Here are the Top 50 riders in the Tour de France after 11 stages... down the bottom I've given you info on the last place rider too.
1 058 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB 53:11:38.000 00:00:00.000
2 018 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP GCE 53:14:13.000 00:02:35.000
3 207 MAYO, Iban ESP SDV 53:14:17.000 00:02:39.000
4 041 EVANS, Cadel AUS PRL 53:14:19.000 00:02:41.000
5 112 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP DSC 53:14:46.000 00:03:08.000
6 031 SASTRE, Carlos ESP CSC 53:15:17.000 00:03:39.000
7 196 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER AST 53:15:28.000 00:03:50.000
8 111 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA DSC 53:15:31.000 00:03:53.000
9 027 KIRCHEN, Kim LUX TMO 53:16:44.000 00:05:06.000
10 073 ASTARLOZA, Mikel ESP EUS 53:16:58.000 00:05:20.000
11 195 KASHECHKIN, Andrey KAZ AST 53:17:12.000 00:05:34.000
12 036 SCHLECK, Frank LUX CSC 53:17:34.000 00:05:56.000
13 011 PEREIRO SIO, Oscar ESP GCE 53:18:14.000 00:06:36.000
14 061 MOREAU, Christophe FRA A2R 53:18:16.000 00:06:38.000
15 071 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP EUS 53:18:20.000 00:06:42.000
16 025 GERDEMANN, Linus GER TMO 53:18:23.000 00:06:45.000
17 219 SOLER HERNANDEZ, Juan Mauricio COL BAR 53:18:27.000 00:06:49.000
18 051 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB 53:18:48.000 00:07:10.000
19 191 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ AST 53:19:43.000 00:08:05.000
20 118 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR DSC 53:19:54.000 00:08:16.000
21 015 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS GCE 53:20:29.000 00:08:51.000
22 218 SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin BLR BAR 53:20:38.000 00:09:00.000
23 044 HORNER, Christopher USA PRL 53:20:49.000 00:09:11.000
24 012 ARROYO, David ESP GCE 53:22:40.000 00:11:02.000
25 088 VALJAVEC, Tadej SLO LAM 53:22:43.000 00:11:05.000
26 204 COBO ACEBO, Juan Jose ESP SDV 53:24:43.000 00:13:05.000
27 153 BELTRAN, Manuel ESP LIQ 53:25:07.000 00:13:29.000
28 174 GARATE, Juan Manuel ESP QSI 53:25:07.000 00:13:29.000
29 014 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 53:25:22.000 00:13:44.000
30 113 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS DSC 53:27:27.000 00:15:49.000
31 038 VOIGT, Jens GER CSC 53:28:57.000 00:17:19.000
32 093 FOTHEN, Markus GER GST 53:30:36.000 00:18:58.000
33 052 BOOGERD, Michael NED RAB 53:31:45.000 00:20:07.000
34 141 CHAVANEL, Sylvain FRA COF 53:31:50.000 00:20:12.000
35 078 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP EUS 53:34:15.000 00:22:37.000
36 109 LE MEVEL, Christophe FRA C.A 53:34:23.000 00:22:45.000
37 114 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 53:37:59.000 00:26:21.000
38 106 FOFONOV, Dmitriy KAZ C.A 53:39:48.000 00:28:10.000
39 089 VILA ERRANDONEA, Patxi ESP LAM 53:41:06.000 00:29:28.000
40 172 BARREDO, Carlos ESP QSI 53:41:19.000 00:29:41.000
41 103 BOTCHAROV, Alexandre RUS C.A 53:42:19.000 00:30:41.000
42 054 DEKKER, Thomas NED RAB 53:43:30.000 00:31:52.000
43 037 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA CSC 53:44:24.000 00:32:46.000
44 193 IGLINSKIY, Maxim KAZ AST 53:44:44.000 00:33:06.000
45 069 TURPIN, Ludovic FRA A2R 53:44:44.000 00:33:06.000
46 043 CIONI, Dario ITA PRL 53:44:47.000 00:33:09.000
47 177 TANKINK, Bram NED QSI 53:44:56.000 00:33:18.000
48 107 HALGAND, Patrice FRA C.A 53:44:58.000 00:33:20.000
49 068 GOUBERT, Stephane FRA A2R 53:45:45.000 00:34:07.000
50 131 MERCADO, Juan Miguel ESP AGR 53:47:54.000 00:36:16.000
Last place in the race, at one hour 57 minutes back, is Wim Vansevanant of Belgium.
