Sunday, July 15, 2007
Le Tour 2007 - Stage 13
Stage 13 - Albi - Albi Time Trial - 34 miles
Pictures at http://letour2007live.blogspot.com
Finally, after 12 stages we reach the first of two time trials. While the pros have to race this, for us it meant a short, easy day of only 34 miles. We slept in, took our time with breakfast and getting ready, and finally headed out around 9:30. Matt had purchased one of each of the official Tour jerseys - yellow (race leader), green (points leader), white (best young rider), polka dot (king of the mountains) and we chose this day to deck ourselves out in this garb. The reactions we got from drivers and other cyclists on the road was hysterical, and we had a real blast with this stage. This time trial is going to be something special and is definitely worth watching on TV. It is far from flat, and includes a long, very technical descent that I simply cannot imagine the pros undertaking on their difficult to handle time trial bikes. And, what goes down must go up, so there is also one very good climb and it is even categorized (a Cat 4). I'm not sure how categorized climbs work in time trials as it is certainly unusual, but this climb last 1.7 miles and climbs 580 feet. It should be a very interesting time trial to watch as it is certainly unusual, and is also very, very beautiful, reminding me of parts of the SavageMan course that descend into Savage River State Forest and then run alongside Savage River.
Pictures at http://letour2007live.blogspot.com
Finally, after 12 stages we reach the first of two time trials. While the pros have to race this, for us it meant a short, easy day of only 34 miles. We slept in, took our time with breakfast and getting ready, and finally headed out around 9:30. Matt had purchased one of each of the official Tour jerseys - yellow (race leader), green (points leader), white (best young rider), polka dot (king of the mountains) and we chose this day to deck ourselves out in this garb. The reactions we got from drivers and other cyclists on the road was hysterical, and we had a real blast with this stage. This time trial is going to be something special and is definitely worth watching on TV. It is far from flat, and includes a long, very technical descent that I simply cannot imagine the pros undertaking on their difficult to handle time trial bikes. And, what goes down must go up, so there is also one very good climb and it is even categorized (a Cat 4). I'm not sure how categorized climbs work in time trials as it is certainly unusual, but this climb last 1.7 miles and climbs 580 feet. It should be a very interesting time trial to watch as it is certainly unusual, and is also very, very beautiful, reminding me of parts of the SavageMan course that descend into Savage River State Forest and then run alongside Savage River.
