 News Letter
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In The (Time) Zone by David Olle, France, +39 333 5959 217 (twitter feed @DavidOLLE)
Saturday: Stage 1, July 2, Passage du Gois La Barre-de-Monts - Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers
Results:
1 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto 4:41:31
2 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:00:03
3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:00:06
General Classification: see above
A crash at about 10k to go (an errant, unwitting spectator took out most of the peloton) split the bunch leaving only a few of the GC contenders at the front. Alberto Contador was caught behind, and in the ensuing chase looked more stressed than what he did for the entire Giro d'Italia, no joke. He lost over a minute.
Skippy report: Alright, let's not get too excited here. OK, it's Cadel's best ever start to the TdF, and he has over one minute up his sleeve on Alberto, but so has Frank Schleck and Jurgen Van den Broeck. It's good, but it's also a long way to Paris, that starts again tomorrow with a 23k Team Time Trial.
Giro Donne Report: (Women's Tour of Italy)
Australia's Shara Gillow today won the second stage, taking the race leader's pink jersey from the shoulders of Marianne Vos, who finished 3.18 down. The Australian was part of the 14-rider break that dominated the stage and then beat Britain's Sharon Laws (c'mon, she's a almost an Aussie) on the testing uphill finish.
You may struggle to find TV coverage of this event at home.
Cuisine Report: Magret de Canard aux Framboises Poelee de Legumes (Fillet of duck with raspberry sauce and vegetables) #withafewbottlesofthis
Tomorrow: Stage 2, Jul 3 Les Essarts (TTT) 23 km
The Bike Race:
The 2011 Tour de France started Saturday July 2, in the Vendee region, west-south-west of Paris. 198 riders representing 22 teams are competing for the prestige of wearing the yellow jersey into Paris, three weeks later. Col de Galibier is climbed twice, with 23 level 2, 1 or HC (unclassified) mountain passes or summit finishes, along with two rest days, covering 3,430.5k, running July 2 - 22.
If you have any questions about the other races within the race, ie the sprinters or climbers jerseys, please shoot them through.
The Writer: This is my 10th TdF, at the barriers, and my 24th grand tour, enough said.
These reports are independent, opinionated, Australian biased, and could miss a day here and there, along with containing the odd error.
We also run good bike tours.
David Olle
Topbike Tours (you'll never ride alone)
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