No Mod Required

In honor of Wednesday's monstrous alpine stage (which should be the best bike race of the year), here are some resources culled from the net about the final climb, the classic Alpe d'Huez.

1. First off, check out the profile for Wednesday:

   

   That hurts.

2. Average gradient 7.9%, 13 kilometres long, 21 hairpins, elevation 1860 metres: This is L'Alpe d'Huez.

   Situated on the border of the French Alps near the town of Bourg d'Oisans, roughly an hour's drive from Grenoble, Alpe d'Huez is the most feared climb in the Tour de France for its abrupt, brutal ascent into the clouds. No other climb has a greater history of suffering, nor exudes the same emotions. It is what the Motirolo is to the Giro d'Italia, or the Angliru to the Vuelta - but with the charm, history and mystique of the Tour de France behind it.

   The above is from a great article from the 2003 Tour published by Cycling News.

3. How about a 360 degree webcam from the top provided by the official site?
4. Now, check out this incredible story of Greg Lemond and Bernard Hinault's trip up Alpe d'Huez in 1986.

   1986: The Alpe's Greatest Duel

5. Once you've digested that, check out some vintage video of that fateful day:

7. And now Lance Armstrong:

   From the time trial in 2004
   
   photo courtesy flickr user eugene

   And from 2001's classic victory, we have "the look":

And finally, from 2003 the full flight of madness that is an Alpine stage of the Tour

photo courtesy flickr user matt knoth

Check out this bit from the Garmin-Chipotle blog:

How did we feel about this? It’s hard to go over individual feelings but the general buzz in the bus was one of good news shrouded in contempt. It was a little surreal and disheartening watching the police and dozens of media surrounding the Saunier Duval bus. But at the same time, it was gratifying to see the little bastard getting caught. Because that’s what he is, a little bastard. Forget ‘The Cobra’, I’ve got two better names for him: The Trouser Snake (courtesy of Danny Pate at the Giro), and The Worm (courtesy of Mark Cavendish here at the Tour). Well, I had a feeling the snake’s move on the Aspin was too good to be true. And unfortunately of late when I have that feeling, doping is involved.

Now he’ll disappear from the world of cycling and hopefully from the dreams of any young cycling fans. Only it’s not that simple is it? Marco Pantani was Ricco’s idol. He wanted to be like him and climb like him, much of his riding style was based on him. When he would attack on the climbs, he would attack in the drops because that is what Pantani did. He wanted to win on L’Alpe d’Huez because that’s where Pantani won. He wanted to win the Giro by attacking the most, because that’s what Pantani did. He had forgotten that Pantani doped and cheated. In fact most of Italy has forgotten that I think, which is sad because his memory can serve a much more powerful purpose than that of a winning cyclist.

Read the rest:

There are also heroes and they need you to believe

I never liked Ricco. He had an acidic personality. My girlfriend didn't trust him. Her suspicions (and the suspicions of plenty of others) were justified. Dick.

I just wish he'd been busted at some race other than the Tour. The earlier positives had been taken in stride. Now this douche goes and gets busted after having won two stages and riding high in the GC.

Millar makes a good point, by the way. Between people like CVV and Cavendish there's a lot to like about the "new" cycling in this year's Tour. It's a shame a moron like Ricco has to put a damper on the good times. Me? I'm not letting it bother me. As I mentioned, I hate the guy anyway, so if that's the way he wants to play it- fuck him and his red-headed doping ass.

I'm never picking Alejandro Valverde in the Tour again. Watching him get dropped on the first of two HC climbs on Monday sealed that deal for me. Sure. He looks good all spring. Yes. He's had some success in the Vuelta. No. I'm not picking him for the podium in the Tour again.

Beyond that, Menchov and Evans, to me, look like the guys to beat. If they don't finish 1-2 I'll be seriously surprised. The third member of the podium triumvirate is the interesting spot. Can Vandevelde stay with the big climbers like Sastre, Ricco and Schleck well enough to be able to knock them off with a good time trial? Or will one of the above climb themselves onto the podium?

Whatever way it shakes out the rest of the race is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

Another race I'm interested in is the point competition. Can Óscar Freire ride the jersey all the way to Paris? Will Cavendish (a)finish the race and (b) add enough points to overtake the motivated Freire? And what about big Thor? Kirchen?

Again, there should be some interesting races over the next couple of weeks.

High Road/Team Columbia have certainly had a great year already, but this first week of the Tour has been bonkers. Green Jersey, White Jersey, stage win and now… The maillot jaune for Kim Kirchen. They're a well run, talented team hitting on all cylinders. I'm excited to see how they do over the final couple of weeks.

As for Stage 6 itself, I'm surprised there wasn't more activity on that last kilometer. It was still exciting racing, but I thought it would be just a little bit more insane. Vandevelde and Piepoli had the most exciting move and that really happened before the road turned straight up to the sky.

Ricco was a likely winner, in hindsight. He's an opportunist of the highest order and with the big GC men all worried about each other he was able to seize the day.

