2014 Le Tour Announced !

Le Tour once again claims the attention of the Cycling Community ! 20 years after appearing in the South of England , Le tour will have a " Grand Depart " in Yorkshire . With 2 etappes in the Dales ,
the racers will move to the flatlands for the 3rd Depart being from Cambridge . Whilst the Racers will have only 3 days of racing in the UK , many of them will arrive on the Tuesday prior to the Grand Depart , so as to complete the formalities required before the Competition .

Continental travels will commence in Le Tourquet as the 4th Etappe will race to Lille . Following the "Clockwise direction " , racers will visit many World War 1 areas as they race across the cobbles in those areas that feature in the Spring Classics . . After 10 Etappes they will arrive at Besancon for the Rest Day , then continue through the Voges and Alpes . Two days of Mountain Top Finishes , without  L'Alpe D'Huez and the Gallibier , then on across the south to Carcassonne for another Rest Day , before heading into the Pyrennes for Pla D'Adet and Hautacam finishes .

Seems that Time Trial Skills , will be a redundant skill on this Le Tour , since it is only on Stage 20 and for only 54km , that those like Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara get to stretch their legs .

With only 3 MTF to entertain the Le Tour Tifosi , there will be a sharp contrast with previous Editions of Le Tour . Could this mean that " New Stars " will be discovered ? Could this Edition , be the first time that "Racers " will have NO EXCUSES for seeking PED assistance for their efforts ?

WHEN are we the public , going to be told of those that were discovered on the 2013 Le Tour ? phat the rat had reasons for hiding PED users before the 100th Edition , but the Election has come and GONE ! For 100 years , most if not ALL Editions had Racers that sought recognition by way of " Chancing their LUCK" but since arrival in Paris , ALL Parties have taken the OATH of OMERTA , in respect of what the " Anti Doping Teams " , discovered !

DAILY ETAPPES : 5th July to 27th July

  5/  Stage 1: Leeds                                          Harrogate
  6/  Stage 2: York                                            Sheffield
  7/  Stage 3: Cambridge                                London
  8/  Stage 4: Le Touquet Paris-Plage      Lille
  9/  Stage 5: Ypres                                           Arenberg Porte du Hainaut

10/ Stage 6: Arras                                            Reims
11/ Stage 7: Epernay                                      Nancy
12/ Stage 8: Tomblaine                                 Gérardmer
13/ Stage 9: Gérardmer                                 Mulhouse
14/ Stage 10: Mulhouse                                 Planche des Belles Filles

15/                  Rest day in Besançon
16/ Stage 11: Besançon                                  Oyonnax
17/ Stage 12: Bourg-en-Bresse                    Saint-Etienne
18/ Stage 13: Saint-Etienne                          Chamrousse
19/ Stage 14: Grenoble                                   Risoul

20/ Stage 15: Tallard                                        Nîmes
 21/                        Rest day in Carcassonne
22/ Stage 16: Carcassonne                              Bagnères-de-Luchon
23/ Stage 17: Saint-Gaudens                          St-Lary-Soulan (Pla d’Adet)

24/ Stage 18: Pau                                                 Hautacam
25/ Stage 19: Maubourguet val d’Adour   Bergerac
26/ Stage 20: Bergerac                                      Périgueux (TT)
27/ Stage 21: Evry                                               Paris

Whilst many were thinking of the 2014 Le Tour presentation , the fight for Sydney and the surrounding country was fought by TRUE HEROES ! They came from all over ! Some were repaying the efforts by NSW Firefighters in past seasons , others were truly inspired by that quality most Aussies REVERE ! 

MATESHIP ! 

Whatever their Motives , as an aussie , i want to say THANKYOU ! When you Folk decide to visit the Le Tour , find me , i would like to BUY YOU A BEER !

It came as a surprise to see an Aussie , leave his day job , put in 14hrs on an evening shift , then go back to work ! Good one Tony !  Wish that your job as Prime Minister of Oz , did not include you being able to contradict the UN Efforts in " Global Warming "!

