2011 TOUR DE FRANCE FINAL RESULTS

By Debbie Bulloch



It has been almost a week since the end of the Tour de France and I have not yet posted the final race results. Like most bike racing fans, I am still suffering a bit of “Tour withdrawal” so it has taken me this long to finally admit to myself that the Tour is indeed over, at least until next year!

In unexpected fashion, Aussie Cadel Evans finally claimed the yellow jersey that had eluded him in past Tours. As the riders crossed the finish line for the last time at the 2011 Tour de France. Entering this year’s tour, Evans was a two-time runner-up; he was looking to take down two-time defending champion Alberto Contador. Evans raced a perfect, course-blistering, Time Trial (TT) to make up a 57 seconds deficit on Andy Schleck. Not since American Greg Lemond raced against Frenchman Laurent Fignon in the last stage of the 1986 Tour, has there been a more exciting TT.

Mark Cavendish, the Manx Missile, also took down the 21st stage, becoming the first rider to win three sprints on the Champs Elysées and the first British rider ever to win the Green Jersey. Cavendish is now on track to become the most prolific stage winner in Tour history.

While the best finish for an American was 9th place for Tom Danielson (Go Tommy D!) from Team Garmin-Cervelo, this was nevertheless a very good Tour for the English speaking countries. Aussie Evans took the yellow jersey while racing for an American team. Brit Cavendish took the green jersey while also riding for an American team (which, incidentally trains not far from my home). The winner of the team competition, Team Garmin-Cervelo, is an American team (that races on Canadian made bikes). So all in all, an outstanding Tour for the English-speakers.

This was also a great Tour for France and the legions of Francophiles. No Frenchman has won the Tour since Bernard Hinault won it in 1985. This year, however, a young Frenchman, Pierre Rolland of Team Europcar, won le maillot blanc (the white jersey). Le maillot blanc is awarded to the best young rider in the Tour. Past winners of le maillot blanc have included Andy Schleck (three-time second place winner) and Alberto Contador (three time first place winner). So Pierre is in very good company.

Speaking of Team Europcar, who can forget Thomas Voeckler’s heroic battle, through ten stages of the Tour, to keep and defend his maillot jaune. Voeckler finally lost the yellow on Stage 19 of the Tour. But for ten thrilling, electrifying days, the entire French nation and most of the world (except maybe for Luxemburg) turned its eye to le petit Frenchman as he battled fantastic odds to stay in yellow.

I hope that Rolland’s and Voeckler’s performances, along with the showing by several French cycling team that were not expected to do well this year, is a harbinger of good things to come for French cycling. After the huge doping scandal of 1998 (the Festina Affair ) France took the lead in fighting against the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Since 1998, France has adopted, and imposed, the world’s strictest doping controls. Many experts think, I believe rightly so, that France’s tough stand against drug use in cycling has hurt its ability to compete against competitors from other nations that may have more of a laissez-faire attitude towards drug use in sports.

This was one of the most exciting Tours in recent history. I hope that the 2011 Tour demonstrates, finally, that athletes, including cyclists, can be competitive AND clean.

Here are the results for each category at the 2011 Tour de France:

Yellow Jersey (Overall Winner): Cadel Evans, Australia
Green Jersey (Points Classification): Mark Cavendish, Great Britain
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains): Samuel Sanchez, Spain
White Jersey (Best Young Rider): Pierre Rolland, France

Here are the top five finishes for each competition category.