Stage 5 was more exciting than it should have been. It's painful watching a man from the break get caught within the last 500 meters. Within the last 100? Ouch.

How many more stage victories will Cavendish gain over the next ten or twelve years? Two Giro stages, one (so far) Tour stage… all at the tender age of 23. That's a bright future right there.

And now? Bring on the Pyrenees!

If you'd asked me before the stage to pick the winner, I probably would have picked a dozen or more before picking Stefan Schumacher. I definitely would have picked each and every other member of the top ten (named like Millar and Cancellara come to mind) and there are a few who finished a minute or more behind the Gerolsteiner rider (Valverde.)

Beyond that shocker at the top, the biggest surprise for me was the lackluster performance put in by Alejandro Valverde. He really didn't show up today, which is a big disappointment- at least from a competitive perspective. From the other side, in addition to a rooting interest in the American teams, I've decided to pull for Denis Menchov (as karmic payback from last year's debacle), so from that perspective, Valverde finishing that far back was a positive.

Now that we've had a little bit of a shakeup, I'm really looking forward to the finish atop the Cat 2 Super-Besse in a couple of days. We'll have a lot better sense of who the real characters are for this particular drama after that initial mountain skirmish. It's not quite tough enough to be decisive, but it will start to tell the story and this year's Tour is looking to be one of the most interesting in years.

I've read Will Frishkorn's blog for a while now. When I started reading it, he was a rider on a top domestic team with a great anti-doping message (and some international ambitions) and it was kind of a look at a side of cycling I didn't actively follow. Of course, in the time since the now Garmin-Chipotle has recruited like mad and secured spots at some of the most prestigious races in the world- including the Tour de France. Which brings us to yesterday, where Will Frishkorn was out in the breakaway in the third stage of the Tour for over 200 kilometers, finishing second and jumping up to third in the GC. While I was really pulling for him to take the stage win, it was still a fantastic result for both Will and the team. To have such a high profile day so early in is a great boost for the wild card entry.

As a consolation, of sorts, the French got some early results in the form of a stage win and the yellow jersey.

As for stage 2, Thor must have heard me question his form. He looked great in taking the hotly contested second stage. I'm still looking for Cavendish to come through in a big way.

Really impressive result from the Caisse d'Epargne rider. That was a hell of an attack and shows that he really is on form.

That said, I can't help but think it's potentially a tactical mistake. If he's really serious about winning the overall race he should think about the stress he just pout his team under by winning the yellow jersey so early in the Tour. If I were the Caisse d'Epargne team manager, I'd be sorely tempted to let a breakaway go tomorrow because otherwise they're defending the jersey through at least Tuesday's time trial stage and, if Valverde can come through, even beyond. While I love the idea of taking the jersey on day 1 and wearing it though to Paris, it's not the most efficient approach to riding a grand tour. Unless they're prepared to just let it go, they're going to be under mental and physical stress tomorrow for no long-term benefit. For a GC contender, the only yellow jersey that matters is the one handed in Paris and to get that one the team and the rider need as much energy as they can muster. Defending the yellow jersey through two early flat stages doesn't help in that regard.

We'll see how it all plays out, it's just one thing I'll be thinking of over the next couple days.

If it does go to a sprint, I'm picking Cavendish for the victory.

Writing this while watching the intro show and wondering, where in the world is Al Trautwig? WTF?

Beyond that, there's still time to go through some of my normal preview activities…

The Podium Contenders

Cadel Evans

Evans, to me, has to be the favorite just based on his success at the Tour. Of all the other people pegged as contenders he's had the most success in this race and when it comes to the Tour that makes a difference. Success in the Vuelta (Menchov), and Giro (Cunego, Andy Schleck,) don't necessarily translate to Le Grand Boucle. Which isn't to say those guys don't have a chance (I'll mention all three later on ), it's just there's something different about racing in the Tour and Evans has proven he can hang in this, the grandest grand tour of them all.

If all goes to plan, his steady strength in the mountains and excellent time trialing abilities will be the difference maker and Australia will have its first Tour winner. The one thing that holds him back a little is his lack of ability to really attack in the high mountains. There will be no Contador or Armstrong (to pick two recent examples) style attacks where he suddenly switches into a high gear and blows away the competition in a violent move. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, as he's still got the overall skills to win, it's just a little bit of a different approach than we've been used to over the past few years.

In his defense Miguel Indurain won five Tours riding defensively in the mountains and taking big time in the time trials, so I'm sticking with the Aussie as my pick for the final Yellow Jersey.

Alejandro Valverde

Valverde showed me something new in the recent Dauphine Libere- an ability to really Time Trial. Which is why the recently crowned Spanish road race champion is high on my list of contenders. He can certainly climb so winning a time trial against world class competition is a major signal that Valverde is ready to make the leap. Does he have the tactical experience? Can he hold up over three weeks? Those are the questions he needs to answer if he's going to podium. I have a feeling he might just be able to do it.

