Tour de France: Stage 14 Debrief

"That was beautiful - I enjoyed every moment." (Frank Schleck)

Well, well, well - you spend a bit of time thinking about your stage predictions and then what happens? Someone nobody would ever have expected appears from the more anonymous depths of the tour bus and wins what could be the hardest climb of the Tour!

It was, of course, the Saint-Gaudens to Plateau de Beille stage and everyone following the event knew we were going to see something special today. The thing is, we all thought that something special was going to come from either Alberto Contador, some Schleck or another, Cadel Evans, Thomas Voeckler or - as an absolute rank outsider wildcard probably no chance in hell contender - Geraint Thomas. What actually happened surprised everyone.

An early breakaway - at one point consisting of 24 riders, which makes it more a satellite peloton than a lead group - defied expectations by holding on to their lead for much longer than was thought possible.

It's been confirmed that the mountain upon which noted
hardcase Jens Voigt crashed is being treated in hospital
for a fractured collarbone.

One thing that did happen as predicted was that Contador's knee suddenly seemed a lot better and Andy Schleck was suddenly on good form again once it became apparent that the troublesome joint had been subject to a miracle. The two rivals sparred their way to the top with Alberto matching every move the Luxembourger made until eventually - as a lot of us thought might happen - Andy got the better of him. It was also noted that Andy learned a valuable lesson in Stage 12, that being his team's limits. He drove them too hard too early on Thursday, a stage he probably could have won with no effect on his performance today, but ended up without support before the hill really got going. Today, LeopardTrek were out of the limelight until the ascent of the Plateau loomed ahead and then moved up to the front of the peloton and took full control. When the right time came, the brothers were ideally placed to make their attack; and they did. Lots of times.

Jens Voigt did an admirable job of piling on the pressure, first as part of the breakaway and later as a single act and ensured the pack was tiring when Andy had plenty more left, despite two crashes in close succession - one bringing him perilously close to plunging down a steep slope. But, being Jens, he picked himself up, checked the tarmac hadn't been too badly cracked and got on with it; only giving way in the last part of the stage when he'd gone well and truly above and beyond the call of duty.

In the end, when everything came down to the simple question of who could be the first to ride up the mountain the fastest, it soon became apparent that there was no simple answer. All the riders with a chance of victory got involved in a highly complex psychology game, a sort of mixture of cat-and-mouse, poker and go as they tried to toy with other riders, show no emotion (Andy's the undisputed grand master at that one) and second, third and fourth guess their opponents. What's more, it turned out that they're all almost perfectly matched, too.

This was all quite entertaining, but the novelty would wear off very soon if every single race ended up as a battle of the wits - cycle racing was always supposed to be primarily about who can ride a bike the fastest without falling off to much, after all. The mind games played in all races and especially the Tour are an interesting little aside, but many fans are longing for the days when what you got at a race was a good old-fashioned duel like the ones that Coppi and Bartali and Hinault and Zoetemelk used to have, a sawdust-on-the-floor bare-knuckles fight involving riders who had no time for psychic warfare but were quick to lock horns, bear grudges and extract revenge.

This is what we want: fighting!

Then, while the top brass were still studying one another for signs of weakness and learning what they could about who was on form and who was not, someone nobody expected decided he was feeling pretty good. So, he thought he may as well have a pop at winning the stage. That man was Jelle Vanendert, a useful enough climber to no doubt be highly valued in Omega-Pharma but by no means a candidate for victory today - or so we thought. Jelle just got down to business and kept going. Euskaltel-Euskadi's Sammy Sanchez saw him and decided he'd had more than enough of the frontline cleverness, so he followed.

And - would you believe it - it turned out that riding a bike faster than anyone else can still win a race: Vanendert crossed the line with such an advantage he was able to take his hands off the bars, sit bolt upright and cruise across with a massive grin on his face. Sanchez wasn't far behind and crossed 21" later. We'll have to wait and see if everyone understood the lesson, but it seems that at least one person did - just as they reached the top of the climb, Andy Schleck abandoned race-winning theory and resorted to brute strength - and it worked for him too! He literally shot out of the group and surged ahead of them, soon building an enormous gap and crossed the line in third place. Other than Evans, who eventually gave chase, nobody could respond - most notably, Contador who took sixth place a good few bike lengths later.

Tomorrow, we're back down in the flatlands again and the climbers will take a back seat - but then it's mountains again for Stages 16, 17, 18 and 19. With a bit of luck, we'll see some riders trying out the Vanendert Method - and that means the racing is going to be a lot more fun from the spectators' point of view.

How did Vanendert win? Easy - he rode
his bike faster than anyone else rode
theirs.

Last word: It seems to us that Andy Schleck's main problem, other than obsessing about Contador, isn't lack of form or that famous niceness which his father says stops him having the killer instinct that is needed to win - he proved with that stupendous burst of speed that got him into third that he has all the form he needs and the way he deliberately winds up Contador shows he's not as nice as he pretends. It's his timing: every time an apparently-faultless plan goes to pot, as it does so often with him, it's because he timed something wrong - attacking too early, attacking too late, driving his team to hard at too early a point or being at Point A when he should have been at Point B 30 seconds ago.

It's often said - because it's true - that every time the Plateau de Beille has been used in the Tour, the winner of the that stage also won the overall General Classification. That's just chance, it's not a guarantee - and there's still al long way and a lot of climbing before we get to Paris. If Andy, more than anyone else, experiments with trusting his instincts instead of what the spreadsheets suggest, this Tour might still be his - the top contenders may be well-matched, but it looked at the end of the stage that he might just have a very slight edge.

Stage 14 results:

1. VANENDERT Jelle 5h 13' 25"  
2. SANCHEZ Samuel + 00' 21"
3. SCHLECK Andy + 00' 46"
4. EVANS Cadel + 00' 48"
5. URAN Rigoberto 
6. CONTADOR Alberto
7. VOECKLER Thomas
8. SCHLECK Frank
9. PERAUD Jean-Christophe
10. ROLLAND Pierre (4-10 all same time)


Overall General Classification following Stage 14:

1. VOECKLER Thomas 61h 04' 10"  
2. SCHLECK Frank + 01' 49"
3. EVANS Cadel + 02' 06"
4. SCHLECK Andy + 02' 15"
5. BASSO Ivan + 03' 16"
6. SANCHEZ Samuel + 03' 44"
7. CONTADOR Alberto + 04' 00"
8. CUNEGO Damiano + 04' 01"
9. DANIELSON Tom + 05' 46"
10. DE WEERT Kevin + 06' 18"


Points: Mark Cavendish; Climber: Jelle Vanendert; Youth: Rigoberto Uran; Team: LeopardTrek; Combative: Sandy Casar.

Separated at birth...

Dat Ash and Jelle Vanendert

Tour de France: Stage 14 Preview

The Tour arrives at Plateau de Beille, 2007.

Stage 14 is the last one in the Pyrenees for 2011, but by 'eck it's a good one, not too long at 168.5km but with approximately 5500m total vertical gain to ensure the riders earn their post-race pasta. The finish line comes after a Hors-Categorie climb to the Plateau de Beille, a ski resort 1780m above sea level. Nowadays, Plateau de Beille in winter is full of ultra-modern BMWs, Bentleys and Range Rovers but it wasn't always like that - people were living here more than 14,000 years ago, as proven by the cave paintings dating from the Magdalenian Period during the Upper Palaeolithic. Herds of cows roam freely about the area and may decide to mess things up by standing about on the roads.

What's more, there are no less than five categorised climbs to be tackled on the way - and two of them are hefty Cat 1s, challenging ascents in their own right. Then there's a pair of Cat 2s, both reaching over 1000m and thus plenty high enough to get the lungs burning; and just before the final climb a respectable little Cat 3 in the form of Port de Lers, which is only 3.8km at 5.5% but, as it piggy-backs on Cat 1 Col d'Agnes, is still 1517m above sea level at its highest point, making it much harder than it would be if it started at sea level.

Soueich.
(Image by Christian Roucheux, used with thanks
and in accordance with the conditions set out here.)

