THE LAST 42K ITT, THE
MAKING OF A BIKE VIRTUAL CHAMPION[i]
Four
more days in the Alps, the Tour de France virtual Champion would be known, and
the moment the remaining tough 167 cyclists on Stage 21 would roll on to Paris
from Creteil on their two-wheeled flashy bikes, the adoring crowd would yell and
the riders in acknowledgment would salute them with a big roar of their gears
as they race towards Champ Elysees circuit for 8 turns.
The
wearer of the yellow jersey by then shall be the virtual winner because the
final stage would not in a way alter the General Classification of the Riders,
unless of course something bad happens to the Over-all Leader. What is
contested in the final stage of the Tour is the search of the coveted Green
Jersey or The Sprint King. The prestige of Tour de France has induced all
sprinters to win the Sprint in the Champ Elysees Finish, because winning one is like winning already a World Championship in
Sprint.
For
this, Mark Cavendish of HTC Highroads, the wearer of the Green Jersey may not
be that too confident inasmuch as behind him and only 15 points away is Joaquin
Rojas of Movistar; and to the last sprint cadence and burst of air, the latter
would fight for the honors to take the green jersey away from Cavendish.
Although
possessing the Green Jersey is indeed a great honor, it is however just lesser
in statute compared with the much coveted one, the Yellow Jersey. In Stage 20
the virtual champion would be decided, and Stage 21 would just be the coronation
or confirmation of such prestigious honor ever given to a cyclist in this
world’s major spectacle on its almost a hundred year tradition in road race
cycling in Europe.
All
the concluded laps were as grueling as the last, from the Prologue down to the last
ITT [Individual Time Trial] the cyclists all sweated to earn their places, and
even some were forced to quit because of accidents. The Team Leader of Astana,
Alexandre Vinuokorov from Kasahktan broke his pelvis during a crash, and the
British Road Race Champion Bradley Wiggins quitted too for fracture of the
collarbone, happening separately in one bike stage.
The Alps Stages:
From
Northern Spain or somewhere near the Basque Region where the Tour usually also
had the mountain stages in the French-Spanish borders in the Pyrenees, it moved
out from Gap to Pinerolo in Northern Italy, to where the Alps proudly looms
sleepily but deadly; and for many years cyclists wish to tame this mighty
mountain. The northern part of Italy has
intriguing mountain passes; in these difficult passes many, many years ago, the
great Carthaginian General Hannibal Barca
once boldly crossed the Alps with hundred thousands of men and beasts of war –
war elephants at the height of extreme winter in order to crush the Roman
Empire in the city of twelve hills. The Legion saved Rome, but the latter was
humiliated for the battle was brought at her frontiers; and they never expected
that Hannibal could move his army from Spain to Italy.
That
is ancient history already, and we would deal on a different history yet in the
making.
Beginning
Stage 17 their first day in the Alps, another invasion would yet to happen; and
surely the world would be watching it closely, unlike before when only the
Roman Legions under its General Consul Scapio had watched it closely to mount
the ambush against the mighty Carthaginian Army on march towards Rome.
Today,
the world would be watching more or less 170 professional cyclists of the 21
different teams, as they would assault ceaselessly the grueling climbs of the
Alps and conquer the passes. Stage 17 and the subsequent three laps shall be
certainly punitive; the Polka Dots or Mountain Jersey, the White Jersey or
Young Rider Classification, and most importantly the Yellow Jersey shall be
contested in the steep passes and treacherous downhills.
Stage 17 started at Gap and bound for
Pinerolo in the Alps with a total race distance of 179 kilometers with Category
2 and 3 climbs. It would pass the scenic Northern Italy; and noteworthy are the
places of Lauchasse, Montenegve, Fort Fenostrelle and, many historical and
places of interests. The race for the assault of the Alps began; a rider from
Norway Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling Team) won the stage.
Edvald
Boasson Hagen’ won the stage, however Team Sky was not able to celebrate it
greatly, despite it was Hagen second lap winnings because their Team Leader
Bradley Wiggins was out of the race due to accident. He broke his collarbone in
a crash as the bikes skidded in slippery wet road of the Alps in this stage,
where he sustained really a bad injury than the others.
