Froome & Sky...... Signalling the Beginning of the End?
I'm currently sitting at the Bikestyle HQ in Mazamet, not far from Toulouse and Carcassonne. I'm in between tour groups and will head up to Paris on Monday to meet our next group coming in for the final 14 days of the Tour.
Today was a watershed moment for the 2013 Tour, Sky played their first big card and showed how dominant they are again this year and how difficult it will be for any other team or individual to upset their plans for a back to back win.
With all the recognised GC contenders well and truly distanced by Froome today, it's hard to imagine any other winner this year, barring an extraordinary event, accident or ill health.
The one great outcome for we Ozzies was the fantastic performance of Richie Porte to pull back Quintana on the final climb and to deliver Froome to a dominating win on Ax-3-Domain. The local comment at the end of the stage today was that the Porte-Froome combination was reminiscent of the US Postal 2002 combination of Roberto Heras and Armstrong,....one hopes that is where the comparison ends!
My First 10 Days - Côte d'Azur & Corsica
The first 10 days of my trip was spent with our tour group of 20 riders on Côte d'Azur and Corsica. The weather and the riding were perfect, with temperatures in the mid 20's and the scenery in both locations exceptional. The routes we rode were generally light with traffic and small country roads, except when we rode onto the Tour course route ahead of the race on Corsica.
Part 1 - An introduction to Vence.
Our hotel on Cote d'Azur was up in the hills 15 km above Nice in the village of Vence, with a central medievil walled village and some remaining 16th century architecural features, included in the photos below. Vence is also a town of artists living and working there, Dufy and Matisse were two of a number of recognised French artists to base themselves in Vence.
I'm currently sitting at the Bikestyle HQ in Mazamet, not far from Toulouse and Carcassonne. I'm in between tour groups and will head up to Paris on Monday to meet our next group coming in for the final 14 days of the Tour.
Today was a watershed moment for the 2013 Tour, Sky played their first big card and showed how dominant they are again this year and how difficult it will be for any other team or individual to upset their plans for a back to back win.
With all the recognised GC contenders well and truly distanced by Froome today, it's hard to imagine any other winner this year, barring an extraordinary event, accident or ill health.
The one great outcome for we Ozzies was the fantastic performance of Richie Porte to pull back Quintana on the final climb and to deliver Froome to a dominating win on Ax-3-Domain. The local comment at the end of the stage today was that the Porte-Froome combination was reminiscent of the US Postal 2002 combination of Roberto Heras and Armstrong,....one hopes that is where the comparison ends!
My First 10 Days - Côte d'Azur & Corsica
The first 10 days of my trip was spent with our tour group of 20 riders on Côte d'Azur and Corsica. The weather and the riding were perfect, with temperatures in the mid 20's and the scenery in both locations exceptional. The routes we rode were generally light with traffic and small country roads, except when we rode onto the Tour course route ahead of the race on Corsica.
Part 1 - An introduction to Vence.
Our hotel on Cote d'Azur was up in the hills 15 km above Nice in the village of Vence, with a central medievil walled village and some remaining 16th century architecural features, included in the photos below. Vence is also a town of artists living and working there, Dufy and Matisse were two of a number of recognised French artists to base themselves in Vence.
ah good to see post Pete and yes last nights leg was certainly exciting that is for a real game change or race changer, where GC showed true form.
ReplyDeleteThe next day will also be interesting! take care, keep safe and well.. love the pickies too :D Shaz.xx