Other notables not in the top 50 include Juan Antonio Flecha and Sandy Casar.
19 July 2007
The Top 10 in Stage 11
Here you go...Robbie Hunter took it at the line and here are the rest of the top 10.
2. Fabian Cancellara (SUI) CSC
3. Murilo Fischer (BRA) LIQ
4. Filippo Pozzato (ITA) LIQ
5. Alessandro Ballan (ITA) LAM
6. Paolo Bossoni (ITA) LAM
7. Claudio Corioni (ITA) LAM
8. Philippe Gilbert (BEL) FDJ
9. William Bonnet (FRA) C.A
10. Kim Kirchen (LUX) TMO
By the way, Hunter is the first South African to win a stage of the Tour de France. Top 50 coming up.
2. Fabian Cancellara (SUI) CSC
3. Murilo Fischer (BRA) LIQ
4. Filippo Pozzato (ITA) LIQ
5. Alessandro Ballan (ITA) LAM
6. Paolo Bossoni (ITA) LAM
7. Claudio Corioni (ITA) LAM
8. Philippe Gilbert (BEL) FDJ
9. William Bonnet (FRA) C.A
10. Kim Kirchen (LUX) TMO
By the way, Hunter is the first South African to win a stage of the Tour de France. Top 50 coming up.
38KM to go in Stage 11
With 38KM left in today's stage, Rasmussen and the Yellow Jersey have caught all escapees and dashed any hopes people had of taking the jersey away today.
All that will likely change in the next couple of days with a time trial and a mountain stage on the horizon.
All that will likely change in the next couple of days with a time trial and a mountain stage on the horizon.
Mini attacks all day
Stage 11 saw a handful of attacks all day, but none were of any consequence. It's interesting because the stage was all downhill (if you follow my earlier logic) and I assumed that someone would blow the field apart by jumping from the start.
In fact I had hoped someone like big George Hincapie or similar would just put the hammer down and gobble back some time. Didn't happen my friends. More results coming up.
In fact I had hoped someone like big George Hincapie or similar would just put the hammer down and gobble back some time. Didn't happen my friends. More results coming up.
Stage 11
You'll notice that the posts on each Tour stage are coming pretty much on time, but not exactly. That's because I'm in Paris enjoying myself and trying to fit this blog in between my other pursuits.
Today I combined the two for a little bit.
In a tiny bistro/cafe in the Latin Quarter, I watched a bit of the Tour and was enthralled by the crowd that had formed to see the race. On the day after a Frenchman won a stage, the turnout was amazing.
AMAZING IN A BAD WAY!!
I'm am beside myself in trying to understand what has changed over here. Perhaps I'm expecting too much of the French, but I thought that the city of Paris ground to a halt for 21 days during the Tour de France. I was wrong.
After searching all over the city, I only found a handful of bars that had the Tour on television and in those bars I found only about half a dozen people watching.
OK, in the interest of full-disclosure, it is a school day and people have to work. But Eurosport doesn't run the Tour as a repeat and I'm not sure how prevalent Tivo is over here. SO, wouldn't you think that a three-hour lunch might happen daily for a couple weeks in July?
Me too.
I'm disappointed but will continue this experiment for a the rest of my stay.
Next few posts are about the race. If you're French, leave me a comment and tell me what's going on. If you're not French, give me your thoughts and ask me your questions.
Today I combined the two for a little bit.
In a tiny bistro/cafe in the Latin Quarter, I watched a bit of the Tour and was enthralled by the crowd that had formed to see the race. On the day after a Frenchman won a stage, the turnout was amazing.
AMAZING IN A BAD WAY!!
I'm am beside myself in trying to understand what has changed over here. Perhaps I'm expecting too much of the French, but I thought that the city of Paris ground to a halt for 21 days during the Tour de France. I was wrong.
After searching all over the city, I only found a handful of bars that had the Tour on television and in those bars I found only about half a dozen people watching.
OK, in the interest of full-disclosure, it is a school day and people have to work. But Eurosport doesn't run the Tour as a repeat and I'm not sure how prevalent Tivo is over here. SO, wouldn't you think that a three-hour lunch might happen daily for a couple weeks in July?
Me too.
I'm disappointed but will continue this experiment for a the rest of my stay.