In
the meanwhile, Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) retained his yellow jersey after a
day at the Alps. It was Voeckler’s nicest day for having successfully defended
the yellow jersey at the Alps from the nine (9) contenders in the magic group
of ten (10) in the General Classification. There was no dramatic change in the
top ten classifications, although anyone from them may have the chance to grab
outright the yellow jersey; of course, the succeeding stages would determine
everything.
The
following day Stage 18; they knew it would be the toughest stage.
Stage 18 covers three difficult mountain
climbs and passes, their first agony would be at Col d’Agnet a 23.7 kilometer at 6.5% grandient. This mountain is revered as the third highest mountain
in France. After this first major mountain climb at Col d’Agnet, the cyclists shall negotiate the winding hairpin
downhill, and two more mountain climbs would follow again at Col d’ Izoard, a 14 kilometers at 7.5%
in gradient; and Galibier Serre to
Chevalier, a longer climb of 23
kilometers await them. Galibier has a gradient of only 5.1%, maybe not as tough
as Col d’ Izoard.
Despite,
this stage had three major mountain climbs, at the early part however of the
race some 70 kilometers away from the flag-off point, 16 breakaway-groups
managed to get loose. A little later,
three more cyclists joined in and formed the 19-man solid breakaway group
composed of riders like Johnny Hoogerland, Nicolas Roche, Anthony Delaplace,
Maaren Tjiallingii, Ruben Perez, Pablo Urtasun, and with two Leopard Trek riders,
Maxine Monfort and Joost Posthuma; and many more. The 19-man breakaway group represented the
following bike teams: DCM; Ag2R; Saur Sojasen; Rabobank; Euskaltel; Astana;
Garmin-Cervelo; Movistar, Quick Step; RadioShack with Johan Bruynel as Manager;
Cofidis; and Lampre.
Their
distance to the peloton, where the big
guns were there i.e. Voeckler, Evans, Andy and Frank Schelk, Contador
(defending tour champion), Sanchez, Basso, Cunego, and so on, was 4:55 or four
minutes and fifty-five seconds ahead, or away from the main chase group.
Team
Leopard Trek had two strong riders in the breakaway; perhaps it was part of
their tactical move to field in their climbers and good downhillers in the
breakaway so later they would serve as “domestics” for the team’s game plans
and maneuvers. Not much longer or as
soon as a considerable, or when the right distance was established between the
breakaway and the chase group, Andy Schelk (Team Captain of Leopard Trek)
initiated a punishing pace in the climbs; little by little he gained advantage
and broke loose from the main peloton in the grueling climbs. No one from the
group followed him; everyone was busy preserving or reserving much energy for
this climb and the two other climbs ahead. The group waited someone to lead the
chase, but no one dared. Voeckler did not, despite he was in yellow jersey and
his crown was in jeopardy of losing. Contador did not and certainly not Frank
Schelk, for it was his brother who made the breakaway.
The
main peloton was on a “wait and see
attitude”, Cadel Evans would have earlier made the chase, but he was in
mechanical trouble. For two times, he asked the team vehicle on mobile to fix
his rear wheel, it seemed to have been stuck a little bit impeding his smooth
cadence. The third time around, he halted, dismounted from his bike and took
another one; and sped up in his lonesome to join the peloton.
While
this was the happening in the main peloton, Andy Schelk managed to catch his
teammate Maxine Monfort in the climbs. The two Leopard riders now worked
together to overtake those who were ahead of them, and they dropped them behind
whatever best way possible to achieve a bigger margin of advantage over everyone.
In
the downhill, Monfort set the pace and aerodynamically broke the wind, while
Andy was drafting behind so with another rider, who did not belong to their
team. Little by little the remnants of the original 16-man breakaway were all
melted away because the Leopard Trek ran in a bullet speed. Monfort the
faithful domestic in all the climbs and downhills finally cracked and gave up,
he was totally drained, and his Team Leader had still the fresher legs and
would be on his own on the remaining considerable kilometers of the climb, but still
towing one rider behind.
