Doppio: 14

a weekly double-shot of road racing

Wednesday 3rd July 2013

issue 14

rapha.cc

29 30 01 02 03 04 05 06 07

SATURDAY — Tour de France S1

SUNDAY — Tour de France S2

MONDAY — Tour de France S3

TUESDAY — Tour de France S4

WEDNESDAY — Tour de France S5

the view from nice

Aussies Have GreenEDGE on Promenade des Anglais Yesterday, the controlled power of the team time trial took over Nice’s streets. e spectacle of the teams flying tightly through the narrow streets of the old town, before hitting the searing tarmac of the Promenade des Anglais was impressive – and the average speeds over 56kph even more so.

Team Sky will be content not to be in the yellow jersey, since the pressure of defending it so early in the race, with several riders below 100% would have been a strain. In that sense the result, which saw them lose only three seconds to eventual winners Orica-Greenedge, was ideal. Less good for the boys in black was the confirmation that the Australian team seems to have put its mediocre 2012 French outing and the embarrassment of Busgate behind it, and is a real force in this year’s race. ere is a general sense of relief that the greatest race on earth, having scored a Zorro-like path across Corsica, is now back on the mainland. While several riders have vowed to come back on holiday, not many teams will miss the unpredictable stages and the logistical difficulties of the island. Corsican highlights, apart from the spectacular helicopter shots of mountains and beaches, were Kittel’s sprint and Bakelants’ break to win in Ajaccio.

french fancies

THURSDAY — Tour de France S6

FRIDAY — Tour de France S7

STAGE 4, 25 km Tues 2 July

And Chris Froome’s little dig on the Côte du Salario: onetwoing the peloton with Richie Porte after the Tasmanian already had them on the ropes. Some will have seen it as hubris, but it was more a desire to stay out of trouble. As Robert Millar said of Ryder Hesjedal’s similar exploit in stage three of this year’s Giro: “If you are going to fall off it may as well be your own fault.” e teams will be welcoming two days of relative calm promised by a Mistral-less transition across Provence. Most of all, those injured in the first-stage crash, including Omega Pharma-QuickStep’s Tony Martin and Geraint omas. Further scans revealed omas has a hairline fracture of his pelvis.

Continuing to ride cannot make it worse, so it will be a question of how much pain the Welshman can tolerate, and yesterday he showed a lot of heart in taking big pulls at the ttt.

Cannondale's Ted King, meanwhile, has been eliminated on the time cut due to his injuries despite widespread protests that he should be reinstated, since those injuries were sustained in the confused finish of the race's first stage.

Whispers and rumours heard on the roadside in France…

Movistar’s hotel for the first night was in a town called Pinarello, where they were joined by Cofidis. Is there a new bike sponsorship announcement on the way for the French team?

SATURDAY — Tour de France S8

SUNDAY — Tour de France S9

quotes “anks for all the messages guys, much appreciated!!! Even the dope control guys came to wish me well, and take my urine...” @geraintthomas86 is soldiering on.

“FAO Pierre Rolland: Polka dot shorts should always be buried at midnight under a full moon to ensure they stay dead” @doctor_hutch “What a great team today, and @simongerrans what a hitter! Our team is just fizzing.” @darylimpey on Tuesday, full of Aussie confidence.

“It turns out the flight from Calvi to Nice is the world's shortest flight in an A320.

Good to be on mainland France though.” @koendekoert

Rumour has it that Mark Cavendish is one team went on a trying out hydraulic three-day, applesbrakes – does the only diet a couple Manx Missile need of weeks before the more stopping Tour. Who, and power? more importantly, why?

ice -co oled jac ke ts were #pr ost y le

Wednesday 3rd July 2013

a weekly double-shot of road racing

anatomy of a stage

Stage 8, 195 kilometres Castres - Ax 3 Domaines Our guide to the key stage of the coming week. is time, it’s the peloton’s first incursion into the Pyrenees, which arrives in the shape of a testing double-header.

A tough first week will have worn down many and a Pyrenean double-header isn’t exactly a relaxing way to spend the weekend. e first key climbing test for the gc contenders to deal with arrives Saturday and will show both who’s mentally fallible and who is utterly legless.

Whilst the profile doesn’t look as gruelling as other mountain stages this year, there’s more than 120km of rolling terrain before the penultimate hors catégorie col of the Port de Pailhères, followed by the shorter but brutal climb up Ax-les-Trois Domaines. Also known as the Plateau de Bonascre, the final climb from Axles-ermes, home to healing thermal springs, has sections of over 11%, so with 180km-plus already in the legs, we might see some riders going backwards. In the 2001 edition it was where, 2km from the summit, Armstrong looked over at Ullrich and left him for dead, nearly catching the less-threatening escapees in the process. It’s a climb where, if someone has the legs, they can launch a devastating attack. e big cheeses will be watching each other like hawks and whereas the likes of Chris Froome, Alberto Contador, Ryder Hesjedal and Cadel Evans will be playing poker, don’t be surprised to see Pierre Rolland or ibaut Pinot plundering the fruit machine here. An escape and a clever bit of descending could set an alpinist on the path to glory. en again, we could see a breakaway igniting the day’s racing, a group of unknowns fleeing into the foothills for some grimpeur gang warfare as the roads head skywards.

Whatever the case, it’s the first proper foray in the areas the great race is famed for, the high mountains.

Being the 100th edition it’ll be good to see who may be the eventual King of the Mountains.

weekend weather

London Partly cloudy, sunny spells, highs of 25c. Souplesse Jersey, Women’s Classic Bib Shorts, Lightweight Cap.

Ax 3 Domaines Sunny, 28c and rising, the first hors catégorie climb. Nice.

Lightweight Bib Shorts, Arm Screens.

Sydney Fair but cool, highs of 17c. Why not pop along to the new cc?

Classic Jersey and Classic Wind Jacket.

San Francisco Clear skies all weekend, 64-68f, bonne route.

Pro Team Jersey, Pro Team Base Layer, Pro Team Socks.

motoman

Motorcycle Diaries Few people get as close to cycling’s race action as the ‘photo-motos’.

In an exclusive column for Doppio, ‘Motoman’, our man in the press pack, recounts the trials and tribulations of life as a not-so-easy rider.

Five nights in a tent and I’m already knackered.

Driving down on the moto was tough. I jousted with cars on the a7, the inner-city motorway through Lyon, and 1,000 kilometres later I’m waiting for the ferry from Nice. Still, it’s better than last year, when by stage three I was already burnt out. at’s how it goes, though, if you’re unattached. I’ve got a blue bib this year, too, one step up the hierarchy of photo-moto access from the white one I had before, so things are improving, but it’s still a long way from ‘in-race’ access.

Sunday was a relaxed day, hanging out at a team bus in the morning for some behind-the-scenes shots.

Monday I spent the day on top of the Col de Sella, watching vip helicopters land behind me, sweating in my leathers and getting sunburnt. en I hooned down the hill after the peloton for a meeting with the uci on the press boat, where I soaked up a bit of gossip from the photo editors, whose own photos are mostly unusable since they’re not in focus. It will only get worse over the coming weeks.

Corsica has been intense and, since the local paper ran an article about two Italian tourists being robbed of their bmw 1200 at gunpoint, I’ve been worried about my bike. I have an 1150, and most photo-motos favour the k100 because it's lower, but the 1200 is the local mafia’s vehicle of choice for drive-bys it seems.

Shoot first, ask questions later is their motto. Come to think of it...

AX 3 DOMAINES 1375m

CASTRES 175m Col de Pailhères 2001m

166km

ice-c o oled jac ke ts were #pr ost y le