Next few posts are about the race. If you're French, leave me a comment and tell me what's going on. If you're not French, give me your thoughts and ask me your questions.
Questions Questions Questions
The questions keep rolling in. This one came from a reader who saw a weird thing in the feed zone of yesterday's stage.
Dear Jeff:
When I watched the coverage yesterday I saw a guy from rabobank who was at the front of the peloton go through his feed bag. And I am almost positive he pulled out a can of coke. Is that possible. Would any rider drink coke in the middle of the race? It was definitely a drink in a can as they showed him struggling a bit to pop it open. Thoughts?
SK in the USA
Dear SK:
Coke is great. It's got caffeine and sugar and liquid. Many riders I know who I used race with (mountain bikes) would shake up and pour out a can of coke so it would get flat. Then, during a race they would chug it between laps. It's even better that way because you don't get indigestion from the bubbles.
Gatorade has a lot more sugar than is necessary in a recovery beverage, therefore the teams mix their own recovery drink and prep all the bottles in the SAG wagon before each stage.
OK, you're gonna ask so here goes. I know there's a fancy name for the SAG wagon, but the way I remember it is that it's Support And Gear.
Send all your questions to me at jeff@jeffcutler.com and I'll try and answer them right here on TDF07.com.
Dear Jeff:
When I watched the coverage yesterday I saw a guy from rabobank who was at the front of the peloton go through his feed bag. And I am almost positive he pulled out a can of coke. Is that possible. Would any rider drink coke in the middle of the race? It was definitely a drink in a can as they showed him struggling a bit to pop it open. Thoughts?
SK in the USA
Dear SK:
Coke is great. It's got caffeine and sugar and liquid. Many riders I know who I used race with (mountain bikes) would shake up and pour out a can of coke so it would get flat. Then, during a race they would chug it between laps. It's even better that way because you don't get indigestion from the bubbles.
Gatorade has a lot more sugar than is necessary in a recovery beverage, therefore the teams mix their own recovery drink and prep all the bottles in the SAG wagon before each stage.
OK, you're gonna ask so here goes. I know there's a fancy name for the SAG wagon, but the way I remember it is that it's Support And Gear.
Send all your questions to me at jeff@jeffcutler.com and I'll try and answer them right here on TDF07.com.
Today - Stage 11
At 182KM, today's Stage 11 is mostly downhill. Well, to look at elevations on a map, it is. The start in Marseille is 107KM above sea level and the finish in Montpellier is 72KM above.
Race starts at 12:45 and is expected to end between 5:08PM and 5:31PM depending on speed.
One note from my Parisian adventures yesterday. I went to no fewer than five cafes looking for the Tour on television. NOBODY had it on.
In fact, in one cafe they refused to turn the channel to Eurosport because MTV had given them the flatscreen and they had to keep the channel on MTV.
I don't know what to make of this apathy here in France, but I'll keep you up-to-date with the way Parisians see this event.
Race starts at 12:45 and is expected to end between 5:08PM and 5:31PM depending on speed.
One note from my Parisian adventures yesterday. I went to no fewer than five cafes looking for the Tour on television. NOBODY had it on.
In fact, in one cafe they refused to turn the channel to Eurosport because MTV had given them the flatscreen and they had to keep the channel on MTV.
I don't know what to make of this apathy here in France, but I'll keep you up-to-date with the way Parisians see this event.
Gap of 00:10:39
Forgot to mention that Vasseur finished 00:10:39 ahead of the main peloton (that of the yellow jersey).
Now the Tour de France standings look like this...
These are the top 52 taken from the Versus Standings page. You'll notice that Vasseur is still back a ways. That's because he was nearly 50 minutes behind the leader when he started stage 10.