The action kicks off in Saint-Gaudens, a town of about 12,000 souls which has been a stage town 12 times before today and is the home of the Sunn mountain bike and BMX manufacturer and the birthplace of former AG2R rider Laurent Estadieu, winner of a Tour de Somme in 2001. As we leave on the D5 road, we soon come to Soueich, a village with a population of about 500. There isn't much other than vowels in Soueich, but what's there is pretty - the village and its church line the banks of the river and have the picturesque charm of  unspoiled, not particularly wealthy rural France.

The village of Aspet marks the beginning of the Col de Portet-d'Aspet, today's first mountain, reaching 1062m with an average gradient of 9.7%. First used along with Tourmalet and d'Aubisque in 1910, this is the mountain that claimed Fabio Casartelli when he and other riders crashed in a high-speed descent in 1995. The Italian, who was only 24-years-old, hit his head on the concrete barrier and sustained horrific head and facial injuries. Following three cardiac arrests, he died in the helicopter en route to hospital. Two years later, the Youth classification in the Tour was renamed in his honour. The point where the tragedy took place is marked by a sundial aligned so that the sun highlights the dates of his birth, his death and the day he won an Olympic gold medal. Raymond Poulidor was very nearly killed nearby 22 years earlier when he crashed off the road and plunged into a ravine.

The chateau near Saint-Lary is a very fine example of a real castle rather than a large house and the beautiful village should not be missed either. Orgibet is even better, but suffers somewhat from being so pretty that most of the houses have been bought by people from the cities and abroad, pricing locals out of the market. Orgibet is also the start of the intermediate sprint which ought to be an interesting one as it's twisty and not flat - also, since Cavendish and the majority of the sprint specialists are liable to be somewhere at the back after the Col de Portet-d'Aspet, it'll probably be left open for others to go for the points. 3.5km further on, Aucuzein has some interesting buildings including a Templar chapel and a ruined castle.

Audressein is the location of a  UNESCO World Humanity site, the Notre-Dame-de-Tramesaygues which was - and still is, in fact - an important point for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela , a journey which these days is as popular among hippies as it is among the devoutly religious and was the subject of "Spanish Steps - Travels with my Donkey," written by the same Tim Moore who wrote "French Revolutions," one of the very best books about the Tour de France.

Soon, the parcours reaches the second climb, 1395m Cat 1 Col de la Core. It's not especially steep at 5.7%, but the full 14.1km will do a good job of tiring the less strong riders out which in turn will see that they suffer on the climbs to come. 13km from the summit is Seix with the ruined Chateau de Mirabat on one hill and the complete Chateau de Seix on another. It's also the location of the feeding station.  From Seix, it's another 17.5km to the next climb, Cat 2 1110m Col de Latrape. The climb is only 5.6km but the gradient is 7.2%. Then,  passing through Aulus-les-Bains on the way, it's just 15km to the Cat 1 Col d'Agnes which is 10km long, 1570m high and has a gradient of 8.2% - verging on Hors-Categorie and one of the most famous of the Cat 1 climbs. As if that's not bad enough, there's a secondary climb piggy-backing on the side: Port de Lers which carries the road back up to over 1500m again. It's worth pressing on though, because one over this one it's downhill all the way for the next 25km. Near Aulus-les-Bains is the famous Cascade d'Ars, a waterfall which is an hour's walk from the village and well within range for the helicopters.

Cascade d'Ars

Just over 10km from the summit of Port de Lers is the village of Vicdessos, where a fairly tricky junction between the D18 and D8 needs to be tackled. According to (probable) legend, hunters observed a woman running naked on the mountainsides here in 1808. When they succeeded in trapping her, they found that she behaved like a trapped wild animal and was apparently unable to speak - until, that is, someone asked her how she had avoided being eaten by the bears which were then common in the area. "The bears are my friends!" she exclaimed, in perfect French. It is said that she died soon afterwards due to her inability to adjust to captivity. Somewhat more solid than this story are the ruins of Château de Montréal which stand above the village.

Tarascon

Tarascon, 7km north west, is home to an ancient defensive tower (called the Le Castella and as such perhaps once part of a fort) on a rocky outcrop. More recently, it's been put to good use by the addition of a large clock. Ussat, 2km further down, has a spring providing mineral water said by those who prefer to make stuff up and pretend its true rather than believe in facts to be an effective preventative or cure for all types of paralysis. Ornolac-Ussat-les-Bains, a spa half a kilometre way, has a large cave system - the biggest chamber is open to the public and would be able to swallow Notre-Dame Cathedral with room to spare.

The route then continues along the N20 via Sinsat - which really ought to be an "adult entertainment" TV channel rather than a tiny village - and then via a nice, straight-forward junction at Aulos along the D522 to Les Cabannes with two or three tricky corners and bends required to get onto the road southbound to the start of the 15.8km climb to Plateau de Beille. Once on the mountain, there are several switchbacks as the road gains altitude - these add a further challenge as although they reduce the average gradient, the small sections at the bends where the road moves up to the next section are much steeper.

Plateau de Beille in the winter.

The final kilometre is both uphill and twisty, with a right-hander in the final 500m to make sprints to the end difficult - though mass sprints are exceedingly unlikely after that climb, anyway - and possible further complications depending on how organisers are routing the race around the car parking at the top.

Predictions: We were completely wrong yesterday - but then, so were a lot of people: hardly anyone at all thought that sprinter Thor Hushovd would win a stage like that one - so let's see what we can do today. Whether or not either of them win will have to remain to be seen, but the Schlecks are very obviously going to be gunning for this stage. Frank is a natural choice and if Andy can get over his Contador obsession he might just surprise the critics; assuming, that is, that we're correct in our suspicions that he hasn't lost the excellent form he was in last year. Then there's Contador himself, who certainly shouln't be written off just yet - never write off Contador - who is in seventh place overall and could take a lot of points today if he's feeling good and fortune is on his side. Cadel Evans is an all-rounder, which often means a rider does well on all stages but excels in none - but that doesn't apply to him. He's a strongman and though a little stockier than most of the purebred climbers he might do well here if he puts his mind to it. Don't forget Euskaltel-Euskadi who might fancy a last shot at glory before the Tour leaves their territory: Sammy Sanchez won a mountain stage two days ago and, buoyed up by that success, might feel lucky today.

Weather: It's looking rather pleasant for Saint-Gaudens this morning - there's likely to be a bit of light cloud about later in the morning, and while there's a 20% chnce of rain at some point today it's far more likely this afternoon once the Tour is gone. The wind is variable but very light, having little or no effect either way on the race, and the temperature ideal for cycling at 16C. There'll be no change after the first 20km when the race reaches the Razecueillé area, nor at Aucazein after 40km, but conditions at altitude can change rapidly so things might be different at Col de Portet-d'Aspet (26.5km) and Col de la Core (62.5km). The area around Seix will be much the same as the start, but the wind may have picked up a little though still not enough to affect the race. The same is true of Aulus-les-Bains (100km), Vicdessos (130km) and Sinsat (150km), but it could reach as high as 27C through these areas, making the race tougher. Once again, the weather may change rapidly on the mountain passes through this region. It looks set to be good on Plateau de Beille, temperatures around 21C and wind speeds of 14kmph shouldn't affect things too much.

DEVIL WATCH: Now you're asking - he could show his horned head just about anywhere today because the entire route is riddled with the climbs that are his preferred haunting grounds. We thought Col d'Aubisque would be the most likely spot in Stage 13 but saw nothing of him - however, with the mist and huge crowds, that doesn't mean he wasn't there somewhere. For Stage 14, somewhere on the steep slopes up to Plateau de Beille seem a good option and we'll be keeping a careful eye out for him there.

Tour de France: Stage 13 Debrief

Very quick one today...

Thor hit 112kmph on the descent to the
finish. For the benefit of Americans and
old-fashioned Brits, that's 69mph.

Well, who could have ever guessed sprinter Thor Hushovd was going to win this one? Not only did he win, he quite literally hammered the mortal upstarts and crossed the line way ahead of anyone else while the majority of the pack were still some way up the road trying to get ahead of one another.

Other than Thor, many of the big names remained content to lurk in the peloton today. We thought that one of the purebred grimpeurs - perhaps Contador or Andy Schleck - would emerge and grab a few valuable pointeroonies from the Cat 1 climb, but they were saving energy and 'twas not to be.

The Col d'Aubisque was as spectacular as ever and the thick fog at the top no problem at all for the thousands of spectators who had turned out to cheer the riders on, many of them choosing the usual strange outfits as appears to be one of the effects of rarified air.

