There is bright hope for the sport of cycling!

My previous post was sad and depressing.  This post is all about hope for the future.

Within the last few years, an organization has emerged - National Interscholastic Cycling Association - which is introducing cycling as a sanctioned high school sport.  NICA is initially focused on mountain biking, but could expand to other formats as it grows.  Their goal is to be inclusive, so that boys and girls participate.  They find sponsors, so that even kids of modest means are provided with equipment and given the opportunity to ride.  They recognize winners, but they make it fun for riders of all ability levels.  The teams spend time learning fundamentals, conditioning, training on beautiful mountain trails, and finally competing against other schools.  They also teach the ethics of cycling, and they involve the kids in trail maintenance and related public service.  Some of the riders may pursue competitive careers, but the goal is for all of the kids to become life-long riders for the health and the fun of it.  See their website at: http://www.nationalmtb.org/

Last weekend, I was privileged to witness the final race of the inaugural season for the Utah affiliates of this amazing organization.  They had around 300 riders from dozens of high schools throughout the state.  There were races in eight different divisions (varsity, junior, sophomore, freshman; boys and girls in each).  The course was a challenging 5-mile winding loop through the gorgeous hills and forests of Soldier Hollow Olympic venue (from the 2002 Winter Olympics)!  The lower divisions rode 2 laps - 10 miles; the varsity riders did 4 laps - 20 miles.

Here are a few pictures.  Yes, the future of cycling looks very bright!

 Skyline High School team, posing for pre-race pictures

The start of the sophomore girls' division race.  Front row, left to right: 102: Ellen Dahl, Lone Peak; 103: Emma Barney, Lone Peak; 114: Malacie Jorgensen, Mountain View; 109: Rachel Wedge, Alta; 100: Kylie Osguthorpe, Ogden High (wearing leader's jersey, based on points from prior races).

The start of the freshman girls' race.  Front row, left to right: 704: Lizzie McIntyre, Pleasant Grove; 707: Kylee Shaffer, Alta; 705: Megan McMillan, Morgan.

This main staging area.  This photo gives an idea of the size of the event.

Another view of the staging area.

Action on the course.  Left: Tasha Heilweil, Skyline; right: Brenna Egan, Park City.

The varsity girls battling for the lead.   003: Tasha Heilweil, Skyline; 001: Brenna Egan, Park City (wearing leader's jersey); 005: Ellie Burton, Park City.  Brenna Egan went on to win this race, and claimed the top spot for the season in her division.

Malacie Jorgensen, a junior rider from Mountain View, winding through the course, eventually claiming second place in this race for her division.

Madison Griggs, a junior rider from Jordan High School.

Alexa Bertagnolli, a sophomore rider from Summit Academy, rounding one of the corners.

Sarah Cassell, a junior rider from Skyline High School, concentrating on the trail ahead.

Kylee Shaffer (my granddaughter), a freshman from Alta High School, speeding toward the finish.

Sierra Pogue, a freshman rider from Summit Academy racing up the final incline to the finish line, where she claimed the final podium spot (fifth place) in this race for her division.

Armstrong: Crash & Burn! Erased from memory!

The verdict is in.  UCI and the Tour de France have confirmed the judgment of USADA that Lance Armstrong is guilty, not only of using drugs and doping for himself, but also of being the ringleader of a massive team-wide drugs/doping conspiracy.  He is banned for life from cycling competitions, and stripped of most of his lifetime race results, including all seven of his Tour de France victories.  Pat McQuaid, the head of UCI is quoted as saying, "Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling.  He deserves to be forgotten."

In the past, I have refrained from taking a position.  Even now, I do not have any first-hand knowledge.  But, if I were on a jury, looking at the evidence that has been published, I would vote to convict.  I believe the evidence shows beyond a reasonable doubt that he is guilty.

He has forfeited any claim upon my respect through (1) a long pattern of cheating, (2) the arrogance of his lying, and (3) especially his bullying and betrayal of his friends and those whom he should have been mentoring. 

I don't really have any tears for Mr. Armstrong.  But it broke my sports fan's heart to witness the downfall of Leipheimer, Hincapie, Zabriskie and others whom I respected and admired.  These latter riders have salvaged a measure of my respect by having the courage to finally speak out.  I have sympathy for them, and wish them well as they try to rebuild our trust in them and in the sport.  As for their fallen former leader, I feel a sense of disgust and betrayal similar to that experienced by a former mentor of mine:  My mentor was a U.S. federal judge, appointed by President Eisenhower (when Nixon was V.P.), and a staunch supporter of President Richard Nixon.  When the full details of Nixon's Watergate scandal emerged, and Nixon resigned in disgrace (under the threat of certain impeachment), the judge vowed that he "would never again utter that man's name!"

[No pictures.]

Armstrong gives up fight against USADA

On August 23, 2012 Lance Armstrong publicly gave up his fight against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and its accusations that he took banned substances throughout his career, and also that he was a key figure in his team's conspiracy to hide such doping.  He did not admit guilt, but withdrew his legal fight against USADA.  USADA swifty declared Armstrong banned for life from all competitions, and vacated his career prizes, including his 7 victories in the Tour de France. 

It is not yet known whether UCI will agree with the USADA sanctions.  The Tour de France is apparently waiting to see what UCI does before deciding whether to strip Armstrong of his titles.

It is not yet clear what, if any, sanctions will be given to Johan Bruyneel, who is also accused of participating with Armstrong in the conspiracy.

Stage 20 - Paris - Wrap-up of Tour de France

Mark Cavendish (Sky) has written the big story for today’s final stage of the 2012 Tour de France. He launched his sprint with 400 meters to go. Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge) gave chase, but could never catch him. "Super Nova" Peter Sagan made a mad dash and nosed out Goss, but could not eclipse the "Manx Missile."