1 058 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB 49:23:48.000 00:00:00.000
2 018 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP GCE 49:26:23.000 00:02:35.000
3 207 MAYO, Iban ESP SDV 49:26:27.000 00:02:39.000
4 041 EVANS, Cadel AUS PRL 49:26:29.000 00:02:41.000
5 112 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP DSC 49:26:56.000 00:03:08.000
6 061 MOREAU, Christophe FRA A2R 49:27:06.000 00:03:18.000
7 031 SASTRE, Carlos ESP CSC 49:27:27.000 00:03:39.000
8 196 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER AST 49:27:38.000 00:03:50.000
9 111 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA DSC 49:27:41.000 00:03:53.000
10 027 KIRCHEN, Kim LUX TMO 49:28:54.000 00:05:06.000
11 073 ASTARLOZA, Mikel ESP EUS 49:29:08.000 00:05:20.000
12 195 KASHECHKIN, Andrey KAZ AST 49:29:22.000 00:05:34.000
13 036 SCHLECK, Frank LUX CSC 49:29:44.000 00:05:56.000
14 011 PEREIRO SIO, Oscar ESP GCE 49:30:24.000 00:06:36.000
15 071 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP EUS 49:30:30.000 00:06:42.000
16 025 GERDEMANN, Linus GER TMO 49:30:33.000 00:06:45.000
17 219 SOLER HERNANDEZ, Juan Mauricio COL BAR 49:30:37.000 00:06:49.000
18 051 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB 49:30:58.000 00:07:10.000
19 012 ARROYO, David ESP GCE 49:31:21.000 00:07:33.000
20 088 VALJAVEC, Tadej SLO LAM 49:31:33.000 00:07:45.000
21 191 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ AST 49:31:53.000 00:08:05.000
22 118 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR DSC 49:32:04.000 00:08:16.000
23 015 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS GCE 49:32:39.000 00:08:51.000
24 218 SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin BLR BAR 49:32:48.000 00:09:00.000
25 044 HORNER, Christopher USA PRL 49:32:59.000 00:09:11.000
26 204 COBO ACEBO, Juan Jose ESP SDV 49:33:33.000 00:09:45.000
27 153 BELTRAN, Manuel ESP LIQ 49:33:57.000 00:10:09.000
28 174 GARATE, Juan Manuel ESP QSI 49:33:57.000 00:10:09.000
29 113 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS DSC 49:36:08.000 00:12:20.000
30 014 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 49:37:32.000 00:13:44.000
31 038 VOIGT, Jens GER CSC 49:37:47.000 00:13:59.000
32 052 BOOGERD, Michael NED RAB 49:39:57.000 00:16:09.000
33 141 CHAVANEL, Sylvain FRA COF 49:40:40.000 00:16:52.000
34 093 FOTHEN, Markus GER GST 49:42:46.000 00:18:58.000
35 078 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP EUS 49:42:56.000 00:19:08.000
36 109 LE MEVEL, Christophe FRA C.A 49:46:33.000 00:22:45.000
37 089 VILA ERRANDONEA, Patxi ESP LAM 49:49:47.000 00:25:59.000
38 172 BARREDO, Carlos ESP QSI 49:50:09.000 00:26:21.000
39 114 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 49:50:09.000 00:26:21.000
40 106 FOFONOV, Dmitriy KAZ C.A 49:51:58.000 00:28:10.000
41 054 DEKKER, Thomas NED RAB 49:52:11.000 00:28:23.000
42 069 TURPIN, Ludovic FRA A2R 49:53:13.000 00:29:25.000
43 177 TANKINK, Bram NED QSI 49:53:46.000 00:29:58.000
44 107 HALGAND, Patrice FRA C.A 49:53:48.000 00:30:00.000
45 103 BOTCHAROV, Alexandre RUS C.A 49:54:29.000 00:30:41.000
46 063 CALZATI, Sylvain FRA A2R 49:54:33.000 00:30:45.000
47 068 GOUBERT, Stephane FRA A2R 49:54:35.000 00:30:47.000
48 037 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA CSC 49:56:34.000 00:32:46.000
49 131 MERCADO, Juan Miguel ESP AGR 49:56:35.000 00:32:47.000
50 193 IGLINSKIY, Maxim KAZ AST 49:56:54.000 00:33:06.000
51 043 CIONI, Dario ITA PRL 49:56:57.000 00:33:09.000
52 179 VASSEUR, Cédric FRA QSI 49:59:53.000 00:36:05.000
Now the Tour de France standings look like this...
These are the top 52 taken from the Versus Standings page. You'll notice that Vasseur is still back a ways. That's because he was nearly 50 minutes behind the leader when he started stage 10.
