The Tour De France Explained in Animation

Arguably the best 10 minute explanation of Le Tour de France that you will ever see.

Rubbin' is racin'.

Sometimes crashes happen. Today's stage 10 finish was one of those times. Does Cav move left? Sure, but Veelers pops to the right with his head down as well. My thought is that Cav was following the leaders to the left and probably thought Veelers would go that way as well, not drift right. Either way the end result is Veelers in pain and Cavendish in third behind Greipel and the impressive Marcel Kittel of Argos Shimano who took his second stage victory - and his first against the other top sprinters in the peloton. 

Sagan rolled over the line in fourth and maintained a slightly smaller, but still hefty lead in the points race as we head in to the all important ITT tomorrow. 

Didi.

One of the best photos I have ever seen of Didi. Arguably the most famous person at Le Tour...keep an eye out for him in the Alps. 

Wheelmen and Co

Great new shorty from Wheelmen and Co. Making some of the finest, classically inspired bicycling related accessories. All products are deigned and produced right here in Los Angeles California, U.S.A.

Power to weight ratio is everything.

Im guessing that the Team Sky boys aren't too concerned with their BMI measurements right now. I suppose 5 ish hours on the bike for 9 days straight will do that for you. 

The Bicycling Life TDF 2013 First rest day awards...

In no particular order:

Best Team - Orica Greenedge: TTT win, 1 sprint win, 5 yellow jerseys in 9 stages. OG is having the tour they had to have, and they've got more wins in their sights.

Best Rider - Peter Sagan - Cannondale: Green Jersey, 1 stage win, 5 podiums out of 8 individually contested stages. His green jersey points lead is massive, we may need to change his nick name to Mr. Consistent. 

Best young rider - Michal Kwiatkowski - Omega Pharma Quickstep: He's been performing in every type of stage. Showing up in the flats and holding his own in the mountains and is currently sitting in 13th place. Nairo may be wearing white thanks to his climbing prowess, but MK has been all over this tour. 

Most combative - Jan Bakelants - Team Radioshack: He seems to have learned a thing or two from his teammate Jens Voigt. The Belgian has been up front animating the race on more than a few occasions.

Best Climber - Chris Froome - Team Sky: Quintana has arguably been the most exciting climber so far this year, but Froome has ruled the mountains with an iron fist. His performance on Stage 9 was masterful as he neutralized attack after attack from the Colombian and others to maintain his lead in the GC.

Best Crash - Peter Kennaugh -  Team Sky: Stage 9 saw him literally disappear off the road and into the bushes. Had it not been for his bike you would never have even known he was there. Glad to say he was only scraped up a bit, but it looked far worse as he tumbled off the bike and down the hillside. 

Rule 5 award (Toughest rider) - Geraint Thomas - Team Sky: He broke his pelvis on the first stage of this year's tour. He now sits 1 hour, 51 minutes and 26 seconds behind teammate Froome on the GC. But he hasn't quit the race and has no plans to. I have a friend who recently came back from a broken pelvis and saw first hand the kind of pain it causes...Geraint Thomas has Rule 5 coming out of his ears.

Brian Holm's Top 5 coolest riders of all time

 

A couple of surprises here...