This was Cavendish’s 3^rd stage win for the 2012 Tour, his 4^th consecutive stage victory on the Champs Elysées in Paris, and his 23^rd stage triumph over 6 years at the TDF. This was a "down year" for him personally, compared to his 2011 Tour, because he sacrificed the defense of the green jersey in order to ride in support of Team Sky’s priority goal: Bradley Wiggins’ quest for the yellow jersey. The team hit its chief target, with Mark’s and Chris Froome’s successes being bonuses.

There is speculation that Cavendish could leave Team Sky next year for a team that would concentrate on helping him win the green jersey and more stages. However, he has two more years on a 3-year contract with Sky that pays him $3.75 million per year.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2012/jul/22/tour-de-france-mark-cavendish?newsfeed=true 

At that level of base salary, and sharing prize money and glory with Wiggins for two more years, I would think twice about moving.  If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Summary of prizes:

GC winner–yellow jersey–Bradley Wiggins (Sky)
Sprint Points winner–green jersey–Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale)
Climber Points winner–polka-dot jersey–Thomas Voeckler (Europcar)
Youth GC winner–white jersey–Tejay Van Garderen (BMC)
Team prize–RadioShack-Nissan-Trek.  (Sky lost this prize by less than 6 minutes.  All on stage 11.)
Super Combative prize–Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank)
Lanterne Rouge (last place overall)–Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun)

Placement of American Riders:

5. Tejay Van Garderen (BMC)
13. Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan-Trek).  Bruyneel wanted to leave him off the roster!  Horner got the last laught there!
33. Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma Quickstep)
38. George Hincapie (BMC), his 17^th Tour–most ever by anyone.
60. Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Sharp)
100. David Zabriskie (Garmin-Sharp)
151. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp), bravely fought through early injuries, almost ended as Lanterne Rouge.
Did Not Finish: Thomas Danielson (Garmin-Sharp), injury Stage 6
Also DNF: Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), injury Stage 7.  U.S.-based Garmin was snake-bit.

What’s next? The Olympic Games, starting in one week, feature 18 different bicycle events for men and women, with 500 cyclists competing. Great Britain will try to dominate the men’s road racing and sprinting events in the Olympics, as they did the Tour de France, with Cavendish, Wiggins, Froome and David Millar (Garmin-Sharp). All the big names from the Tour will be competing for their respective countries, and will do their best to prevent a British sweep of the two biggest races of the year.

The 2012 Tour de France is now in the books. Thank you to everyone who followed my blog. I hope you had as much fun reading it as I had writing it.

Here are some parting shots of Paris--not the usual perspectives. 

Au revoir, et à la procaine!

Night view of Paris from the Palais de Chaillot at the Trocadéro.

A different perspective of the Eiffel Tower.

One of several rose windows in the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, with organ pipes in the foreground.

Gargoyles on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.

The famous Moulin Rouge night club.

A Place du Tertre mime, taking a break and talking to his wife.  Yes, even mimes have families.

Tombs of La Fontaine (author of fables) and Molière (author of comedic plays), among 100's of notables buried in Paris' famous Père Lachaise cemetery.

Stage 19 - Time Trial in Chartres: Sky Owns the Tour!

What little suspense remained has been swept away. Bradley Wiggins deserves the yellow jersey, and Team Sky owns the 2012 Tour de France.

Wiggins blistered the time trial stage in Chartres. (33.5 miles at an average speed over 31 miles per hour!) His Sky teammate Chris Froome came in second. Team Sky won the team prize for the day. All that remains is the champagne run into Paris tomorrow, and the question of whether Sky rider Mark Cavendish can win the final sprint to cap off the total domination by Team Sky.

Top American Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) almost moved into 4^th place, and added another 3 minutes to his margin of victory over Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) for the white jersey–best young rider.

The green (sprinters) and polka-dot (climbers) jersey competitions remain unchanged, and should remain so through the last stage to Paris. Only a catastrophic accident to Peter Sagan (Liquigas) or Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) could change those prizes.

Team RadioShack-Nissan-Trek retains an insurmountable six-minute lead for the overall team prize, but Sky did cut 8 minutes off that margin today. Which raises the question of how RadioShack managed to win that prize. Looking back stage-by-stage, I discovered that RadioShack owns that prize solely from the results of stage 11, the mountain-top finish at La Toussuire in the Alps. Out of 19 stages, Sky beat RadioShack in six stages, while RadioShack beat Sky in five stages. Not counting stage 11, Sky would be leading RadioShack by 1'31" overall, instead of trailing by -6'02". It comes down to mountain-climbing depth. Sky’s first two riders in stage 11 (Froome & Wiggins) beat RadioShack’s first two riders (Schleck & Horner) by 4'24". But RadioShack’s third rider (Klöden) beat Sky’s third rider (Porte) to the top of that mountain by 11'57". RadioShack’s team score margin on that all-important stage was 7'33"–just enough to give them their final margin of 6'02" for the overall team prize. (There should be no margins in the team scores in tomorrow’s flat stage to Paris.)

To celebrate today's race against the clock, here is another antique French clock.  This sundial is on the château at Azay le Rideau in the Loire Valley, just south of Chartres, the site of today's time trial.

If you want a sundial of your own, you can buy it in this shop in Perpignan, on display during a midieval fair.

Stage 18 - Cavendish Storms Into Brive

Mark Cavendish (Sky) exploded past the final two escapees in the last 300 yards to claim his 22^nd stage win over a 6-year Tour de France Career. Yellow jersey Bradley Wiggins, in a role reversal, led Mark under the 1 Km banner. You can’t really say Wiggins Froomed him, since there was no sacrifice for Wiggins, but it was a nice symbolic gesture. It adds to the domination mystique of Team Sky.