General Classification (maillot jaune):

1 Cadel Evans (Australia) BMC Racing Team 86:12:22
2 Andy Schleck (Luxemburg) Leopard Trek 0:01:34
3 Frank Schleck (Luxemburg) Leopard Trek 0:02:30
4 Thomas Voeckler (France) Team Europcar 0:03:20
5 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spain) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:03:57

Green jersey (points competition):

1. Mark Cavendish (UK) HTC-Highroad, with 334 points
2. Joaquin Rojas Jose (Spain) Movistar Team, with 272 points
3. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium), Omega Pharma-Lotto, with 236 points
4. Cadel Evans (Australia), BMC Racing Team, with 208 points
5. Thor Hushovd (Norway) Team Garmin-Cervélo, with 195 points

Best young rider:

1. Pierre Rolland (France) Team Europcar, 86h 23′ 05″
2. Rein Taaramae (Estonia) Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne, at 0:46
3. Jérôme Coppel (France) Saur-Sojasun, at 07:53
4. Arnold Jeannesson (France) FdJ, at 10:37
5. Rob Ruijgh (Netherlands), Vacansoleil-Dcm, at 22:21

King of the Mountain (KOM – best climbers):

1. Samuel Sanchez (Spain), Euskaltel-Euskadi, with 108 points
2. Andy Schleck (Luxemburg), Team Leopard-Trek, with 98 points
3. Jelle Vanendert (Belgium), Omega Pharma-Lotto, with 74 points
4. Cadel Evans (Australia), BMC Racing Team, with 58 points
5. Frank Schleck (Luxemburg) Team Leopard-Trek, with 56 points

Team competition:

1. Team Garmin-Cervélo (USA) 258h 18′ 49″
2. Team Leopard-Trek (Luxemburg) at 11:04
3. Ag2r La Mondiale (France) at 11:20
4. Team Europcar (France) at 41:53
5. Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain) at 52:00

Le Maillot Jaune 2011 Tour de France

ONE DREAM ENDS - ANOTHER DREAM STARTS

By Debbie Bulloch



TOUR DE FRANCE - STAGE 19

French cyclist Pierre Rolland sensationally won stage 19 of the Tour de France at Alpe d'Huez to take the white jersey and move into the top ten in the GC. But it was a hard day for sentimental favorite Thomas Voeckler who lost his yellow jersey after 10 fabulous days in the race lead - despite yet another brave effort.



Pierre Rolland, for 10 days a constant rock beside Thomas Voeckler, came into his own on Friday to win atop Alpe d'Huez. Youngster Rolland is only the second French rider in history to achieve this monumental feat - and the last? Just one Bernard Hinault back in 1986...

Rolland's stunning win takes the edge off Voeckler's loss of the maillot jaune - and also ends France's long wait for a stage on this year's race. What's more, the 24-year-old did not rely on a fortunate breakaway to deliver the goods - Rolland attacked the race's very best climbers on one of cycling's most demanding of climbs, looked to have lost it, then fought back with sheer grit and determination on his way to securing the biggest win of his career.

At the foot of Alpe d'Huez and its legendary 21 hairpins, Rolland broke clear from the leading group of riders just as Voeckler and a large chasing group were returning into the action after the long descent of the Col du Galibier. Rolland soon dropped his fellow escapee, the Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Cervelo), before himself being caught and passed by the three-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank), who followed up an attack on the Col du Telegraph with another early attack on Alpe d'Huez.

But Rolland refused to give up, stabilizing his deficit to around 20 seconds while being joined by another Spaniard, the stage 12 winner Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel). Rolland used the wheel of the Olympic champion Sanchez to return to the wheel of Contador before launching his own counter attack with just three kilometers to the summit. Neither Spaniard could respond to Rolland's unexpected dig, and the rider from Orleans kissed his Europcar shirt as he rode over the line 15 seconds clear of Sanchez and 23 seconds ahead of Contador.

Voeckler rode a brilliant stage on Friday, never giving up even when the odds were stacked against him. The former national champion tried his best to keep up with both Contador and Andy Schleck when they broke clear on the first climb of the day, the Col du Telegraph. Voeckler managed to keep the deficit to 30 seconds before deciding to drop back to the main chasing group to rejoin his teammates. But on the ascent of the Col du Galibier, Voeckler could not find the legs to keep in touch, leaving Rolland to ride on with the other favorites.

