winning it all for the second year in a row (and quite possibly would have won if not for that untimely mechanical on Stage 15 when he was in the yellow jersey).  But there’s little doubt that we’ll see a lot more of this duel in the next few years, as both Schleck and Contador are just hitting their prime years for racing!

With all the jerseys handed out, there was nothing to do but clean up and clear out.  The Tour is always moving, and as soon as a stage is done, the barricades and temporary structures are disassembled and the thousands of fans start streaming home (luckily for me, this meant only a short ride through the vineyards back to my chateau!)

But the finish of this stage also meant that my adventure in France was at an end.  It was an amzing experience, both watching the spectacle that is the Tour and riding the same roads and mountain passes as the racers, sometime just hours before the race passed by!  It gave me a whole new level of respect for what these pro riders are capable of, plus it was a total blast to test myself on these famous and jaw-dropping roads.  The experience was made even better by the camaraderie of everyone on my Europeds tour group, including my fellow riders and of course our guides David, Chris and Charly.  I would be happy to go riding at any time with any of the people I met on this tour (or at least enjoy another fantastic meal).

It’s a bit of a shock to return back to your home roads after a trip like this (there are far fewer chateaux in North Carolina, for example), but I’ll never forget my week chasing the Tour through the Pyrenees.  If you get the opportunity, this trip is definitely one you won’t regret if you are a true cycling fan (and having great guides doesn’t hurt).  The other fans, the roads, the atmosphere… just being there is a magical experience.  I hope you got a little sense of what it was like through my daily updates, and maybe next year we’ll see you on the roads in France!

David’s Tour du Jour – Stage 16 of the Tour from the Col du Soulor

Another day, another beautiful morning here in south-central France. I’ve been lucky with the weather so far during my time here—the skies have been clear, the temperature warm but not unbearably hot, and sometimes even a bit of breeze to freshen things up.

Our plan for the day was to rocket straight out of Argeles-Gazost and head right up the Col du Soulor, the precursor to (and a much harder climb than) the more famous Col d’Aubisque. No, it’s seriously one bear of a climb—just check out the elevation profile.  There were definitely sections that were way steeper than what’s on this graphic:

The plan was to camp out at the top somewhere (for about 5 hours) and then watch the shattered remnants of the Tour roll by. This being probably the hardest stage of the 2010 Tour, we were excited to head up the final climb of Stage 16, just hours before the Tour riders would come charging through (of course, they would have already ridden up and over 3 categorized climbs by that point!)

Now if you don’t feel like reading on today, you can just check out the video I made of my day watching Stage 16 from the top of the Soulor:

But for those who want to read on, here’s a GPS plot of our route for the day:

A cool part about the start to our morning was the chance to chat with Ed Hood from Pez Cycling News, a great photographer and cycling journalist who knows everything about pro cycling (and just happened to be staying in our hotel). As an aside, Ed was not worked up over the whole Andy Schleck vs. Alberto Contador dropped chain controversy—to Ed, those were the breaks in sports, and you just have to deal with these things and move on. By the way, if you haven’t checked out Ed’s Tour de Pez write-ups for each stage of the Tour, definitely give them a look.

Ah, but the ride. The rode tilted skyward right outside of town, a rude awakening for slightly tender legs (but things would only get harder). After some relatively flat kilometers and a few twists and turns through tiny little villages, we finally turned onto the Col du Soulor, along with just about every other rider within 100 kilometers. The road was jam-packed with riders of every size, shape and ability, plus those walking up to the summit (since the road was closed to cars, with the exception of the odd VIP tour bus or police car). In addition, every available spot on the side of the road was lined with tents and camper vans, and everyone was out and about, getting ready for the Tour. And I can’t forget to mention that I saw the Nike Chalkbot yet again, and this time I got a picture:

A cool thing about Dave and Europeds is that he lets everyone find their own pace on our rides. You can go as hard or as slow as you want, and he and his crew will support you in whatever you need. In my case, that was a pretty slow ascent of the Soulor! Like I said, this climb is really steep, averaging 8% for the last 8 kilometers (there are handy road signs that remind you of the grade and distance left), but there a sections that felt like you are climbing up a wall. Luckily I had a ready-made cheering section, since the folks that were camped on the side of the road would shout words of encouragement for the struggling rider.

Up and up I climbed, along with the rest of the throngs, heading up the mountainside. You could tell when you were approaching the summit of the Soulor because the density of campers and spectators increased dramatically (along with the odd horse or 2):

Finally I wrestled my bike up to the little plateau that is the Col du Soulor, to be greeted by an amazing mountain vista all around. Here I am posing for a shot with the altitude marker (sadly with my jersey unzipped, a rookie mistake):

And here are some shots of the view, and the people, that you could see on the top of the Soulor:

And then we waited. We had a few hours until the Tour caravan arrived (the flotilla of advertising vehicles that precedes the Tour riders on every stage). Luckily there was plenty of entertaining people-watching to be had, along with an array of shops and cafes to frequent:

By the way, did I mention that the setting was absolutely spectacular?

Most of our group decided to stay here at the Soulor instead of pushing on the Col d’Aubisque proper, but a few folks carried on to that more famous Col. We definitely weren’t alone in making the call to stay at the Soulor, however, as you could see from the fleets of bikes stacked haphazardly against anything and everything on the summit:

But finally our long wait was over, and the publicity caravan arrived. Celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, the caravan is a parade of funny advertising vehicles that blare music and fling little trinkets into the crowd as a warmup act for the Tour riders. It’s a pretty remarkable sight to see grown men and women fighting over keychains or really ugly hats, but you learn quickly to stay out of people’s way if they really want that freebie! The caravan vehicles came in all shapes and sizes:

But all I could manage to snag, of the flung freebies, was this goofy foam hand:

Once the caravan finishes passing by, the tension in the crowd mounts, as there is only another 45 minutes or so until the first riders will pass by. The sure sign that lead group is approaching is the sound of helicopters overhead. When you hear the impressive din of 4 or 5 choppers close by, you know that the Tour is finally here! First we saw the relay choppers high in the sky, and then the camera chopper came into view around the shoulder of the mountain! You could feel the excitement ratchet up as the camera chopper finally came level to where we were standing. Up the road roared the lead official’s car, the camera and gendarme motorcycles, and finally, the first riders! And wouldn’t you know it, Lance was in the first group, much to the delight of the crowd, who let out a roar as he passed by (only a few feet from where I stood):

Next up were the requisite support vehicles:

And then a gap, with a few riders strung out in between, before the main peleton rolled in a few minutes later, led by Schleck and Contador side-by-side:

The rest of the peleton was strung out over about an hour, as the day’s hard summits had shattered the main bunch, and left many riders just struggling to make the time cutoff for the day. The final grupetto was mostly made up of sprinters, including Cavendish and Petachhi, who wanted nothing more than for this stage to finally be over:

Once the last riders were finally through, it was time to clear out and head home, but not before getting a snapshot with my buddie James, a young rider from Guernsey who I hung out with as we waited for the riders to finally arrive:

Finally the gendarmes gave the all clear and it was time to hit the roads for the harrowing descent back into town (made infinitely more so because you had to pick your way through tens of thousands of cars, riders and people, all of whom were going at a different speed)!

But I made it home safe and sound, and even had time to watch Lance lose out in his bid for a final stage victory. Tomorrow is a rest day for the Tour, but for me it will be the hardest day of riding during my week in France (assuming the weather cooperates), for we are off to tackle the Tourmalet!