Sprinters Matt Goss (Orica GreenEdge) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas) collected the next points, but they never threatened to match Cavendish’s winning burst. Sagan increased his strangle-hold on the green jersey by adding 20 points to his margin over André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol).

Tyler Farrar also contested the sprint and finished in 6^th place for the stage, with the same time as Cavendish. This nudged him up one more place away from the Lanterne Rouge in the overall standings. Jimmy Engoulvent (Saur-Sojasun) finished the stage almost 9 minutes back, and slipped below Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) to claim the red lantern "honor," by 45 seconds (after 87 hours of riding!).

Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) energized the breakaway all day long, and won the most combative award. The other two escapees whose dreams of stage victory were snuffed-out by Cavendish only at the very last second were Nicholas Roche (AG2R) and Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank).

Team Sky won the team prize for the stage, but Team RadioShack was only 4 seconds behind, and maintains its 14-minute margin for that prize.

If you watched today’s race on television, you saw some beautiful scenery and picturesque villages or historic sites. Brive would be an ideal staging base for an extended vacation in France. In one direction are the volcanic mountains of Auvergne. In another, the pre-historic art cave of Lascaux. Medieval Sarlat lies to the southwest, and quaint Collonge la Rouge to the southeast. Amazing Rocamadour clings to the cliffs a half-hour south of Collonge la Rouge.  Enjoy the outdoor marché in Terrasson, west of Brive. Shop for a beautiful teapot at Limoges, an hour north of Brive. Or enjoy a scrumptious home-cooked meal in Brive itself if you are hosted by dear French friends as we were. We definitely have fond memories of our visits to Brive!

The outdoor marché in Terrasson (near Brive) features vendors on the bridge, in the town square, and along several central streets.  Very quaint.  Very French.

The midieval village of Sarlat (SW of Brive) provides a delightful walking stroll back in time.

While the ladies were shopping inside this road-side antique shop near Brive, . . .

I wandered around back, and discovered these barnyard animals calling at the backdoor, to remind the proprietors that it was lunchtime!

The rustic village of Collonge la Rouge (SE of Brive) draws its name from the red stone used in the construction of all the buildings.  Another pleasant walk through a by-gone era.  A perfect spot for a casual picnic with friends--a fresh baguette, some flavorful local cheese . . .   This is the way to see France!

Rocamadour (south of Brive) clings precariously to the cliff.  The Tour de France broadcast for Stage 18 featured several aerial views of this amazing little village.

Finally, when the day of sight-seeing (or biking) comes to a close, what could be better than a delicious French-style meal?  This one was hosted by our friends Valérie & Lahouari Allal in Brive.  Don't fill up on the first course or two!  They traditionally serve each item as a separate course.  You will have plenty of time to savour each one and to engage in lively conversation with your hosts.  In this way, you will discover the REAL France!

Stage 17 - No Surprises on Final Day in Pyrénées

If anyone wanted to challenge Bradley Wiggins and Team Sky for the yellow jersey, today was the day to do it. A few little attempts were made, but, in the end, it was Wiggins and Chris Froome who stamped their own exclamation point on the prize by attacking everyone else! The peleton has thrown in the yellow towel!

A large escape group formed early. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) tried to join that escape, but Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) convinced him it was a bad idea, so he drifted back to the peleton. If Nibali had stayed in the breakaway, the Sky riders would have chased down the whole group. That is why Valverde asked Nibali to retreat. In the middle of the stage, Nibali’s team Liquigas was leading the peleton with a fast pace, hoping to catch the first breakaway and either drop Wiggins and his Sky riders, or set up Nibali for an attack of his own. But they only succeeded in using up their own reserves of strength. They caught most of the original escape group, but not all of them, and Sky had no trouble matching their pace.

Late in the race, Liquigas and even Nibali faded. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) put in a couple of short-lived attacks, and Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) tried one as well. The effect was to drop most of the contenders (including Nibali and Cadel Evans (BMC)), but Wiggins and Froome reeled in every attack.

On the last climb of the day, Valverde was the sole survivor of the original breakaway, but his lead had dropped to less than one minute. Froome could have caught him and won the stage, but he loyally stayed to shepherd Wiggins home, settling for 2^nd and 3^rd place, and allowing Valverde to capture the stage with a mere 19-second margin. All the other GC contenders lost time, and many of the top places were re-arranged. The word "Froome" will now become a verb, meaning to sacrifice one’s own glory for the glory of the team's designated leader.

Pinot made a valiant effort to keep up with the Sky leaders, and finished in 4^th place for the day. He regained 32 seconds of the 2 minutes he had lost the previous day to Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) in the contest for the white jersey (youth).  But Tejay, by staying close to the yellow jersey instead of Frooming for Cadel Evans, moved up to 5^th place overall, and still holds the white jersey by more than 3 minutes.

Thomas Voeckler (Europecar) and Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) started the day just 4 points apart in the contest for the climbers’ polka-dot jersey. They both joined the early breakaway, and they battled for the climbing points on the first four mountains. Voeckler out-sprinted Kessiakoff at the top each time, and increased his climbing points lead by 7 points. His total margin is now 11 points. There are not that many climbing points left to be earned in the remaining stages before Paris, so Voeckler has won that battle.

With Froome and Wiggins placing 2^nd and 3^rd in the stage, Team Sky easily won the team prize for the day. But Chris Horner, Andréas Klöden and Maxime Monfort brought Team RadioShack home in a close second place, preserving still a 14-minute lead for the overall team prize. Horner has certainly vindicated the decision, over the objection of coach Johan Bruyneel, to include him on the roster,  And where is Bruyneel?

