Stage 12 & 13 Luz Ardiden & Lourdes

Stage 12 Cugnaux to Luz Ardiden.
Now the fun has begun, the General Classification contenders should now come out to play. Luz Ardiden was the first stage with some real hills, the Cat 1 d'Ancizan, followed by the Hors Cat beasts Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden. A great victory for Sammy Sanchez, much to the delight of the huge contingent of Basques on the climbs. Cadel had a solid day and looked comfortable; more comfortable than Contador but not as comfortable as the brothers Schleck! They really had their act together and did a great job of taking valuable seconds of Cadel and Contador with their two man slam.

Our Tour group transferred from Toulouse to Lourdes by bus and were on the bikes by 10.30 and heading up to Luz Ardiden. It was a great relief to leave the rain behind and have the chance to ride this great climb in sunshine, although the clouds came in with a cold change later in the day.

A magnificent bridge across the gorge at Luz St Sauveur just before the climb of Luz Ardiden begins. 

The switchbacks on Luz Ardiden, looking down from the 2 km to go banner.

Raelene and Ros on the way up the beautiful Luz climb, celebrating the moment!

It was getting chilly on the mountain so this group of warriors decided the sunny cafe at Luz St Sauveur was a more pleasant option....... and the chance to watch the race on the Big Screen and see the riders go through after descending Tourmalet.

Jeremy Roy leads Geraint Thomas through Luz St Sauveau after the descent from Tourmalet 














Stage 13 Pau to Lourdes
Another big day in the Pyrenees and the riders enjoyed another glorious summer's day in the mountains, although believe me you need a few extra layers on for the descents as the wind chill is up there. A couple of baby Cat 3 & 4 climbs early in the race to sort the wheat from the chaff, then it was up the mighty HC Aubisque before running over to Soulor and then the big descent into Argeles Gazost before the flat run into Lourdes. Great to see Jeremy Roy's two brave days rewarded with the Polka Dot Jersey, he seems to be a great talent and the French have big wraps on him and he gave his fans two great days of attacking riding to take on the field alone, only to be picked up in the closing stages each day. However, that great effort aside, how good was it to see Thor Hushovd ride down David Moncoutie on the descent of Soulor and then ride away from him in the chase to Jeremy Roy to take the rainbow jersey to the line in a fabulous victory.

Our tour group rode up to Soulor and then Aubisque and then returned to Lourdes to watch the finish of the race. The ride was absolutely beautiful, as you can see by the photos below.

The town of Arrens at the foot of the Soulor climb.

Andrew 1.5km from the summit of Soulor, how good is this for a view!!

Andrew & Pete at the summit of Soulor. Great riding Andrew, you earned that coffee!!

Now here's a character for you. This ol' fella was giving his head a scratch on the wing mirror of a car when Andrew and I were approaching the 2 Km to go mark, so I just had to take a shot.....and then he stopped scratching.......looked at me and had a great big chuckle!

His name is Eric........

The Shack & Europecar crash our party!!

We arrived home at our hotel today to find that Radio Shack and Europecar had set up camp at our hotel in Toulouse. This was a great chance for us to see first hand the support crew behind the riders and the photos below show you everything from the mechanics who clean and maintain the bikes to the mobile kitchens/dining facilities that feed the riders each day.