1 058 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB 49:23:48.000 00:00:00.000
2 018 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP GCE 49:26:23.000 00:02:35.000
3 207 MAYO, Iban ESP SDV 49:26:27.000 00:02:39.000
4 041 EVANS, Cadel AUS PRL 49:26:29.000 00:02:41.000
5 112 CONTADOR, Alberto ESP DSC 49:26:56.000 00:03:08.000
6 061 MOREAU, Christophe FRA A2R 49:27:06.000 00:03:18.000
7 031 SASTRE, Carlos ESP CSC 49:27:27.000 00:03:39.000
8 196 KLÖDEN, Andréas GER AST 49:27:38.000 00:03:50.000
9 111 LEIPHEIMER, Levi USA DSC 49:27:41.000 00:03:53.000
10 027 KIRCHEN, Kim LUX TMO 49:28:54.000 00:05:06.000
11 073 ASTARLOZA, Mikel ESP EUS 49:29:08.000 00:05:20.000
12 195 KASHECHKIN, Andrey KAZ AST 49:29:22.000 00:05:34.000
13 036 SCHLECK, Frank LUX CSC 49:29:44.000 00:05:56.000
14 011 PEREIRO SIO, Oscar ESP GCE 49:30:24.000 00:06:36.000
15 071 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP EUS 49:30:30.000 00:06:42.000
16 025 GERDEMANN, Linus GER TMO 49:30:33.000 00:06:45.000
17 219 SOLER HERNANDEZ, Juan Mauricio COL BAR 49:30:37.000 00:06:49.000
18 051 MENCHOV, Denis RUS RAB 49:30:58.000 00:07:10.000
19 012 ARROYO, David ESP GCE 49:31:21.000 00:07:33.000
20 088 VALJAVEC, Tadej SLO LAM 49:31:33.000 00:07:45.000
21 191 VINOKOUROV, Alexandre KAZ AST 49:31:53.000 00:08:05.000
22 118 POPOVYCH, Yaroslav UKR DSC 49:32:04.000 00:08:16.000
23 015 KARPETS, Vladimir RUS GCE 49:32:39.000 00:08:51.000
24 218 SIUTSOU, Kanstantsin BLR BAR 49:32:48.000 00:09:00.000
25 044 HORNER, Christopher USA PRL 49:32:59.000 00:09:11.000
26 204 COBO ACEBO, Juan Jose ESP SDV 49:33:33.000 00:09:45.000
27 153 BELTRAN, Manuel ESP LIQ 49:33:57.000 00:10:09.000
28 174 GARATE, Juan Manuel ESP QSI 49:33:57.000 00:10:09.000
29 113 GUSEV, Vladimir RUS DSC 49:36:08.000 00:12:20.000
30 014 GUTIERREZ, José Ivan ESP GCE 49:37:32.000 00:13:44.000
31 038 VOIGT, Jens GER CSC 49:37:47.000 00:13:59.000
32 052 BOOGERD, Michael NED RAB 49:39:57.000 00:16:09.000
33 141 CHAVANEL, Sylvain FRA COF 49:40:40.000 00:16:52.000
34 093 FOTHEN, Markus GER GST 49:42:46.000 00:18:58.000
35 078 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP EUS 49:42:56.000 00:19:08.000
36 109 LE MEVEL, Christophe FRA C.A 49:46:33.000 00:22:45.000
37 089 VILA ERRANDONEA, Patxi ESP LAM 49:49:47.000 00:25:59.000
38 172 BARREDO, Carlos ESP QSI 49:50:09.000 00:26:21.000
39 114 HINCAPIE, George USA DSC 49:50:09.000 00:26:21.000
40 106 FOFONOV, Dmitriy KAZ C.A 49:51:58.000 00:28:10.000
41 054 DEKKER, Thomas NED RAB 49:52:11.000 00:28:23.000
42 069 TURPIN, Ludovic FRA A2R 49:53:13.000 00:29:25.000
43 177 TANKINK, Bram NED QSI 49:53:46.000 00:29:58.000
44 107 HALGAND, Patrice FRA C.A 49:53:48.000 00:30:00.000
45 103 BOTCHAROV, Alexandre RUS C.A 49:54:29.000 00:30:41.000
46 063 CALZATI, Sylvain FRA A2R 49:54:33.000 00:30:45.000
47 068 GOUBERT, Stephane FRA A2R 49:54:35.000 00:30:47.000
48 037 VANDEVELDE, Christian USA CSC 49:56:34.000 00:32:46.000
49 131 MERCADO, Juan Miguel ESP AGR 49:56:35.000 00:32:47.000
50 193 IGLINSKIY, Maxim KAZ AST 49:56:54.000 00:33:06.000
51 043 CIONI, Dario ITA PRL 49:56:57.000 00:33:09.000
52 179 VASSEUR, Cédric FRA QSI 49:59:53.000 00:36:05.000
Stage 10
Another day of the Tour de France, another shake up. I'm writing this at 9:44AM local time (France) and am just stunned at the flip-flopping of riders, absence of a strong team and a cloudy outcome to the race.
