Tag: Le Tour

It didn’t really happen after all.

Tour de France 2013: chaos and crashes mark disastrous first stage

Sean Ingle, The Observer

Saturday 29 June 2013 12.33 EDT

It was supposed to be the day when Mark Cavendish wriggled into the Tour de France’s famous yellow jersey for the first time. Instead it will be remembered for an Orica GreenEdge team bus wedged under the finish line and a spectacular crash with six kilometres remaining that took out half the peloton.

With the driver trying – and failing – to extricate the bus, before throwing his hands in front of his eyes as if desperately hoping to wish his worries away, Tour organisers frantically switched the finish to the three-kilometre line down the road. Moments later the bus started reversing – and so did the organisers, who switched the finish back to its original spot near Bastia beach. It was a decision that, in the words of Cavendish, led to “carnage”.

With the peloton going at more than 40mph, Cavendish’s Omega Pharma-Quickstep team-mate Tony Martin appeared to buckle suddenly, and as his bike jumped and skipped and then slipped from under him several riders were sent flying – including Team Sky’s Geraint Thomas. Despite Thomas doing a passable impression of Superman he was cleared to race on Sunday after hospital x-rays showed no damage.

Because of the confusion, everyone was given the same finishing time as the winner, the German Marcel Kittel. That, however, was scant consolation for Cavendish, who blamed the organisers for causing the chaos with their late switch. “We were hearing in the radios with 5k to go the finish was in 2k,” he said. “Then a kilometre later, it’s at the finish. It was carnage. I’m lucky I didn’t come down. Some of my team-mates are a lot worse.”

Martin, the world time-trial champion, later lost consciousness twice on the team bus and was reported to have widespread abrasions. Even though a brain scan came back clear the chances of him participating in the second stage from Bastia to Ajaccio must be slim.

Still having trouble, more after Formula One.

100th Running!

Wars and stuff, you know.

It’s going to take me a day or two to acclimate myself to the magnitude of the task and the fact that nobody I know is racing.

Bradley Wiggins, the defending champion, is Sir Not Appearing in this Film.  He dropped out of Giro d’Italia because he was sick and then he got injured.  He’s been replaced by Chris Froome as the “great British hope” (second place finisher in 2012) and it’s unknown at this point if he’ll ever return to professional cycling at all.  Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador are the other names I’m most familiar with among the pre-race favorites.

But more on that as we go along.

In other shocking developments- No Sprint Prolog!  We race in Corsica (French btw, home of Napolean Bonaparte) over 132 miles of flat from Porto-Vecchio to Bastia.  Corsica has the only 2 Departments (States) of Metro France Le Tour has never visited, but they’ll be spending 3 days there before moving to the mainland with the only Team Time Trial in Nice.

Night Time Finish!  You heard that right.  The meaningless parade around the Champs-Élysées will take place under the lights for the first time evah!

From the official site–

Running from Saturday June 29th to Sunday July 21th 2013, the 100th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,404 kilometres (2115 miles).

These stages have the following profiles:

• 7 flat stages
• 5 hilly stages
• 6 mountain stages with 4 summit finishes
• 2 individual time trial stages
• 1 team time trial stage
• 2 rest days (I’ll be looking forward to these)

10 new stage towns

Porto-Vecchio, Bastia, Ajaccio, Calvi, Cagnes-sur-Mer, Saint-Gildas-des-Bois, Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule, Givors, Chorges, Annecy-Semnoz

The Route!

Today’s Stage is a Sprinter’s course which could leave one of the Speed Demons like Mad Manx Cavendish in the maillot jaune for the first time in a long time.

Guardian Guide to the 100th Tour de France

• Tour de France 2013: The six major contenders for the yellow jersey
• Tour de France 2013: the green jersey contenders
• Tour de France deserves to have landmark celebrated with a new hero, William Fotheringham

The New York Times

• The Terror and Humiliation of Learning to Ride a Bike at 33 By MARY H. K. CHOI

Sites of Interest-

• Wikipedia
• Porto-Vecchio / Bastia (132 miles, Le Tour)
• Porto-Vecchio / Bastia (Guardian)
• The Guardian
• Guardian Interactive Route Guide
• Le Tour

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Rambouillet / Paris Champs-Élysées (74.6 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

I ♥ a parade, as a matter of fact I dare say you’ll find The Stars Hollow Gazette is your leader among left blogs in Parade coverage.