"I said I wanted to do everything possible to defend the yellow jersey of Thomas but on the climb of the Galibier, Thomas told me, 'Seize your chance, don't worry about me'," said Rolland, adding: "It will take me a little time before I realize what I've done."

Voeckler finished the stage 3:22 down on his teammate but is still in line for a top five finish in Paris. Thomas is currently 2:10 off the pace in fourth place, with his nearest rival being the Italian Damiano Cunego (Lampre) in firth, 3:31 down.

Merci Monsieur Voeckler de dix jours merveilleux.

VOECKLER IN YELLOW AFTER STAGE 18

By Debbie Bulloch



Voeckler lives to stay in yellow for one more day! The common wisdom in cycling circles was that the 2011 Tour de France (TdF) was going to be decided in the final two mountain stages in the Alps.

With two days of enormous climbs, the weak were no longer had anywhere to hide, mountains like Col Agnel, Col d’Izoard, Col du Galibier, and Alpe-d’Huez are too big and too steep for those who aren’t good enough to survive. From the day when TdF founder Henri Desgrange made the decision to include Alpine passes in the Tour, the
high mountains became the place where riders who want to win the Tour make their move and stamp their authority on the race.

On today’s Stage 18, Leopard-Trek rider and two-time runner-up to Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck finally attacked. With a little over 60 kms to go before the stage finish on top of the monster Col du Galibier, Andy Schleck launched a blistering attack. For reasons that are not immediately obvious, the peloton did not react and just let Andy ride away—a big tactical mistake I my opinion. .

The responsibility for chasing Schleck fell on the shoulders of Aussie rider, Cadel Evans. For the final 25 kms of the race, Evans was left to play tow truck for the rest of the peloton.

Somehow, however, through all of the pain of the climbs and despite not being one of the chosen race favorites, Frenchman Thomas Voeckler managed to stay attached to Evans’ wheel and got to the finish line with enough time to retain his yellow jersey for the tenth day.



Voeckler’s lead is now down to a mere 15 seconds – a very tiny, sliver of an edge. (By comparison, American Greg Lemond defeated Laurent Fignon by a mere 8 seconds in the 1989 Tour.) All the so-called experts now agree that Voeckler cannot survive with the maillot jaune until Paris. Voeckler has one big fan in his corner, however. During a recent interview, American champion and seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong stated his support for the Frenchman, stating that it is not impossible for Voeckler to be in yellow on Sunday when the Tour ends.



Let’s hope that Lance is right. So far Voeckler has managed to surprise everyone with his resilience and courage; Voeckler will take his place in the history books as a worthy holder of the famous maillot jaune!

About Thomas Voeckler:

Voeckler has been a professional cycliste since 2001. He currently rides for Team Europcar (formerly known as Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Bouygues Télécom, Brioches la Boulangère, and Bonjour). He comes from the Alsace region of France (which explains his German-sounding last name) but later moved to Martinique, where he was nicknamed "Ti-Blanc" (petit blanc) due to his small stature and pale complexion. He also known as le Chou-Chou ("Sweetheart") perhaps because of his young looks and his habit of sticking out his tongue in races.

The 2011 Team Europcar (le equipe):



Voeckler’s big moment on the cycling world came in the 2004 Tour. In 2004, Voeckler won the French championship; he then entered the 2004 TdF. After escaping with five other riders during Stage 5, Voeckler gained significant time against the peloton, and earned the maillot jaune. To everyone’s surprise, Voeckler defended his jersey for ten days, even on stages not well-suited to his strengths. With the maillot jaune on his shoulders, and intense media attention all around him, Voeckler only rode stronger. He survived the dreaded Pyrenean climbs, seconds ahead of the eventual winner, Lance Armstrong. Eventually, however, Voeckler surrendered the jersey to Armstrong on stage 15 in the French Alps.

But by then, Voeckler had already become a national hero to the bike-crazy French.

I do not know if Voeckler can retain the maillot jaune through tomorrow’s daunting Stage 19. I sure hope he does – he is my sentimental pick to win it all. Even if he does not, however, Voeckler has become one of my cycling heroes!