However, despite the Aubisque's presence, today was not really a mountain stage. Saturday, which features  six categorised climbs including two very respectable Cat 1s and an absolute whopper of an Hors-Categorie in Plateau de Beille, will be something else entirely. Expect the standings to look very different by this time tomorrow, because there are a lot of serious mountain experts in the top ten and just beyond and they'll be wanting a piece of the action.

Stage 13 Results:

1. HUSHOVD Thor 3h 47' 36"  
2. MONCOUTIE David + 00' 10"
3. ROY Jérémy + 00' 26"
4. BAK Lars + 05' 00"
5. PINEAU Jérôme + 05' 02"
6. HAGEN Edvald Boasson + 05' 03"
7. GUSEV Vladimir + 05' 08"
8. PETACCHI Alessandro + 05' 16"
9. TJALLINGII Maarten + 05' 16"
10. GILBERT Philippe + 06' 48"


Overall General Classification results following Stage 13:

1. VOECKLER Thomas 55h 49' 57"  
2. SCHLECK Frank + 01' 49"
3. EVANS Cadel + 02' 06"
4. SCHLECK Andy + 02' 17"
5. BASSO Ivan  + 03' 16"
6. CUNEGO Damiano  + 03' 22"
7. CONTADOR Alberto + 04' 00"
8. SANCHEZ Samuel + 04' 11"
9. GILBERT Philippe + 04' 35"
10. DANIELSON Tom + 04' 35"


Points: Mark Cavendish; Mountains: Jeremy Roy; Youth: Arnold Jeanesson; Team: Garmin Cervelo; Combative: Jeremy Roy.

Tour de France: Stage 13 Preview

Stage 13, at "a mere" 152.5km, is the shortest of this year's Tour except for the time trials and largely ceremonial final jaunt to the Champs-Élysées, but it should most definitely not be discounted as an easy one - the altitude profile shows beyond argument that this is a very difficult stage indeed and there's a high probability that not all of the riders who set out upon it are going to make it to the finish line. Shortly before the stage began, news came in that Gert Steegmans of QuickStep would not be starting the race due to a wrist injury sustained in a crash.

That big pointy thing two thirds of the way along is the Col d'Aubisque, a 1709m high pas which exists because of the Tour: in 1910, Tour organiser Alphone Steinès visited the area and decided that the mountain would be an ideal accompaniment to Col du Tourmalet, also used for the first time that year, and so he paid a call to the local official in charge of building roads in the region and was told, "Take the riders up the Aubisque? You're completely crazy in Paris!"

However, as is so often the case with officials, the man was easily convinced to change his mind by the application of brute finance - Steinès offered the enormous sum of 5000ff to pay for the work (though the canny Henri Desgrange later reduced it by 3000ff).

Like Tourmalet, Aubisque has achieved legendary status among cyclists who come from all around the world to emulate their heroes - at their own pace! - by climbing its Hors-Categorie flanks, and it too has collected a myriad of stores. One of the most famous is that of the Dutchman Wim van Est who, in 1951, lost control when his front tyre skidded out on a patch of loose gravel, plunging headlong into a ravine. His support crew and spectators rushed to the edge, not wanting to see the messy sight they expected but hoping he might have somehow survived. Miraculously, he was unhurt save for bruises; having landed on a sloping section before rolling to a halt some 70m down - had he have fallen a metre to either side he'd have plummeted to a certain death on the rocks hundreds of metres below.

All well and good, but how was he going to get out? His manager got a rope from the car but it wasn't long enough, so instead he used it to tie together forty tyres - the team's entire stock for the race - and lowered them over the edge. Thankfully, they extended far enough and Wim was pulled back up to the road. However, the tyres were stretched and useless so the team had to be extra careful not to damage those already fitted to their bikes until new ones could be supplied. The location of Wim's near-death experience has been marked since 2001 with a statue highlighting the fact that while he kept his life in the incident, he lost the yellow jersey - which he wore on two more occasions during a long and distinguished career.

Pau

The start today is Pau, where the 87,000 inhabitants have had the honour of seeing their town serve as a stage town no less than 63 times. The chateau, originally a genuine medieval defensive castle which has subsequently been prettified over the years so that it's now as much gateau as chateau, is widely considered one of the finest in France. Used as a holiday cottage by Napoleon, it now houses a museum with a collection of medieval tapestries.

Once Pau is left behind via the D945 and D733 we soon come to Bougarber where a well-preserved medieval gatehouse marks what was one of the boundaries of the village in the days when it was an important refuge for pilgrims on their way to the shrine of St. Jacques de Compostela across the border in Spain. We may find what the Tour cyclists do on this stage impressive, but for medieval pilgrims the Pyrenees held far greater dangers - until comparatively recently, it was a place of bears, lynxes, wolves and vicious bandits.

This flat early part of the stage seems another obvious place for an early breakaway. We predict that a group of between five and eight riders, probably including some from FDJ and perhaps Sky's Xabier Zandio who has gone a bit quiet in the last few stafes, will successfully attempt to open a gap within the first few kilometres before trying to keep it up over the two small climbs and through the sprint, grabbing any points they can along the way.

The parcours makes its way through a variety of road junctions to Lacq, a not unattractive village with a very impressive modern town hall. Unfortunately, the village's charms are somewhat wasted due to being right next door to a vast gas refinery not far off 1.5km in width, around which the peloton will skirt by way of the S-shaped D31 before reaching Lagor 30km from the start. The D9 takes us south east down to Mourenx which is the sort of place Frederick Gibberd probably hoped Harlow and Stevenage in the UK would turn out to be, through Lahourcade and onwards to Monein where the village church has an unusually prison-like tower. 5km on we come to the first climb of the day which, when compared to what comes later, hardly counts as a climb at all; the Côte de Cuqueron tops out at a not-very-impressive 265m. It has an average gradient of 8.1% however, which is steep in anyone's books and explains why it's Categorised 3.

6km down the road is Lacommande, the name coming from the presence of the medieval commandery built and originally used by the Order of St. John of Jerusalem and from there it's 7.5km to Lasseube where there are enough grand homes on the surrounding hills to keep most chateaufans safe from withdrawal symptoms for a good while. There are a couple of fairly sketchy corners in the middle of the village which could prove problematic if it rains, this being a rural area and thus liable to diesel spills from tractors and other vehicles.

As we reach the 65km, the road heads upwards again for the Cat 4 Côte de Belair. Once again, it's not exactly a lungbuster at 428m but the 8.4% gradient is respectable and the riders will probably be glad to slow down a bit and get some energy bars down them when they get to feed station at Sévignacq-Meyracq which is reached in 11km time.

Bielle

The intermediate sprint at Bielle will see those riders who need to grab all they can during the mostly flat first part of the stage battling it out for the points on offer along the flat valley floor where the village lies between foothills on either side - if a breakaway hasn't already been through and picked up the best prizes, expect a hell-for-leather mass brawl here with Mark Cavendish a likely winner so long as the Stage 12 mountains didn't hurt him too much.

23km further on down the D934 in Gourette, a winter resort 1400m above sea level which was once also famous for its goldmines - the remains of the railtracks along which carts ran carrying ore can still be seen on the mountainsides. From here, the Hors-Categorie Col d'Aubisque is 4.5km away along the D918 which twists around and about on its way to the top - by which point the riders will have just completed a 16.4km climb with an average gradient of 7.1%, ending up 1709m above sea level. There are stunning views of the rocky crags to the south, the tops not far off 1000m higher still. On the way down the route passes through the Cirque du Litor, an incredibly beautiful section and after 9.5km the Col du Soulor, a small uncategorised climb up a "false summit" - small, but at 1471m the air is sufficiently rarified to make it hard-going. The D918 in this section has to be one of the most spectacular roads in Europe, clinging to the sides of the steep mountainsides and passing through arches carved into the rock.

Soon we come to the little village of Aucun, the first of many packed into the next few kilometres, then Arras-en-Lavedan with an ancient round tower, presumably the last part of some vanished stronghold or castle, stands next to the village church may once have belonged to it. After that it's Argeles-Gazost, a spa town which became a popular resort in the latter half of the 19th Century and has many villas - some of them more like good-sized chateaux - as a result.

