Monthly Archive for July, 2007Page 2 of 5

BikeStyle Tours now on TV

Published
by
Peter Power
on July 25, 2007
in On Tour
. 2 Comments

Stage 16 – Wednesday, July 25: Orthez – Gourette – Col d’Aubisque, 218.5km

BikeStyle Tours Gets you to the action!

Well I’m back in England being drowned by rain and having to watch the decisive stage of the tour on the computer (check out cyclingfans.com for links to video and audio feeds- it’s great, though it does make doing any work difficult). I left le Tour de France yesterday on the rest day and headed back to my ‘real’ job trying to forget that two days ago I was at Loudenvielle watching the race finish and drinking Champagne and not expecting to see the BikeStyle guys again but I did, along with another few million people. I’m not sure who it was but at 4.6km to go there was someone in BikeStyle kit cheering the riders on. What a spot to watch the race; Rasmussen and Contador were battling it out with Evans and Leipheimer just behind. AND, it was sunny… sigh, I wish I was there!

Mazamet to Plateau-de-Beille

Published
by
Peter Power
on July 19, 2007
in On Tour
. 0 Comments

Mazamet -> Plateau-de-Beille

depart Mazamet for the 2008 Tour de France

It’s very nasty. I think they should take it out. It’s a violation of our human rights. I love it.

Lance Armstrong about the Plateau-de-Beille in 2004

Mazamet to Plateau-de-Beille profile

Mazamet > Plateau-de-Beille
July 22 2007 / 14th Stage / Distance : 197 km

Km 9 Côte de Sarraille Montée de 9 km à 5,2%
Km 146 Col de Pailhères Montée de 16,8 km à 7,2%
Km 197 Plateau-de-Beille Montée de 15,9 km à 7,9%

BikeStyle Tour de France Pyrenees VIP Experience

The BikeStyle VIP Tour that I’m lucky enough to be going on takes in the Pyrenees stages and the Albi time trial. This years tour is so finely balanced we are certain to see the decisive moments of this years tour. Apart from watching the tour and exploring the riders enclosure at Albi and enjoying finishes in VIP style there is some hard work to do! As part of the tour we get to ride a whole stage of the tour on the day that the tour rides it.

The stage we get to ride is the first in the Pyrenees and it’s a killer. The stage starts in the first time start town of Mazamet and just to wake the riders up immediately has a category 2 climb over the Montagne Noir. It’s a climb i’ve done and although not too steep it’s quite long and the riders who are still digesting breakfast might get caught out. Then it’s a nice downhill for 17k or so out of the Montagne Noir. Then the only way is up from Carcassonne to the Pyrenees.

300px-pailheres.jpgTo break up the monotony of the flat plain comes a hors category climb: Col de Pailhères (2001m). The Col de Pailhères as been the seen of some epic battles, not least between Ullrich, Basso and Armstrong in 2005. The climb the way we’ll do it is 10.6 km long and has a maximum gradient of 10.2% . This isn’t the last HC climb of the day so it might be where I’m grateful of the two support vehicles, they have promised a push if necessary. Down 30km then the HC climb of the Plateau-de-Beille to the finish.

The finish at Plateau-de-Beille is an amazing finish won by Lance Armstrong the last two time the tour has finished here. The climb is 17.9km at 7.9% and at the end of a long day should be quite a trial. If you want an idea of the finish have a look a video fly through of the finish Warning 16.8MB. The last finish in 2004 it was Lance Armstrong and Ivan Basso shoulder to shoulder through the Basque crowds. Lance sprinted in the last 100m and won.

NASA has some great imagery of the finish including a 16 MB video fly through of the finish.

July 22 2007 / 14th Stage / Distance : 197 km

Km 9 Côte de Sarraille Montée de 9 km à 5,2%
Km 146 Col de Pailhères Montée de 16,8 km à 7,2%
Km 197 Plateau-de-Beille Montée de 15,9 km à 7,9%

DAY 1 (Paris…)

Published
by
Sim
on July 15, 2007
in On Tour
. 0 Comments

Well here we go, the magic day is upon us. Day 1: airport pickups.
Sim on a bicycle
From 6am to 7pm our clients arrived in Paris today. The first thing to do was to get the bikes out of their travel boxes and get them built up for the next 2 weeks of riding around France. For those arriving early enough, a ride led by Ex-Pro Dave McKenzie was on the menu. After that we loaded most of our bags and all the bikes out the bus that left Paris late afternoon in order to get to the Alps tomorrow in time for us to ride the Alpe D’Huez. We are traveling by TGV, the world’s fastest train.

Once all the dirty work was out of the way it was down to the bar for a cold beer and to watch the Tour of TV. This is going to be a very interesting Tour by the looks of things, and one that will keep us on our toes until the last minute in Paris. Sadly the Tour lost Michael Rogers today after a crash, but there’s still a long way to go to Paris and many more dramas to come I’m sure.

Right, now it’s off for a our welcome dinner where we’ll all meet properly, get in some much needed food after a very long flight for most of our clients. Then it’s off to bed.

Tomorrow we will be in the Alps… our first “real” ride of the trip.
See the 2008 Tour de France with BikeStyle Tours