I began to follow the Tour only in 2013 as I had got Dreamcatcher only in March that year. I used to return from work and watch whatever was remaining of the stage that day. And I was transfixed. This was true sport, at its brutal best. And these were Gods who chased the limits of human endurance. Even though it was not eons ago that Lance Armstrong stunned the world by revealing his doping habits, I was thrilled to watch these athletes in action. There were so many vivid images through the tour. The flashes of the crowds and the many antics of the people are something to be seen and appreciated only in the Tour :) I starkly remember the people going crazy cheering for the cyclists as this was something that I too have experienced, to some extent:)
This time the Tour began just as the FIFA World cup ended. One month of madness followed by another :) So I got a subscription and decided to watch all stages of the Tour. The idea was to understand the sport more deeply. At around Stage 7 I was hit with a brainwave of blogging about it, as I was anyway spending a lot of time watching the Tour :) The objective was manifold , to hone my sports writing skills being one of them :) I have tried to cover the stages with some key moments, with some fun thrown in as well :) The photos outweigh the words this time, I hope going further I can capture the essence of each stage with less photos and more words :) So here goes, from stage 8, the Tour de France 2014!!
*I do not own any of these images. All pictures courtesy nbcsports.com*
Stage 8:
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| Chasing the leaders |
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| The local farmers put in a lot of effort to make their towns leave a mark on le Tour! |
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| She is the one who shows riders how far ahead / behind they are from the leading pack/ the peloton and I have a mini-crush on her now :) |
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| :) |
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| A warm welcome by the local farmers |
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| One of the many memorials for the fallen heroes of WW1 |
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| Astana doing 100% of the pace making until this point |
The rains caught up with the group, with around 50 Km to go. The breakaway group was kissing a 11 minutes lead from the peloton, with the flying 7 going strong still.
Yates seemed to be struggling, though, with the medic spraying the magic spray on his back. The peloton did not seem excited to gulp them down.
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| The rains at around 50 Km to go! |
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| Rain clouds over the finish line |
As we hit the first climb - , the leading group split, with
Chavanel and
Kadri leaving the rest behind, as the peloton inches towards the leaders, pulling the lead down to 4:36. Nibali and Contador's teams were responsible for this, as they want to place their leaders ahead of the pack when the hit the base of the climb. Kadri conquers this climb.
Kadri led and conquered the second climb Col de Grosse pierre which gets to a 16% gradient, with Chavanel and the peloton blazing in the rains.
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| Mickey Rogers launches him over climb 2 |
And
Nibali locks to
Contador's back wheel as they thunder down the descent in brutal conditions of rain and fog!
Kadri launches onto climb three with 2 Km to the finish - the Cote de La Mauselaine. With a 3:29 lead it is still uncertain as the climb goes to 10.3% gradient.
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| Kadri conquers stage 8! |
Kadri wins stage 8 in the pain and rain to conquer. Glory for France! Chavanel is gobbled up by the peloton remnants and it is a head to head strike between Nibali and Contador, which Contador finally wins. Porte is 4th.
Standings for Stage 8:
Stage 9. Gerardmer to Mulhouse. 170 Km. 6 climbs. One Sprint.
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| Welcome to the Hills |
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| Defying gravity ,friction, and everything else in between |
At 106 Km to go, the group is split, thanks to the hills :
Cote des Cinq Chateaux, the third climb for the day. 4.1 Km at a 6.15 gradient. De Marchi and Tony Martin lead the assault.
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| And they go over the top |
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| And over the top of the Cote de Gueberschwihr too |
Next climb: The Le Markstein, at 1183m and 5.4 % gradient. Tony Martin and di Marchi led the assault, and Tony broke away, a few Km into the climb :)
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| Breaking away |
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| And conquering the last peak for the day |
Rodriguez overtakes di Marchi to take second place over the climb
And Tony Gallopin launched his assault at around the 25 Km to go mark. The man is aiming for glory, to be a Frenchman wearing the
Yellow jersey on the eve of
Bastille day (he was around 3 min behind the current Yellow Jersey,
Nibali.
At 10Km to go, Gallopin was consumed by the chase group consisting of around 18 men. So Martin, the time trial champion of the world, rolls into the finish on stage 9.
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| Victory is sweet |
Stage 10.
With 4 category 1 climbs, this is the real - deal day. The finish, too is atop a mountain (last 5 Km at a staggering 20% gradient!!!). The second time that the wheat will be separated from the chaff, after stage 5!