By the time we reach Ayzac-Ost we're rather disappointingly back onto flat terrain again and there are only 13km to go to the end of this final Pyrenean stage. As a result, Agos-Vidalos - perhaps not the most attractive village at the best of times - seems really quite depressing. It's lucky for us, then, that the stage finishes in Lourdes which this year is acting as a stage town for the third time.

Lourdes is, of course, the location of the marian visions experienced by a local woman who was subsequently declared a saint by the Vatican, giving rise to the most prosperous industry in the area. Now, whether you believe in that sort of thing or not is up to you (regular readers will probably have guessed by now that it's not part of my heritage) but if there's one thing you can say for Catholics, it's that they know how to put up a decent-looking church and it's no surprise that a place like this has some fairly good ones. The Rosary Basilica is the most famous, but the traditionally-styled Ukrainian church with its golden domes is a spectacle too. If, on the other hand, you're the type of person who dislikes all ecclesiastical buildings due to a dislike of religion in general, ignore them all and have a look for La Citadelle instead, the vast and imposing medieval castle on a rocky hill in the centre of the town.

La Citadelle, Lourds.

Predictions: It could be just about anyone today - if they can climb a bit and keep up a decent speed on the flat, the stage is there for the taking. The thing is, of course, those conditions apply to a lot of people - including some of the top name GC guys. This isn't really a stage for the top climbers, but if Andy decides he wants it there's probably not much to stop him. Yes, he'll be wanting to save energy for the mountains in Stage 14, but isn't being able to do this sort of thing day in and day out what being a champion climber is all about?

If he doesn't, then why not his big brother Frank? Frank has probably had a fairly unpleasant couple of years, outshone by his kid brother, but a lot of observers are wondering if perhaps Frank's on better form than Andy this year - he's certainly having a very good Tour. Encouraged by his third place win in Stage 12, he might decide Stage 13 is the one where he's going to go for the top place on the podium - and it's looking like he could get there, too. The stage could also give us another showing of Euskaltel's strength as there's only one more on their turf, so they might want to demonstrate their fearsome climbing ability. Wildcard: Geraint. Nobody knew that the young Welshman was capable of doing what he did in Stage 12 and he probably even surprised himself. If he's recovered overnight and feels up to it in the morning he could decide to put his newly-discovered superpowers to the test and find out what he's capable of. He's got our vote, anyway.

Weather: Warm and sunny in Pau this morning - if anything, perhaps a little too warm at 26 C with virtually no breeze at all. Light cloud will prevent it becoming really oppressive. Artix and Monein should be much the same, though the clouds may thicken after 40km from the start. By Lassuebe it will likely be a couple of degrees cooler and by Bielle possibly a full 10 C cooler than the start, with a chance of light showers. Gourette should be sunny but temperatures are predicted to be 13 C. Visibility at Gourette will be around 10km, permitting good views of the high mountains. Col d'Aubisque, therefore, will be a degree or two cooler due to altitude and may be windier though strong winds are not forecast anywhere along the route. Aucun should be around 15 C, again very gentle winds with a 1 in 5 chance of showers this morning, but these should have cleared by this afternoon when the Tour arrives. Lourdes, down in the lowlands, will be warmer with around 20-24 C predicted for late afternoon. However, it also has a higher chance of rain.

Note that weather can be highly unpredictable in mountainous areas with sudden changes happening rapidly and without warning.

DEVIL WATCH: As all Devil Spotters know, the Devil likes steep climbs because they offer an ideal opportunity to leap about at the roadside and cheer the riders on when they're suffering the most. Thus, it's really got to be on the way up Col d'Aubisque - a place he has put in many appearances over the years. We'd love to  see him strolling through the centre of Lourdes, but he's a very non-evil devil and would be unlikely to do so for fear of causing offence.

Tour de France: Stage 12 Debrief

"I just wanted to get stuck in, I just gave it everything to try to stay away." (Geraint Thomas)

Is Frank going to beat Andy to
a Tour de France win?

When we suggested earlier today that Stage 12 was going to be an entirely different sort of race, we were more right than we could even have hoped to be. In fact, it was so different that it wasn't just different to the earlier stages, it was completely different to the stage we expected. We were most certainly not the only ones to expect Andy Schleck and the LeopardTrek boys to emerge out of the peloton and dominate the moment the parcours turned pointy - and to be fair, they did for a while and Schleck rode extremely well, putting the wind up quite a few. Thing is, they tried to dominate too early and after an admittedly very impressive show of strength fell back, unable to keep up with their own style.

Oh, and the Schleck who rode well wasn't Andy - it was Frank.

One rider really shone today, defying all expectations after what hasn't been a good start for his team and in the process of doing so revealed himself to be the next top dog on the roster. If you haven't seen the results yet, chances are it's not someone you'd have expected, so all we'll say right now is he won a very well deserved Combativity prize for his efforts.

One other rider, predicted likely to outclass the bunch, had an absolutely dismal day: that man was Alberto Contador, favourite (until recently) for the overall General Classification win. Who knows what's got into Bertie this year? Not that it matters - the one thing we all know is that a lot of people are going to be wondering if it's more a case of what hasn't got into him, now that he's anti-doping control's number one target. For the record, we'll be sticking with him and considering him innocent unless the day comes when he is proven beyond doubt guilty; but, well, makes you fink, dunnit?

Unfortunately Romain Feillu, who has spent so much of the last 11 days wowing the crowds as part of some spectacular breakaways, is no longer with the race after being forced to abandon overnight due to the tendinitis from which he's been suffering for some time. However, anyone who has experienced this ailment will concede he's done brilliantly well to have kept going for as long as he has, never mind lead the race so often as he has.

Romain Feillu abandoned overnight.

Monsieur Prudhomme waved his flag to signal the end of the rolling neutral zone and the race got underway at 11:19 and within two kilometres Ruben Moreno, Laurent Mangel, Blel Kadri, Jose Ivan Gutierrez, Jeremy Roy and Geraint Thomas were testing the pack to see if there was any chance of escaping the peloton. Having decided they fancied their chances, they went for it and had an advantage of 20" by the time another two klicks were up. This is the sort of breakaway that can get the peloton worried because Thomas, despite having never won a stage in the Tour, is an outside contender for General Classification success, especially now he doesn't have to support team leader Bradley Wiggins who crashed out back in Stage 7 and even more so when they need to conserve energy for upcoming mountains. With today's mountains including the mighty Col du Tourmalet, the main pack decided energy saving was the best option and the escapees were left to get on with it - after all, there was a high probability that those same mountains would defeat them.

Thomas: brilliant now, stupendous
next year.

By 11.5km as the leaders reached Saint-Clar-de-Rivière, they were 2'35" out in front and still going strong, managing to build it up to a full four minutes shortly after entering the department of Gers. The peloton were ambling along quite happily, content to take this flatter first section easy at 35kmph. Had the race have stopped at this point, the G-Man would have taken the yellow jersey - which makes him far and away the best male Welsh Tour rider in history (we've italicised "male" because Swansea-born Nicole Cooke won two Tours de France Féminin).

This breakaway was beginning to look a bit too much like a successful one, meaning that the peloton's worries became outright anxiety. With the escapees fast approaching Castéra-Vignoles 7' minutes ahead, yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler was heard informing his team's directeur-sportif Dominique Arnould that he didn't want the gap to get any greater than 8'. Yet by the time they'd passed Nizan-Gesse they'd added another half-minute and the same again at Boudrac, which would normally result in a chase. However, Arnould advised patience, stating that in his opinion a gap of as much as 10' wouldn't be an issue. Calmness prevailed and the peloton cruised into the feeding station at Lannemezan 8'30" after the escapees had been through.

Their advantage meant that the lead group were unchallenged by the big-hitters when they reached Sarrancolin and the intermediate sprint, but they didn't hand about on the way and added another 30". Laurent Mangel of Saur-Sojasun was the first through for 20 points. 2. Jeremy Roy (FDJ) 17pts; 3. Blel Kadri (ALM) 15pts; 4. Ruben Perez Moreno (EUS) 13pts; 5. Jose Ivan Gutirrez (MOV) 11pts; 6 Geraint Thomas (SKY) 10pts.

Cav wants points, Cav gets
points. Such is the Natural
Order of Things.