Further
back in the main peloton, the riders in the top classification began to feel
uneasy, for obviously Andy Schelk is some minutes away from them, and if
unchecked he would certainly take the yellow jersey and further established a
big margin of time advantage over them. So, Cadel Evans took charge and towed
the group, but unfortunately the defending champion Alberto Contador and fellow
Spaniard Samuel Sanchez (Team Captain of Euskaltel) were not with the group of
Evans. The two were at the back somewhere, maybe panting from exhaustion or
plainly were just floating with the big group.
If
the two Spaniards, Contador and Sanchez would not finish earlier, their
standings in the general classification would be affected. Evans was towing the
other contenders, whose time intervals with Contador and Sanchez were closer;
their time gaps were separated by mere minute and seconds. At any cause, the two Team Captains (Saxobank
and Euskaltel) must be at the finish line not much later to retain their
positions.
The
entire chase ran was done by Evans; Danielson (USA) of Garmin-Cervelo aided the
Australian sometimes and good for him because the rests were not interactive,
but simply were just behind taking the safer and effortless stance by
drafting.
Andy
Schelk in his lonesome, but with all the gaiety of full-filled rider celebrated
his lonely climb along the remaining portion of Chevalier. He crossed the
finish line alone, won the toughest stage; and some moments later, Frank Schelk
finished second for he had fresher legs than the rest. Actually, he had not
done his part in the pacing, the fact that his brother Andy was on the
breakaway.
Following
Frank Schelk was Cadel Evans, the main powerhouse of the chase group; Evan
Basso of Liquigas; Thomas Voeckler [5th in the finish]; Pierre
Rolland; Damiano Arazo; Rein Taaramae; Tom Danielson; and Ryder Hesjedal. The
two Spaniard Team Leaders, Alberto Contador [Saxobank Sungard] and Samuel
Sanchez [Euskaltel] finished 15th and 18th places in the
stage, respectively. Contador was 00:03:50 behind from Andy Schelk while
Sanchez was 00:04:42. There was no general revamp yet in the general
classification; however, their time intervals were now closer.
Voeckler
still held the yellow jersey; he defended it heroically straight up to the tenth
day now. The second stage in the Alps was finished; it was the highest mountain
finish the Tour has in celebration of the 98th Edition of the Tour
de France.
Stage 19 was at the other side of the Col d’
Galibier. Perhaps the bikes had sat foot in these areas during their off-season
training runs because athletes are all the times resourceful to be oriented of the
terrains.
From
the start line in Modane to Alp d’Huez, the riders have to
laboriously kick their chainwheels to countless revolution to finish the 109.5
kilometers race. Alp d’Huez, the
finish line; is 1,850 meters above sea level and a 13.8 climb in 7.9% grandient
classified as category H must be tackled with full concentration.
Maybe
for Contador and Sanchez, Stage 19 would be an opportune time to recompense
their time deficits after finishing 15th and 18th place
in the previous stage, respectively. In Stage 18, Contador was observed by most
Team Directors to have been seen with the Race Medical Director’s car and
complained of knee pains, which was tended by Doctor by applying some spray of
some sort of pain relievers, or anesthetic agent, or whatever it was on his
knees while the bike was mobile and along the side of the car [what a scary
thing to be tended by the Doctor while the bike and car on mobile at usual racing
speed].
Whether
Contador was only bluffing yesterday or not, it is necessary for him now to
make the move if he wishes to take the overall leadership of the Tour, the fact
that he is the defending champion. In Stage 18, he was in 7th place
over-all or 00:04:44 behind Voeckler the yellow jersey while the last year’s
runner up Andy Schelk was just 15 seconds off the yellow jersey. Contador and
Sanchez [8th over-all] must do some miracle to get closer on top,
for a striking move later.
To
a layman’s points of view, Stage 19 of 109.5 kilometers from start to finish is
certainly a longer bike leg. But for professionals, who are acclimatized on
varied weather conditions – intense heat, or cold or rain; 109.5 kilometers is
just a piece a cake – not really that far in comparison with Stage 17 [179K
with steep climbs also.]
