from The Adventure Blog
Yesterday was a great day in the Tour de France . Today was even better. There are certain stages that always deliver on the promise of high drama and theatrics in Le Tour, and Alpe d'Huez is right up there with the best of them. With its 21 iconic switchbacks, and nearly 15km (9.3 miles) of climbing, often at grades in excess of 10%, the mountain has dashed many riders hopes of winning the race. This year was no exception, delivering unprecedented suffering to the Peloton. Today's stage was a short one,
published: 10 months ago
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from The Adventure Blog
Heading into today's Stage 18 of the Tour de France , we knew that we could expect some fireworks between the top contenders in the GC. But what we didn't know was that one of those contenders would put in an amazing attack, while another would see his hopes of winning dashed beyond repair. The 200.5km (124.5 mile) stage ran between Pinerolo and Galibier-Serre Chevalier and featured high mountain passes, and three uncategorized climbs to sap the strength of the riders in the Peloton. The ride started as
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from The Adventure Blog
Earlier today, the Tour de France returned to the high mountains, as the riders moved into the Alps at last, heralding the arrival of the biggest, and most important, stages of the race. Over the course of the next two days, there will be some epic showdowns to say the least, as the GC contenders do their best to shake Thomas Voeckler out of the Yellow Jersey and position themselves to take the crown. But that is what lies ahead. Today's course featured 179km (111.2 miles) of racing between Gap and ...
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from The Adventure Blog
Today brings a much deserved respite from the road for the riders in this year's Tour de France . The 2011 race has been plagued with crashes, leaving many of the cyclists bruised and battered, while the Pyrenees sapped their strength over the weekend. While the past few days in the mountains were good sparring sessions between the GC contenders, we've now come out of the first big mountain stages with more questions than answers. The two weekend stages didn't bring any changes to the chase for the Yellow
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from The Adventure Blog
Today's stage in the Tour de France was not expected to bring many changes to the General Classification, as it featured only one big mountain climb in the middle of the course, with a long descent and a fairly flat run to the finish line, which was in Lourdes for the first time in more than 60 years. True to form, there were no changes in the standings of the GC, but there were still plenty of dramatics to be had. Early in the day a group of riders attempted a breakaway. That group included Jérémy Roy,
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from The Adventure Blog
Every year their are a few rain soaked days on the Tour de France , and 2011 is no exception. Today was one of those days, with a steady rain, and sometimes a downpour, falling on the riders throughout the day. It didn't seem to detract from their spirits however, as the sprinters faced off one more time before taking a backseat as we head into the mountains tomorrow. Todays stage was 167.5km (104 miles) in length between Blaye-les-Mines and Lavaur. While it did provide some hills, there were no major ...
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from The Adventure Blog
If you were looking for excitement and fireworks on the Tour de France , today was not the day to tune in. The 218km (135.44 mile) stage 7 was mostly flat and fast, which predictably made it a day for the sprinters to show off their talents, with a just as predictable winner. It was Mark Cavendish of HTC - Highroad who claimed his 17th career stage win today by out sprinting Alessandro Petacchi andAndré Greipel to the line. Cavendish's team mates shadowed him well all day long, and led him not only to the
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from The Adventure Blog
Stage 6 of the 2011 Tour de France was a mostly by-the-numbers affair that gave the sprinters a chance to stretch their legs some, but in the end, it didn't provide a whole lot of fireworks out on the course. At 226.5km (140.72 miles) in length, today's leg of the race was the longest the riders will face this year. Stretching from Dinan to Lisieux, the day began as wet, rainy one, and ended with the sun finally peeking out as the riders crossed the finished line. The winner of today's stage was Edvald ...
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from The Adventure Blog
The 2011 Tour de France got underway over the weekend, much to the delight of cycling fans across the globe. If you've been watching the race thus far, you probably already know that the course has been well designed this year to add a lot more excitement to the race early on, and changes to the point system have made for some interesting duels out on the road already, as every Sprint and Climb point is now very important. The early stages of the race are often designed for the sprinters to strut their ...
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from The Adventure Blog
One of the greatest annual sporting events in the world gets underway on Saturday, when the 2011 Tour de France begins. As usual, this year's Tour will no doubt bring plenty of excitement and drama, with the top cyclists in the world sparring with one another across 3430.5km (2131.6 miles) of French road. Over the course of 21 days, they'll face 10 flat stages, 6 mountain stages (with 4 summit finishes!), 3 medium mountain stages, 1 individual time trial, and 1 team trial. There will also be 2 rest days
published: 11 months ago
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