Back in the pack, a certain Manxman was seen to be nonchalently making his forward. Cavendish, as we all know, is probably the best sprinter in professional cycling but with the remainder of the Tour being for the most part mountain stages - which, to be honest, he's pretty dreadful at -  he'll be wanting to grab what he can in the intermediate sprints from now on. Which means he was the first of the peloton to get through, of course, because when Cav wants to win a sprint he almost invariably does. 8. Mark Renshaw (THR) 8pts; 9. Jose Joaquin Rojas (MOV) 7pts; 10. Matt Goss (THR) 6pts; 11. Francisco Ventoso (MOV) 5pts; 12. Borut Bozic (VCD) 4pts; 13. Philippe Gilbert (OLO) 3pts; 14. Mikael Delage (FDJ) 2pts; 15. Bernhard Eisel (THR) 1pt.


The peloton's speed as it tackled the sprint took a big chunk out of the lead group's advantage, reducing it to 5'50" as they became the first Tour de France riders to set out up the slopes of Hourquette d'Ancizan, making its debut in this year's race. It soon claimed its first victim when Katusha's 24-year-old Denis Galimzyanov found himself unable to match the pace, dropping off the back and laying the foundations for the grupetto that was sure to come just as QuickStep's Sylvain and Vacansoleil's Johnny Hoogerland - still swathed in bandages to protect his 33 stitches - attacked the peloton. Astana's Roman Kreuziger went after them a little later, but the only reaction the peloton made was spitting Cavendish, Bak, Eisel and a few others out the back into the grupetto.

The race leaders reached the top with Mangel taking the top allocation of ten points, in accordance with the new Cat 1 climb rules which state that the first rider takes 10 points, the second 8pts, third 6pts, fourth 4pts,  fifth 2pts and sixth 1pt. As was the case with the new intermediate sprint rules, it's not yet entirely clear why the rules had to be changed but even those of us who remained dismissive of the sprint changes will have to admit that it turns out the old UCI knew what they were about after all; so let's hold on for a moment before we accuse them of fixing something that ain't broke - because if something ain't broke, there's no harm in taking it apart and making it go faster.

Another disaster, in a Tour riddled with disasters, very nearly got the better of Thomas shortly after he crested the top of the mountain - rounding a switchback in front of a fan waving the Welsh flag, he suddenly veered off the road and through a gap between a car and a quad bike coming to a stop on the grassy verge, 20cm from a steep slope which while unlikely to be lethal could very easily have sent him the way of Wiggins. Early explanations suggested he'd seen the flag and lost concentration, but following the race the G-Man said that he thought there may have been something on the road surface. We suspect that, if someone were to have a close look, they might find a few spots of diesel - the several rather ropy-looking old campervans arranged about the bend being likely culprits. This theory is apparently strengthened by the fact that not only did Thomas nearly do the same thing again seconds later, suggesting either another patch or contaminated tyre/brake pad rubber, but another crash involving other riders happened in precisely the same place once the peloton showed up.

Now, LeopardTrek moved up to the front of the peloton. Andy Schleck, known as one of the nicest men in the sport, has earned himself an army of fans in the last couple of years and many believe that 2011 is going to be his year - this seemed likely to be the moment that he would begin winning. As they started on the long, hard climb up Tourmalet they looked almost impossibly good, pulling like a train - even Fabian Cancellara, though he was back in the autobus rather than with his team, looked reasonably comfortable considering he's Cancellara and this was Tourmalet. Europcar were unceremoniously outclassed as LeopardTrek took full control, dominating the front of the main group. Meanwhile, out at the front, Kreuziger finally managed to catch and drop Sylvain Chavanel.

Andy Schleck: arsing about, on
bad form or playing a very long
and intricate mind game?

Out at the front, something quite remarkable had happened: the pursuit specialist Geraint Thomas was leading the breakaway. What's more, he was looking perfectly comfortable while doing so, still pulling strongly and showing no signs of stopping. Kreuziger was dropping rider after rider - Gutierrez was the first go, then Mangel and before long the Welshman was out on his own as he passed through La Mongie, two thirds of the way to the top. Could be keep going?

Andy Schleck remained calm and collected as a team mechanic changed his front wheel. Andy is Andy, so laid-back it's a wonder his blonde hair doesn't get tangled in his rear derailleur, but I'm not convinced even Gandhi would have stayed so calm if forced to wait during such a career-defining moment. Is it possible that he didn't want to win the stage? If not, we can only guess at what the hell he's playing at but as we've said before he's a clever rider and we're not convinced that a little bit of his famous niceness isn't used to hide a very sharp and ruthless understanding of psychology. Only a fool would write him off just yet.

Marmot!!!

There are two cute, cuddly creatures which thrive at altitude in the Pyrenees. One of them is the Schleck, the other is the Marmot. There's also a fierce predator that savagely hunts down its prey up there - it's called a Contador. Some people think Contador isn't as dangerous as he once was, but the Saxobank riders know better and sent out Jesus Hernandez to up the tempo in an effort to increase the pressure. Was El Pistolero about to come out with all guns firing?

Further up the mountain, Thomas had finally dropped behind Roy who took the 20 points for being the first to conquer the mountain. The Welshman had failed, but was awarded the Combativity award for his efforts - which ought to keep him happy for the time being, especially since by this time next year he'll be a race-hardened 26-year-old. We will never know if Britain had a Tour winner in Wiggins this year, but it looks very much as though the next one is already primed and in the chamber. By the time they reached the last climb, another Hors-Categorie ordeal provided this time by Luz-Ardiden, they were still over 3' ahead of the pack.

Prior to the start, Euskaltel-Euskadi's Sammy Sanchez had left no doubts that he wanted the stage. He may have been born in Asturias, far to the west of the Basque country, but he's long been an adopted son of the tiny mountain nation and the Haute-Pyrenees are his training ground so it was no surprise when he broke out of the peloton and surged ahead for a 13" lead - but with 13km of hard slog still to go, had be moved too soon? But he's wiser than that - reaching a group including his team-mate Ruben Moreno some 20" ahead, he rode with them, thus placing himself in an ideal position for future attacks. Back down the road, it had become obvious that Frank and Andy had driven their team too hard: their LeopardTrek comrades had given all they could and fallen back, leaving the brothers riding alone.

Sanchez had now joined forces with Omega-Pharma's Jelle Vanendert, himself a highly-respected climber, and the two were united in hot pursuit of Thomas and Roy who were fighting to keep a lead of around a minute on them with 10km to go. They soon caught them, and Roy gave up the fight. It wasn't long for Thomas, either, and the pair fell back to the chase group lead by yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler. With 5km to go, they were over a minute ahead and the strain was showing, but the honourary Basque wasn't running on empty yet. Standing up, he pushed himself even harder and attacked Vanendert.

In the peloton, more proof that Andy has a dark side: he was playing his favourite game, Trying To Rile Up Contador. We've all seen him at it - he did it all the way through the Pyrenees and the Alps last year, waiting until his old rival is starting to suffer and then riding up behind him with a big friendly grin on his face. Now he'd stomped on the pedals for a bit of a jump forward, forcing Contador to do the same. But poor Bertie's outnumbered this year because Frank is in the best form of his life, so he had to respond again when the older brother did it too before shooting off to attack the race leaders and leaving the pair of them behind. Others  gave chase, but he crossed the line just behind Sanchez and Vanendert alone, taking a very impressive third place.

Sammy Sanchez

One thing is as clear as the alpine lakes that the peloton will be passing in a few days' time in this stage: Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador are obsessed with one another. Every second of every race is spent examining one another, probing the other rider's form for cracks and testing strengths. It is enormously entertaining to watch, but Andy's ever going to win this damn race he needs to move on: last year, Contador was the only thing that stood in Andy's way - but now, Contador's reign may be over; he just no longer has what he used to have, actually losing time in this stage where he was once unbeatable.

What Andy needs to do now is forget his old enemy. It's time to concentrate on the mountains, time to turn his attention to winning stages.

