Pretty funny imitations of pro riders styles...

His Voeckler is hilarious...

Crankworx Les 2 Alpes.

There are other things happening on 2 wheels this month. Check out this amazing photoset from Crankworx Les 2 Alpes in Whistler!

13 Whiptastic Photos from Crankworx L2A | Vital MTB

Spoiler alert?

Since this is a new blog I'm kind of just having fun and learning as I go along. Things like photo credits and learning how to make gifs have just happened organically. Adding widgets, follow buttons and other added functionality may one day happen as well, but there is no master plan and definitely no schedule.

Internet etiquette is of paramount importance to me, and one thing I hadn't considered until my friend Tim brought it up the other day was that my posts may be spoiling the days racing for those who are recording and watching later. Being the obsessive cycling nerd that I am I've been waking at around 5 am everyday to get my fix, many times setting up the days post and then rechecking it for spelling and facts later in the morning when I am a little more awake and in my right mind...or at least as right as my mind gets.

As such I'll try to be a bit more careful in my approach to protect those who are working to stay in the dark on the days events until they can sit and watch in the proper setting, whatever that may be for each of you (not an easy task in today's over connected world). I'll be more thoughtful about my headlines and maybe even add in a break, it just might lead to more interesting posts...but we'll have to see about that. 

Until then, I thought I'd send this link for one of the best (if not the best) TDF spoiler repellers out there...you can pick one up from the cool cats over at MashSF:

Give me a break.

Matteo Trentin Stage 14 2013 TDF - Photo credit: Laurent Cipriani AP

2013 has been a lean year for breakaway successes in Le Tour. Only stage 2's win by Belgian Jan Bakelants qualifies as a true breakaway win in my opinion, but if there was a stage set up perfectly for a break to stick...it was todays stage 14 to Lyon. 

After the battle in yesterday's phenomenal stage 13 it seemed like the wind battered peloton was more than happy to reign things back a bit and let the split grow to it's eventual 7 plus minute size. The excitement was started by - you guessed it - Jens Voigt. The popular 41 year old was riding in his 303rd stage of Le Tour and set out with his protegé Bakelants and 17 others including American Andrew Talansky, the highest placed GC rider in the group. The break survived a bridge attempt from Italian legend Damiano Cunego and Dutch hardman and barbed wire magnet Johnny Hoogerland and continued to apply the pressure. 

The pace eventually proved too much for the veterans Voigt and David Millar and they were dispatched before Frenchman Julien Simon put in a heroic effort and gained over 30 seconds on the others. Behind him the group worked haphazardly to bring him back, with TeeJay Van Garderen and the others taking turns surging and then following as the early cat and mouse games started to play out. The result was a lead that stayed at around 10 seconds and tantalized Simon with thoughts of maintaining it all the way to victory. 

One final push from Michael Albasini and it was over however. A spent Simon made a strong effort to stay with the breakaway all the way to the line and was rewarded with a more than respectable 11th place on the day. Up ahead of him Bakelants took a deep pull to try and distance the group but it was too little too late. The finish looked to be perfectly suited to Movistar's J.J. Rojas - easily the best sprinter in the group - but Albasini took the fight to him first and the Spaniard faded. Talansky also came around but it was a deep turn from far back in the group by the Italian Matteo Trentin that did in the others. He showed a great finishing kick that his teammate Mark Cavendish would be proud of and crossed the line with a salute that showed nearly as much surprise as it did celebration.

Matteo Trentin stage 14 2013 TDF - Photo credit: Laurent Rebours AP.

It was the first Tour victory for the 23 year old from Borgo Valsugana, and also the first for any Italian in over 3 years. He showed well for his country and for his Omega Pharma Quickstep squad. It is their second win in a row, third in the last four stages and fifth overall. Throw in the revelation that young Michal Kwiatkowski has been and it's easy to see that OPQS came to play, and has been a huge factor so far in this years tour. 

Best stage yet.