One last news flash:  American Tyler Farrar (RadioShack) has relinquished his Lanterne Rouge!  That dubious honor is now claimed by Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) whose three-week total time after more than 82 total hours of riding is 1 minute 21 seconds slower than Farrar's.  But I'm curious how it was calculated.  After stage 15 Farrar was listed on the TDF website as the red lantern, with Ghyselinck 4 places above and 9'13" faster than Farrar.  For stage 16, the TDF website does not show a stage time for Ghyselinck, nor list him in the overall time list.  In stage 17, Farrar and Ghyselinck had the same time, but now Ghyselinck is shown as the red lantern, one place below and 1'21" slower than Farrar.  Something must have happened to Ghyselinck in stage 16.  He might have finished outside the time limit.  There is a rule that allows late finishers to continue if their delay is for unusual circumstances, but they can also be given time penalties.  If any readers know what happened to Ghyselinck in stage 16, and how he lost 10 minutes to Farrar, please post the answer in the comments.  In any event, it is going to be another nail-biter to see who wins the Lantern Rouge "prize" in Paris.

Mystery solved:  The French journal L'Avenir explained that Ghyselinck was struggling at the very back of the race to reach the finish line, and was being delayed by the traffic jam of fans coming down from the mountain.  He was only able to make it through the crowds when a motorcycle escorted him through by clearing a path.  In the end, he arrived at the finish line 4 seconds later than the time delay cut-off--more than 10 minutes later than Farrar.  He could have been dismissed from the race, but the jury exercised their discretion and allowed him to continue.  In another French article, he was quoted as saying that a policeman directed him to make a wrong turn, which cost him 20 seconds.  One of the race commissioners witnessed this debacle, and apparently pursuaded the other jurors to allow him to continue.  No penalty, but he did lose 10 minutes to Farrar.  See the articles in French at: http://www.lavenir.net/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20120719_004 and http://www.rtbf.be/sport/cyclisme/tourdefrance/detail_jan-ghyselinck-hors-delai-repeche?id=7807073

Aaron, Nan and Matt at the top of the Col du Tourmalet, saying "Good-bye" to the Pyrénées, as the Tour heads north towards Paris.

One last parting look back at the Pyrénées, as we head towards the outskirts of Toulouse for the start of Stage 18, which will take us to Brive-la-Gaillarde.  Almost half-way to Paris.

Stage 16 - French Glory, RadioShack Played It Safe

Last night I got all excited with speculation that RadioShack-Nissan-Trek might throw its three leaders into the GC fight and really mix things up. Alas, it didn’t happen.

Before the climbing started, there was a big breakaway group of 38 riders, and RNT had two riders in that pack. But Voigt and Popovych are not highly placed for GC, so the yellow jersey contenders let them go. After 4 killer mountains, only 10 (including Voigt) of the original 38 escapees finished ahead of Wiggins, and none of the 10 is in the top 20 for GC.

French favorite Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) broke free of the attack group near the top of the Col du Tourmalet, and pushed on over two more mountains to claim the stage victory. He won FIVE prizes in the process to make this a day of French glory! The big prize was the stage victory. He also reclaimed the polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey, and was declared the most combative for the day (red number bib for tomorrow). His early finish led the Europcar team to the daily team prize. Finally, he won the Souvenir Jacques Goddet prize of 5,000 Euros for being first over the Tourmalet, highest mountain pass in the Pyrénées. Quite a haul!

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) attacked Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Chris Froome (Sky) while climbing the final mountain of the day (Col de Peyresourde). This created a gap on most of the other GC riders, but Wiggins and Froome bridged the gap near the top of the climb. Those three–already top 3 in the GC race–cruised home together 7 minutes behind Voeckler, but ahead of all other GC contenders to retain their placements and relative time gaps.

The rest of the GC hopefuls all lost time to Wiggins. Cadel Evans (BMC) lost so much time (-4'47") that he fell from 4^th place overall to 7^th. Any hope he had of defending his title from last year evaporated today. Evans cracked under the pace of Nibali, Wiggins and Froome, and would have dropped even further without the help of his teammates Amaël Moinard and George Hincapie, who nursed him home. I would give Hincapie a gold star for pulling himself out of a ravine (from a crash), getting his shoulder, arm and leg patched up by the moto-doctor, and then fighting back into the race to be in a position to rescue Evans at the end. What a trooper!

Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) lost one minute to Wiggins because of the Nibali attack. But Thibaut Pinot lost almost three. So, Tejay’s margin over Pinot for the white jersey (youth) has doubled to almost 4 minutes. If he rides smart tomorrow (the last mountain stage), he should wear the white jersey all the way to Paris.

No green jersey (sprint) contender collected any points in today’s stage, so Peter Sagan (Liquigas) still leads in that prize category. His 100-point margin should be insurmountable.

Although RadioShack’s leaders did not attack Wiggins, as I had hoped, they did ride home with the trailing wave of GC contenders. With Voigt finishing among the 10 survivors of the breakaway, RadioShack easily increased its lead in the contest for the team prize. This prize should also be unassailable between now and Paris.

This is the view of the Pyrénées peaks along the border with Spain from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet.  Riders, left to right:  Nan & Aaron Kennard, Matt & Ashley Jensen.  (May, 2011)

Nan, Ashley and Matt climbing the eastern slopes toward the Col du Tourmalet.  In today's stage 16, the Tour climbed the Tourmalet from the west.  So, they came screaming down this very road on their way to the next climb, the Col d'Aspin.

In honor of Thomas Voeckler's 5-prize day of glory for France, I am posting this photo of Versailles.  The words across the top of the Palace read: "To All the Glories of France."  Chapeau, M. Voeckler!  (Photo by Suzanne Kennard.)

Rest Day Wreckage! Watch Out for RadioShack in the Pyrénées!

I thought there would be nothing to write about today–the Tour’s second rest day. Wrong!

