Anthony Charteau – View from the Back

Well worth the wait

16/07/2011Posted in Cycling, CyclingTagged Andy Schleck, Anthony Charteau, FDJ, Jelle Vanendert, Jeremy Roy, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Radioshack, Rigoberto Uran, Samu Sanchez, Sandy Casar, Saur-Sojasun, Saxobank-Sungard, Sylvain Chavanel, Team Sky, Thomas Voeckler, Tour de France 20112 Comments

Mindful of the importance of today’s stage, I was up and out at the crack of dawn. It was lovely and quiet, still a little fresh, with only the road cleaners and the odd car heading for the nearest bakery for me to worry about. I sped to Menton, easily my fastest ride there ever. My traffic light karma was in overdrive, I didn’t have to halt once: not even on the Promenade des Anglais. I stopped in Menton to top up my bottles and get a drink to fuel my ascent. There’s a tap as the road splits (left over the Col and right to Ste Agnes), but the water’s of dubious quality.

The first kilometre of the climb is steepish but fortified by my recent sugar hit, and taking advantage of every bit of shade, I forge on. Up towards Ste Agnes the terrain undulates . I just grind away enjoying the view back down to the sea. The view improves, the gradient rises steeply and I’m now in the lowest of low gears. I take the left turn. It’s taken me 50 minutes to get here and I’ve emptied my larger bidon. It rises again and I press on. As a distraction, I start giving some thought to today’s stage where, realistically, we might know more about the real, relative forms of the main contenders, or not. The next 5 kilometres pass remarkably quickly and I’m soon speeding downwards. I’ve seen hardly any cars, just a couple of goats.

As I swoop through La Turbie, stopping at the fountain to fill up my bottles, I’m making good time. I head up over the Col d’Eze enjoying the warm sunshine, the scenic views and the prospect of a cracking afternoon’s Tour viewing. Riding this route has done wonders for Thor Hushovd’s climbing skills, who knows it might do something similar, albeit on a smaller scale, for me. My traffic light karma begins to desert me on the way back and I take refuge on the cycling track on the Promenade. It’s busy, but not as busy as the road. In no time at all, I’m grinding my way back up to the apartment. It’s taken me an hour less than I estimated but that’s largely due to the time at which I rode rather than any great feat on my part. I shower, slip into something comfortable and sink a couple of litres of water. I’d like to check the ride information on my Garmin but I’m still waiting for a response from them. I’ve been waiting for 6 days!

On today’s queen stage, 168.5km from Saint-Gaudens to Plateau de Beille a large group breaks away almost from the start, swiftly joined by another 4 riders, 24 in total. Only 4 teams are not represented: Saxobank, Radioshack, Omega Pharma-Lotto and Saur-Sojasun. There’s plenty of French riders, including 3 from FDJ, but no Jeremy Roy. Is that allowed? Despite having Charteau in the break, Europcar control the peloton until Leopard Trek take over intent on whittling down the numbers and delivering the Schlecks to the base of the final climb.

The French are desperate for a stage win and today’s excitement, and ultimate disappointment, were provided by French champion Sylvain Chavanel and, later on, FDJ’s Sandy Casar. However with Voeckler STILL in yellow, the French are now talking him up as a potential Tour winner. Stranger things have happened.

With just 10.5km of the final climb remaining, Andy Schleck puts in a dig. It’s countered. The favourites basically mark one another all the way to the finish. Tour rookie, Jelle Vanendert, still smarting from his 2nd place at Luz Ardiden, takes off in pursuit of the hapless Casar who’s soon overtaken. Jelle’s nemesis from Friday, Samu, pursues him and gains back a few precious seconds on the other favourites but can’t overhaul today’s victor. So Omega Pharma Lotto take their 3rd stage win of the Tour. With just 2kms to go Andy puts in a more serious dig which allows him to take back 2 seconds from the others. Most of the favourites finish together although a couple were distanced on the climb further shaking up GC which now looks like this:-

Rank	Dossard	Name	Team	Time	Gap
1	181	Thomas VOECKLER	EUC	61h04’10”	00”
2	018	Frank SCHLECK	LEO	61h05’59”	1’49”
3	141	Cadel EVANS	BMC	61h06’16”	2’06”
4	011	Andy SCHLECK	LEO	61h06’25”	2’15”
5	091	Ivan BASSO	LIQ	61h07’26”	3’16”
6	021	Samuel SANCHEZ	EUS	61h07’54”	3’44”
7	001	Alberto CONTADOR	SBS	61h08’10”	4’00”
8	161	Damiano CUNEGO	LAM	61h08’11”	4’01”
9	052	Tom DANIELSON	GRM	61h09’56”	5’46”
10	124	Kevin DE WEERT	QST	61h10’28”	6’18”

Two jersey’s changed hands: Vanendert now has the spotted jersey and Sky’s Rigoberto Uran is the latest, best young rider.

