le Tour at 70 kph.

by admin on July 13, 2005 · 5 Comments · in Blog

Early mornings here are spent listening to Eurosport.com and looking at live video stills from le Tour de France. The race is shaping up to be one of unpredictable moments full of excitement and drama. Tuesday, Armstrong and the team rode almost all of his rivals off his wheels. It was demoralizing for them to say the least. The race has another week and a half to go. It’s not over yet. Sunday, Michael Rasmussen gained 7 minutes in a breakaway that wasn’t chased down. Now, he’s 38 seconds behind Armstrong in overall time. Today they climbed three mountains. One is classified ‘hors categorie’ because of its length and height. On the descent after the final climb speeds up to 70 kph are easily attainable. Of course, there are switchbacks to contend with and, no guardrails. I know they could go faster if there were less of them. Believe me. When I rode on the back of a motocycle as team support in Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic, we couldn’t keep up on the descent. Bikes take the curves much faster.


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  • http://velvetink.livejournal.com/ velvetink

    That’s a nice shot!. I saw a bit of it on the news last night -looked difficult with the pressure from the altitude. Two of our Aussies Cadel & Davis are doing ok in 10th and 11th places so far.”Go Aussie Go” as they say. Do you have a favourite? http://news.mcmedia.com.au/story.asp?TakeNo=200507195372629

  • http://www.onajide.com/ admin

    Well, I guess I’m really for Armstrong this year. Not that I wasn’t in previous years but, this year seems more interesting since I was thinking he might be beaten before the race started. We shall see. Evans I liked back when he was a mtn bike racer. Strong guy but, mountains can kill anybody!

  • http://velvetink.livejournal.com/ velvetink

    I’m not really up on all the riders, I think that this is the first time the australians have been any good – if they stay up around where they are nowI think they will be happy. :)

  • http://www.onajide.com/ admin

    Not true. Phil Anderson had the leader’s jersey back during the days of Greg Lemond. Anderson used to race in the US more than anywhere else until he got his European contract. He was a very strong and smart rider. His wife is now a radio journalist for Eurosport.com. She’s really great because she knows all the riders and the sport like the back of her hand. She’s the one getting the rider interviews at pre- and post-race, for the Tour and other major European races. Phil Anderson doesn’t race anymore, he’s involved with the Aussie sport with the nat’l organization and young (under 23 yr.) riders. She met Anderson here in the US but, they’ve been married a good while now.

  • http://velvetink.livejournal.com/ velvetink

    oh ok. well there you go- like I said I know nothing much about the riders. That’s interesting he is still involved
    in the sport.