Stage 11 - Blayes les Mines to Lavaur

Thunderstorms in Toulouse last night heralded a wet day for the peloton for what is a short 168 km stage from yesterday's finish point to the today's finishing town of Lavaur. Two minor climbs on a short stage was never going to be anything but a bunch sprint, despite the very wet roads. The HTC train did a fantastic job of delivering Cav for a reversal of yesterday's victory over Andre Greipel. Cav was a very happy boy to don the Maillot Vert today. Great to see Mark Renshaw on the front from 400 m out and ripping the speed to maximum in the rain-soaked finish to give Cav the speed he needed to hold off Greipel this time.
We left Toulouse in the bus today in the rain with a forecast for a very wet day. We arrived at the start town of Blayes les Mines with the welcome of a slight drizzle so we were hopeful of being able to ride to the intermediate sprint at Gaillac and then cut across country to the finish at Lavaur. Sadly, the rain increased and we decided that once we had a chance to view the start that we would take the bus back to Toulouse and watch the finishing 50 km or so in the comfort of our hotel.
Despite the rain and lack of riding there were some real high points for us today. We were very up close and personal with the riders before the start as the crowd was much smaller than normal due to the rain and our bus was parked right in the same street as the rider's buses. So lots of great photos. On top of this, we arrived back to Toulouse to find that Radio Shack and Europcar were booked into our hotel in Toulouse....again lots of great photos. Enjoy the pics.
Tomorrow we jump on the buses nice and early and head to our new hotel in Lourdes and then ride to the summit of Luz Ardiden to see the finish of tomorrow's stage. This is where the real battle for the Maillot Jaune begins!! C'mon Cadel!!

These great shots below are courtesy of out team photographer Mark, he's doing a great job to poviding a real feel for this year's tour.

 These guys we up and down the street in the rain all morning and were interviewed by SBS, maybe you saw them on the Aust coverage today?
Cadel came out of his bus to say G'day and sent one of his soigneur's out with a round of espresso for them all...great PR!!

A very happy Cadel this year!! C'mon the Burgs!!

I reckon Cav was feeling pretty lucky today, he was in a great mood before the start and didn't seem in any way phased by the rubbish weather.

The call of "Hey Stuie" from our stealthy Mark drew a great little smile from Mr O'Grady.

Even Aberto Contador didn't escape Mark's probing lens.

Stage 10 - Aurillac to Carmaux

This was a day for us to ride a 96 km hilly course from Rebastens to Carmaux, to watch the stage finish. We're in Sunflower territory and its always a challenge to get the photo from the right angle, because the little buggers always face the sun and today there was only one filed that offered a good snap. Mark, one of our riders, took this great shot just out of Gaillac.






70 km into our ride we rode into the medieval town of Cordes sur Ciel and took a 30 minute break for coffee and photos. The race will go through Cordes during tomorrow's stage 11.  Here are a selection of photos, again courtesy of Mark.

We arrived at Carmaux with plenty of time to spare, so we had a quick walk through the finishing area to stake out the best vantage point and then headed off to town to find a spot to sit and watch the race on tele....and have a well earned beer. We watched the last 80 km of the race and watched the intriguing breakaway efforts of Philippe Gilbert and Thomas Voeckler, man these two boys are having a big impact at the moment, great entertainment. Genuinely tough riders and with their teams not likely to be contenders for the GC they have free rein to attack the race and promote their sponsors.

The finishing sprint was an absolute cracker and it looked like HTC had it all set up for Cav to take another victory but Greipel had other ideas and shadowed Cav perfectly to just grab the win on the line. He was one happy puppy when I saw him for these two lucky snaps.

One of my other lucky opportunities came when we were walking down through the team buses 20 minutes before the finish. An HTC car pulled up in front of us as we walked along the road and who should pop out to head to the team bus but the great Erik Zabel....so quick as a flash we said "G'day Erick, would you mind a photo with a couple of Ozzies?" And he kindly obliged.

 

One of our all time favourites, Jens Voigt,  also rolled past after the finish and it was great to see the he could still smile after doing his normal mountan of work in chasing down the breakaway. One of our tour group has a T Shirt with Jensies oft quoted "Shut Up Legs" on the front......just love that one.

And now one great little shot for all you foodies out there!! This little patisserie got a bit of a workover when we were taking our little stroll through the town of Carmaux. 

Restaurant Wrap

We've dined out each evening and we have come across some nice little local restaurants so I thought I should take the opportunity to give you the heads up on some top spots for your next trip to this part of the world. In most cases you can enjoy 2 courses with wine and coffee for between $25 to $35 per head....now that's value!!