To quote Robert F. Kennedy (who in turn was quoting Irish writer George Bernard Shaw):

Some men see things as they are and ask,
Why?
Other men dream of things that have never been and ask,
Why not?

Monsiuer Voeckler, I dare you to dream of things that have never been - I dare you to dream that you will wear le maillot jaune in Paris on Sunday.

Bonne chance M. Voeckler. Allez, allez, allez!

STAGE 17 UPDATE - VOECKLER IN YELLOW - AMERICAN PIE ANNIVERSARY

By Debbie Bulloch



In another victory for a Norwegian rider, Edvald Boasson Hagen, from Team Sky, made it two wins in two days for Norway as he crossed the line in Pinerolo to comfortably take victory in Stage 17. With the Viking God of Thunder, Thor Hushovd, taking two stage victories of his own, the 2011 TdF may well be remembered as the “Viking Invasion.”

Hagen now matches compatriot Thor Hushovd and has taken two stage wins in this year's tour after a well-timed attack on the final ascent before an impeccable descent down to the finish line saw him finish 40 seconds ahead of second place Bauke Mollema of Rabobank.



Hagen takes Stage 17 of the TdF

French rider Thomas Voeckler (Europcar) once again successfully defended the maillot jaune. Volcker, however, looked nervous on the descent, taking part in a detour into a driveway where another rider has almost crashed minutes earlier. That unplanned detour made the maillot jaune look like a mountain-bike rider as Voeckler dropped down onto the paved driveway, only just avoiding a nasty fall. Nevertheless, the time that he took to get back to the road ended up costing the Frenchman 27 seconds off his lead. almost half a minute.

Perhaps the pressure of carrying the maillot jaune on his shoulders, and along with it the hopes of an entire French nation that wants to see the first Frenchman to take yellow in more than 25 years, is making Voeckler a little nervous. Tomorrow the race returns to French soil – let’s hope that by then Voeckler will have found a way to shed the pressures of the maillot jaune. The entire French nation is counting on him – no pressure!

Here are the results from Stage 17.

Stage 17 top five finishers:

1. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Sky Procycling, in 4h 18′ 00″
2. Bauke Mollema, Rabobank Cycling Team, at 00:40
3. Sandy Casar, Fdj, at 00:50
4. Julien El Fares, Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne, at 00:50
5. Sylvain Chavanel, Quick Step Cycling Team, at 00:50

General Classification (top 10 spots after 17 stages):

1. Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar, in 73h 23′ 49″
2. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team, at 1:18
3. Frank Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 01:22
4. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 02:36
5. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, at 02:59
6. Alberto Contador, Saxo Bank Sungard, at 03:15
7. Damiano Cunego, Lampre-Isd, at 03:34
8. Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 03:49
9. Tom Danielson, Team Garmin-Cervelo, at 06:04
10. Rigoberto Uran, Sky Procycling, at 07:36

Green jersey (sprinters) standings (after 17 stages):

1. Mark Cavendish, HTC-Highroad, with 320 points
2. Joaquin Rojas Jose, Movistar Team, with 285 points
3. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma-Lotto, with 250 points
4. Thor Hushovd, Team Garmin-Cervelo, with 235 points
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen, Sky Procycling, with 173 points

King of the Mountain (KOM) standings after 17 stages:

1. Jelle Vanendert, Omega Pharma-Lotto, with 74 points
2. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel-Euskadi, with 72 points
3. Jérémy Roy, Fdj, with 45 points
4. Sylvain Chavanel, Quick Step Cycling Team, with 38 points
5. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, with 28 points

“American Pie” Turns 40!

On another news, 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of an American classic, American Pie a song written and performed by songwriter-singer Don McLean.

Recorded on May 26, 1971, the song became a #1 hit in 1972, remaining in the #1 spot for four weeks. The song is well known for its cryptic lyrics that have long been the subject of curiosity and speculation.