The
day was really marked by Contador and Sanchez as a time to off-set their time
deficits; at the base of Alp d’Huez some 8.5 kilometers away along the steep
climbs of this mighty mountain, Contador attacked, bounced on and off from his
bike as he rotated the chainrings without seating on the bike’s saddle. His
countryman Sanchez followed, in fact, the whole peloton wished to follow them
but they failed, perhaps out of air, thus no more legs to spin viciously the
cranks.
Cadel
Evans could not follow them too, he had mechanical problems with the rear wheel
mechanism, which the Team Mechanic fixed twice; and on the third time Evans
decided to change his bike.
The
other big guns, the 2 Schelks; Voeckler; Basso; Cunego; and so on, tried to
chase the breakaway, however they did it not persistently because as if
everyone was trying to reserve his energy for the final climb and sprint to the
finish line. Thus, the breakaway – Contador and Sanchez significantly were
ahead of the group; and not until Evans caught the chase group when their pace
was increased. Evans towed the chase group with amazing prowess; this time the
two Spaniards caught the solo breakaway, Pierre Rolland of Europcar; French.
The three were together, but as a matter of etiquette and a tradition in
cycling Pierre Rolland refused to make the pace because he would do harm with
his Team Leader Voeckler, who was struggling to defend his time against his
rivals; Contador and Sanchez were. So, he sat there always as the third man of
the breakaway group, however a few kilometers away from the finish line, he did
try to get loose and off he went successfully away from the two. Pierre Rolland
won Stage 19, and said from an interview “I grew up watching Lance Armstrong
and Marco Pantani[ii],
watching how they climb the Alp d’Huez”. “Now I’ve climbed the Alps. It’s going
to take a minute to sink in.”
The
chase group or Cadel Evan’s group[iii]
was nearing; they almost caught Contador and Sanchez, who finished as second
and third winners of the stage. Thomas Voeckler [Europcar] in yellow jersey was
two minutes behind on the final climb; he finished 00:03:22 off the Stage
Winner.
After
Stage 19, Voeckler lost the yellow jersey to Andy Schelk of Luxembourg [Team
Leopard Trek]. He defended it well for two days in the Alps, this third day he
has fallen, but proudly rode the finish line having done his best to carry on
the aspirations of the French nation to have a Tour Champion. It has been long
time, in the 1980’s yet that France has produced a Tour de France Champion that
hope has vanished now with his time deficit of more than 2 minutes.
The Last 42Kilometers
the ITT:
Stage 20 was an ITT or Individual Time Trial
of 42.5 kilometers on a technical rolling terrain in Grenoble, still in the
Alps.
This
is a crucial Stage that would make and unmake champions.
In
Stage 19, the General Classification ran this way: 1st Over-all Andy
Schelk; 2nd Frank Schelk, 00:00:53 [seconds] behind; 3rd Evans
00:00:57; then 4th Voeckler; 5th Contador; 6th
Sanchez; and so on.
It
was a perfect day for time trialing, the road was not that wet; if it had, the
sun had dried it by then. Everyone was in their finest jersey, on Time Trial
Bikes with bullhorn handlebars and of course, all carbon-fibers frames and
sophisticated braking system [everything nice from head to toe]. As usual the
first to go on the starting ramp at three minutes interval is the last cyclist
in the general classification. It is better if one would be flagged-off
earlier, experience says it has less headwinds or crosswinds in the morning and
not so hot than in the later hours.
The
42.5K stretch was divided into two in intermediate checkpoints to extract time
comparisons among cyclists for purposes of statistics. With high-tech devices
to determine their individual clockings,
the audience would know how maybe one is doing whether he is ahead or behind with
somebody, or to everyone.
Cadel
Evans left the starting ramp followed by Frank Schelk, then by his younger
brother Andy. A standard full marathon is 42K; usually it takes closer to two
hours or a little bit more than two hours for a marathoner to finish at this
distance depending on the terrain. However, in this Bike ITT 42K on a rolling
terrain, where there are some climbs and descends, it took Tony Martin [HTC
Highroads] 00:55:33 [fifty-five minutes & 33 seconds] to finish the Stage,
thus registering the fastest and Stage Winning Time. Cadel Evans had the second
fastest time at fifty-six minutes and 39 seconds [00:56:39] while Contador was
the third fastest, clocking at one hour and 6 minutes [01:06:00].