Nantes.
We dined three nights in Nantes and the best spot was Le Fou du Roi, adjacent Un Chateau Fort. You will need to book for this one as it is only a small restaurant. Dining inside and out. Superb selection of seafood and duck. If you're lucky you might strike a musical performance in the grounds of Un Chateau Fort. Address is 2 Rue Premion, Nantes.

St Malo
Now this place has some fantastic dining locations and the three restaurants we tried were exceptional.
The area is famous for its seafood but they also have some great Galettes (crepes made on buckwheat flour) and pizzas.
Our first meal was at Le Coude a Coude (elbow to elbow) at the northern end of the main beach front, address is 79 Boulevard de Rathebone. The seafood and wine selection was very good. An excellent bottle of St Emilion Grand Cru will set you back about $50, but its worth every drop. The photo below was taken as we left the restaurant at about 10.30 pm.

The second night we walked west along the beachfront to Brasserie du Sillon. This restaurant sits out over the beach and is towards the old Walled City end of the beach. Address is 3 Chaussee Sillon. Again a fine selection of seafood, steak and duck.

We enjoyed two fabulous bottles of Chablis Premier Cru, provided by two groups of our clients who just happened to be dining on nearby tables....nice gesture.












On the third night we drove down to the old Walled City and took a punt on a Creperie/Pizza style place looking for the local delicacy, Galette. This is a crepe made with buckwheat flour and is a regional dish. The Walled City is a beautiful place to wander around, day or night and has some great little shops and eateries.

Galette with mushrooms, tomato, red peppers, duck and egg.

They also served some fantastic Moules Frites, great with Belgian beer.







Paris
My post on Saturday gave a run down on Le Train Bleu, where we enjoyed our departure dinner for our first group. On Sunday we lucked upon a great little spot near our Novatel Bercy. It was a great walk through the gardens that run along the Seine, parallel to Quai de Bercy, to Bercy Village. You walk east away from Gare de Lyon and you will find the village at the end of the gardens. The area is a refurbished wine storage area with boutique fashion and restaurants. You walk from a very quite parkland to a bustling eating and shopping venue, a real hive of activity on a Friday night but not crowded.

We enjoyed a casual meal at Bruno's Place, which featured some great artwork and a very secure cellar under the internal stairs....on the way to the loos!!

 

 







                                                                                                             Toulouse




We still have three nights in Toulouse, however on our first night we took the advice of our cabbie and dined at the nearby Bistro du Chevillard, the French address is Boulevard Mal-Leclerc 4, you will find it on the corner of Bvd Marechal Leclerc and Allee de Barcelone. This restaurant is noted for its regional cuisine and is primarily a steak house. The quality of the meat and wine is akin to The Norman or Brekky Creek in Brisbane, however a little more elegant and with greater variety of style.

Stage 9 to St Flour and Rest Day

The stage yesterday to Saint Flour was always going to be a tough day with all 2, 3 and 4 category climbs and predictably a strong breakaway group got a manageable lead. However, it all got very messy when some key rider were involved in a high speed descent crash. David Miller reported that Dave Zabriskie clipped the guard rail and then Willems and Van den Broeck went with him, Willems breaking his collar bone. Vinokourov had the worst fall and ended up in the trees with fractured femur and elbow. Zabriskie has had a record of poor bike handling and crashes over the years....only good in a straight line TT...and even then he's brought down his team mates in TdeF a few years ago!!

The other big crash was caused by a French TV crew car taking out Hoogaland (33 stiches in his legs from a barbed wire fence!!) and Fleche (severe gravel rash & bruising). Amazingly both riders finished the race. Hoogerland's finish was incredibly tough and thankfully he will have a rest day before he heads to the Pyrenees to defend his Polka Dot Jersey.