So here, for your listening pleasure one of my favorite songs, Don McLean’s “American Pie.

American Pie – DON McLEAN (with lyrics)

STAGE 16 RESULTS - VOECKLER IN YELLOW AND ARC'S RIDE

By Debbie Bulloch



As the Tour de France heads into the mighty Alps, and I watch the riders valiantly climb higher and higher mountains, I am reminded of the lyrics to “The Impossible Dream,” from the musical Man of La Mancha. Man of La Mancha is the story of Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes and his tale of a romantic knight-errant, Don Quijote de la Mancha.

In particular, these words seem to capture the essence of what it means to be a rider in the TdF:




To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
…

To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

Substitute the word "arms" for legs, the word “star” for mountain and the word “Hell” for suffering and you have a very apt description of what these riders go through every day as they face the seemingly interminable climbs of the French and Italian Alps.

There is a stanza, in an old poem titled IF , by the famous English writer Rudyard Kipling that also reminds me of the final struggles of a sprinter as he (or she) powers his bike towards the finish line.

If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

In today’s stage 16 of the TdF, French rider Thomas Voeckler continues to impress his fans across the world by again defending the maillot jaune against numerous attacks by the likes of Cadel Evans, the Schleck brothers and, of course, three-time TdF winner Alberto Contador. No one expected Voeckler, least of all himself, to be in the yellow this far into the final week of the TdF. In fact, in a press conference in yesterday’s rest day, Voeckler said that his chances of winning the maillot jaune in Paris are “zero.” Then, in a very Quijote-like manner, Voeckler added, “but I will keep fighting until the end!”

Let’s hope that Voeckler can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty-seconds worth of hard pedaling so that when the Tour ends in Paris, the maillot jaune, and the love of his appreciative fans and adoring nation, will be his.

Allez Monsieur Voeckler.



Thomas Voeckler as he is being paced by his teammates from Europcar

Here are the results from Stage 16 of the Tour:

Stage 16 results:

1. Thor Hushovd, Team Garmin – Cervelo, in 3h 31′ 38″
2. Boasson Hagen Edvald, Team Sky Procycling, at s.t.
3. Ryder Hesjedal, Team Garmin – Cervelo, at 00:02
4. Tony Martin, Team HTC – Highroad, at 00:38
5. Mikhail Ignatyev, Katusha Team, at 00:52

General classification (GC) after 16 stages:

1. Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar, in 69h 00′ 56″
2. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team, at 01:45
3. Frank Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 01:49
4. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 03:03
5. Samuel Sanchez, Team Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 03:26

Green jersey competition (sprinter points) after 16 stages:

1. Mark Cavendish, Team HTC – Highroad, with 319 points
2. Joaquin Rojas Jose, Movistar Team, with 285 points
3. Philippe Gilbert, Team Omega Pharma – Lotto, with 250 points
4. Thor Hushovd, Team Garmin – Cervelo, with 235 points
5. André Greipel, Team Omega Pharma – Lotto, with 170 points

King of the Mountain (KOM) competition after 16 stages:

1. Jelle Vanendert, Team Omega Pharma – Lotto, with 74 points
2. Samuel Sanchez, Team Euskaltel – Euskadi, with 72 points
3. Jérémy Roy, Team FdJ, with 45 points
4. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, with 28 points
5. Cadel Evans, BMC Racing Team, with 26 points

Report from Arcabulle (Arc) Odriscoll and L’Etape du Tour.

Last night I had an opportunity to chat with Arc about his ride in L’Etape. As I previously reported, the riders in L’Etape had to contend with rain, wind and cold temperatures (7C at the starting line and 4C at the top of the highest climbs); this, in addition to three Category 2 climbs and three Category 3 climbs.

According to Arc, this ride was of “apocalyptic” proportions. Now, you may think that Arc is engaging in a bit of typical Franco-hyperbole . If you are inclined to think of Arc’s description of the ride as pure hyperbole, then please consider the following.