The
ITT result dethroned Andy Schelk from the yellow jersey; Evans from Third
Over-all took the Yellow Jersey. The Schelk brothers [Andy and Frank] were at
the podium again during the awarding ceremony of Stage 20 at second and third
places.
The
Time Trial on Stage 20 had served its distinct purpose; it had been able to
determine the virtual Tour Champion. It selected the worthy guy for the
prestigious crown; it had been able to choose the cyclist who is not only good
or fast when surrounded by groups and allies, but intensely good in everything:
has the legs in steep climbs, the guts of a kamikaze
during descends, and a true power of almost a superman in a solo unaided performance - the ITT.
At Champs Ellysees the 21-Stage daily live dramas on
wheels will end in an eight [8] circuit laps along this historic French
thoroughfare.
From
Creteil, all the riders rode leisurely on a 95K stretch across suburban and
urban flatlands to the ultimate grand finish in Paris. The virtual champion had
a ceremonial champagne toss with his team while the peloton[iv]
was on the move. The peloton would always be a wonderful sight to watch,
neither because of the riders’ colorful and varied jerseys nor by the flash of
their hundreds of thousand race machines, the bicycles; but because the peloton
would soon have to unfold and conclude the real drama on wheels since it
started in Day 1. The odyssey on wheels for three straight weeks have
subconsciously been a part of the lives of the French; and not only them, but
by all people in the world who have one common aspiration in sports – not
becoming cyclists but their love of cycling – of a bike race. Wherever they are,
or whatever walks of life they belong, whether they are professionals, skilled
or unskilled labor force, who might be watching along race routes in city streets,
or in the difficult mountain passes; in office cubicles, oil rigs and other
workplaces; in malls and mega city structures like Taipei 101 in Taiwan,
Petronas in Malaysia, and Mall of Asia in the Philippines, and so on; in cruise
ocean liners and leisure yachts, and cabins of airliners; in military bases and
barracks, and in guerilla camps and strongholds; or enjoying the live satellite
feed telecast in cabletv or youtubes in the soft comfort of one’s
pillows whether at one’s own room or hotel room, Le Tour de France is and
would always be a great sports spectacle to watch, which people do not wish to
miss.
The
bell will ring to signify the last circuit maneuver by the cyclists. All teams
have their own sprinters; they shall begin establishing tactical formation for
immediate and swift maneuvers at any given situation. Teams usually ride in one
straight line, or in the cycling language ideally establishing a “train” or formation
could be done in one solid compact group depending on a scenario.
Any
bike teams that are there upfront shall keep the speed immensely fast during
the last kilometers or circuit turn so that others would not be able to cope up
the punitive pace, therefore, they have to fade away or slow down.
If
“bike trains” have exhaust manifolds, perhaps people may see how the smoke
emits upwards due to the all out burst of a human engine with a three-fourth
3/4 horsepower only in an effort to finish ahead and win the stage.
Perfect
example of these men, are the sprinters; they are hidden by their teams usually
occupying the third or fourth position in the train. When the right situation or approximately some 500 meters or
lesser, after they passed the “kite”[v]
and with a flip of the elbow by the rider making the pace, the sprinter would
finally unsaddled and rotate the chain wheel in the maddest rotation possible
towards the finish line.[vi]
That is how the sprinter’s won the race, and Mark Cavendish with this strategy
took Stage 21, crediting to him the most wins in the 98th Tour de
France.
Despite,
how fast he was in the sprint; he finished in the Tour in rank 130th
in the General Classification.
Perhaps,
today Mark Cavendish is the new Mario Cippolini [Italy], the greatest sprinter
in his own time. As to Tour winnings to his credit, he already surpassed Super
Mario who had only 11 Stage wins in his career. Of course, the green jersey,
the symbol of dominance in the sprint was his.
Really,
he is ever thankful to the HTC Highroad for the speedy train that always
carried him to the finish line. The White Jersey – Young Rider was awarded to
Pierre Roland of Europcar (finish 11th place over-all, unfortunately,
Rigoberto Uram-uram [Colombia] Sky Team and Rein Taarame [Estonia] COFIDIS were
not able to rip off the white jersey from him). Samuel Sanchez of Euskaltel
took the Mountain’s Jersey, the Polka Dots.
