Sitting in a client meeting today with an Italian we got to talking about cycling, and debating about the best grand tour for excitement value. He had a somewhat biased opinion of course. So afterward I started to write down some thoughts on the editions of the Tours that I enjoyed most from the last decade. The highs, Armstrong’s comeback, Andy Schleck’s second at the Giro in his first grand Tour, Savoldelli’s descent to keep the pink jersey, and of course the lows. The Landis positive, the Ricco positive, Rasmussen getting the boot. Well, I did it subjectively, not taking note of the points as I went along, and guess what, Claudia was right – the Giro edged it by a point. Who knew…
Quite the stage today down under. If this is how they are going in January, I can’t wait until April. Great to see Evans in the mix yesterday and today driving a potentially Tour winning break, very exciting to watch. Might have helped if there had been a proper climb. Now that really would have thrown a curve ball.
It’s the end of the season and I am trawling through shots of various trips to Europe to lift my spirits to get over the thought that I am going to be spending the next three to four months on my trainer. This one is from a trip to watch the Daupine in the Alps. The story behind this shot is more interesting than the shot itself, and to get the full depth of the story you need to click on the image above to get all the detail. This shot was taken at the top of the Joux Plane after a very hard and cold slog to the top (The camera equipement on my back was heavier than my bike). I stopped to take this shot, and met Ricardo and his wife. Both in their twilight years, they were still getting in this camper that they bought in the 60s and driving all over Europe to watch the “great races“. Everytime they would go to a race they would add the year to the side of the van, and they have a story for every one. They have been going to Paris Roubaix since ‘63, when Emile Daems won (They have been 7 times). They have seen the Tour of the Med 10 times, and the Dauphine 11 times. It goes on…and by the way the other side of the van had a whole host of other races. I think my favorite bits of the whole van are the stolen route markers on the back – hopefully he took them off the corners after the race had passed. Really lovely people from the heart of cycling in Northern Europe, that have a passion for the sport like I have never seen. Just dare mention Tom Boonens name……”Ahhhh Boom Boom!“.