Tonight we learn that Frank Schleck has left the race. He has tested positive for a prohibited diuretic. The test did not require immediate expulsion, but Team RadioShack has announced his withdrawal. This is only the latest blow to a team that had high hopes for the yellow jersey. A month ago, Andy Schleck suffered a broken pelvis and was scratched from the TDF roster. Next there was squabbling between coach Johan Bruyneel and riders Frank Schleck and Chris Horner over their participation in the lead-up races (Italy and Switzerland). Horner defied Bruyneel at the risk of being cut from the Tour roster. In the end, Bruyneel skipped the Tour because he was caught-up in the Armstrong doping accusations, and Hormer made the roster in spite of Bruyneel. Cancellara bailed out early, not with injuries or illness, but to attend the birth of his child. At least that’s the official reason. It may have had more to do with wanting to prepare for the Olympics, and being mad at the team for not paying his salary. Meanwhile, Tour hopeful Jakob Fuglsang feels insulted for being excluded from the roster and assigned to ride in Poland. Are we surprised that he is suing the team for not paying his salary? Now we learn that the Schlecks have also not been paid! But wait! The Luxembourg sponsor Léopard says it’s not the team’s fault–the riders wanted their pay to go to "non-transparent accounts," and the team will not be party to money laundering!  Quelle comédie!  (What a soap opera!)  All that was the prelude to today’s withdrawal of Frank Schleck because of the positive drug test.

You think I’m making this up? The best one-stop place for the details is found at ESPN Cycling: http://espn.go.com/olympics/tdf2012/story/_/id/8175134/2012-tour-de-france-frank-schleck-controversy-deepens-radioshack-woes

So, where does that leave RadioShack for this year’s Tour?  Do not look for the entire team to withdraw. They still lead in the team classification, and have expressed their intention to defend that prize all the way to Paris. They still have the horses to do it.  In fact, with their top two GC captains gone (the Schleck brothers), there is nothing to prevent any or all of their remaining trio of mountain climbers from throwing an all-out attack at Wiggins, Froome, Nibali and Evans for the yellow jersey! I look for spirted attacks or even breakaways in the Pyrénées on Wednesday and Thursday from Haimar Zubeldia, Andréas Klöden and Chris Horner. Their current placements are 6^th, 11^th and 15^th, and they trail Wiggins by only 6'15", 9'29" and 12'41" respectively. If they go for broke, they could spread the first real panic among the leaders. They could completely re-arrange the top 15. It’s now or never. The next two days could be explosive!

Remember, you read it here first.

I am reprising this photo, to show that not only Andy, but also Frank, Schleck is missing on tomorrow's road to the Col du Tourmalet.  (This is an avalanche shed on the road up to the Col du Tourmalet.)

Yes, sports fans.  Tomorrow is the day when the Tour finally climbs the famous Col du Tourmalet.  In this photo the sign at the summit is almost lost in the clouds and mist that often haunt this TDF icon.

Stage 15 - For U.S. Team Garmin, a Day of Pride, if not Glory

In today’s stage through the rolling valleys at the base of the Pyrénées, the peleton drove a relentless cadence as they rejected every breakaway for the first 90 minutes. Finally, after 60 Km, they relaxed their pace and allowed a group of 5 to escape (joined shortly by a sixth rider).

None of the six ranked high enough in the GC standings for Team Sky to care about them. The job of containing and catching the escapees fell to the sprint teams, if they wanted their sprinters to have a try for the stage victory. But the sprint teams were content to let Sky lead the peleton. As a result, the lead of the six attackers soon became insurmountable, and everyone else conceded the stage win. In fact, none of the sprinters even challenged Peter Sagan for the 9 mop-up green jersey points at the intermediate sprint.

For the peleton, the only remaining drama was a three-sprinter contest for 7^th place points at the finish line. Red Lanterne Tyler Farrar come to the front to challenge for those points, and earned a measure of pride for his U.S. Garmin team with a close finish behind Greipel and ahead of Sagan.

The six leaders, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Nicki Soresen (SaxoBank), Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), Dreis Devenyns (Omega Pharma), American Christian Vande Velde (Garmin) and Pierrick Fedrigo (FDJ), worked smoothly together to expand their lead, as they plotted their strategies to capture the victory. Dumoulin was recognized as the best sprinter, so the other 5 used early attacks to wear him down and drop him before the end.

With about 5 Km to go, Fedrigo launched a surprise attack, and only Vande Velde managed to catch up with him. Those two cooperated to preserve their lead until they rode safely under the 1Km-to-go arch, with Vande Velde riding in Fedrigo’s slipstream as they approached the end. Christian hoped to lauch an attack from that position, but Fedrigo launched first, and Vande Velde could only follow him across the line for second place. Glory for Fedrigo and for France. Pride for Vande Velde and for Garmin, a team with precious little to celebrate in this year’s Tour.

After stage 12, I noted that Goss had been relegated for swerving into Sagan’s line of travel at the final sprint, so that their finishing places and sprint points were reversed. But I failed to notice or note that Goss was also penalized 30 points for that error. So, instead of 4 points, it cost him a 34-point swing. (Thanks to faithful reader, son-in-law and star of many of my blog photos, Matt Jensen, for alerting me to this additional penalty.) No wonder Goss and his Orica GreenEdge team are demoralized and have lost their fire for contesting the sprint points in these last two stages.

Nan and Matt rolling through the rural valley roads below the Pyrénées--the exact kind of roads comprising today's 15th stage of the Tour de France.

Stage 14 - Sportsmanship In the Peleton

Four stories in today’s stage through the foothills of the Pyrénées. 1. Stage win by Luis-Leon Sanchez (Rabobank). 2. Sagan solidifies his choke-hold on the green jersey. 3. Cadel Evans among victims of sabotage! 4. Wiggins leads the peleton in waiting for Evans and others.

