Tour de France 2011 - post stage 21 gallery

Many thanks to Anthony Herrero, a friend of a friend who resides in Paris, for access to these wonderful pictures.

The final sprint down the Champs Elysees. Renshaw and Cavendish out in front.

El Pistolero! - Alberto Contador

Andre Greipel - The Gorilla! Winner of Stage 10

Andy Schleck - 2nd, again!

Frank Schleck - 3rd overall

Bjarne Riis - Director, Team Saxo Bank - Sungard

Cadel Evans and John Lelangue - Director, Team BMC

Damiano Cunego - 7th overall

George Hincapie - Legend!

HTC Highroad

Jens Voigt - Looking uncharacteristically serious!

Johnny Hoogerland - unexpected hero!

Mark Cavendish - Green Jersey Winner (Finally!)

Mark Renshaw - Lead-out man extraordinaire!

Phillipe Gilbert - rising star

Pierre Rolland - another rising star

Samuel Sanchez - 6th overall

Edvald Boasson Hagen - Winner of stages 6 and 17

Stuart O'Grady - Aussie cycling legend, super domestique

Thomas Voeckler - Yellow Jersey holder for 10 days and 4th overall

Thor Hushovd - 3 stage wins

Tony Martin - Winner of the final time-trial

Tyler Farrar - Winner stage 3

Le Tour - Week Three Wrap

Who looked good
What an emphatic win by Cadel Evans! Right from the Grand Depart he looked strong, you could see the focus in his eyes. This was a man that was always going to win the Tour in 2011, we just didn't all see it at first, but by the time he took to the podium for the start of the final time trial in Grenoble the writing was on the wall. His face said it all. This was the face of a man that was going to overcome any time advantage the Schleck boys had. He was a picture of focus and determination - and yet was also calm. He had that sense of control in the face of adversity that is the mark of champions - Armstrong had it in bucketloads. It was an historic win for Australia and the mainstream media have jumped all over it - some proclaiming that the win was the greatest Australian sporting achievement ever! I don't know about that - but it was pretty damn good. I can't wait for him to fly home and get all the hometown recognition he deserves! If there is a parade, I'll be there in the front row! The Schlecks also rode a brilliant race and looked great. One of them will win a Tour de France in the not-too-distant future I'm sure, they just need some work on their time-trialling. Others that looked good in the final week were Tom Danielson and Pierre Roland. Roland's win on the Alpe d'huez was awesome, and it seems he will be a yellow jersey contender in the years to come.

Who looked bad
He wasn't terrible, and fifth in the overall General Classification is definitely not a bad result, but Contador's loss of time in the Alps was a shock, especially when it seemed that he was getting over the sore knee and coming good. He lost significant time on Cadel and the Schlecks on stage 18 up the Col du Galibier. Perhaps he was affected by the win in the Giro - or perhaps we are now seeing the real Contador - the clean, human one. Who knows. Levi Leipheimer and Ivan Basso were two other stars that failed to impress. Basso finished eighth, again, not a bad result, but his race was a war of attrition. He held the others wheels and rarely attacked. Perhaps we are seeing the beginning of the end of a long and tumultuous career. As for Leipheimer, he had a bad crash on stage six, but never really featured after that. I expected a bit more from the 2011 runner-up of the Tour of California and the winner of the 2011 Tour de Suisse.

Best stage
The best stage in week three had to be stage 18, the 198.4 km grueling race from Pinerolo to Galibier - Serre Chevalier. Andy Schleck attacked early in the stage leaving the other contenders (primarily Evans) surprised and confused by how to counter this move. In hindsight it was a brilliant strategy. Schleck knew that the GC's would stick to his wheel like glue on the final climb - the only way to get a significant time gap was to roll the dice and go early. His gamble paid off and he took more than 2 minutes off Cadel. What was equally amazing about this stage was Cadels response. He looked at the others to help claw back the time Andy had taken (which was over 4 minutes at its peak), the others all chose to be ticket collectors and suck his wheel. Instead of complaining and getting angry, Cadel steeled himself and dragged the peloton along himself - bridging the gap by half and it was here that he ultimately saved his Tour. This resilience was the story of Cadels Tour de France, he simply fought and fought and fought, it was this dogged determination that won him the Tour.

Defining Moment
There were a few moments in week three that will be remembered and looked back on. As mentioned already, Andy's unanswered breakaway on stage 18, and Cadel's fight to claw back the time Andy had gained were both incredible junctures in the Tour, moments where, had things gone differently, the final result would have changed. Contador falling away on the Galibier was a moment because, if nothing else, it showed he was fallible. Cavendish's final win on the Champs Elysees was also a special moment. HTC Highroad rode the perfect race and lead-out train was textbook perfect. Cavendish finally got the Green Jersey and it was his 20th win in five tours; this has definitely cemented him in the record books. But the stand out moment for me was Cadel on the start line of the final Time Trial. This was a man possessed - a man completely focussed on what needed to happen, anything but a win was not an option.