I thought that Sanchez's win was a display of very poor sportsmanship (I would prefer to use stronger vernacular but this is a public blog....) after contributing very selectively to a Voeckler led break, it would have been normal etiquette to allow the Frenchman to win the stage.

Today is a rest day and we're meeting the last couple of groups of our tour group at Toulouse airport and then we will take them all on a warm up ride along the Canal du Midi this afternoon. This canal system is an amazing 400 km link between the Atlantic Coast (NW of Bordeaux) to Sete in the Mediterranean. It was initially surveyed by Leonardo da Vinci in 1516 and then construction began in 1666. It provided an alternative transport route that avoided the long and dangerous journey via hostile Spain and the Barbary Coast. I'll take a photo and add it to the blog later.

It's a hot day today, will get to mid 30's and the forecast for the next few days is for rain, so it is likely to be a tough time for the peloton in the Pyrenees.

Stage 5 to 8 - Cap Frehel to Super Besse

We left the race at Cap Frehel on Wednesday to take our first group back to fly out of Paris over the weekend. We've been kept busy with all the admin and getting ready for our next group to arrive and I've had little time to get on line to update the blog. We flew into Toulouse this morning to meet our first arrivals and get ready for the race to arrive in the south of France. I'm currently sitting in my hotel room watching Stage 8 to Super Besse and wevre seen an exciting final 20 km with a lone Portuguese rider, Da Costa of Team Movistar, escape from the day's breakaway for a great win. The peloton rode a cracking pace on the final climb up Super Besse to catch Vinoukorov and the other breakaways in the closing stages. Great to see Cadel has been able to preserve his position 1 sec down. A great battle has developed for the sprinter's green jersey, with Gilbert once again taking the prize. Cav is going to have to pull off some solid days on the few remaining flat stages if he is to win this jersey. 

To cover the gap in the blog from last Wednesday, I'll include just a few highlights and photos of what we've been up to.

Wednesday 6 July - Stage 5 Carhaix to Cap Frehel.
This was one of our really great days at the Tour as we were heading to the stage finish at Cap Frehel and a chance to get some close ups of the riders as they came back to their buses after the race. Some great photo opportunities and a beautiful finishing straight, above the beach at Cap Frehel. The photos tell the story.

Shots 400 m from the finish as the Caravan rolls through 45 minutes before the riders arrive.a

Some of the celebrities after the finish.

Dave and The Lion King, Mario Cipollini.

Rohan and big George Hincapie, who had done such a great job for Cadel's win on Mur de Bretange the day before.

Mark Renshaw, who was right there in the leadout today for Mark Cavendish's win.

Johan Bruyneel had one of those days he would rather forget. Radio Shack ended up with only 3 riders in the finishing group, after crashes for their key riders; Horner and Leipheimer. Horner has since withdrawn and Leipheimer is now nearly 5 mins off the pace.

Thursday 7 July - Stage 6 Dinan to Lisieux
Today we said goodbye to St Malo, a fantastic location to base yourself for a week of touring around the Brittany and Normandy region. The towns, restaurants, beaches and countryside are worth spending some some exploring. We spent our last day with our tour group riding to the start at Dinan and another chance to get up close and personal with the riders before the race start. I positioned myself on the edge of town above a beautiful bridge to catch the peloton rolling out of town.

 We were also very lucky to catch the caravan as it rolled out of town when we stopped for coffee at the finish of our ride.

Farewell dinner at Le Train Bleu - Gare de Lyon.
Following the start at Dinan we headed back to Paris for our farewell dinner with our tour group. The venue was the famous Le Train Bleu, built in 1901 at Gare de Lyon as part of the Paris Expo. The original "Blue Train" was as a luxury train with sleeping cars designed to convey wealthy British travelers from Calais to the French Riviera. The train ran from 1922 to 1938 and the restaurant was renamed Le Train Bleu in 1968 in historic recognition of the old train.