The win by Sanchez salvages some glory for the Rabobank team, which has lost 5 of its 9 riders. His teammate Steven Kruijswijk joined Sanchez in the breakaway, helped him over the two big climbs, and launched him on his attack. Don’t ask me how to pronounce his name! I can’t even type it the same each time. So, I’m going to do what reporters do with the impossible name of Duke’s basketball coach. I’m going to call this Rabobank rider "Mr. K." The reason I have to keep referring to him is that he reaped a bonus for his efforts: he moved into 4^th place for the youth riders’ white jersey. (See discussion later in this post.)

Sagan also joined the breakaway, leaving Greipel and Goss in the dust for green jersey points. By taking top points in the intermediate, and 2^nd place in the stage, he increased his magin over the two G’s by more than 30 points.

The big story was the sabotage. The race officials confirmed that someone intentionally spread tacks in the road, causing a flury of punctures for lots of riders, as well as the support motorcycles and cars. Cadel Evans was the highest-ranked GC rider affected, and the repair process turned into a nightmare. The team car could not reach him because of the narrow road and all of the other punctures, the first replacement wheel was not compatible, one of the mechanics slipped into a road-side ditch, then Evans discovered that his front tire was also flat. This fiasco threatened to eliminate any lingering hopes he had for defending his GC crown from last year.

Wiggins and the rest of the peleton were already 15 minutes behind the breakaway riders, and in their pursuit they were about to hang Evans out to dry! That is when Wiggins, exercising the leadership that comes with wearing the yellow jersey, called a halt to the peleton’s racing. Only one rider made a move to keep racing, but he was shamed into rejoining the peleton. In the end, the peleton (including Evans) arrived at the finish over 18 minutes behind Sanchez. Wiggins explained in interviews afterwards that it is part of the culture of the Tour to wait for a rival with even a normal puncture; and, where these punctures were caused by outside forces–sabotage–the decision to wait was all the more appropriate. The riders want to win on merit, not on someone else’s misfortune, and certainly not because of sabotage against a rival.

Another word or two on the white jersey: First, did you notice that Tejay Van Garderen’s initials-TVG–are almost the same as those of the French bullet trains? (TGV for Très Grande Vitesse–very great speed!) Well, I thought it was interesting. OK, back to the analysis: After stages 8 and 9, I predicted that only Rein Taaramae and Tony Gallopin would challenge Tejay for this prize. By stage 11, only Thibaut Pinot seemed in a position to challenge. After today’s stage, Pinot is still in 2^nd place, less than 2 minutes behind. Sagan has moved up to 3^rd place, followed by Mr. K and then Taaramae. (Gallopin has abandoned.)  These last three are all more than 40 minutes behind. But I wondered how each of the 4 challengers might be expected to fare in the time trial stage toward the end of this upcoming final week of the Tour. Tejay outclassed all 4 of his challengers at the time trial in Besançon (stage 9). If that stage is a guide to stage 19, TVG’s lead over Pinot is effectively 6 minutes, not just 2 minutes. And his lead over the other three is effectively 45 minutes or more. His hold on the white jersey is not yet guaranteed, but it is certainly very strong at this point. He cannot afford to let Pinot get into a breakaway with an 18-minute margin of victory like Sagan enjoyed today. But Sky (protecting Wiggins) will be just as defensive as BMC (protecting Tejay) about any such adventure by Pinot. The opportunities for Pinot to attack are quickly running out.

Foothills of the Pyrénées, as seen from Quéribus, one of many ancient Cathar fortresses which crown these hills.  (The Cathars were a religious group persecuted to extinction in this part of France hundreds of years ago.)  These are the hills through which today's stage 14 raced, with two category 1 climbs.  Just a warm-up for the real mountains in the far background. 

Gypsy van parked at the trail-head to the ruins of Quéribus.  Suzanne convinced me that we had seen enough of Quéribus, so we turned around and drove back down the mountain. 

Stage 13 – Another Sprint Stage with Still No Change in the Green Jersey

Long flat stage from mid-Rhône Valley to Mediterranean coast of Languedoc-Roussillon.  Breakaway fails near end of day.  Sagan, Greipel & Gross fight for minor points at intermediate sprint, Sagan 7, Greipel 6, Goss 5.   Goss and Cavendish are dropped before the finish, Greipel wins stage, Sagan takes second—Greipel 45 points, Sagan 35.  Net: Greipel +9, Goss -37.  Sagan still in green jersey, Greipel moves to 2^nd place with deficit of -64 points, Goss drops to 3^rd place with deficit of -93 points.  Only three sprint stages remain.  Greipel hopes for another sprint stage victory on Monday—his birthday—in Pau.  He and his team recognize that it is very unlikely either Greipel or Goss will beat Sagan for the green jersey, but they will collect what prizes they can along the way. 

For the yellow jersey, even less change than for the green.  Nobody beat Wiggins’ time, and 43 riders finished with the same time, so there was no movement among the top 20. 

RadioShack remains in control of the Team classification, with no change today.

Tejay Van Garderen put more time on all of the young riders, except three, including Thibaut Pinot.  Pinot alone is still within striking distance for the white jersey, with a deficit that remains at -1’54”. 

 Enough about the race.  Let’s talk about the countryside along the way.  Today’s race passed within 10 miles of the famous Pont du Gard—2,000-year-old Roman aqueduct built in the days of Julius Caesar.  It is still a marvel to see!   Nearby, the stage also passed close to the Protestant coal mining town of Alès, at the doorstep to the Cévennes.  This is where Robert Louis Stevenson emerged from the mountain wilderness in his “Travels With A Donkey.”  It is also where I spent 2 months as a missionary in the spring of 1966.  [Not quite as ancient history as R. L. Stevenson, but close!]  My first introduction to the French midi—the captivating southern accent, the warm sunshine, the slower pace of life, the mighty Mistral (famous local wind), and the French version of Southern Hospitality!  Such fond memories! 

