Tour Finishes Up

Despite the doping scandals, which continue to roll in with Iban Mayo being the latest, I would estimate that the Tour finished on a good note. Levi Leipheimer rode a great time trial and along with Cadel Evans and Alberto Contador they gave us some real drama in the last real stage that figured in the overall classification. Discovery Channel certainly ran a stellar race with its overall placings and jerseys as well as overall team victory. That should go along way to help improve the sponsorship hunt; lets hope for no late doping surprises as with Mayo!

The peloton seems to be resolved to move past doping and with outspoken riders like David Millar getting lots of press and getting down on implicated riders, the movement, at least in appearance, seems to be toward clean riding. Look for Slipstream to make some big moves in the coming year!

Perhaps the Tour de France can turn the tables on the bad news throughout the race and show how they have forced a change in events from the ugly, old, cycling world to a new cleaner UCI tour. Fans and sponsors alike have to hold the line and demand nothing less.

L

Tour de Dopage

The poor Tour de France...it makes the 1998 Festina scandal small by comparison. This time however, the "protests" from the cyclists seem to be much less strong. They must all surely look at one another suspiciously though.

Rasmussen is gone, Vinokourov gone, and their teams? At this point Rabobank is on the fence, but if they go, then so goes Denis Menchov. Vino's transgressions cost team mate Andreas Kloden a podium potential. Cofidis has pulled out because of a positive test on one of its participants. Oh la la....I just left France on Sunday and can't imagine the headlines of L'Equipe tomorrow!

What else...Germany's main tv chanels distributing the Tour cut its coverage after a revelation last week about doping by a German rider. A major Swiss newspaper has decided to cut its race coverage and only focus on doping scandals. UCI and ASO/Tour de France seem to be playing politics, of course, and the whole sport is in shambles.

I read Christian Vande Velde's post on Velonews today and he says the system is working. By that he means that the testing is catching the cheaters. Why is it then that the cheating continues? It may be working, but its destroying the sport. What sponsors are going to want to step up? Fan interest is dropping - although I have nothing scientific to back that up, its an observation. Maybe these economic impacts will have a more profound impact on doping than any attempt to stay up on doping methods will have.

What a shame, a beautiful race and truly one of the most difficult sporting events in the world. The Tour is suffering one of its worst showings ever; lets hope that Vande Velde is right and that we are witnessing the final squeezing out of all the bad apples. I am not too optimistic.

Les Pyrenees - Ca fait mal!

Another edition of Etape du Tour took place on Monday, July 16 following the Tour de France stage from Foix to Loudenvielle across five mountain passes in the Pyrenees and over 198.5 km. Normally, 8500 participants were expected but according to reports only 6500 showed up. I couldn't have noticed the difference!

It was a sea of humanity from my viewpoint from the 2 km long line that snaked its way through Foix for lineup at 6:30 am. The start was at 7 am but I and my colleagues crossed the start about 7:25 since we had to start at almost the very end of the group - according to randomly assigned race numbers. No matter, all are provided with timing chips so our clock officially starts when we cross the start line, but like last year it doesn't help to be 25 minutes behind when elimination is scheduled already for 7:40 am!!

Weather was good and mostly cloudy until about 11:00 am, so that allowed for some really good riding in good temperatures over the first mountains. Then on the monster, Port de Bales, the sun hit hard. Temperatures rose and people got off their bikes. I think that I moved up far enough this year to find myself among stronger riders, but still at least 50% of the people were walking up sections of this very narrow and steep climb. Sections were over 11% and when a nice 7% grade came along it felt so good to just 'cruise' in climbing gears! This was my first time up this mountain, and it does also make its first appearance on the Tour de France this year too. I think there will be a lot of suffering there as well next week with the pros; albeit at a much higher level!! The temperatures rose and the asphalt began to melt and even give way in some places. I could hear the little bubbles popping under my tires. I was afraid for the descent if the road was the same on the other side. Finally, on top, a fantastic view over some of the peaks of the Pyreneen range revealed snow capped peaks and long views. Maybe it was because this was the 4th climb already on this stage, but I would estimate this 20km climb to be harder than Alpe d'Huez. There are almost no switchbacks and very little relief at any point in the last 10 kilometers. And, for the descent...the road couldn't have been better.