Sagan broke away from everyone towards the top of climb 1, and rocketed down in flooded roads at terrifying speeds!! Truly legendary cycle handling skills.
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| Voeckler and Rodrigues dash to the top of climb one, amidst pouring rain! Voeckler won this contest by a hair's breadth |
Climb two, the petit ballon. 2nd category climb, tops at 1163 msl.
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| Battle between Voeckler and Rodriguez again, Rodrigues gets it this time. |
Going downhill from climb two, Contador has a very bad crash as his frame snaps!
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| Getting treated for the fall |
Climb 3 is the Col du Platzerwasel, 1st category climb at 1193 msl.
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| And Rodrigues and Voeckler square off for climb 3 as well! Rodrigues gets this one as well. |
Contador could not continue after his team nursed him towards the rear of the peloton and had to give up. One of the saddest moment of the tour for me.
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| Another sad moment in the Tour :/ |
The next climb is the Col d' Orderen, at 884 msl. A 2nd category climb.
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| Rodrigues gets it again |
Climb 6 - the Col des Croix.
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| And again |
Martin was pulling the front of the race ahead phenomenally, while Astana led the chasers group. Next was the penultimate climb of the day, the Col des Chevreres, at 915 msl and gradients reaching up to 18%!! Martin delivers Kwitowski till a point in the penultimate climb in a mind blowing effort, considering he broke away to the end on stage 9.
Final climb of the day! The La Planche des Belles Filles. 5.9 Km and 1035 msl. With 3 Km to the summit, Niballi made his move :)
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| Nibali wins the stage and re claims the yellow jersey :) |
Stage 11. Besancon to Oyonnax. 187 Km. 4 climbs. One Sprint.
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| Stage 11 elevation profile |
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| The tour is always interesting. Expect the unexpected :) |
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| The breakaway |
As we reached the final climb of the day, Gallopin took the lead, with Sagan's team pulling him ahead in third place just behind.
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| Gallopin wins in style :) |
Stage 12. Bourg-en-Bresse to Saint Etienne. 185 Km.One Sprint and three climbs.
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| Stage 12 elevation profile |
At around 90Km to go, David de la Cruz of Netapp has a very bad crash, and had to abandon.
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| A beautiful Chateaux on the way. This dates back to the 12th century! |
I would love to travel these parts of the world for a variety of reasons. There is so much history and trivia associated with everything :) The Matrix creates another angle of interest. Does the tour pass close to the MIND BLOWING
Rennes Les Chateaux? I have to check.
It is really hot today and we see many riders place ice packs on their necks. With 40 Km to go, we have Clark and Langeveld in the breakaway, with the peloton chasing 2 minutes away
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| The art of descending |
Everyone expected Sagans team to deliver him to the front. Sagan has been among the top 5 in five occasions till today, but has not managed a stage win.
With 30 Km to go, Gautier and Quemeneur from Europcar breakaway from the peloton to chase the leaders.
With 25 Km to go, Clarke attacks at the front and leads. We are in the final climb for the day.
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| Clarke gets gobbled by the Europcar team |
At 10 Km to go, the peloton is snapping the heels of the leaders, at just 19 seconds behind! A little while ahead, the engine loses power as Clarke is unable to take his turn in the front and pull.
Griepel crashes! Sagans team forms the train pulling him ahead.
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| Kristoff wins, Sagan second |
Stage 13. Saint Etienne to Chamrousse. 197.5 Km. Three climbs. One Sprint. Hilltop finish.
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| Stage 13 elevation profile |
At 60 km to go, the 9 man breakaway loses organisation for some reason and splits into smaller groups. The peloton closes in from a gap of 1:42
The col de Palaquit. 1154 msl and a 15 km climb
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| Bakelants summits and changes his cycle at the top :) |
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| A fort perched in an amazing place |
The mountain finish for today, Montee de Chamrousse. 1730 msl and 18.2 Km to climb. Bakelants gets taken by the peloton along the climb. Nibali's teammates drop off from around him. At 14 Km to go, the peloton take d Marchi too. Porte begins to fall off from the peloton at 12 Km to go. The commentators feel that the person to stand on the podium in Paris is one among this select group in front of this climb.
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| of daring plans and of youth |
In one of the best accelerations I have seen till now, Niballi closes 17 seconds between him and the two leaders in like a minute :) He just gets up and switches on the afterburners!! A few Km ahead, he switches on stage two and loses everyone :)
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| Niballi wins! And this is his expression always, poker faced. |
Stage 14: 177 Km,3 climbs. Mountain finish.