Independence Day

04/07/2011Posted in CyclingTagged Alessandro Petacchi, Anthony Charteau, BMC, Cadel Evans, Cofidis, Europcar, Garmin-Cervelo, Geraint Thomas, HTC-High Road, Jose Joaquin Rojas, Mark Cavendish, Movistar, Omega Pharma-Lotto, Philippe Gilbert, Romain Feillu, Samuel Dumoulin, Team Sky, Tom Boonen, Tyler Farrar, Vacansoleil-DCM, Wouter Weylandt1 Comment

Yes, it’s the day that Americans hold so dear. It was therefore only fitting that Tyler Farrar, led out by the maillot jaune, won today’s stage which he dedicated to his late-best-buddy, Wouter Weylandt. Garmin Cervelo rack up two wins in a row proving that nice guys do win, just not all the time. Romain Feillu (Vacansoleil) was 2nd while Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) took 3rd place and the points jersey. None of the other jerseys changed hands leaving Thor in yellow, Geraint Thomas (Sky) in white and PhilGil with the spots. However, Thor’s battle for the points jersey, as well as Cavendish’s, has taken a bit of a knock. They’ve lost the points gained in the intermediate sprint for a bit of playful pushing and shoving.

Today’s parade from the Vendee into cycling mad Brittany, showcased France’s beautiful coastline, countryside and wealth of historical buildings. Yes, it’s a race but it’s also touristic propaganda for the Hexagon as the race is beamed to 190 other countries. The globe’s fleet of camper vans were drawn up alongside the roads which were lined with spectators rendering it more and more difficult for the riders to find a quiet place for a comfort break. The day’s breakaway of 5 riders earned plenty of tv time for their sponsors but, despite working well together, were, as anticipated, reeled in with 9km to go by those teams with aspirations in today’s sprint fest.

With under 8km to go, the boys were bowling along at 65km/hr. HTC seemed to have their train in place, albeit a little precipitously. Petacchi and Boonen were lying in wait on Cavendish’s wheel. A couple of riders took flyers off the front, with 600 metres to go the diminutive Samuel Dumoulin fell at the final bend which disturbed the train’s rhythm and played directly into the hands of Garmin who guided Tyler to victory.

The GC contenders were kept well to the fore by their team mates today and out the way of any potential problems. The wind was not a factor although it was clearly a little stronger over the St Nazaire bridge, re-classified as a Cat 4 climb, a magnificent piece of French civic engineering which unites the two sides of the Loire estuary, as the peloton momentarily broke into several groups. On a lighter note, Antony Charteau was let off the leash for a quick greet and meet with his family in Chauve before remounting to join the peloton as they whizzed past.

Phil Gil has his eye on tomorrow’s stage from Lorient to Mur-de-Bretagne, but I’m sure he’s not the only one. If he gains more than 1 second on Thor tomorrow, Cadel will take over the maillot jaune. My beloved is in Australia and he texted me saying that the Aussies, particularly the press, are in 7th heaven over Cadel’s progress. He certainly would be a popular winner but there’s still a few more days and kilometers to go.

Manx missile or toothless terror

26/01/201026/01/2010Posted in Cycling, HazardsTagged Alan Davies, Amael Moinard, Andrei Greipel, Anthony Charteau, Astana, HTC-Columbia, La Tropicale Amissa Bongo, Liquigas, Mark Cavendish, Quick Step, Ruta del Sol, Tom Boonen, Tour Down Under, Tour of San Luis, Vicenzo NibaliLeave a comment

It rained yesterday: statement of fact, not a complaint. This allowed me to catch up with my admin and check out what had been happening in the cycling world while I’d been sequestered in Birmingham.

Andre Greipel, in imperious form, had won the Tour Down Under. The previous holder of the title, one Alan Davies, was cast asunder on Day 1 because his team had forgotten to bring the radios. I’m not sure who was to blame for this blunder, but I have a suggestion – checklists. Come on, you know it makes sense!

Meanwhile, over on another continent, Anthony Charteau of Bbox Bouygues Telecom won La Tropicale Amissa Bongo. Our local boy, Amael Moinard was 7th. Over on another continent, lime-green clad Vicenzo Nibali won the Tour of San Luis. Next up, the Tours of Qatar and Oman. Don’t forget your buckets and spades.

I had been looking forward to seeing a sprint fest between Boonen, who has laid claim to the sand dunes these past few years, and Cavendish, the fastest man on two (non-motorised) wheels. Sadly, due to an infected tooth or teeth, Cavendish won’t be putting in an appearance before Ruta del Sol. It’s all yours Tom.

: Toothless Tom

Tom will probably sympathise. I seem to recall he’s lost a few teeth for similar reasons. Indeed, at one time, I was wondering whether he might become “Toothless Tom”. Given that these problems are preventable with a rigorous dental regime, I decided to write to HTC-Columbia and give them the benefit of my encyclopaedic dental knowledge. You know what they say about a little knowledge being dangerous. Well, it’s totally true. It will be interesting to see if I get a response.