Monthly Archives: July 2012

Stage 17 – The Fat Lady Clears Her Throat

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Stage 17 was the last day in the Pyrenees. Stages 18 and 20 will finish in bunch sprints, with no chance for anyone to take time, and stage 19 is a time trial, for which Wiggins is the clear favourite, … Continue reading →

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Stage 16 – Allez Tommy

Posted on July 19, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Stage 16: the first of two huge days in the Pyrenees, featuring the legendary “Circle of Death”: four massive mountains, the HC classified Col d’Aubisque and iconic Col du Tourmalet, followed by the 1st category Col d’Aspin and Cold de … Continue reading →

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Stage 15 – looking forward to the rest day.

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Stage 15 was the final transition between the Alps and the Pyrenees, finishing at Pau. Due to it’s location at the foot of some of the best climbs in the Pyranees, Pau is one of the most frequently featured places … Continue reading →

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Stages 12, 13 and 14 – getting away and staying away

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Three stages to report on, I’ll keep it brief: Stage 12, the longest stage of the year and the first of 2 “race saving” rides for one of the big teams, with Garmin-Sharp‘s David Millar taking the victory after the … Continue reading →

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Stage 11 – Evans Cracks

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Stage 11, the last proper day in the Alps, and with Sky controlling the race, the pressure was on the GC contenders to attack. The parcours seemed perfect with 2 HC category climbs and a mountaintop finish up a 1st … Continue reading →

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Stage 10 – Nibali tries his luck

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Stage 10, the first really mountains stage, and after Sky’s dominance of the time trial, the rivals for the Yellow Jersey knew that the real racing starts from here. The profile included the Hors Categorie classified climb of the Col … Continue reading →

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Stage 9: The Truth Hurts

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Tom McLaren

The Individual Time Trial: They call it “The Race of Truth”. And unless you’re Sky, the truth makes scary reading. The course was medium length, at 41km, and a bit hilly at the beginning, but not enough to dissuade the … Continue reading →

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Stages 6, 7 and 8 – Team Sky take the Yellow

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Friday (Stage 6): The final sprint stage of the week, and one of the last of the tour, should have been a formality, with no real time gaps expected. But after the experience of the last week, who are we … Continue reading →

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Stage 5 – The Gorilla Eats Again

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Tom McLaren

Sorry for the late update, I had real work to do!! Another Sprint finish, wide and straight with a slight uphill, and another crash in the last 3kms. After yesterday’s drama, Sky decided to work a lead-out train, as much … Continue reading →

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Stage 4 – Bang! And down they go…

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Tom McLaren

“Heart rates across Great Britain shot through the roof as Olympic favourite Mark Cavendish (Sky) hit the deck in Wednesday’s sprint finish at the Tour de France.” – Velonews.com Sprint finish, bore-off. Well, unless you’re Mark Cavendish (Sky) and your … Continue reading →

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