Denis Menchov

Menchov, more than anyone in the field maybe, has Grand Tour success (winning the Vuelta twice) and and a real axe to grind owing to the debacle he witnessed last year riding alongside the disgraced Michael Rasmussen. Menchov was expecting to be the team leader last year and his place was usurped by Rasmussen only to see the Dane booted out of the race for a litany of offenses.

So, Menchov has tactical experience and motivation. He's also got solid climbing ability and is excellent in the "race of truth." His only weakness is his ability to really climb the high mountain passes. Like Evans he will have to ride defensively in the mountains and take time in the time trials.

Damiano Cunego

"The Little Prince" of Italian cycling and former winner of the best young rider White Jersey in the Tour foresook his home race this year to prepare exclusively for the Tour. Will it pay off? Only time will tell, but Cunego has the climbing ability to make waves in the race. Can he time trial well enough to podium? He's been working at it, but working at it and doing it in the biggest stage race in the world are two different things.

The Brothers Schleck

Andy and Frank are both talented and both have been pegged as potential strong me in the Tour. I'm not entirely sold on Frank as a grand tour combatant, and Andy is still so very young, but the pair are so talented I have to include them here. If pressed I'd peg Andy as the likelier contender based on his heroic ride in last year's Giro, but I'm not entirely sold on either of them for a place on the podium.

Carlos Sastre

A reasonable "outside" pick for the podium. If things really heat up in the high mountains Sastre certainly has the ability to stay with anyone in this race so he might be able to take away enough time from people to make up for his less-than-stellar time trialing.

Mauricio Soler

Another guy who can climb with less than stellar time trialing abilities. If he's interested I'd bet on him to win the Polka Dot climber's jersey, but the podium? I'm not so sure. He sure can climb though so he could definitely make some waves in this year's high mountain passes.

My Picks

1. Evans
2. Menchov
3. Valverde

Green Jersey

With Boonen out based on his positive cocaine test, Thor Hushovd and Robbie McEwen suddenly relegated to second fiddle on his team (behind Evans), I'm going out on a limb and pegging British sprinter Mark Cavendish for the Sprinters Jersey.

Best Young Rider

While he's not my favorite cyclist in the Peloton, Riccardo Ricco is my favorite for the White Jersey. He gave Contador a run for his money in the Giro, which is basically all I'm basing this pick on

Can you blame me?

That'll have to do for now. As always I'll be updating regularly with my thoughts on the race.

Garmin is the new title sponsor of the Slipstream-Chipotle team | The Journal of Competitive Cycling.

For the third time in 10 days, a major international cycling team has announced a new title sponsor heading into next month’s Tour de France.

GPS maker Garmin International has signed on as the title sponsor of American professional continental team Slipstream-Chipotle through 2010, Garmin and the team announced Wednesday.

The title sponsorship, which sees the team name change to Garmin-Chipotle presented by H30, will commence immediately. A new team jersey, which will incorporate Garmin’s logo with the team’s trademark argyle motif, will be unveiled on July 3 in Brest prior to the start of the Tour.

The Tour is going to be a flurry of new jerseys with this, the new Columbia kits for High Road and the new CSC/Saxo Bank hybrids for the transitional sponsorship over there. Now if we can just get a replacement for sponsor Gerolsteiner, then things will have basically flipped on their head from last year when all the news was about sponsors leaving the sport.

Garmin, again, is a great fit for cycling. Personally, I'm a big fan of my Forerunner 205.

Check out the nice flash piece on the home page of Garmin.com.

This is phenomenal news. Bob Stapleton is being justly rewarded for running the team without a title sponsor after Deutsche Telekom pulled out of cycling. I can't think of a better brand to come into the sport for an American team and judging by the incredible results High Road have had so far this year, the sponsorship will be beneficial for Columbia. Immediately even, as I'd be extremely surprised if they don't perform well at the Tour- and by well I mean winning multiple stages. Cavendish is the obvious choice to win a stage or two, but plenty of other folks could do interesting things the race (yes, George Hincapie, I'm looking right at you.)

I can't wait to see the kits.

GENEVA, Switzerland and SAN LUIS OBISPO, California – June 16, 2008 – Columbia Sportswear Company a global leader in the active outdoor apparel and footwear industries, and California-based High Road Sports, Inc., the owner of Team High Road, today announced a new team sponsorship agreement that prominently places the Columbia brand at the starting line of the 2008 Tour de France on July 5.

Team High Road, one of professional cyclings most successful young teams with star riders such as George Hincapie, Kim Kirchen and Mark Cavendish, will compete as "Team Columbia" for the remainder of the 2008 season and will unveil its new uniforms in Brest, France on July 3, two days before the start of Europe's largest sporting event, the 95th Tour de France. In Europe and around the world, the Tour de France international cycling event is considered comparable to the United States Super Bowl in terms of popularity among fans and media exposure.

Read the rest of the press release:
Team Columbia