15th July 2011 - Le Tour de France
(Pau - Lourdes)
Day 2 in the Pyrenees, and stage 13 for the peleton. Another day for the GC men in terms of the terrain, but could easily be a stage where the break stays away. The fast run into Lourdes shouldn't create too many gaps in the General Classification, ahead of tomorrow's tough stage to Plateau de Beille.
The team's focus will be on Tejay again, but I will look to the Intermediate Sprints to try and extend my lead in the race for the Maillot Vert.
Race Report
8km: The day's break went very early in the stage, as 7 riders attacked off the front.
18km: Further attacks increased the groups size to 9 riders, and we sent Danny Pate up the road to take the pressure off the rest of the team.
44km: In an attempt to gain the points at the top of the first KoM sprint, Danny set a high pace, and before he knew it, he was all alone out front. It was going to be a long day for the Dane.
62km: The pace of the peleton settled down to a nice rhythm over the opening half of the race, and I could settle down and enjoy the day in Green.
74km: Reaching the halfway point of the stage, Lars had over a minute over the other breakaway riders behind, who in turn was 6'46" clear of the peleton.
82km: As we approached the Sprint Point, further attacks went off the front, so it meant that only 14th place was up for grabs. That did not bother me, and I comfortably took the 2 points on offer, ahead of Petacchi.
95km: Hitting the Col d'Aubisque, I went backwards, along with all the other sprinters, but up the front Nicolas Roche attacked for the second day running, and was followed by Luis León Sánchez (RaboBank). Roche clearly had the KoM points in his sights...
120km: Over the Col d'Aubisque, the GC men decided to make their moves. Roman Kreuziger (Astana) made the first move, but was closely followed by his GC rivals.
138km: As the GC men reached the valley floor, the break's deficit had been cut to 2'12", but there was no chance that it was would be caught.
141km: At the 5km to go mark, there was still idea who would win the stage, and if so many strong riders to choose from, it was anybody's guess.
145km: But as the sprint began, 4 riders were clearly stronger than the rest, with Roche, Fabrice Jeandesboz (Saur - Sojasun), Dmitriy Fofonov (Astana) and Damien Monier (Cofidis) all looking like they could take the stage win.
146km: It's victory to Roche! The Irishman showed his sprinting prowess in the finish, and pick up a fine victory. All the GC men rolled in together 1'34" after Roche, whilst I finished 9'23" down, with the rest of the sprinter.
16th July 2011 - Le Tour de France
(Saint-Gaudens - Plateau de Beille)
Along with the stages up the Col du Galibier and to Alpe d'Huez, on the 21st and 22nd July respectively, today will be a ride for the GC men. Six classified climbs, tricky descents, a 12km ascent to the summit finish at Plateau de Beille, you can expect some fireworks to happen.
Race Report
18km: With the Col de Portet-d'Aspet immediately hitting the peleton, the attacks came in little bursts, but soon a break of 8 riders managed to put some daylight between themselves and the peleton.
22km: Once again, Leopard took full control, setting a steady pace on the climb up to the first KoM sprint point.
40km: 9th place was on offer at intermediate sprint point, and despite being a little tired from the climb, I went for it. Annoying though, so did Cadel Evans, for reasons unknown. I ended up 11th, extending my lead in the process.
60km: Over the top of the Col de la Core, the breakaway had 7'13" over the peleton, but in changing weather conditions, it was going to be a very careful descent.
98km: The weather luckily did not take any casualties, and climbing the penultimate ascents of the day, Tejay moved himself to the front, with Siutsou doing some great domestique duties.
106km: Disaster for the team! Martin is brought down, after tangling handlebars with a rider. Luckily no one else is affected, and Tony is not hurt, but he is a long way behind the GC men, and he was set to be Tejay's aid on the final climb...
148km: What a ride from Martin... He picks himself up, and powers off after the GC group. He passes everyone else on the road, leaving them in his wake, and links up just as we start the 12km to the finish.
151kmkm: On the climb, the breaks gap was destroyed. Leopard were setting a really high pace, trying to drop as many men as they could.
151km: With the end growing closer, Schleck made his move, and only Tejay could stick in his wheel...
154km: The final man from the breakaway, Tom Danielson, was caught with 5km to go, and the three riders pressed onto the finish.
156km: Sadly for Tejay, he was dropped by Schleck, and soon Samuel Sánchez came past him as well. Behind though, there was mass destruction, and it was an 'every man for himself' attitude, and no one was willing to chase back the 3 men.