Not to mention professional bicycle racing, Formula One, NCAA Tournament Basketball, Playoff Baseball, and Dog Shows.

Have I mentioned there’s a lot of data in the tables?  I’m having some trouble processing them and so you will have to wait until some late night between now and the Olympics (only Wednesday folks) for me to update the stage diaries and publish comprehensive lists.

I generally skip the Award Ceremonies and today most of my attention is going to be on collecting lap positions at Hockenheim, however that doesn’t start until tape delayed at noon.

The course has two category 4 climbs which will not be enough to change any positions.  They will ride up and down the Champs Élysées 8 times before a sprint which is meaningful mostly in terms of a spectacular stage victory, but should have very little effect on Points.

General Classification

Points

Team

Hill Climb

Youth

Coverage is on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon (on NBC), 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Rambouillet / Paris Champs-Élysées (74.6 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Bonneval / Chartres (33.25 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

The last Time Trial.  The last stage before tomorrow’s Champs-Élysées parade.  I don’t know about you, but I get all nostalgic and sentimental at the end of events like this.  This is the only 99th Le Tour there will ever be.

That said, I’ll also be covering Hockenheim, which will conflict today but not tomorrow since the parade will be live on Vs. (NBC Sports) at 8 am and I’ll do it it while taking lap notes.

It seems the sporting news is coming fast and furious with The Stars Hollow Gazette Olympic coverage starting Wednesday (Women’s Soccer).  We’ll be providing schedules and results and may live blog some of the more obscure events (Fencing, Team Handball).  It’s not Curling, but what can match the excitement and majesty of sliding around big rocks on ice?

Despite their apparent obscurity there are reasons I indulge myself in the diversion of sports.  For one thing the defined time element, things are over when they are.  There is no argument about the score, though the officiating may be questionable.  Their study provides insights into other things AND they have the benefit of novelty.  When you sit down you have no idea how things will turn out.

General Classification

Keep in mind that according to his form in the 2 previous Individual Time Trials Wiggins is expected to gain 5 minutes on this course which is essentially flat.

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Bonneval / Chartres (33.25 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Blagnac / Brive-la-Gaillarde (138.25 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Yesterday BruceMcF analyzed the 2012, 99th Edition of Le Tour this way-

Hopes that Cadel was having a bad recovery from the rest day faded when I heard him refer to seeing how his “health” recovers. Word was he had a “parasite” he was diagnosed with two hours before the race on Wednesday’s stage. Oh, joy! No wonder he lost big time ~ the wonder is he didn’t drop out of the top ten altogether.

The problem with the Yellow Jersey competition is that the race was designed for a four way show-down between Evans, Wiggins, Andy Schleck, and Alberto Contador, and then Contador was found guilty of doping, Schleck was knocked out by injury, and it seems like Global Warming conspired to do Evans in ~ he’s not got a reputation for coping well with the very hot conditions, and this was one hot run through the Alps they had in week two. If he was fighting at his limit just to hang on, catching some bug on the rest day is no surprise.

What made today’s stage was the King of the Mountains competition ~ Voeckler vs Kessiakoff was a fine fight.

As far as the Mountain stages, its not how long they are, its how long the top contenders put each other under pressure. If you add one more HC to the front of yesterday’s stage ~ the Queen State ~ it wouldn’t add any more racing. Indeed, by wearing down teams other than Sky, it could easily have led to less. Without Schleck and Contador in the peleton, then the two remaining serious climbing contenders, Evans and Nibali, are more pace-climbing riders than attacking climbers.

Some commentators on PodiumCafe question the design of the course for some of the stages. But I can see places on each of the stage where earlier attacks could have been made ~ had someone had the GC contender and the supporting team to launch the attack and then back it up.

In the end, the riders make the race, and the two best GC riders in the race this year were riding on the same team. Move Froome to BMC or Liquigas, and run it again, and the same course would see fireworks, and we would have Froome going into the final time trial leading by a minute or more, but Wiggins making up time in the time trial, just as Evans did rising as second last in the time trial last year, except with an excellent time trialer riding last defending his yellow jersey, instead of Andy Schleck.