Stage 12 Results:

1. SANCHEZ Samuel 6h 01' 15"  
2. VANENDERT Jelle + 00' 07"
3. SCHLECK Frank + 00' 10"
4. BASSO Ivan + 00' 30"
5. EVANS Cadel + 00' 30"
6. SCHLECK Andy + 00' 30"
7. CUNEGO Damiano 161 + 00' 35"
8. CONTADOR Alberto + 00' 43"
9. VOECKLER Thomas + 00' 50"
10. ROLLAND Pierre + 00' 50"


Overall General Classification results following Stage 12:

1. VOECKLER Thomas 51h 54' 44"  
2. SCHLECK Frank + 01' 49"
3. EVANS Cadel + 02' 06"
4. SCHLECK Andy + 02' 17"
5. BASSO Ivan + 03' 16"
6. CUNEGO Damiano + 03' 22"
7. CONTADOR Alberto + 04' 00"
8. SANCHEZ Samuel + 04' 11"
9. DANIELSON Tom + 04' 35"
10. ROCHE Nicolas + 04' 57"


Points: Marl Cavendish (260); Mountains: Sammy Sanchez (40); Youth: Arnold Jeanesson (52h00'34"); Team: LeopardTrek (155h09'18"); Combativity: Geraint Thomas.

Another ascent of Hourquette d'Ancizan

Tour de France: Stage 12 Preview

Ladeeeeeezangennulmun!
It gives me much pleasure to announce that the Tour de France 2011 starts today, rumours of its earlier birth being greatly exaggerated. All that stuff you've been watching for the last week and a half round Vendee, Brittany, Tarn and so on was just an extended prologue and the real competition begins today!

Alright, that's not strictly true - the first eleven stages have been absolute classics with top-notch racing and superb scenery, plus calling the a prologue would belittle the tragedies (Wiggins, Vinokourov, Zabriskie etc.), downplay the heroics (Hoogerland, Flecha) and ignore the high-speed skill (Cavendish, Costa) which, as is the case in every Tour, have been dished out with a shovel.

Meanwhile, it's fair to say that today brings such a change that we are beginning a race within a race, a test to find the world's best grimpeur who shall be crowned the King of the Mountains. In the coming days, the sprinters will be all but forgotten as attention turns to the climbing specialists: Contador, the Schlecks, Evans and the Euskaltel-Euskadi boys, because today brings the first of the high mountains.

After the last two stages, which have primarily been intended to transfer the remaining riders between two points, today is not an easy day at all. In fact, it could accurately be described as bloody difficult. Those first 119km up to the intermediate sprint are almost entirely straight, though there are one or two awkward tight bends chucked in, like the one as the D3 passes through Saint-Clar-de-Rivière 12.5km from the startline - just to keep everyone awake, but let's not forget the parcours rises over 400m.

That's actually quite demoralising, because it makes your knees hurt but it's not enough of a gradient to look like a climb should a rider look back. On a big, bad high-gradient climb, your knees feel like someone's injected molten steel into the articular capsules, but at least you can look back and draw strength from the sense of sheer achievement. Today, just as some riders' knees are beginning to hurt they'll look back and it'll seem they've been riding in the flatlands - and when they look forward, they'll see all 1538m of Hourquette d'Ancizan. Which they have to ride up. And that dissolves will like a marshmallow in nitric acid.

Cugnaux is a vibrant town with some 16,000 inhabitants. The name is derived from that of a tool used to split wood, reflecting the occupation of many locals in the medieval period before the forests that once covered the landscape here were all chopped down and replaced with the arable farmlands now found among the several large urban centres nearby. The town hit French headlines in 2007 when it adopted a new law banning anyone who did not have a burial plot reserved for them from dying within the municipal area and threatening anyone sufficiently inconsiderate as to do so with harsh penalties. It's also the home of three chateaux - Cassagnère, Hautpoul and Maurens.

Gers is characterised by fertile, rolling terrain. Backdrop provided by the Haute-Pyrenees.

22km onward is Rieumes, an attractive town unfortunately connected with the distinctly unattractive "sport" of bull-fighting. Luckily for us, the Tour will be flashing through on the D3 and so we won't have to see any animals being slowly tortured for the entertainment of supposed human beings. As the riders pass through, they enter a forested section and the department of Gers which is home to around 185,300 people but is host to some 890,000 tourists every year - as might be suggested by these statistics, the scenery is not unpleasant. We're not there for long, however, soon moving into Haute-Garonne.

There are a number of villages either side of the parcours as we head towards Ciadoux, 65.5km from the start, but none are of particular note. Nevertheless, this is rural France and there will be chateaux, along with - no doubt - huge bicycles and stuff made out of hay and assorted farm detritus in the fields along the way. Ciaodoux itself is a pleasant enough village, standing on a low hill and offering the riders their first glimpse of the Pyrenees looming in the second half of the stage. It also marks the end of the D3, forcing them to negotiate a sharp right hand corner onto the D635 and then, after a kilometre and a half, a left onto the D17 at Rebirechioulet. The latter looks set to be quite a technical section - although it's an obtuse angle, generally easier than a sharp, acute bend - it's quite a complicated junction due to an irregularly-shaped section right in the middle (43°15'52.08"N 0°42'44.65"E) and may account for a rider or two.

As the riders complete their 73rd kilometre, they come to the village of Blajan with its somewhat dejected-looking church. It's a small one, but attractive in a "faded grandeur" sort of way. It represents the village rather well - Blajan isn't much, but what it is is unpretentious and likable. Nizan-Gesse, 5km on, is similar but trumps its neighbour for location - it sits at the bottom of a shallow valley with woodland along the hills either side and some impressive houses among the trees. What really gives the place an edge, though, is the views to the south: more of the same rolling countryside and patches of trees, finished off perfectly with a backdrop of the Haute-Pyrenees - and we cross into the department of the same name after the next 16km.

Lannemezan, at 101.5km from the start, makes two very impressive claims to fame. One is that it's hosting today's feeding station, the other is that its Town Hall was the very first to appear in the online virtual world Second Life. Once a thriving, wealthy place, Lannemezan fell upon hard times during the last 40 years as the heavy industry upon which it relied declined but since 2007 there have been many positive signs suggesting that the town is on the way back up as it begins to attract high-tech industry.

Le Chateau des Nestes

A few kilometres on is Izaux, famous for its Roman remains which include a well-preserved villa and then Lortet on the banks of what is unmistakably a mountain river. Next is Hèches, located in a passage through the Pyrenees foothills and famous for the nearby cliffs which are a centre for rock-climbing. 5km further is Sarrancolin, a fortified medieval town and very much the gateway into the Pyrenees. It's also the site for the intermediate sprint today, which extends along the valley floor. Arreau, just down the road, is home to many imposing medieval buildings including le Château des Nestes. Ancizan, 4km further on, is a medieval fortified village.

Very soon, we come to Category 1 Hourquette d'Ancizan, the first real mountain of this Tour. The 9.9km journey to the top rises to 1538m with an average gradient of 7.5%, much of it achieved by means of a complicated series of switchbacks. There is a very high possibility that riders may decide to abandon here. The D918 takes the race back down, passing through several little villages with Gripp being perhaps the most attractive, but this section is all about getting as much rest as possible before the Col du Tourmalet, this year's first Hors-Categorie climb and one of the highest and most notorious points ever visited by the Tour.

The highest road in the Pyrenees, Tourmalet is 17.1km long and with an average gradient of 7.3%, one of the most difficult and testing challenges in the Tour de France with which it has long been linked, having been climbed 79 times since its first appearance in 1910. It is, of course, considered a jewel of the race and being the first to the top brings a lot more than points. Expect to see Alberto Contador and Andy Scheck lock horns as they climb - this is where both men will begin their attempt to win the overall General Classification for the top place on the podium in Paris. Don't miss La Mongie on the way up, a beautiful little village at an altitude of 1800m made rich by winter sports.

Once over, the parcours soon reaches Barèges, the highest spa town in the Pyrenees, which grew up after shepherds tending their flocks on the high slopes noticed that sick sheep would recover after bathing in the water bubbling up from the hot springs. Viella is also attractive, as is Luz-Saint-Sauveur - the location of the Chateau-Sainte-Marie which stands ruined and picturesque above the village.