The newly paved road explains the Tour's arrival, and the way down to the bottom of the last climb is a very long but nice road. It made the final climb up the Peyresourde seem easy. The only problem is that when you descend for 15km at a fast pace, it is nice to have a little relief on some flat at the bottom to pedal out a little and loosen up for the next climb. That doesn't happen you come down and go straight up! The last climb isn't as long, but by this time, people only want to be finished. The heat is high but not insufferable as last year, and most people are riding - heads down, and no talking. Over the last col and without stopping I head down another 10km into the beautiful lakeside town of Loudenvielle. Its nice to finish downhill, and so, almost 10.5 hours later, I got off the bike, and I said once again - Ok, I don't need to do that anymore!

Cycling the Alpes - Marmotte Week

Weather: Its July, but you wouldn’t know it this week in the Alpes. Rain, clouds and snow above 2000 meters. The col de Galibier had snow on it yesterday. Yes, there were cyclists on it, of course, as the road was open and the snow was only a light dusting that didn’t stick to the road. But, it could be an issue as the Tour de France approaches; the weather. So far this ‘summer’ has a been a wet and below normal temperature over most of France. I would expect to see things change completely in the reverse to extreme heat and dryness for the rest of the month, but ….I’m no weatherman!

La Marmotte; takes off tomorrow from Bourg d’Oisans and completes a loop over the Croix de Fer, Telegraph, Galibier, and Alpe d’Huez. More than 7000 participants are expected. The course rolls over closed roads and is obviously one of the most popular cyclo sportives, after Etape du Tour. An incredible number of Belgians, Dutch, and English are here for the ride. All flat landers normally, they love to come climb in the mountains, and they are strong too!

The Ugly American is alive and well in L2A. Spending a week in the Alpes, the week of La Marmotte, is a great time for a cyclist. The routes are covered with riders of all kinds and, well, it’s the Alpes. During La Marmotte it is hard to find hotel space too. I do love Les Deux Alpes, Marmotte or not, but Les Deux Alpes is a ski station even in summer. And the ski attitude is ever present. While most of the visitors here in L2A are Italian, and most of them teenagers, I have come across groups of Americans here for ski training as well. And they didn’t check their ‘ski tude’ at the border. The ski ‘tude’; the hot dogger, too cool Warren Miller dude, the mountain snob. If you’ve ever been skiing in Colorado’s biggest resorts, you’ve seen it. I couldn’t avoid here either, and I insist on speaking French to avoid association.

Hiking in Grindelwald

Hiking in Grindelwald:


For high mountain enthusiasts and hikers of all stripes; Grindelwald is the outdoor paradise of Switzerland. We have offered hiking tours in the region for 2 years now and also a combination with Zermatt. For 2008, we will offer only Grindelwald, but there is no lack of hiking and terrain to cover.

Situated just a short train ride above Interlaken, Grindelwald is a mountain village with a typical Swiss mountain ambiance. It sits below the famous Eiger and Jungfrau peaks, among others, and it seems you could fall right off the summit of those and land in town! What is fantastic about the Grindelwald and the surrounding Jungfrau region is the improbable network of mountain trains, buses, and cable cars. With a pass you can ride all these modes of transport and do a seemingly infinite combination of hikes. Take any one of them up to a point and then hike around and down or to another point where you can come back by another mode of transport. High mountain services are possible too for lunches.

The incredible Junfraujoch sits at the top of the chain and overlooks just about everything except a few of the highest peaks. An amazing number of tourists ride the trains up there every day, including a vast number of Japanese tourists on ‘highlight trips’. But the trails are far less busy, but yet utilized primarily by European (Swiss and Germans mostly) hikers. In Grindewald you will see people of all ages decked out in hiking shoes, daypacks, walking poles heading up or down.

Don’t forget your high mountain clothing – weather can change any time. Rain, wind, sun, snow. A goretex shell, good glasses, and sunscreen are a must among other items. Even in full summer. I woke up this morning and could see a dusting of snow on the mountains not too far up.