Almost 8000 riders had originally signed up to ride this year's L'Etape. In the morning of the ride, weather conditions along the course were so bad, that only about 4000 riders actually showed up. Think about this, by the time the ride started, the field of riders had already been reduced by 50%. The cyclists who every year ride L'Etape du Tour come from all over the world, they train hard for the ride and pay a high entrance fee to participate in L’Etape. These riders are very committed to their sport, they are not very likely to abandon the race, before it even starts, unless ride conditions were, as Arc said, “apocalyptic.”

Things only got worse after the start; drenching rain, driving winds and numbing cold made the ride extremely difficult. Arc reported seeing riders simply turning around and heading back to the starting line in Issoire. More telling, however, Arc reported seeing riders abandoning their bikes by the side of the road, just for a chance to get out of thecold, wind and rain and on the bus back to Issoire.
In Arc’s own words:

“…on the Plateau de Beille , there was lot of rain and also lot of wind coming in front of us! And on this place, this plateau, we saw lots and lots of riders coming back , they abandoned we were climbing and they were going down they abandoned ! you can't imagine, it was apocalyptic hundred and hundreds of riders were so cold stopped as we say in French, they were "transis de froid" and many girls were very cold too ! it was so incredible ! to give you an example, you know they plan and organize bus and trucks to carry riders and bikes when they abandon ! you know what, they used 30 buses (to carry all the riders who abandoned)…”

I cannot even begin to imagine a situation where I am so tired, so cold and so wet that I would just toss my bike on the side of the road and leave it there.

Arc’s finishing time of just less than 10 hours and 30 minutes may not seem to be very fast compared to the winning time of Spanish rider Luis-Leon Sanchez, from the Dutch Rabobank Cycling Team (5 hours and 27 minutes). Consider, however, that Arc is a regular “Joe” with real life obligations, like the rest of us, that keep him from training like the professionals do. Seen in that light, his overall time in this very challenging ride, is nothing short of amazing. How many of us can pedal a bike for 10 hours plus, while battling mountains, cold, wind and rain. I am a regular rider, but I know that even I cannot accomplish what Arc accomplished: a truly epic performance in a very apocalyptic day.

Congratulations to you Arc and to your family for their love and support while you ride!

VOECKLER STAYS IN YELLOW-ARC COMPLETES THE 2011 L'ETAPE

By Debbie Bulloch



In a relatively flat, fast stage, the surprising French rider Thomas Voeckler successfully defended the maillot jaune for one more day. Voeckler is a tough rider who has managed to surprise all the experts by staying in yellow for this long. In 2004 Voeckler kept the maillot jaune for 10 stages. Lance Armstrong, the eventual winner of the 2004 Tour, said this about Voeckler, “if a man is willing to ride that hard to defend the yellow, let him keep it for as long as he can.”

Could this be the year that a Frenchman stands at the #1 spot in Paris? With Voeckler, it is very possible – stay tuned.

British rider Mark Cavendish, better known as the Manx-missile, outsprinted American rider Tyler Farrar to win stage 15 of the race. In the last five years Cavendish has now won an astonishing 18 stages of the TdF, if he stays on track, he will pass legendary riders such as Bernard Hinault (France) and Eddy Merckx (Belgium) as one of the most successful stage winners. For his efforts, Cavendish has earned the green jersey, “maillot verts.”



Stage 15 quick recap

Stage 15:

1. Mark Cavendish, Htc – Highroad, 4h 20′ 24″
2. Tyler Farrar, Team Garmin – Cervelo, s.t.
3. Alessandro Petacchi, Lampre – Isd, s.t.
4. Daniel Oss, Liquigas-Cannondale, s.t.
5. Joaquin Rojas Jose, Movistar Team, s.t.