Chateau-Sainte-Marie

Finally, we reach Luz-Ardiden - another Hors-Categorie climb, this time of 1.3km at a gradient of 7.4% to 1715m. It's often said that the Tour takes all a rider has to give and then it takes the rest, too; this was never truer than on this stage. The majority of the riders are going to be agony as they grind their way up the final summit on their way to the finish line at the top, so keep a careful eye on who performs well and who suffers here - those who do well are contenders to win the Tour.
Predictions: Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador or Andy Schleck - our money's firmly on Andy. Wildcard - Frank Schleck, who appears to be in his best form ever. But don't forget, this is home turf for Euskaltel-Euskadi, the Basque hardmen for whom the Pyrenees are regular training rides.

Weather: At long last, things are looking good - but we're in the mountains now, where the weather can change almost in an instant. At altitudes such as Tourmalet, anything can happen. The wind should remain light, but once again the situation may prove different high up as high mountain stages are always susceptible to wind.

DEVIL WATCH: Where could he possibly show up today other than near the summit of Tourmalet?

Tour de France: Stage 11 Debrief

Well, just like we said this morning who was ever going  to win this one other than Mark Cavendish? The dead straight, pancake flat run into the finish line looked more like a drag racing track - albeit a very, very wet one - than sprint section and Cav's running a blown big block hemi with nitrous.

Despite the horrendous weather, the type the French describe as raining ropes and the Brits as pissing it down, Stage 11 turned out to be quite a nice sort of stage from the fans' point of view - though it was probably not that much fun to be in the race, we imagine. There's plenty of fantastic scenery in this part of the world with chateaux to match (mostly gateaux chateaux rather than the proper defensive ones we prefer, but nevertheless) and some very fine-lookin' rivers too - and it's all quintessentially French: if Jean de Florette hadn't been set in Provence, it would have looked every bit as good filmed here (though the Tarn river looks like it probably does a pretty good job of ensuring there's plenty enough water to go round). There are also lots of those lovely rural roads lined with plane trees and the all-important fields of sunflowers; because let's face it - the Tour wouldn't be le Tour without shots of the peloton riding among fields of sunflowers.

Gadret didn't start today.

The official start was at 13:14, with one rider less than expected because AG2R's John Gadret had sadly decided to abandon overnight due to exhaustion. Gadret - like Contador - has been having problems recovering from this year's notoriously hard-going Giro d'Italia. "I really feel bad since the start," he told CyclingNews some days ago, so he's done a damn good job getting as far as he has. A few riders were seen sounding out the situation in the first few kilometres but apparently decided the time wasn't yet right for a breakaway until the 6km point when a group of nine managed to get away with a small gap, but Sky took over at the front of the peloton and hurried things up a bit so the majority of the escapees were quickly caught.

Eventually, a gang of six led by Mikael Delage (again) and including Lars Boom got ahead and successfully built an advantage of just under half a minute, but with a dearth of real General Classification threats among them the peloton didn't appear particularly concerned, letting them build up the gap to 2'30" by the time the 20km point came around and 3'55" at Cat 3 Côte de Tonnac where Lars Boom was first up for two points and Astana's Andriy Grivko just behind him for one. They then made the most of the descent, increasing the advantage to 4'15" by the time the main group reached the summit.

The peloton split up near Bruniquel as a group of about 35 including Johnny Hoogerland, who is understandably hurting, dropped off the back for a while; but they soon regrouped and got back to work, reducing the escapee's advantage to three and a half minutes as they approached the feeding station and intermediate sprint. For some reason, the gang of six were all being terribly nice and didn't seem to want to compete with one another for the top points, entering the sprint calmly and without the usual hustling. Delage looked quite embarrassed when he finally decided to go for it and was seen to apologise to Boom when he won the 20 points. All a bit silly, really. 2. Jimmy Engoulvent, 3. 17pts; Lars Boom, 15pts; 4. Andriy Grivko, 13pts; 5. Ruben Perez Moreno, 11 pts; 6. Tristian Valentin, 10pts.

Delage seems determined
to spend this whole Tour
in breakaways if he can.

Cavendish was the next one through for 9 points, having made damn sure he was on the ball to prevent Omega-Pharma's André Greipel beating him again after yesterday's stage. 8. Juan Joaquim Rojas, 8pts; 9. Francisco Ventoso, 7pts; 10. Andre Greipel, 6pts; 11. Philippe Gilbert, 5pts; 12. Matt Goss, 4pts; 13. Mark Renshaw 3pts; 14. Bernhard Eisel, 2pts; 15. Jelle Vanendert, 1pt.


The Missile experienced some form of mechanical problems a short while later, but it was rapidly sorted out once the team car reached him and he and Eisel, who had remained with him, worked together efficiently and had rejoined the peloton in next to no time. By the time they'd reached the 48km to go point, the breakaway was 3km ahead but the chase was on and their time was ticking away. Romain Feillu punctured but, with the aid of a tail wind, was soon back with the main pack who had now reduced the gap by another 30".

The second and last climb, Côte de Puylaurens, may have only been a Category 4 but it lasted for 4.2km and passed through some attractive wooded areas which ensured it turned out to be one of the highlights of the stage in the end - helped no end by a sighting of the Devil on the way up. Not many people spotted him this time as he stood among a small crowd on a bend with his El Diablo micro-camper over the road, but enough Twitterers saw him for the sighting to be confirmed. The climb took a lot out of the breakaway, tiring the members sufficiently for the peloton to regain 15" in just one kilometre. Rui Costa was the next for a puncture, passing Vladimir Isaichev who had dropped off the peloton on his way back to the group. Delage was the first to the top and collected his point, but the peloton were gaining ground rapidly and had hacked the gap down to much more manageable minute and a half as they crested the hill.

The weather proved that, as far as it's concerned, while one hand giveth the other taketh away a little later on: the rain stopped and the sun came out for a while, no doubt having a positive effect on rider morale after 142 soggy kilometres; but it chose to do so just as the parcours changed direction, turning that useful tailwind which had been blowing the race along at a healthy rate into a headwind. As would be expected, this affected the escapees to a much greater extent than it did the peloton and the gap fell to 1'15" with 25km to go - an unfortunate time for Juan Joaquim Rojas to puncture, but a couple of Movistar mates stayed with him and got him back up to speed.

HTC were in position with 13km to go, confirming what we all knew - they were planning on taking advantage of an absolutely ideal stage for their standard tactics. 3km later and they'd put the pedal to the metal to reduce the breakaway advantage to a mere 30". However, over on the other side of the road a chain of red signified that BMC also had plans as they surrounded Cadel Evans and protected him, ready to launch their own assault. The escapees were sharing the load equally in an effort to keep going, but there was no chance they'd be able to retain an advantage against a two-pronged attack of this kind.

When HTC's tactics work, Cav is
virtually unbeatable on a stage
such as this one.

Eisel got the ball rolling with 6km to go, leading out Peter Velits, Tony Martin, Mark Renshaw and Matt Goss as BMC's Marcus Burghardt cruised to the side of the road, apparently finished, just before 5km to go. Lars Boom, a faithful part of the breakaway for all this time, went on the attack and achieved a small lead as the peloton drew near but it was never going to last long - he was caught just half a kilometre later. Sky, Omega and BMC were all well represented at the front of the peloton as Boom was reabsorbed, but by now HTC had everything in place for a textbook demonstration of the train and there really was no other way it could possibly go. Greipel tried, but Cav wasn't going to let him win again and he surged across the line half a bike length in front for his 18th stage win, also taking the green jersey from Philippe Gilbert as he did so.

Tomorrow is going to be very different due to the appearance of the first of the real climbs - Hourquette d'Ancizan (1538 m), Luz-Ardiden (1715 m) and the mighty Col du Tourmalet (2115 m) all put in an appearance, making it almost another race entirely.

Results of Stage 11:

1. CAVENDISH Mark 3h 46' 07"  
2. GREIPEL André
3. FARRAR Tyler
4. GALIMZYANOV Denis
5. HAGEN Edvald Boasson
6. FEILLU Romain
7. ROJAS Jose Joaquin
8. TURGOT Sébastien
9. VENTOSO Francisco
10. BONNET William (all received same time)


Overall General Classification results after Stage 11:

1. VOECKLER Thomas 45h 52' 39"  
2. SANCHEZ Luis-Leon + 01' 49"
3. EVANS Cadel + 02' 26"
4. SCHLECK Frank + 02' 29"
5. SCHLECK Andy + 02' 37"
6. MARTIN Tony + 02' 38"
7. VELITS Peter + 02' 38"
8. KLÖDEN Andréas + 02' 43"
9. GILBERT Philippe + 02' 55"
10. FUGLSANG Jakob + 03' 08"
11. BASSO Ivan + 03' 36"


Points: Mark Cavendish; Climber: Johnny Hoogerland; Youth: Robert Gesink; Team: Europcar; Combative: Mikael Delage.