Today will feature the biggest climb of this years tour.
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| Stage 14 elevation profile |
16 man breakaway includes Sagan, looking for the sprint points? He is slated to join Tinkoff-Saxon next year. The first climb is 34 Km long! The ascent is long and gradual and the peloton keeps a steady pace, with them being behind the leading group by 5 min, by the time the summit is conquered. The descent too, is a long one!
The highest climb! The Col d'Lzoard. It tops at 2360 msl and is a 16 Km climb. Along this, Sagan begins to fall back towards the peloton. Sprint points in his kitty, this is a good move.
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| At 50 Km to the finish, Sagan joins the peloton |
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| Awesome switchbacks of the Col d'Lzoard. Flashbacks of Gata Loops galore. |
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| Rodriguez takes the mountain points from the highest point of this years tour. |
With 10Km to go, di Marchi and Serpa attack from the front of the leading group. The chasers are just a minute behind!
Fulsang begins to drop. What a performance from the man, to deliver Nibali to the base of the last climb! All this after a bad crash yesterday! Serpa drops as Majka gets ahead of di Marchi now. Attacks galore as Nibali switches on his afterburners at 3.6 Km to go.
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| Majka's first tour and a stage win! |
Stage 15: 222 Km, No categorised climbs. 1 intermediate sprint.
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| Stage 15 elevation profile |
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| Bauer and Elmiger in the breakaway |
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| Extreme descending by Bauer. Is this a stoppie? :P |
At around 70 Km to go, the peloton begins to apply pressure to bring down the gap to around 4 minutes. The commentators observe how the crosswinds can play havoc, even on a stage as flat as today.
With 50 Km to go, the rain greets the Tour. Kwiatkowski makes his move from the peloton at 20 Km. It is now tour de water, with the rain pouring down. With 10 Km to go, the gap between the leaders and the peloton has fallen to 40 Seconds. This will be a sprinters finish. Will it be a German affair today? Tony Martin attacks as the sprinters teams prance to deliver their leaders to the finish.
With a Km to go,Bauer and Elmiger have led for 220 Km and the peloton is still snapping at their heels :)
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| A frantic dash |
It i cruel. After leading for 221 Km, Bauer and Elmiger lose the finish in the final few meters to Kristoff! A stage win is elusive to Sagan, who comes in at third.
Stage 16. Carcassone to Bagneres de Lunchon. The longest stage of this years tour at 237 Km. 5 climbs and 1 sprint finish.
Somewhere between Carcassone and Belpech we reach a point closest to the legendary
Rennes Les Chateaux. Madness is imminent!!!
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| Stage 16 elevation profile |
At 100 Km to go, we have a breakaway group is clear from the peloton by 7:43.
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| :):):):):):):) |
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| Treatment on the move. That is the medical car. |
The third climb of the day, the Col de
Portet d Aspet. 2nd category, at 1069 msl.
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| Voeckler collects the polka-dot points |
This will be a finish after the downhill from the last climb of the day.
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| Rogers wins a stage of the tour for the first timetour defranmce |
Stage 17. Saint-Gaudens - Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet. 124.5km. 4 climbs and 1 sprint. Mountain top finish.
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| Stage 17 elevation profile |
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| Rodriguez is the first over the second climb of the day |
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| Kiryienka over the top and leading at climb 2 |
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| Kiryinka gets overtaken on climb 3 |
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| Rodriguez gets climb 3 |
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| Majka wins :) |
Stage 18: Pau to Hautacam. 4 climbs. One sprint. Mountain top finish. 145 Km.
A 20-man group of leaders has formed, and they lead the peloton by 3:25 with 100 Km to go.
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| Kadri takes the third climb of the day |
At the beginning of the last climb of the day, the peloton is behind the leaders by just 1:20. At 10Km to go, Horner attacks and Nibali follows him! One of the most powerful bursts of acceleration I have seen, as he goes past Nievi of sky and continues this amazing momentum till the finish! Nibali is untouchable.
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| The shark nails it! |
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| Standings after stage 18 |
I could not get to watch the last three stages of the Tour this time :/ Next time I vow to plan better and write better :)
And Tony Gallopin launched his assault at around the 25 Km to go mark. The man is aiming for glory, to be a Frenchman wearing the Yellow jersey on the eve of Bastille day (he was around 3 min behind the current Yellow Jersey, Nibali.
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