Stage 12 || Thursday, July 14th || #BastilleDay || Montpellier → Mont Ventoux || 184km
For most cyclists, climbing a fabled mountain such as #MontVentoux just once in a lifetime is a dream. The opportunity to conquer the beast a second, even third time is a privilege not to be taken lightly – a multitude of features, both near and far, can come to light that where missed during round one.
Riding through this lunar landscape, with the green valley of the Rhône below and the misty hills of the Cévennes in the distance, it’s as if this
mountain has simply dropped from space into an otherwise tranquil region of verdant fields, vineyards and villages. After this final hairpin, the
climb becomes extremely hard again. The last 30 meters are excruciating. We push on the pedals with all the strength left to reach the famous
“Sommet du Mont Ventoux” sign.
Read more about conquering Ventoux here: http://pelotonmagazine.com/
home-page-slider/peloton-x-zipp-mont-ventoux-part-five-the-conq
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#ZippSpeed #FuelForTheRide #InsidePeloton #TdF2016
@Gio Chris Froome has not won any stage yet but they are saying he is currently the leader with a 6 second lead. How now?
He did win stage 9 or 10 where he sat on the stem downhill. Its accumulated over all stages including Time Trials
Quintana might give him a run for the hills today, lets wait and see how that will be @admin si utupatie kistar hivi tukue one star general kama yule mkamba na ile chokosh ingine
every day is a stage which can be won by anyone in the race.
Winning stages is much easier than winning the entire race.
Some people like Mark Cavendish have won three stages so far but are nowhere near winning the entire race.
Here is a hypothetical example
Day 1: Gio wins by finishing at 2 hrs 10 minutes
Day 1: Mkufuu finishes at 2hrs 30 minutes
Day 1: Black templar finishes at 3 hrs
Day 2: Gio finishes at 3 hours
Day 2: Mkufuu finishes at 2:30 minutes
Dat 2: Black templar wins by finishing at 2hrs 20 minutes
in this scenario: Both Gio and Black have won twice whereas I have won nothing…But I am leading on overall time used to cover the distance so far
General classification (overall)
1: Mkufuu 5 hrs
2 Gio 5hrs 10 minutes
3 black 5 hrs 20 minutes
Now I understand it…
Plus in the tour mnaachiana stages that you dont need to win to make and keep friends, stage wins are important to cyclists careers to so unaachia mtu a stage you dont need to win angalau for his career prospects
Due to the weather conditions forecasted by Météo France atop the Mont Ventoux with gusts of wind likely to exceed 100km/h, Tour de France organizers have decided to modify the finale of stage 12 in order to guarantee optimal safety conditions. Therefore, the stage finish will be located at Chalet-Reynard, 6 kilometres before the initially planned finishing line.
@Breizh thanks for the update
@Breizh I was reading somewhere that those winds can blow you off the bike…tough tough stage. It has been moved closer to the trees to provide a shield against the winds.
My pleasure. The Mont Ventoux is extraordinary. No trees on top and you most of times have strong winds on top.
You cycle?
Yes and no. I don’t do what you understand among cycling, we are cycling “Le Tour du Lac” (around the lake where we live) - when it comes to climb up the first foothills of the Alps I drop out voluntarily:D. However I know many TdF-places like the Mont Ventoux, the Pyrénnées and the Alpes.
Cheki hio mlima. The men will be separated from the mboys today. No more sagan and the sprinters.
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Bastille Day will add another layer of expectation to the race. The easterly direction of travel across the Rhône Valley leaves the peloton at risk of a buffeting. The race takes the classic approach via Bedoin, 22km before the summit. The action kicks off when the race reaches the hairpin bend at Saint-Ésteve where the race disappears into the forest. For nearly 10km the road pitches up at nearly 10 per cent and it will atomise the peloton. The drafting effect all but disappears on the steep but inconsistent gradient and the race becomes a battle of engines. When the road emerges at Chalet Reynard it’s into the landscape for which the climb is famous: the exposed white limestone for the final 6km. The gradients pitch up to about 10 per cent in the final 1.5km from the Tom Simpson memorial onwards. It’s the context that lends Mont Ventoux, the hardest climb in France, extra teeth this year. The day after is the crucial Ardèche TT and the route planner Thierry Gouvenou is banking on riders paying for the effort they put in here. The problem is that Ventoux is so hard, dosing one’s effort is an academic exercise.
Two things could happen: the GC riders are forced into a huge fight on the slopes of Ventoux, or they treat the approach as conservatively as they can and allow a big break to get away and contest the finish. The big teams’ logic could be that it’s better to let the Ventoux and the yellow jersey pass for now and start clawing back the deficit in the Ardèche and the succession of climbs in the Alps. But whatever the strategy, it’s Ventoux on Bastille Day. It’s going to be a crucial day.
on Bastille day the French wish and hope one of their own can win, @aviator are you still forrowin?
Am still trying to figure out how someone can sit on a bicycle moving at 130kph, and develop the power of a horse and a half.
Wish Contador had stayed I am now watching as a neutral. Froome will lose seconds today.
hehehe, at 130 km/h you are not peddling, you are hanging on for dear life, a single mistake and you are history.
check out this list.
Cyclists who have died during the Tour de France:
[ul]
[li]1910: French racer Adolphe Helière drowned at the French Riviera during a rest day.[/li][li]1935: Spanish racer Francisco Cepeda plunged down a ravine on the Col du Galibier.[/li][li]1967: 13 July, Stage 13: Tom Simpson died of heart failure during the ascent of Mont Ventoux. Amphetamines were found in Simpson’s jersey and blood.[/li][li]1995: 18 July, Stage 15: Fabio Casartelli crashed at 88 km/h (55 mph) while descending the Col de Portet d’Aspet.[/li][/ul]
Another seven fatal accidents have occurred:
[ul]
[li]1934: A motorcyclist giving a demonstration in the velodrome of La Roche Sur Yon, to entertain the crowd before the cyclists arrived, died after he crashed at high speed.[169][/li][li]1957: 14 July: Motorcycle rider Rene Wagter and passenger Alex Virot, a journalist for Radio Luxembourg, went off a mountain road near Ax-les-Thermes.[/li][li]1958: An official, Constant Wouters, died from injuries received after sprinter André Darrigade collided with him at the Parc des Princes.[170][/li][li]1964: Nine people died when a supply van hit a bridge in the Dordogne region, resulting in the highest tour-related death toll.[171][/li][li]2000: A 12-year-old from Ginasservis, known as Phillippe, was hit by a car in the Tour de France publicity caravan.[172][/li][li]2002: A seven-year-old boy, Melvin Pompele, died near Retjons after running in front of the caravan.[172][/li][li]2009: 18 July, Stage 14: A spectator in her 60s was struck and killed by a police motorcycle while crossing a road along the route near Wittelsheim.[108][/li][/ul]
check outthis findeo too.
[SIZE=6]Tour de France 1995 - Crash of Fabio Casartelli[/SIZE]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg2wGZq2Dm4
Before this clash proffesional cyclists were not wearing helmets, but after this happened it became mandatory.
Froome will gain lots of time today, Nibali does not have what it takes to beat him.
Do you remember Marco Pantani. He was very good in the mountains, the best climber ive ever seen.
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Froome has been racing like a sprinter, attacking on descents, challenging Sagan to the finish line etc… Today he has to pay…it’s payback day!