Riders that did not appear in Stage 17 were Vladimir Gusev and Grega Bole.  Frank Schleck withdrew after testing positive for the diuretic Xipamide.

Today’s stage is labeled ‘Plains’ and has a category 3 and three category 4 climbs.  Points will be awarded in Hill Climbing but probably not enough to make any difference.  The Award point is in the middle of a category 4 climb 2.5 km from the top, so that could be interesting.

Tomorrow is the 3rd Individual Time Trial, the final day anything much will change (by custom) except amongst the Sprinters.  Sunday we finish Le Tour on the Champs-Élysées.

General Classification

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 7:30 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Blagnac / Brive-la-Gaillarde (138.25 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Bagnères-de-Luchon / Peyragudes (89 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

Here’s an article alleging that one goal this year was to use the course setup to encourage competition.

Unprecedented climbs, with record-setting steep slopes, and sprint stages that ended in surprising uphill drags, were among the novelties planners threw into the mix with the hope of boosting the suspense factor in the 99th Tour de France.

…

Yellow jersey holder Bradley Wiggins and his Team Sky have so dominated the Tour that the race’s top 10 has been all but set for the last six stages.

Now if you ask me we spent entirely too much time Sprinting the first week and the Mountain stages, while having severe climbs, were too short with not enough climbs and not enough days doing them.  Individual Time Trials are a pox!  I admit that all this dominance seems quite nice when your side is on top, but having Red Bull win every week is not good for business.

Today are the last hills with an uncategorized climb, two category 1s, a category 2, and a category 3.  The Award point is after the initial 1, 2, 3 climbs.  Tomorrow is Plains, Saturday the Time Trial, and Sunday the Champs.  Formula One at Hockenheim Saturday and Sunday.  Olympics Wednesday.

Yesterday’s winner was Thomas Voeckler (five or six stage wins for France) followed by Chris Anker Sorensen, and Gorka Izaguirre Insausti.  Evans is now in 7th, over 8 minutes back.

General Classification

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 7:30 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Bagnères-de-Luchon / Peyragudes (89 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

Pau / Bagnères-de-Luchon (122.4 miles)

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

This Tour is basically over with commanding leads in both the General Classification and Points but if anyone is going to make a move in the GC it’s either today or tomorrow in the Pyrenees or in the Individual Time Trial the day before the Champs.

It’s this (yawn) gripping duel in the High Mountains you see that justifies the absurdly early 6:30 am coverage start.

The Mountains will certainly be high enough, 2 uncategorized, 2 category 1s.  The Award point is mercifully early before any of the climbs, it could be some Sprinters won’t make the time boundary.  Newly not appearing for the 16th Stage are Sylvain Chavanel, Brett Daniel Lancaster, Yauheni Hutarovich, Kenny Robert Van Hummel, Vincent Jerome, and Giovanni Bernaudeau.

Monday saw Pierrick Fedrigo take a 4th French stage win with Christian Vande Velde second and Thomas Voeckler third.  No changes worth mentioning at the top.

General Classification

Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 6:30 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, and 8 pm.  There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.

Sites of Interest-

• 2012 Le Tour
• Pau / Bagnères-de-Luchon (122.4 miles)
• Wikipedia
• Geek Guide (very basic)
• Guardian Interactive Guide

The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-

• Le Tour
• 2010 Le Tour
• 2011 Le Tour
• 2012 Le Tour

This set covers Points from Stage 13 to Stage 15.

This set covers Points from Stage 8 to Stage 12.

Le.  Tour.  De.  France.

So I was telling you about evil tables and overflow errors.  I was able to crank out consolidated ones for Team, Hill Climbing, and Youth.

Tonight I’ll attempt to assemble a complete data set.  I’m dividing it into chunks to make debugging easier and to identify true overflows (there’s a lot of information and the formatting is not trivial).

This particular group has all been previously published and covers Point standings until Stage 7.  I hope to follow shortly with the other daily Point standings and then with General Classification tables and Team, Hill Climbing, and Youth (also to date).