And another thing...
- Well, it's over, we can all go back to regular sleeping hours, and personally, I'm looking forward to not stuffing my face with chips and Maltesers at 1am in an effort to stay awake!
- What was with Scott Sunderland's shirt on the final wrap-up of the race? It looked like it was made from my nannas curtains - check it out!
- Loving Robbie McEwans moniker for Andy and Frank Schleck - Frandy!
- As usual, top effort by SBS. Lets hope the Cadel-mania dies down and the commercial stations don't get any funny ideas about presenting the Tour in future - could you imagine Eddie Maguire hosting?
- Top job by Mike Tomolaris and Dave MacKenzie... great commentary.
- Twitter is brilliant during the Tour - especially the comments from DNF riders. Some of Vinokourov's comments were comedy gold!
- And the final word should go to this year's 'Lanterne Rouge', the last place of the Tour de France - the Italian Fabio Sabatini. Just to finish a race like the TdF is a massive achievement!

That's it! Did I get it right? What did you think of Cadel's win? Comment below!

Le Tour - Week Two Wrap

Who looks good
Well, after a hard week in the Pyrenees not a lot has changed. All of the main contenders are still there and, as I predicted in the week one wrap, Thomas Voeckler has hung on to the yellow jersey for more time than even he thought he would. So the pointy end of the field looks much the same, with Voeckler, Evans, Basso, Sanchez, Contador and the Schlecks all still in the mix, but the racing was anything but dull. Cavendish has shown he really is the fastest man on two wheels, picking up another two wins. His turn of speed in the last 200 meters is incredible. The sprint finish win by Greipel on stage 10 was also inspiring. The rouleur’s of the peloton (Rojas, Gilbert and Hushovd) all still look great and one of these may pick up a win on stage 16 or 17. There are some young guns like Tom Danielson and Peter Velits that are showing some great form – they will be ones to watch in future grand tours.

Who looks bad
I expected more from Nicholas Roche, Tony Martin and Levi Leipheimer in the past week, it was a little disappointing Roche and Martin couldn’t stay with the leaders up the Plateau de Beille. Though, I still think Roche and Martin have long, and prosperous careers ahead of them. Leipheimer is obviously still suffering after a few crashes early on. There are a few teams that have gone missing also, Team Sky have disappeared with the withdrawal of Wiggins, and Ag2r La Mondiale and Cofidis haven’t featured much, though David Moncoutie (Cofidis) is showing some great form.

Best stage
As Thor Hushovd is one of my favourite cyclists, I loved his emphatic stage win in Lourdes (Stage 13). He destroyed the field with raw power and took out a stage that, on paper, looked like it was meant for a climbing specialist. He continues his incredible season in the rainbow jersey. As far as simple viewing pleasure goes – you couldn’t have gone past Stage 14 up Plateau de Beille. This was a cracker of a finish, Andy Schleck kept attacking and Evans, Voekler, Basso and Contador had answers for him every time.

Defining moment
As well as being a great stage to watch, stage 13’s climb up Plateau de Beille was also my defining moment of the week. The fact that the field could not be split, despite the climbing of a peloton-destroying mountain, will have repercussions for the rest of the Tour. This may trigger a change in tactics from the major protagonists – they know now that short attacks aren’t splitting the field. If no one can pull off a long lung-destroying attack and nothing changes in the Alps, Evans will go into the final time trial in Genoble with a huge advantage. He is arguably the best time trialist of the group and he will easily be able to chip away at the lead that Voeckler and Frank Schleck have over him. It is looking good for Cuddles, the little Aussie battler!

And another thing…
- I know you should never laugh at a cyclist hitting the deck, but Jens Voigt’s two crashes within seconds of each other on Stage 14 was hilarious. He is such a colourful character and when he lost his shit after the second crash I couldn’t help but have a chuckle!
- My heart skips a beat everytime I see a rider pick up his bike and toss it to the side of the road like it was a piece of rubbish. As someone who races on a cheap(ish) aluminium Fuji I would give anything for one of those bikes! And if I had one I would definitely treat it with care – even if it was given to me for free!
- How good is Matty Keenan?! For those of you outside of Australia, he is our homegrown cycling commentator that is the warm-up act for British cycling legends Liggett and Sherwen. I say give him a whole stage to commentate, he’s great!

So have I got it right? What’s your predictions for the last week? Comment below…

The Tour de France - Bring It On!

The Tour de France begins this Saturday 2nd July, and I'm excited. I can tell others are excited too. There has been more people out on their bikes this week riding to work, the bike shops are a bit busier, and the bike blogs are a bit more frantic with talk of the tour. Truth is, I look forward to it every year, partly because of the obvious reasons, the intrigue of who will win and the enjoyment of cheering on the Aussies that have made the team selection. But also because it brightens up my winter! It may be sunny and perfect riding conditions in France and other northern hemisphere countries, but here in Melbourne it's cold in July and watching the Tour transports me to the roads of France where its sunny, there's beautiful scenery and delicious food. Watching the Tour in our winter gives me that little bit of extra motivation to get up and ride my bike in the chill of Melbourne's winter mornings.

