Yet Another Cycling Forum
General Category => Freewheeling => Racing => Topic started by: Wascally Weasel on 23 October, 2013, 02:37:40 pm
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Looks like a good one next year (although I enjoy it every year):
http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2014/us/
Alps and Pyrenees stages quite close together – stage 18 is the Etape next year and looks like fun. Haven’t climbed either of the Tourmalet or Hautacam so would be interested in doing that.
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Yes, the route looks good, only one ITT, the Pau to Hautacam route last used in 2008 AND 2 stages in the best part of the world, ever!*
*Do you really, really have to ask? :)
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And the best news, for me at least? Leg 3 passes within about 12 miles of my house and within spitting distance of my favourite pub! (http://www.compasseslittleygreen.co.uk/) Suffice to say one will be taking the day off ;D
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9 sections of cobbles on Stage 5, which starts at Ypres. That's a salient point.
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And the best news, for me at least? Leg 3 passes within about 12 miles of my house and within spitting distance of my favourite pub! (http://www.compasseslittleygreen.co.uk/) Suffice to say one will be taking the day off ;D
Holy shit!! It passes just a few hundred yards from me!!!!!! I had no idea! ;D
Map (http://www.letour.2014stage3.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/2mb-version.pdf)
Edit: And I guess that means new road surfaces! Some of the roads the route follows are fucking terrible at the moment...
*Does little dance*
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9 sections of cobbles on Stage 5, which starts at Ypres. That's a salient point.
:thumbsup:
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But they don't go through Thaxted! I thought every ride in Essex went there. What's going off?!?
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Ooh, Pla d'Adet. Needs to be done at 35°C for the best effect :hand:
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9 sections of cobbles on Stage 5, which starts at Ypres. That's a salient point.
Anyone in for doing this as a 200 DIY returning from Arenberg to Ypers?
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and within spitting distance of my favourite pub! (http://www.compasseslittleygreen.co.uk/)
Do you reckon that's going to be the feed zone? I don't think the climbers have the upper body strength to handle a musette with a Huffer in it.
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For those who are not familiar with "God's own County", watch the "Made in Yorkshire" video on the Tour website (Link above).
I am hoping the actual will live up to everyone's expectations.
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This bit of audio (top of page) is best appreciated by those of us who know their way around Yorkshire. :)
http://audioboo.fm/boos/1679657-tour-de-france-the-today-programme-vs-kraftwerk (http://audioboo.fm/boos/1679657-tour-de-france-the-today-programme-vs-kraftwerk)
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Looks like a good one next year (although I enjoy it every year):
http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2014/us/
Alps and Pyrenees stages quite close together – stage 18 is the Etape next year and looks like fun. Haven’t climbed either of the Tourmalet or Hautacam so would be interested in doing that.
It'll be going up Skipton High Street (http://www.cravenherald.co.uk/news/10756924.Skipton_High_Street_added_to_Tour_de_France_route/?ref=mr), which is three minutes' walk from our house.
I'm please they've chosen the Tourmalet again, after the devastating floods (http://www.velopeloton.com/articles.html/_/pyrenees-2/tourmalet-great-flood) of this June. The Tourmalet road from Luz St Sauveur has almost been rebuilt.
As for riding the Tourmalet and Hautacam, I prefer the former from the Luz St Sauveur side. I've always struggled on Hautacam. The last time we did it (back in 2008! (http://www.woollypigs.com/2008/08/peliroja-shows-woollypigs-her-lumpy-bits-part-x/)) on a blistering hot day, we were hoping to have a nice omelette at the cafe at the top, only to find it shut. Call ahead if you want to be sure of fried eggy goodness!
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The 'start' in York is insane. Weaves about on narrow streets. It will be a procession, not a race, on those bits. Hideous.
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Will that not be the départ rather than the official racing start point?
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I'm a bit confused. i thought the grand depart was a non-race set-off, usually over 30-40km.
in 2014, we seem to have a two stage grand depart, comprising 190km and 200km each. Surely those are race stages?
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I once went to watch the Tour of Britain at Skipton High Street. It was a sprint prime, so they shot along it in a blur. :(
Next time, I went to Cow & Calf. They were a tad slower there. ;)
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they shot along it in a blur. :(
Yep need to find somewhere on a bit of a rise to view otherwise the actual cycling bit will be over in about 15 seconds. At least you've got the caravan for half an hour before the race goes thorugh and then half an hour of support vehicles following the cyclists.
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they shot along it in a blur. :(
Yep need to find somewhere on a bit of a rise to view otherwise the actual cycling bit will be over in about 15 seconds. At least you've got the caravan for half an hour before the race goes through and then half an hour of support vehicles following the cyclists.
We will need to carefully reconnoitre the mid-Essex sections. What a labour of love!
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I was hoping to get somewhere quite close to home. Our plan is to be in Wensleydale for the weekend to watch it there and maybe let the girls play hooky form school to nip over to Rayne or thereabouts on Monday. Or just take the day off on my own and spend pre and post race at the Compasses :thumbsup:. Probably need a tight bend or a short, steep rise somewhere arond Littley Green?
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they shot along it in a blur. :(
Yep need to find somewhere on a bit of a rise to view otherwise the actual cycling bit will be over in about 15 seconds. At least you've got the caravan for half an hour before the race goes thorugh and then half an hour of support vehicles following the cyclists.
I think Cow & Calf counts as 'a bit of a rise'. ;D
For the TdF, it's probably getting up to Holme Moss early doors.
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Clarion, nah, the first three stages are described as "flat" on the TdF website.
Obviously, for the first two they have used Deano's version of flat!
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To be fair, we don't have the sort of terrain in the quantity that 'proper' Tour stages demand. Mind you, there are a lot of flattich stages in France, too.
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I'm a bit confused. i thought the grand depart was a non-race set-off, usually over 30-40km.
in 2014, we seem to have a two stage grand depart, comprising 190km and 200km each. Surely those are race stages?
The grand depart is the 'great start' which includes the pre-race team presentations and so on. Then you have each stage where they have a start village and are then waved off by some local dignitary for the 'depart fictif' or false start, before a roll out of a few km in a neutralised convoy (so no problem with bad streets etc.) before they reach km0 which is the 'depart real' or start of racing. at this point the flag drops (or to be more accurate, the flag from the lead car indicating that the race is neutralised is withdrawn) and racing can start.
Exactly the same is done in small road races - you leave from the start (which may be the HQ) and ride through to the course where there is a rolling start.
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I was hoping to get somewhere quite close to home. Our plan is to be in Wensleydale for the weekend to watch it there and maybe let the girls play hooky form school to nip over to Rayne or thereabouts on Monday. Or just take the day off on my own and spend pre and post race at the Compasses :thumbsup:. Probably need a tight bend or a short, steep rise somewhere arond Littley Green?
The news that the TdF was coming to mid-Essex next year came as something of a pleasant shock. Call me dim, but I had no idea it was a possibility. Since learning the news I have been giving the matter much thought, and we discussed it last night during our "rest stop" ;)
Given stage 3 is a Monday I'm thinking we should have a long weekend of cycling, camping, the odd tipple of one's fancy with the whole programme culminating in seeing Le Tour. Naturally the inclusion of WAGs and small people (*) is to be encouraged.
(*) Since the NUT thought going on strike, which closed Twinkle Toes' school the other day, was the best thing they could do for her education, I have no problem with pulling her out of school to watch Le Tour. She is doing GCSE photography so I will make skiving off conditional on her compiling a photo journal of the weekend - more than happy for her to show it to her photography tutor.
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Thanks for the clarification, David.