On the other side of the stage course, as it descended today, is the ancient town of Nîmes, home of several more famous Roman ruins:  The Arena, the Maison Carrée, and others.  From there the course ran through the vineyard country along the foothills of the Cévennes, until it circled the university town of Montpelier, and then descended to the coast.  The coastal towns have their little fishing ports, beaches, and tourist/resort developments.  This is a little-known slice of France, with tons of wonderful variety and charm that cannot be appreciated in a mere 5-hour bike ride, racing along at nearly 30 miles per hour.

The Pont du Gard, Roman aqueduct built around 50 B.C.  Saturday's stage 13 passed within 10 miles of this amazing structure.

 

Stage 12 – Garmin Salvages Some Glory

The U.S.-based team Garmin-Sharp had two main goals at the start of this year’s Tour de France:  (1) to place Ryder Hesjedal in the top 3 of the GC classification, and (2) to contend for the team prize.  Hesjedal came in with great promise after winning the GC prize (pink jersey) in the Giro d’Italia, but he crashed out of the Tour with injuries in the first week.  Teammates Tom Danielson and Robbie Hunter also crashed-out early.  Meanwhile, RadioShack and Team Sky have dominated the team classification, and Garmin finds itself in 20^th place!  So much for the team’s original goals!

With six riders left, the team changed its goal to focus on winning glory in other ways.  Today, Garmin arose like a phoenix from the ashes of its first week, with David Millar leading a successful breakaway and capturing the stage win in an exciting sprint finish. 

Nearly 8 minutes later, the peleton finally reached the line, with another frantic sprint for the remaining green jersey points.  Matt Goss (Orica) edged Peter Sagan (Liquigas) for a two-point differential, but the race jury relegated Goss for swerving into Sagan’s line of travel at the end.  This means that their official finishing positions (and points) were reversed.  Bottom line: Sagan still leads the green jersey fight with a margin of 56 points over Goss.  Greipel and Cavendish continue to lose ground, with deficits to Sagan now of -73 and -125 points respectively. 

This stage offered no fireworks in the battle for the GC yellow jersey.  Wiggins himself launched a small symbolic counter-attack to stamp-out a burst of aggression from Jérôme Coppel.  In the end, they both finished in a 33-rider pack of GC hopefuls, all with the same time.

Tour of California winner Robert Gesink (Rabobank), whom I marked as a promising GC contender for the TDF, abandoned between stage 11 and stage 12, because of rib injuries suffered in a crash during the first week.  Fabian Cancellara, Swiss hero and multi-day yellow jersey rider, also bailed out at the end of stage 11 – to attend the birth of his second child this week in Bern.  Petacchi (Lampre) and a teammate finished too slow in stage 11 as Petacchi limped home with crash injuries.  Two more gone.  Plus 5 crash-outs yesterday, and two more today.  From 198 starters, we are down to 134.   Who will be next? 

Will American Tyler Farrar (Garmin) bring additional “glory” to his beleaguered team by holding onto his current status as the Lanterne Rouge?  Or will he succumb to his early injuries and either miss the time cut, or simply abandon?  Or will he rise phoenix-like from the ashes and actually win one of the few remaining sprint-finish stages?  Stay tuned!

Tomorrow's stage crosses the French midi from Provence to Languedoc (near Carcassonne - pictured here).  Gateway to the Pyrénées!

Stage 11- Brits Massacre the Field in the Alps! Two French Consolation Prizes.

Oh la-la!  Quelle domination!  Quel coup de foudre Britanique! 

Team Sky’s dominance from the Criterium du Dauphine is asserting itself in this year’s Tour de France.  They not only defended the yellow jersey in today’s last high mountain stage in the Alps, they massacred the field!  For Cadel Evans, it must have felt like a thunder bolt had blasted his dream to repeat as champion!  Evans tried a bold attack early, but Sky reeled him in, and nearly buried him.  He almost cracked, and only managed to limit his losses through the valiant sacrifice of his teammate Tejay Van Garderen dropping back to rescue him!  Nibali and Van den Broeck also tried to attack, but were caught by Sky, though they did not lose time to Wiggins.  By powering Wiggins safely to the finish line, Chris Froome also managed to move himself into 2^nd place overall.  So, Evans drops two places to 4^th, Nibali stays in 3^rd, and Van den Broeck moves from 8^th to 5^th.  Total domination by Team Sky!

The other contenders in the top 20 were shuffled, with some moving up and others moving down.  But all lost time to Wiggins.  Schleck?  Moved up from 16^th place to 12^th, but lost 1’27”.  Brajkovic?  Moved up from 13^th to 8^th, but lost 1’01”.  And Leipheimer?  He dropped from 19^th to 30^th, and lost 23 minutes!  Pick your favorite.  No one looks even remotely capable of knocking Wiggins and his Sky machine off their pedestal.

Two French riders did bring glory to France in the run-up to Bastille Day.  Pierre Rolland (Europcar) was the last survivor of the breakaway, won the stage and the combative award.  Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) took second place in the stage, and moved into 10^th place overall.  Both are over 8 minutes behind Wiggins, so they are no real threat, but they at least gave France something to cheer about.

Pinot also moved into 2^nd place for the white jersey, just 2 minutes behind Van Garderen.  Taaramae suffered a 24-minute collapse, falling from 2^nd place to 10^th, and probably out of contention.  Van Garderen’s ability to retain the youth classification prize may depend on how many more times he has to rescue Cadel Evans.  Look for Pinot to attack Van Garderen and Evans in the remaining mountain stages.