Despite this, I do wish I was going... being there in France in July, riding the L'Etape and then following the race around is a dream that will be accomplished one day, but not this year. So watching the SBS (Australian Tour broadcaster) coverage it will have to be, and lucky for us they are showing every stage live again and will have update shows every morning and evening. Check out the coverage schedule here. The SBS Cycling Central team do a superb job every year of bringing Aussies the Tour and if I can't be in France - this is definitley the next best thing!

Here's some videos to get you in the mood

My picks for the top five

1. Alberto Contador

Trust me, I want to put Cadel in this spot but I just can't. Contador is too strong. I think he is in the form of his life and the recent Giro win wont hold him back in the slightest. To win the Tour you need to be able to attack in the mountains and no one can attack like Contador. His explosive speed on the mountains is currently matched by no one and he has the ability to obliterate the field with this weapon. In 2009 we saw this in Verbier where he attacked and took the yellow jersey from Nocentini (and Armstrong) on stage 15, we saw it on Mt Etna on stage 9 of this years Giro and we will see it again at this years Tour de France.

2. Cadel Evans

I really hope I'm wrong and Cadel does pull off the win, if I'm right this will be a heartbreaking third 2nd place in the tour General Classification (GC) for Cadel. But all the stars are aligning for him. He has had the perfect season so far, with two GC wins in smaller stage races and a second place in the Criterium du Dauphine. His team, BMC racing, is completely set up for him to get the GC win. He's got the strength and experience of George Hincapie and some really good climbers to help him in the mountains. Go Cadel!

3. Bradley Wiggins

Wiggins is looking really good to me. I think he has been threatening to take some really big wins and it seems his time has come. Like Cadel, Wiggins has had an excellent lead up to the Tour, opting to stay out of the Giro and do some altitude training instead. His win at the Dauphine shows he has got what it takes and his time trialling abilitiy concretes him as a serious Tour contender. The long time trial stage at the end of the Tour is somewhere he could take some serious time off the other Tour hopefulls.

4. Andy Schleck

Other cycling people (and people who actually know what they are talking about!) have got Andy higher up on the top five list but I just can't see him doing any better than fourth or maybe third this year. His season hasn't been the best so far, there have been no lead-up wins, like you would expect from a serious Tour contender. I know he has ability in the mountains but perhaps he lacks the strategic maturity one needs to succeed in a three week stage race. I guess I think he's a little overrated, am I wrong? Maybe.

5. Jurgen Van den Broeck

Van den Broeck is my smokey, my dark horse. I first noticed him when he was a domestique for Cadel when he rode for Silence Lotto. Jurgen showed signs back then that he was developing into a GC rider, he even rode away from Cadel at one point - putting his own desire over the teams ambitions. Love him or hate him, he is a classy rider with bucketloads of ability. He will be a force this year and for a few years yet.

So have I got it right? Comment below and let me know your top five.

Stages to watch for

Stage 2, the Team Time Trial, is going to determine the yellow jersey holder for the following few days, and the TTTs are always nail biting to watch. Expect some blistering speeds and some terrible crashes.

Stages 3-7, relatively flat stages that will be perfect for the sprint specialists, Cavendish will pick up a few wins here for sure.

Stage 12, Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden, is the first high mountain stage, we'll
see some attacks here are the yellow jersey will possibly change hands. Will be an interesting stage for strategy - some teams may not want to take control of the yellow jersey this early - so there's a chance a mountain specialist who's no GC threat will come and take the win and the maillot jaune.

Stage 19, Modane Valfrejus - Alpe-d'Huez, will surely be the most exciting stage of the three weeks, if you stay up to watch any stage - make it this one! The Alpe-d'Huez is famous for its role in the history of the Tour de France and for good reason - it will break some riders and there will be attacks galore.

Stage 20, Genoble Individual Time Trial, is a very long time trial, and so gives the TT specialists an opportunity to shine. If Contador doesn't have enough of a lead by this stage he could lose the yellow jersey to Evans or Wiggans - both being superior time trialists.

Let the race begin!

The Tour de France is called the 'beautiful' race for good reason. The pageantry, the passion, the sufferring, and the incredible human achievement... it makes for fantastic TV! I have been reading Bill Stricklands novel on the comeback of Lance Armstrong and he sums up the attraction of the race really well. He explains that it is such a hard race that even the last place getter is celebrated. Not for coming in last but simply for hanging in and making it to the end. He is the Lanterne Rouge, the Red Lantern, and he should be proud. Bill writes:

In the Tour de France, you can't coast into last place; you have to tear yourself apart for the honour

That's what the Tour de France is about, human endurance matched by no other sport. I can't wait.