Attention all Velominati. The Tour VSP is going on line and it should be a good one. Sure, between Froomy and Bertie a person could hedge their bets but Moviestar is all in for Valverde, BMC for TeeJay, Astana for the Shark and Garmin is finally committing to a team leader in Talansky. Some other teams (ahem…Trek Factory Racing for one) have resigned themselves to hunting stage wins. The Tour swings through the Yorkshire Dales, everyone but the riders can enjoy some excellent ales. As the Tour continues to Lille, Norther France and Belgium, the quality pints continue. Yes, it’s hot and the VSP generator has beer on its mind.
The route, the sprints, the climbing and even the final time trial should make this a decent Tour. Here is a start list. Everyone will have a vial in their jersey pocket, but don’t worry, it’s legal.
It is still not too late to win the overall 2014 VSP and we have made it worth your while.
Refer to the VSP page for details concerning scoring and rest day swaps. If you want to call yourself Pedro Delgado, you will only have yourself to blame. The VSP banner on the homepage has the countdown clock, refresh your browser and don’t be late. Good luck and good picking.
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Decided at dawn to drive the 100k from Bruges to Orchies to ride some stones and check out options for spectating Stage 5. Yesterday's pissing rain has disappeared. Its blue skies and only slight winds from the south. I have virtually no experience on cobbles and no knowledge of the area so expect to spend some time "exploring". I have a photo on my phone of the route map and I can see my shadow...
The good people of Orchies (probably the Pig Committee) have generously marked the route through town. I love those guys. I find Sector V after V minutes on the bike - no warmup and 1400 gives the quads that Itburns feeling. (Shout out to our fallen brother). The stones are clean and dry but rough as hessian undies. Somewhere will bin it here for sure, but with no CVV riding I expect Tejay to keep the tradition going.
I find the end of Sector IV after missing the entrance. I ride it up to the start (2400m) then back down. I have little experience in riding this "surface" but find pushing a slightly spinnier gear works better for me. But Merckx, the hands! There is slightly less jarring than Orchies but the sector is longish with a couple of corners and a variable mix of stones - hard to settle into a rhythm. Fabs will attack here. Its only something like 20k to the finish and the lightweights will be feeling the pressure.
I repeat my performance on Sector III - missing the entrance and finding the end. Penalty lap. The stretch is 1400m and I burn a few matches on the way back to Warlaing cos I can. The roadmakers are evil. When the stones get smooth they make the gaps bigger. Fuck its fun. Fabs will hold steady here, gauging the strength of the wheelsuckers.
The tarmac is sweeter than ever through to the start of the Wandignies-Hamage secteur. The stones are equally awful and sweet for the full 3700m. It the GC isn't seriously shaken up before now, it soon will be. Froomy might break a wrist if he's been skipping his full cream milk. Fabs will go clear. I'm halfway savouring the moment and wishing it would end. To cap it off there's a railway crossing in the last 100 metres. I sneak through a red light thinking about the 2006 Paris Roubaix debacle.
As I make my way back to Orchies I can't resist the lure of more stones. Through the last sector to Orchies I can barely manage 22kph and my hands are hurting in ways I never knew they could. I've only ridden 65k but the 18k of cobbles has left me jarred and aching...for more. Maybe.
Honestly, I wonder how the pros don't have tendinitis so badly that they can't hold the handlebars. I get it with only my tiny bit of riding.
Bummer that Cavendish is gone. Another character gone. And Jens gone next year..... about to cry.
@Harminator You've got a V Moment nomination right there.
Went to the start today in Cambridge, as I live there. Decided my lack of a wristband wouldn't stop me getting to the Trek bus- I had a copy of our staff magazine to get to Matthew Busche as he was on the front of it. We make Trek's carbon and resin. Anyway,
Spartacus!
more #dirtyshlecklove
Cancellara doesn't just have a custom bike, he has a custom SRM power meter. I'm sure some of you are dissapointed to see that he doesn't ride on just V-meter
Oh, and if you MUST get a selfie with a rider do it when then're not riding, yeah? Thank's Matt Busche!
(Cap is a Stage 3 special Edition from This Is Cambridge cycling caps, top is Cambridge Cycling Club- we were encouraged to make sure our colours were everywhere!)
@Harminator
Great post, I love this bloody stuff!
@Al__S same again, this is the real deal no media releases here, thanks guy's.
I'd like to claim my day of "secure" zone infiltration and then drinking in the park is comparable to @harminator's recce ride, but really, hats off to him.
Yorkshire rocked. The weather was outstanding, the set up was near faultless and the people were amazing.
We watched the first few hours of stage 1 on the big screen in the fan park before heading down the route to find a vantage point. Eventually found a spot stood on a wall in hedge 1200m out from the finish. OPQS looked great going through but then we heard mutterings of a crash involving Cav. The mobile network was so overloaded that there was no way of getting anymore details though.
On day two we headed out into the hills with a vague idea of where to go and ended up parking within 200m of the course at Oxenhope. The velonippers had fine time grabbing swag from the caravan before the race came through. It isn't easy taking steady video with a 9 yo on your shoulders frantically ringing a cowbell.
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The eldest also went to cambridge today and ended up chatting with Brailsford and Eisel.
@Chris Fab!