Over-all Results: Cadel Evans[vii]
of BMC Team[viii]
- Champion with an aggregate time of 83:43:20, followed by Andy Schelk, [Leopard
Trek] 00:01:34 behind; Frank Schelk, [Leopard Trek] 00:02:30; Thomas Voeckler,
[Europcar] 00:03:20; Alberto Contador[ix],
[Saxobank Sungard] 00:03:57; Samuel Sanchez, [Euskaltel-Euskadi] 00:04:55;
Damiano Cunego, 00:06:05; Ivan Basso, [Liquigas] 00:07:23; Tom Danielson,
00:08:15; and Jean Christophe Peraud, 00:10:11.
What More Has to Come?
This
year’s quest of a Champion in the Tour de France ended after the virtual tour
winner emerged in the last 42.5K ITT. But truly the making of a Champion indeed
has not ended; it is consistently continuous as he has to defend his title in
the next season or in any appropriate professional cycling race sooner.
Cadel
Evans is now 34 years old, and could he defend his title next year? It is a big
question that needs an answer that surely would have a definite answer in July
2012.
If
Contador is really that versatile to have won the Tour de France in 3 consecutive
times, and the Giro d’Italia 2011 that happened earlier than the Le Tour, could
he next year regain his depleted composure?
There
are always countless questions raise, but there is nothing definite to answer
one, because power, teamwork, and luck are always the soothing ingredients of
success in bike races. One may have the power or capability, but minus teamwork;
nothing desirable could be ever achieved at the end of the day. When one has
power [stamina, endurance, skills, etc.] and teamwork, but luck is not with him, one could never be a champion. Luck is not
achieved by one’s expertise on the game or by efforts of the team, but rightly
or seemingly [if a non-believer] “Luck” can be heartily asked by one from
Providence.
For
a question as to whether or not Evans and the Schelk brothers would meet in the
upcoming Tour of Eneco, we believe they would not. Despite Leopard Trek and BMC
could easily field-in their teams thereat, other riders will complete the
rooster not them.[x]
Like in the newly concluded Tour of Poland,[xi]
Team Leopard Trek was there, however another set of riders competed, not those
who had just joined the Tour de France. Consider it also, how stressful it
would be.
The
nearest event or time when the podium finishers of Tour de France would meet again
would be during the US PROCYCLING RACE on August 22-28, 2011 in Colorado, USA. Bicycling
said, “The Schelk brothers will compete, and Cadel Evans had confirmed his attendance,
too.” So, 100% they will meet in the highlands of Colorado, the living wonder
of geologist.[xii]
Well,
there is no news of Contador’s attendance yet, the latest we knew from his camp
said that he would not join the Vuelta this August and must rest for a while.
If
the US Procycling Race will begin, this is again . . . what we always say Wow!
What a race! But, we could not go there to witness the Tour, so maybe Mary
Schmid is right when she said, “Reading is the ultimate ticket for everything”.
But
viewing it live, these days, is no longer a worry, the CATV or the youtubes
could provide us a superb balcony ticket; nevertheless, reading could
supplement everything what the eyes cannot see in the screen.
Finally,
we salute you cycling buffs. Like us you believe cycling is great and perhaps
you too believe that a cyclist is a cyclist forever no matter how aged he maybe
someday. When age comes, it is the mind that thinks of cycling although the
muscular faculties could no longer obey what the mind commands. The mind rules
the body, and that makes one, a cyclist forever. Though he is not getting any
younger, still his memories are associated with cycling more so in seasons like
this.
Is
it something like that? How would we know… we are these young? Hmm.
000
[i] This is a miniscule account of the Tour de
France of 2011 with in-depth focus on the Alpe d’Huez Stages.