For Sale: Classic Merckx (with conditions)...

From Classic Cycle:

(click for original size)

That seems perfectly reasonable, don't you think?

Tour de France: Stage 11 Preview

Stage 11 is another of those which, like yesterday, at first glance appear to exist only to fill time and because transporting a load of cyclists and their bikes by train would be boring TV: it's flat (even flatter than yesterday) and it's not especially long. However, we do have some technical sections today, including a number of tight bends and various obstructions, plus - this being the Tour de France - there's some impressive scenery and the usual chateaux and suchlike dotted about the place for when the race does enter a transitional section where nothing much happens.

The start is Blaye-les-Mines, acting as a stage town for the first time. It's just to the south west of Carmaux (yesterday's finish) and has a similar history, having expanded rapidly to take advantage of the coal deposits in the area. The ready access to fuel also brought the town to the attention of the Nazis in World War 2, but they didn't get it all their own way and met with opposition - the socialist mayor, Augustin Malroux, is said to have been the first man from the département of Tarn to join La Résistance. When caught, he was deported to Belsen-Bergen where he died on the 10th of April, 1945.

During the 20th Century, as old mining methods were replaced with open cast, an enormous pit was opened - by the time mining stopped at the site, it was over a kilometre wide. The crater now houses Cap'Découverte, a vast leisure centre with numerous facilities including cycling tracks around the crater walls - it's a pity that the stage does not travel this way today, because it would have made for a novel section.

As it is, the parcours heads in the opposite direction, north west along the D73 which, being almost perfectly straight for the first 4.5km, seems likely ground for an early breakaway attempt. However, like all French roads with the "D" prefix, it's extremely high quality with a smooth surface and like yesterday will encourage the peloton to build up to an impressively high rate of knots too, so whether a breakaway is possible - and if it is, whether or not it can achieve and maintain a significant gap - remains to be seen. The most probable course of events will be a repeat of what happened in Stage 10: a few hopefuls will give it a go but fail, then a successful lead group will form later. If you're watching on television, we recommend you keep an eye out for Monestiés an undiscovered jewel of a village which would have served perfectly as a location in a Claude Berri film - and if you're not, have a look on Google Earth (44° 4'14.72"N 2° 5'46.74"E).

At Monestiés we join the D91 via a series of fairly complicated bends and tight corners. If no breakaway has formed thus far, expect it to do so on this road once the technical section has passed. If it has, there's every likelihood of chase groups forming. There are a number of other small towns and villages along the way, none of particular note but all very attractive in the way that small French towns and villages are.

Cordes-sur-Ciel

Do not miss Cordes-sur-Ciel, 15km on from Monestiés, as it's one of the most spectacular sights anyway along the route of this year's Tour. A medieval fortified town, many of its buildings are clustered together on a rocky hill which commands the local countryside. having successfully resisted most attempts to overthrow it through the centuries there are a large number of preserved medieval buildings within its walls.

After 28.5km we reach the day's first climb, a 3.6km section with gradients up to 4.9% - not steep, but rated Category 3 and thus offering two points to whoever is first over it. There are some more tight bends as the route takes the D15 heading south towards Vaour where there are a number of ancient dolmens in the woods. The largest is Peyrelevade, but since it's partially buried - as some archaeologists believe all dolmens to have originally been - there's not much to see from the air. Those that are not buried are small and unlikely to be seen from the helicopters. There is also a 12th Century commandery connected with the Knights Templar which, since Dan Brown brought the Templars to the attention of the general public (or a fictionalised, make-believe version, at any rate), is an obvious helicopter camera operator's target.

A few of these buggers
chasing the peloton would
liven things up a bit.

After a few kilometres we swing west and follow the D28 as it skirts the huge Forêt domaniale de Grésigne, a forest covering around a thousand acres, mostly uninhabited by humans. As the French government is not as idiotic as the British government, it looks set to remain state-owned and will continue to be maintained as a nature reserve providing a home for, among other species, wild cats, genets (a cat-like animal), wild boar and eagle owls. The route changes onto the D1 as it negotiates a large bend in the Tarn river which is located to the north of the road and another big open cast mine to the south, then swaps once again onto the D964 towards Larroque and, 16km onwards, to the feeding station which is 76km from the start just past  Castelnau-de-Montmiral.

Do you have a mental list of "Places I'm Going To Live In In
France When I Win The Lottery" which changes several
times in every stage of the Tour? Castelnau-de-Montmiral has
just replaced the Jade Coast (Stage 2) at the top of mine.

Which, incidentally, you also don't want to miss. Castelnau-de-Montmiral has long been ranked among the most beautiful villages in France and has many fine medieval buildings and fortified manor houses within its boundaries. Surrounding the village are more dolmens, evidence of a local culture from much, much longer ago.

After another 9km, the riders reach the intermediate sprint at Gaillac, which has an impressive abbey and was once the home of Albert Camus. The D964 is mostly very straight, but there are some sharp bends at Graulhet as the parcours makes use of the D84 and D631 to join with the D83. A large town of about 12,500 inhabitants, Graulhet's name comes from the Occitan word for frog (graulhas), frogs being extremely common in the wetlands that characterise the surrounding countryside, those of the correct species no doubt being put to good culinary use over two thousand years that there has been a town here. One aspect of the town especially worth experiencing is the medieval district centred on the Rue Panessac.

15km on is Lautrec, situated at a tricky bend in the road and which also has several medieval buildings and a 17th Century windmill on the slopes of a mound topped by a cross in the centre of the village. The route then swings south west along the D92 and, via some more technical bends at Vielmur-sur-Agout, to the second and final categorised climb of the stage: Cat 4 Côte de Puylaurens. The gradient is only 3.8%, but it extends over 4.2km and, as the riders will by now have completed over 135km, is plenty enough to get the knees complaining. The D92 between Vielmur-sur-Agout and Puylaurens looks fairly straight on the Tour de France website map, but in reality it has several bends as it negotiates fields and woodlands and tiny hamlets, all of which ere presumably already here when the road was built. Several sections qualify as the rural tree-lined avenues, the natural habitat of the Citroen DS, which are always a defining memory of driving holidays in France.

Lavaur's cathedral.

At Puylaurens we swap by means of an uncomplicated junction onto the D84 which turns north and swings about the fields for around 10km Saint-Paul-Cap-de-Joux (St. Paul the yarmulke?) on the banks of the Tarn river. The transition onto the D112 should be problem-free as should the next 15km into Lavaur where we'll see teams jockeying for position at the front of the peloton while sending out domestiques to capture any escapees still riding out in front. The final section in Lavaur looks reasonably easy-going, flat without sharp bends and the ideal place for a high-speed sprint to the line. Lavaur is a town very much in love with cycling - it has a large cycloparc featuring facilities for cyclists of various disciplines - so expect a warm welcome and a party atmosphere, helped no end by the festivities planned for this evening to mark the Tour's arrival (including a band with a name translated by Google as the "Well Good Jazz" band. So classy, the French - even the chavs are into jazz).

Stage 12 profile - ought to shake up the General Classification
somewhat. And, with a bit of luck, put the Schleck brothers at
the top of the list.

Predictions: Let's see - a fairly straight, flat sprint to the finish? Does the name "Mark Cavendish" spring to mind? Basically, unless anything goes wrong today - and on such an undemanding course it shouldn't - we really can't see how anyone other than the Manx Missile could win this stage. If so, it'll be his last one for a while. have you seen the profile for tomorrow?

Weather: Looks like more rain, unfortunately - it's scattered showers around Blaye-les-Mines, Cordes-sur-Ciel, Vaour, Bruniquel, Gaillac, Lautrec, Puylaurens and Lavaur - so at least we ought to have a few dry sections. The twisty bits might prove slippery, but with gentle winds the weather shouldn't cause problems.

DEVIL WATCH: On the D92 just before Lautrec - the wooded valley looks like a good spot for a bit of roadside devilment.