Above all, I'm thrilled. This is how the Tour is supposed to shake out.
Better still, Stage 10 was won by a Frenchman!!
Just after the 73KM mark, there was a breakaway with ten riders in it. They were chasing two other riders and finally caught them at the 81KM mark. Then, the core of this 10-rider group stayed away to the finish.
In the lead group of 11 riders at 81KM were Burghardt (TMO), Voigt (CSC), Flecha (RAB), Bossoni (LAM), Halgand (C.A), Scheirlinckx (COF), Albasini and Kuschynski (LIQ), Casar (FDJ), Vasseur (QSI) and Grivko (MRM).
The group that broke off of this group was made up of Voigt, Casar, Halgand, Vasseur and Albasini.
They stayed away with around 18KM left in the race to give France a win by 3CM - that's right, three centimeters. Vasseur took the stage with the rest of the five riders zipping home right on his wheel.
Here's the top five list for Stage 10.
1. Cedric Vasseur (QSI) 229.5km in 5h20'24" (42.977km/h)
2. Sandy Casar (FDJ)
3. Michael Albasini (LIQ)
4. Patrice Halgand (C.A)
5. Jens Voigt (CSC)
Above all, I'm thrilled. This is how the Tour is supposed to shake out.
Better still, Stage 10 was won by a Frenchman!!
Just after the 73KM mark, there was a breakaway with ten riders in it. They were chasing two other riders and finally caught them at the 81KM mark. Then, the core of this 10-rider group stayed away to the finish.
In the lead group of 11 riders at 81KM were Burghardt (TMO), Voigt (CSC), Flecha (RAB), Bossoni (LAM), Halgand (C.A), Scheirlinckx (COF), Albasini and Kuschynski (LIQ), Casar (FDJ), Vasseur (QSI) and Grivko (MRM).
The group that broke off of this group was made up of Voigt, Casar, Halgand, Vasseur and Albasini.
They stayed away with around 18KM left in the race to give France a win by 3CM - that's right, three centimeters. Vasseur took the stage with the rest of the five riders zipping home right on his wheel.
Here's the top five list for Stage 10.
1. Cedric Vasseur (QSI) 229.5km in 5h20'24" (42.977km/h)
2. Sandy Casar (FDJ)
3. Michael Albasini (LIQ)
4. Patrice Halgand (C.A)
5. Jens Voigt (CSC)
Cycling Jerseys
A reader wrote to me directly and asked about jerseys. She wanted to know how they had the 'right' jersey on hand each day when sometimes the stage winner is totally unexpected. My answer to her...
The organization - Le Tour - has a team of people who make up jerseys for each team of EVERY jersey. They bring them with them for the entire race to each finish and then they have a jersey ready for the podium no matter what the finish.
The excess jerseys are guarded 24-hours by armed guards and are transported in armored vehicle (if I recall this part correctly).
I saw a special on the jerseys a few years back and I was thrilled to find out because I had wondered the same thing.
**The jersey the people put on at the podium is NOT the same jersey they wear in the race. That one is purely for photo ops. It zips up in the back and is worn like a smock. The jersey they wear in the race is their choice of long or short sleeved and is a normal cycling jersey.
Coming up a recap - briefly - of stage 10 and some other Tour rambling.
The organization - Le Tour - has a team of people who make up jerseys for each team of EVERY jersey. They bring them with them for the entire race to each finish and then they have a jersey ready for the podium no matter what the finish.
The excess jerseys are guarded 24-hours by armed guards and are transported in armored vehicle (if I recall this part correctly).
I saw a special on the jerseys a few years back and I was thrilled to find out because I had wondered the same thing.
**The jersey the people put on at the podium is NOT the same jersey they wear in the race. That one is purely for photo ops. It zips up in the back and is worn like a smock. The jersey they wear in the race is their choice of long or short sleeved and is a normal cycling jersey.
Coming up a recap - briefly - of stage 10 and some other Tour rambling.
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