158km: It was Schleck versus Sánchez in the sprint for the line. Who would take this epic stage...
159km: It's a Maillot Jaune victory! Schleck does enough to hold off Sánchez, whilst van Garderen finishes third! It was a great ride by Tejay! Well done to him.
HTC - Highroad's Mark Cavendish has voiced his displeasure at Cadel Evans, after the Australian took part in the Intermediate Sprint during the stage to Plateau de Beille.
'Cadel had no right to be there!' exclaimed the Manxman to ITV's Ned Boulting after the stage. 'He is not part of the race for Green, so why sprint like you are? It's not as if he was protecting or leading out another teammate.'
When pressed by Boulting to whether that affected his sprint, Cavendish did not mince his word. 'He was all over the road. If he could sprint properly, then I wouldn't mind as much. Ok, it's clear he has had a shit Tour so far, and he is trying to impress, but why ruin it for everyone else?'
Cavendish currently leads the race for Green by Five points, and with a flat stage into Montpellier to come tomorrow, every point clearly matters to him.
Edited by the_hoyle on 02-12-2012 19:03
He is doing great! Full fitness and really in form. And there is still the ITT the other side of the Alpes to come, so hopefully he can still finish higher on GC
17th July 2011 - Le Tour de France
(Limoux - Montpellier)
With the Pyrenees behind us, we have a nice flat transition stage as the peleton rolls towards the Alpes.
Stage 15 is as flat as they come and with a rest day coming tomorrow, I am going to go all out for win. I think I have waited far too long for one, and it about time I gave the followers what they want...
Race Report
5km: The attacks started from the word 'go' today. It almost seemed like everyone wanted to show off before the rest day tomorrow.
14km: The first group that got away contained 16 riders, so was clearly deemed to dangerous by the peleton. Garmin and Rabobank hit the front, and it was instantly pulled back.
21km: Another group tried to get away, but yet again it contained 14 riders, and was soon pulled back.
47km: This process of large groups attacking getting pulled back happened over and over, until finally only Luke Roberts (SaxoBank) got away.
67km: He was joined Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) in the break, and together they built up a healthy lead of over 4'30".
88km: Garmin, Rabobank and HTC took full control of the peleton, and slowly but surely the lead began to shorten.
124km: The breakaway riders took up the first two places at the intermediate, so I was aimming for 3rd. Bak and Grabsch led me out brilliantly...
130km: I took the sprint ahead of Farrar, with Boasson Hagen behind him, allowing me to further extend my lead in the Race for Green.
153km: The break's lead was all but gone as we approached 30km to go, so it was the time for the opportunists to have a crack at getting away. Kiryienka tried his luck, but did not get far!
158km: He bridged the gap to the Flecha/Roberts group, but they only led by 13" on the road, so it was a hopeless attack.
179km: No further attacks went off the front, so we approached the 5km to go with it all set for a sprint. Bert hit the front, with the HTC train in full motion behind.
184km: As the sprint began, we were still in full control. I was in the perfect spot, thanks to the great work by the team, and I was ready to go...
185km: YEEESSSSS!!!! Finally I get my victory! Two weeks of hard work and persistance finally pays off! I couldn't be happier.
Apologies for a small picture for the finish line. I was ready to take the screenshot, but was so happy to win, I forgot to screenshot
The picture is from the newspaper section after the stage
The second rest day comes during the transition from the Pyrenees to the Alps.
Like on the first rest day, I will give you all a breakdown of the HTC team on GC, as well as showing how all the pre - Tour favourites are doing as well.
However, before I do that, I want to again show another one of my favourite shots since the the last rest day. It comes from Stage 12, and shows the peleton climbing the Col du Tourmalet
Maillot Vert wearer Mark Cavendish used the Tour's second rest day to say 'Thank You' to all his followers for their continued support throughout the Tour de France.
'Their support has been fantastic.' explained the HTC man. 'Despite the setbacks and the near misses, they have always been their to pick me back up and motivate me to keep going.'
'The plan had been to win at least 6 stages, and secretly I was going to dedicate each stage win to a different follower, but that has not gone to plan, so instead, the win in Montpellier is for all of you... Thank you!'
Edited by the_hoyle on 02-12-2012 20:38
15th July 2011 - Le Tour de France 
![imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg](https://imgur.com/KlJUqDx.jpg[/img[img]]https://imgur.com/yUygrQ.jpg)