The Split. Photo credit: Cyclingtips.com.au

Mark Cavendish won his 25th stage of Le Tour de France today. He's a quarter of a C-note deep in top steppers although he's having to work harder for them these days. It was a chaotic finish to a chaotic stage and the Manx Missile made a great move to chase down Cannondale's Maciej Bodnar who was himself chasing down Cavendish's own teammate Niki Terpstra; and easily pulled away from the ever present Peter Sagan who gained his 7th podium of this tour. On any other day that would have been the story, Cavendish winning his second stage and quieting the growing rumble that is saying Kittel - and not himself - is the best sprinter in the world. On any other day it would have been, except today was not any other day and it wasn't a story...not by a longshot. 

No, the story today was about some of the most aggressive team riding the tour has seen this year, and maybe in a few years. I can't remember a more brutal flat, wind riddled stage since 2008 when Lance Armstrong worked like a boss to distance his main competition...who just so happened to be his teammate Alberto Contador. Contador would again be part of the story today, only this time he was the aggressor, and there would be no debating whether or not it was the right move, because he wasn't working against his own team, he was working against the number one squad in the world - Team Sky. 

It was a brilliant piece of tactical cycling that took place at the perfect moment. It was with approximately 31 km to go, long after the first fissures had started to show in a peloton that had been made fragile by some of the most brutal canicule crosswinds the tour has seen this year. The battles had started nearly 70 km earlier when the first breaks started to form. Valverde and Kittel among others were already in danger and working hard to catch back up to a break about 1/3rd the size of the peloton. Then Valverde punctured and his day (and his GC hopes) were done. The lead group which contained most of the Saxo, OPQS, Cannondale and Sky teams smelled blood in the water and attacked. for the next 60 plus km they formed hard working echelons which accordioned across the roads and created a multi minute split between the groups. 

Then when they sensed a relaxation in the lead pack, Contador and his Saxo Tinkoff boys attacked with a ferocity that was stunning. This time they had Belkin and OPQS there to help and they quickly distanced the now shrunken and hobbled Team Sky group still battling to maintain contact with 14 leaders. Sky had started the day with only seven riders and by this time had seen 2 miss the cut leaving only British strong man Stannard, Thomas and his pesky pelvis , Suitsou and Kennagh there to work for Froome. They fought valiantly and kept the lead at around 10 seconds for the first 10km. With no other teams willing to help however, the leaders pulled away and left Froome resigned to his fate and a loss on the day of over a minute. He maintains a 2:25 lead over second place - now filled by Contador. Still a large lead and one that should hold up through the mountains...but you never know. 

Valverde was the big loser today (did I say big? I meant monumental) losing nearly 10 minutes to the leader and over 8 to the yellow jersey. That is a perfect example of how brutally fast today's racing was. Dirty was in a group of FIFTY riders who all lost that much time to the lead pack on a stage flatter than a pancake...and they weren't even last! I've said it before and I'll say it again; these sprint stages are anything but rest days on wheels until they last few km before the sprint. For riders they can be some of the most hardcore days in the saddle...and can mean the difference between gaining or losing a lot of time, and a lot of places. For fans they can be some of the most exciting few hours of racing we'll ever see.

A new chapter...

Marcel Kittel's third victory in this years Tour de France was arguably his most impressive, and most important. Why this one more than his first? Because It was head up against the best sprinter in the world today, and possibly the best ever. 

The day started as many do, with a break. It was one that would last for most of the race, and nearly all of it as the always feisty J.A. Flecha of Vocansoleil made a valiant last ditch effort to get a heroic win only to be swallowed up by the peloton with under 6k to go. 

From then on it was all about maintaining an upright position as a huge crash took out a number of riders. Some of them, such as Sky's Edvald Boassen Hagen who broke his right scapula, sadly had their races ended completely. Cavendish and Kittels lead out men both made it through with their leaders on their wheels. At the end it was Steegmans leading out Cav in textbook fashion...a situation we've seen so many times end up a win for Cav that I'd be willing to bet my bike that he does it again... only today it was different. Kittel pulled a Dish on the Dish and waited just long enough to conserve enough energy to shoot around the Missile on the right and pip him for the win at the line. 

