TOUR de FRANCE UPDATE - STAGE FIVE

By Debbie Bulloch



Frenchman wins Étape Cinq of the Tour de France!

Well, it was not our own Monsieur Arcabulle Odriscoll, but a Franchman indeed won today's State Five - Thomas Voeckler of France claimed his first stage victory in the Tour de France.

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland retained the overall lead, with seven-time champion Lance Armstrong a fraction of a second behind after the fifth stage, a 122-mile ride along the windy Mediterranean Sea from Le Cap d'Agde to Perpignan.

Voeckler, who wore the coveted leader's jersey for nine days in 2004, made his move 3.1 miles from the finish Wednesday to escape a small breakaway. The Frenchman arrived at the line with tears in his eyes.

"I dedicate this victory to myself, my son and my wife, who actually didn't see me win as she was returning home in a plane," the 30-year-old Voeckler said.

Voeckler clocked 4 hours, 29 minutes, 35 seconds, seven seconds faster than the peloton that was barreling down on him. Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia was second ahead of Britain's Mark Cavendish, who won the peloton's sprint. The seven second margin of victory does not reflect the true margin of Voeckler's victory. As he approached the finish line, Voelcker slowed down and kept looking back, perhaps in disbelief of his own victory. It was certainly nice for the French spectators to see a native son win a stage, before the TdF moves to a finish in Spain.

Armstrong finished in the main pack and retained second place overall, 19 seconds ahead of his rival and Astana teammate Alberto Contador. Former Tour runner-up Andreas Kloeden is fourth, 23 seconds back, and Levi Leipheimer of the United States is fifth, 31 seconds behind.

This year's Team Astana looks to be the team to beat. The team's strong performance in yesterday's team time trial demonstrated the team's power and exceptional discipline of each of its riders.

ÉTAPE CINQ - 196.5 km (122 miles) of beautiful countryside!

Departure: Le Cap d’Agde

A seaside resort where fresh water and salt water converge, Cap d’Agde is a land of contrasts with 14 kilometres of fine sand beaches, protected natural areas devoted to walking and numerous leisure activities and special events for families: tennis, golf, scuba diving, water sports, Aqualand, Ile des Loisirs (Leisure Island), a children’s amusement park, a casino, discotheques, an aquarium, an Underwater Trail, a national Nature Reserve, the Museum of Underwater Archaeology that houses the famous Ephèbe bronze… The city of Agde, a stone’s throw away, is steeped in 2600 years of history. It was founded in the 5th century before J.C. by the ancient Greeks who named it “Agathé Tyché”, “Good Fortune.” Volcanic rock, from the volcanic eruption of Mont Saint-Loup 750 000 years ago, is everywhere in evidence.



Arrival: Perpignan

Perpignan is a fascinating city that remains steeped in the distinctive culture and identity of its history. Positioned at the gateway to the Roussillon, Perpignan is a vibrant and booming urban community, with the future Perpignan-Barcelona high-speed train line, the construction of the Archipel theatre by the French architect Jean Nouvel, and a commitment to becoming the first 100 % renewable positive energy city in Europe. Perpignan’s horizon is dominated by the outline of the Pic du Canigou and the Mediterranean Sea, and the gusts of the tramontane (strong northern wind) render its bright blue sky cloud free: this is Perpignan the Catalan. A hub of Catalan culture, a City of Art and History, Perpignan boasts a richly cosmopolitan heritage, the reflection of a radiant and popular city. Perpignan enchants visitors; the rhythm of city life is punctuated by its numerous festivities, blending tradition and festivals of all genres.

Note: My own family, on my mother’s side, comes from Spanish Catalonia. When the TDF rides through Barcelona, it will be riding through my family’s ancestral land.

Le Tour de France 2009

Hello my dear friends,

Here is arc, a crazy french reporter who is in France to follow this very special edition of Tour de France 2009 !

I just had a problem because I didn't manage to follow the first stage and second one in Monaco ! In fact I had a problem with my bike and so i couldn't have managed to reach the departure (and not the arrival) of Tdf 2009 ! My camera was too big and carrying it on my shoulders was too hard ! maybe i should buy a motorbike

so my dear friend Debbie did that very well like always !

So so there are a lot to say after these two first stages ! But be sure I won't be too boring (i will try) because a lot of people maybe don't like bike and especially Tour de France (haha).

First Cancellara was very strong like he was expected ! He is one of the greatest biker in this area ! He already did that and won the prolog in 2004 and 2007 and won in the olympic games ! very nice.

What we can say or analyze is the position of Astana team ! Have a look of Deb's post. 4 bikers of Astana are in the top ten : Contador the best, Andreas Kloden, Leipheimer and Lance Armstrong !

Lance Armstrong in 2005

Astana is here and looks like a very strong team ! it is like echec they are setting their positions

Lance is here and not so far from the best : only 40 seconds I think ! Look he is here, not so far !