Back to the GC competition:  By my calculation, there are only three high mountain stages left that offer any hope for a challenger to overtake Wiggins and his Sky troops.    And only one of those has a summit finish.  Team Sky has shown itself fully capable of defending Wiggins’ lead through those, or any other stages.  Barring a catastrophic accident, Wiggins seems destined to become the first British winner of the coveted yellow jersey.

Say "Good-bye" to the Alps!  This is Aaron nearing the top of the famous Alpe d'Huez, May 2011.

Stage 10 – Bastille Day Comes Early for French Fans at the Tour

Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de Gloire est arrivee!

French cycling hero Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) pulled off a podium hat trick today, three days prior to French national holiday Bastille Day.  He joined the early breakaway, pushed its pace throughout the day, collected climbing points on all three mountains, and held off two challengers at the finish line to capture the stage victory.  For that effort he won the Most Combative award (red race number for tomorrow), he moved into first place in climbing points (polka-dot King of Mountains jersey), and he claimed the podium spot for stage winner.  France goes ga-ga when a native son brings them glory in their own race.  Voeckler could be elected president if they voted today!

Previous polka-dot jersey holder Kessiakoff didn’t contest any of the climbing points today, and was eclipsed by Voeckler’s one-day harvest of 28 points.  Michael Morkov made a showing on the first mountain for 5 points, but he was long-gone before the summit of the really big 25-point mountain.

Tejay Van Garderen held onto the white jersey (youth classification), but he conceded 17 seconds to Rein Taaramae.  Tejay dropped from 8^th overall to 10^th.  Taaramae is still in 12^th place, trailing Van Garderen by just 25 seconds now.

The top 20 in the GC classification came through mostly unchanged.  Jurgen Van den Broeck moved up from 9^th to 8^th, and reduced his deficit to Wiggins by 32 seconds.  He still trails by almost 5 minutes, but he at least made a symbolic attack.  Gallopin, Chavenel and Velits dropped out of the top 20, while Scarponi, Pinot and Rolland moved up.  Cadel Evans and Vincenzo Nibali each tried to attack Bradley Wiggins, but were both reeled in, and finished with the same time.  The standings and time gaps among the top five remain the same, with Wiggins still wearing the yellow jersey, and the next four riders with time gaps ranging between 2 and 3 minutes.

Tomorrow’s stage features 4 mountains—two HC (beyond classification, harder than category 1), a category 2, and a summit-finish category 1.  If anyone is going to attack Wiggins, this is the time to do it.  We shall see.

Jurgen Van den Broeck at the sumjmit of the Col du Tourmalet after a training ride in 2011.  He was one of the few to gain time on Wiggins today.  Will he be able to make up the 4'48" gap still separating them?

Stage 9 – Does First Week Predict All Three?

The three GC leaders finished today’s long time trial with about the same positions relative to each other as they had in the Prologue short time trial.  This means that Wiggions (Sky) increased his lead over Evans (BMC) and Nibali (Liq).  As a bonus, Wiggins won his first stage of the Tour, and his teammate Chris Froome moved ahead of Nibali into 3^rd place.  If this first week is representative of the remaining two weeks, Wiggins will wear the yellow jersey from now until the end.  The pressure is on for Evans and Nibali to wage one or more successful and substantial attacks in the 6 upcoming mountain stages.  Wiggins has so far showed that Team Sky’s strength and depth are more than adequate to ward off any such attacks.  Are we about to witness a monumental blowout?

The green jersey seems almost as safely on the back of Peter Sagan.  None of the sprint contenders finished in the top 20 of today’s time trial, so that race remains unchanged.

The youth classification white jersey is still very much in play.  Tejay Van Garderen (BMC) won it back today from Rein Taaramae (Cofidis), but Taaramae and Tony Gallopin (RadioShack) are within one minute.  Tejay and Tony will be riding for their teams’ GC contenders, and may have to sacrifice themselves in the mountains; while Rein is the GC man for his team, and will be trying to stay close to Wiggins and Evans.  This suggests that Taaramae will likely re-take the white jersey in the mountains.  Will he have a big enough lead to keep it through the final time trial in the penultimate stage?  Too close to call.

The polka-dot King of the Mountains jersey is a mystery.  Current GC leaders Wiggins, Evans and Froome are in the top 4 for the climber prize, and they are likely to score more points as they battle through the mountains.  However, the points only go to the first few riders over each summit, so the climbing points could be harvested mostly by opportunist breakaways.  The GC boys will not challenge the breakaways as long as none of the attackers is a GC contender.  Current polka-dot jersery holder Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana) is 24 minutes down in the GC standings, so he should be free to attack for more climbing points.  Current 4^th place Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) is only nine minutes down in the GC, so he will not be given as much freedom.  Down in 10^th place, with only 5 climbing points—16 less than Kessiakoff—is Jeremy Roy.  He has good mountain legs, a history of joining escapes, and is 36 minutes behind in the GC standings.  He will be allowed to attack for climbing points if he wants to.  Early jersey holder Michael Morkov (SaxoBank) (9 points) might want to regain it, but he does not have the mountain pedigree, so he will have to be satisfied with his early days of glory.

The Tour de France is not for the faint-hearted.  The Basque team of Euskaltel Euskadi has lost 4 riders already to accidents, including their GC favorite Samuel Sanchez.  Garmin has lost 3 riders, including GC contender Ryder Hesjedal, and American favorite Tom Danielson.  Movistar has also lost 3 riders, including Joaquim Rojas, one of my early GC picks. 

Tomorrow is a rest day, so I may not have a new post.  Unless I receive some burst of inspiration.  See you on Wednesday.

Speaking of the mountains, we found this quaint little bed and breakfast nestled against the hills in Dordogne (Rocamdour).  Doesn't it just make you want to drop everything and take a vacation to France?