[ii] Marco Pantani, an Italian Tour de
France Winner sometimes in the late 1980’s otherwise known as the “Pirate”
maybe because of his bald head, was a good climber as well as a fearless
descender in the treacherous passes of the Alps. The year when he won the Tour,
some prominent riders were disqualified because of a surprise doping test made
by the Tour Officials and the Police being found positive of drugs which are
banned in cycling. Probably that is why the Tour was teasingly dubbed as the
“Tour that Never Was.” In fairness, however, to Marco Pantani, all cycling
enthusiasts in the world knew that he was the worthy Tour Champion, although
one or two of his contenders were unable to compete because taking of power
enhancing drugs. Marco Pantani was the Team Leader of Mercatone Uno, an Italian
bike team. He could be easily spotted in the peloton because of his
clean-shaven head; in those times wearing of helmets in France was not strictly
compulsory during races. The wearing was made compulsory when Tour Officials
found it necessary that cyclists must wear one to protect themselves.
Fatalities in bike races although seldom is not however inevitable. In Tour de
France, Fabio Casarteli [Lance Armstrong Italian teammate in the US Postal
Service] crashed during the race on a Mountain Stage, and although a chopper
lifted him to a nearby hospital, he expired. Casarteli at that time was wearing
a head gear, but the violent impact did not spare him from sustaining head
injuries. Other cause of fatality in the Tour de France is exhaustion; a rider
died in Mont Vonteaux.
[iii] Evan’s group in Identical time at
the Finish Line 00:00:57 seconds behind Rolland: Velits [HTC Highroads]; de
Gendt [DMC]; Cunego [Lampre]; and the 2 Schelks [Leopard Trek].
[iv] Main group of bikes.
[v] Technically it is an arch with 4
bases, 2 bases of which are anchored across the other side of the rode. It is
strategically placed one kilometer away from the finish line to notify the
riders in case they would be unable to read other visible signages.
[vi] Flipping the elbow is a signal
signifying that the pacesetter is already drained and need to be replaced, or
“it is time for the sprinter to let loose and speed to the finish.”
[vii] The only Tour de France Champion
from downunder Australia. Started as
Mountain Bike rider, Runner-up in 2007-2008 Tour, and World Champion in 2009
[viii]
BMC Team Manager is Jim Ochowicz with Team Members: Cadel Evans, Team
Leader; Steve Morabito [Switzerland] 45th Place Overall; George
Hincape [US] 56; Moinard [France] 65; Michael Schar [Switzerland] 103; Brent
Bookwalter [US] 114; Manuel Quinziato [Italy] 115; Marcus Burghardt [Germany]
164; and Ivan Santaromita [Italty, may not finish the tour have not seen his
ranking]. [This is a typical team where
Teamwork is always the byword. See how the team members work, unmindful of
their individual rankings but the standing of their Team Leader. Sacrifice as in the game of chess is
always there; the domestic are the pawns making the noble sacrifice to protect
the Leader’s time.]
[ix] Three time Tour de France Champion.
He was the Champion too of the 2011 Giro d’Italia.
[x] Tour of Eneco will start on the
second week of August, for a week time. It is a bike race somewhere in Norway
or up in far north. The last tour to happen this season would be the Vuelta de
España that is set to go on August 20.
[xi] Tour of Poland Champion is Peter
Sagan [Slovakia and former Jr. Mountain Bike World Champion] of Liquigas Team.
He was one second behind the virtual winner Daniel Martin [Depending Champion
2010 winner] of Garmin-Cervelo Team, however during Stage 6 [last stage] in a
circuit race, Sagan finished second place in the sprint finish wherein he
gained an additional 6 seconds/points bonus; and it therefore made him 5
seconds ahead of the virtual winner. The stage winner of the last stage was
Marcel Kittel, a big German rider.
[xii] Grand Canyon in Colorado continuously
interests geologists to investigate and study the Earth through its environs.
The canyon itself has a truckload of scientific specimens and facts for their
study of the Earth’s past. From the canyon walls, evidence could be seen
portraying different periods of time such as during the times of the dinosaurs,
and so on.
Furthermore, in the Race Across America in the 1980’s,
an endurance race on bicycle from the West Coast to the East Coast or from
California to New York, a lone Filipino who joined the race named Manuel
Reynante, was able to reach as far as the Colorado area, where he then quit for
dehydration.
ooo
No comments:
Post a Comment