With the victory Kittel has managed to put the disappointment of last years injury ended tour to rest, and to cement his place next to the best sprinters racing in the pro peloton today. 

Oh - and let's not forget about Mr. Consistency. Peter Sagan picked up what I count as his 6th podium of the race as well. He saw his huge points lead drop to 94 points, but with only 2 true sprinting stages left, it would seem the green jersey is almost as locked up for him as yellow is for Froomey. With a couple more rouleur stages still to come, perhaps his Cannondale teammates can put in another effort like the one on stage 6, when they dropped the hammer for nearly 100 km to distance the other sprinters and deliver him to the line in first class style. 

Tomorrow is most likely the last chance for the pure sprinters to get a win before the Champs Elysees, so I'd expect some fireworks from the OPQS, Argos, Cannondale and Lotto boys as they try to get another win before the race heads to the heavens this weekend. 

Better late than never...

Busy busy busy. The last two days have been busy at the office and at home. So I missed my recap on the all important Time Trial to Mont Saint Michel. I'm sure you've read about it from someone else already so I'll just point out what I consider to be the interesting bits.

• Mont Saint Michel seems like an incredible place, and what a backdrop for a bike race. As Liz Lemon would say: "I want to go to there". 
• Tony Martin is still the best. True, without Fabs there his victory is a little scuffed, but it was a great performance, especially when you consider the injuries he's had to overcome after being flattened by the Greilla on stage one. 
• Christopher Froome might as well have stood along the road and hit each one of his competition with a sledge hammer. His ride basically had the same effect - which was a thorough beatdown of anybody who was still harboring thoughts of wrestling the yellow jersey off of his back. With his nearest competition a whopping 3:25 back, he has a cushion the size of Wendy Williams booty to work with...which is to say, A lot. For now I'll enjoy it for the amazing performance that it seemed to be... and hope that the info in this article has some sort of plausible explanation,
• Peter Sagan rode a great race. 17th place and 2:18 back of Martin, but only a minute or so back of everybody besides the winner and Froome. It bodes well for his future chances in some of the minor stage races in my opinion....if he could just work on his climbing!
• Dirty Valverde put on a good show and limited his losses to remain in second place 12 seconds ahead of Bauke Mollema. Never a strong point for him, he pulled off one of his best efforts in this time trial and he heads into the Alps in a great spot for a podium. 
• Richie Porte is the real deal. Sure he took a shellacking on Sunday's stage 8, but that was after putting in a monster performance up Ax 3 Domanes the day before in support of Froome. His 3rd place finish only 1:10 behind Martin speaks volumes for his future potential to be the next tour winner from Australia. 
• Michal Kwiatkowski continues to wow. 5th place on the stage and 7th place over all with a shot at a podium. Omega Pharma has a real gem on their hands in this 23 year old, and they'd be wise to get him locked up to a long term contract asap. What a great GC balance he can be to Cav's championship level sprinting. 
• Andy Talansky put in a strong ride to finish 12th. The Alps might hold the key to a possibly bright future for this young American...hoping for a continued strong finish for the kid from Miami...I'm sure JV feels the same way. 
• Some big losers on the day:
• Nairo Quintanana - That 2nd in the El Pais Vasco time trial was not to be repeated here.
• Jaoqim "Purito" Rodriguez - He's gotta do better than 56th place if he wants to seriously challenge for a podium. 
• Cadel - The days of the deisel chugging to good things in major time trials seem to have passed. 
• Contador - For some 15th place would be great, but for a former TDF winner (ish) he needed to step up and battle with Froome here..but he couldn't. Is Kreuzinger the Saxoff team leader yet?
• But the biggest time trial loser of all? As usual it's Andy Schleck. I know he's still working his way back from the broken pelvis, but this was a disaster. I'll never understand why he can't get better at this discipline. He has so much potential to be great...or does he? Maybe he's not meant to be a great time trialist...maybe he just is what he is and he's been over reaching this whole time? 

So there you have it. All the Stage 11 news that's fit to print regarding the first major TT of this tour. Can't wait for the weekend and the coming big battles in the high mountains.