You can also see that Cadel Evans is here only five and is a very very great favorite to win the race ! this australian has a very great potential ! even if a lot of people reproach him not to attack and being like a "diesel"

Oh look at Schleck brothers and especially Andy who is the younger. He is 18th

And of course the french bikers ! Coppel is the first and it is a great surprise ! hope he will pursue like that and just behind him everyone knows sylvain Chavanel (hehehe) !

If I ask you : do you know french bikers : maybe you will tell me oh yes : Bernard Hinault , Laurent Fignon or maybe Jacques Anquetil or maybe Jean Robic ! (hahahaha) ! yes yes they are in Francaise des Jeux team ! no no they were very great bikers but before hehe!
so i really think that you don't know french bikers !

For example, Debbie, TT or you SP, do you know french bikers who are riding on Tdf 2009 ! Honnestly French bikers are not able to win the tour even if there are good performers ! I hope we will have soon great champions like Bernard Hinault (who won 5 tours de France) or Laurent Fignon (won 2 tours de France) able to win this wonderful race

Oh did you see the arrival of stage 2 ? Mark Cavendish was incredible ! This english man is a plane (haha) ! nobody was able to follow him when he sprinted ! nobody !
A french guy was 3 ! good

So my friends here was Arc from BH News from the Tour de France 2009

see you soon

Arc

Le Géant de Provence

hello my friends

In 3 weeks, it will be a very special day for me !

Indeed, i will ride for the third year the stage of "Le tour de France"

This year will be particularly difficult very difficult with a lot of up and down and a lot of climbs and mountains !

The end will be very hard because we will climb Le Géant de Provence which is the most difficult climb of the stage : 22 kilometers with an average of 7,6%

There will be about 9500 riders from maybe more than 50 countries ! it is completely crazy but so nice and funny !

The problem is that this year I don't have so much training ! Maybe debbie you could do it i could let you do it ! I think you have more training than me ! Think so (hehehehe)

I will do my best to reach the arrival and even if i will suffer, i will fight to reach the arrival ! When you ride you need energy and legs vut the mental is also very important !!

So my friends, please have a look to the video herewith which shows the stage of the tour de FRance ! please have a look to this incredible stage !

http://www.velo12.com/Etape-du-Tour-Mondovelo-2009_a1028.html

Look at this other video where you can discover stages of the different " Tour de France" : you can discover the stage of this year and also the last two years that i did ! hehehe very nice !

http://www.cyclefilm.com/recon.html

And my friends, what I also have to tell you is that le Tour de France will begin on next saturday ! it is very nice ! hope you will like and will appreciate it.

I have to write an article about it and the favorites : Lance Arrmstrong, Contador, Leipheimer, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans..... who will win ??? hahahaha I let you imagine !

so please appreciate that !

see you soon

arc

EDITOR'S NOTE: ARC is being overly modest regarding his cycling achievements; ARC is really a very good rider. Riding mountain passes, like ARC does, requires a great deal of personal energy, hard training and the right mental attitude. In a few weeks ARC will face a very tough ride. He has been ill in RL (he is French and they eat those "gross" snails or escargots and I think that is what is making him ill) so he has not been able to train as hard as he wants/needs to.

Here is a simple "calories" chart showing how many calories bike riders normally spend during a ride. I am also posting a "grade" chart showing how elevation (climbing) can affect a rider's efforts.

CALORIES CHART

Bicycling - 30 minute duration Calories Burned - 150 lbs. person /250 lbs. person

Light effort (10 to 11.9 mph) 200 340

Moderate effort (12 to 13.9 mph) 270 450

Vigorous effort (14 to 15.9 mph) 340 570


Hill climbing, how to figure grade, steepness, slope, etc…

All factors being equal, a flat bike route takes less effort than a hilly or mountainous route. For reference purposes I will use the word “grade” to mean the “steepness” of a hill.

Grade is measured as follows:

Grade = vertical climb / horizontal distance

Where both “vertical climb” and “horizontal distance” are both converted to the same measurement units.

So if a hill goes up 264 feet in 2 miles, then we can first convert 2 miles to 10560 feet -- so the grade is then 0.025 = 264 feet / 10560 feet, which is 2.5%.

What does the "grade" number mean in terms of the effort spent by the rider?

• 0% grade is exactly flat (and a negative grade, less then zero, is downhill).

• 2% grade does not seem very steep, but it's enough to substantially reduce forward speed, and for most riders it will absorb more than half their power output.

• 6% grade is enough to cut speed to well under half, and absorb more than 80% of a rider's power output (leaving less than 20% to fight air resistance and rolling friction).

• 10% grade, and anyone who is not a fit and frequent rider is off their bike walking -- and anyone who is not a racer is reaching for all the extra power they've got.

We cannot help ARC with the physical part of his ride, that is up to him. But we can certainly help with the mental part of the ride. So I ask all of you to please send him your best wishes and encourage him to do his very best on his upcoming ride.

If not, maybe ARC can then use this bike!