General Classification standings:

1. Thomas Voeckler, Team Europcar, 65h 24′ 34″
2. Frank Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 1:49
3. Cadel Evans, Bmc Racing Team, at 02:06
4. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 02:15
5. Ivan Basso, Liquigas-Cannondale, at 03:16

King of the mountain standings:

1. Jelle Vanendert, Omega Pharma – Lotto, at 74 points
2. Samuel Sanchez, Euskaltel – Euskadi, at 72 points
3. Jérémy Roy, Fdj, at 45 points
4. Andy Schleck, Team Leopard-Trek, at 28 points
5. Cadel Evans, Bmc Racing Team, at 26 points

Green jersey:

1. Mark Cavendish, Htc – Highroad, with 319 points
2. Joaquin Rojas Jose, Movistar Team, with 282 points
3. Philippe Gilbert, Omega Pharma – Lotto, with 248 points
4. Thor Hushovd, Team Garmin – Cervelo, with 192 points
5. André Greipel, Omega Pharma – Lotto, with 170 points

On other bike-related news, our friend Arc completed the 129 miles (209 km) of L’Etape du tour. Arc's time was just under 10 hours and 30 minutes.

The 2011 L’Etape du Tour was one of the most difficult Etape in recent history. Early in the morning, the 4,000-man amateur peloton set off from the start line in the town of Issoire. As I previously wrote, the stage’s profile was very challenging, with eight categorized climbs (3 Cat. 2, 3 Cat. 3 and 2 Cat. 4). Talk about a rollercoaster ride!

In addition to the seemingly endless climbs, the riders had to contend with drenching rain, strong headwinds and cold temperatures (7°C on the route). At the end, only 1982 riders, out of the original 4,000, made all the way to the finish line in the town of Saint-Flour.

Congratulations to our friend Arc and to all those who completed this freezing adventure!

STAGE 14 - VOECKLER REMAINS IN YELLOW - ARC RIDE L'ETAPE

By Debbie Bulloch



As I have written in previous occasions, bike riding is equal parts part physical strength and mental toughness. Feeding the physical engine is simple enough: eat the right foods in the right proportions and your body will be ready for the challenges of a hard ride.

Feeding the mental engine, however, is a bit trickier. There is no one standard “mental fuel” to keep the mental engine in fine fettle as it wills the legs to keep on turning the pedals long after the body has decided to give up.

Some riders feed the mental engine with music; other riders feed the mental engine with meditation. I am not a very religious person, but I find the following passage from the Old Testament to be particularly inspiring, especially when I am climbing a hard hill. The idea of soaring like an eagle and running and not getting tired is particularly powerful.

Those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:31

Today, French rider Thomas Voeckler rode his bike up the mountains of the Pyrenees as if he had wings like an eagle. After winning the maillot jaune on Stage 9 of the Tour (same stage that our friend Arc will ride this Sunday) Thomas Voeckler was expected to quickly lose yellow jersey on the next following stages.

It seems, however, that someone forgot to tell the tough little French rider that the experts did not have much faith on his ability to hold on to the yellow jersey. Since winning the yellow jersey, Voeckler has beaten back every effort to take the leader’s jersey away from him.

On today’s Stage 14, the pre-race favorites Schleck brothers (Andy and Frank) launched one vicious attack after the other. Assisted by their teammates in the multi-talented and powerful Belgian Leopard-Trek team, the Schleck brothers tried to destroy the peloton and pull the maillot jaune from Voeckler’s back. With pluck and determination, Voeckler responded to every attack as he rode to the top of Plateau de Beille. At the end of the day, Voeckler remained in yellow for one more day making his French compatriots delirious with national pride.



Allez Voeckler. Toi etes un coureur cycliste sans paraeil.

Speaking of “un cycliste sans paraeil,” remember that this Sunday, July 17, our friend Arc will be riding L’Etape de Tour - 129 miles (208 km) from Issoire to Saint-Flour. Keep him on your thoughts (and prayers if you prefer) as he mounts up on wings as an eagle and climbs to the top Col du Pas de Peyrol (La Puy Mary) and later on to the top of Col du Perthus.

Allez Arc!