PARALYMPIAN races TOUR de FRANCE Time TRIAL !

Chris Prudhomme has once again FAILED to respect Paralympic Sport !
Mine is a minority view , but since the time i met him , as he worked at TV3 , France TV , whilst i was riding the daily TDF Route , i have been telling him , PARA ATHLETES have the ability to ride the Individual Time Trials and seriously CHALLENGE the times that Olympic athletes post ! Some years ago , he told me the day before , that Laurent Thironet , French Para Champion and Para Gold Medalist , would race the ITT , the next day .

At that time , Chris was still under the shadow of Jean Marie Leblanc , who had told me of his friendship with Andre Auberge , President of French Para Sport , but also , of his determination , not to honour Para Sport , by allowing them to participate , officially at  " Le Tour ".  Laurent was working with " Cofidis Cycling Team " at that time . I spoke with him as he warmed up and was aware of the time of departure and his expected arrival time for the 53+km , but it was unrealistic for me to transit to the " Arrivee " since i had already run through the course twice , but with the second run continually blighted with the Gendarmes attempting to call me to the side of the road . As it was , i tried to obtain the info from the Tourist Office , they were in total ignorance of the fact that a Para Athlete had made the run , let alone that he was escorted by a " Republican Garde Motor Cyclist "! Various visits elicitated no information and it was several months before i met up with Laurent and found he had bettered the time of more than 50% of the Official racers , even with the use of only one leg !

Six-time Paralympic Champion Jiri Jezek of the Czech Republic will be a special guest of the Tour, being the first rider to start the day's time trial. This is indeed an honour for an extremely talented Athlete , BUT , why is he alone being accorded this honour ?

My suggestions to Chris Prudhomme , over the years , always called for the Champions of ALL European Countries , be invited to participate , in fact , compete against each other . Imagine the Publicity for the " Le Tour" let alone the recognition , that Para Athletes are as capable as Olympic Athletes ? In order for ALL Countries to have their Para Athletes available , would require , ONLY the request that the Athletes confirm that they would meet their OWN Expenses for Travel and Accomodation  . Providing Space and Motor Cycle Escort with National flag would have been a trivial matter to arrange . Does anyone expect that ANY of the Para Athletes , would have declined an invitation on those terms ?

As regular visitors to my blogs have seen , i am not slow in letting him know my views on many matters attached to the Organisation of " Le Tour " . In fact " J M " , also came to know my views on many subjects , possibly found some of them being irritatingly repeated . Water dripping on stone , eventually gets a result . Whilst i have had the good fortune to remain in touch with " C C " of the Giro , over the years of his retirement , i have not set eyes on JM since Chris took sole charge of " Le Tour . I am sure he visits the TDF , but like Francois Hollande , i have missed making a connection to date .

Too late for this year , but i hope that Chris will be impressed with Jiri's efforts and if not on etappe 17 , then certainly , during the following " Le Tour " , will start the New Century , by inviting ALL National Para Cycle Champions to participate . 

AFTER DOPING ?

  " Blood Passport " is supposedly the way to stop " Doping "? Whether it is or not , depends on the " Sports Scientists " developing the CORRECT PARAMETERS !  Currently there are so many reports surfacing that  there are rampant abuses of this protocol , that we , the Cycling Public , are left wondering what VALUE the money being spent on " Anti Doping " is to ANY Sport ?

Recently i started a Cycling News Clinic  Thread on a New Medical  Product that is in the process of being developed . It is reported that " GSK " are discussing their product with WADA ? Whether the Japanese Company , Astellas , follows , remains to be reported . The article link :

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/19/us-anaemia-pill-idUSBRE93I0GH20130419

Astellas, GSK vie to make "high altitude" anemia pill

The link to the thread :

    http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=1204588#post1204588

Will there be those who will utilise this New Product , to ATTEMPT to defeat " Anti Doping Authorities "?

COUNT ON IT !

Meanwhile the following items caught my attention . Seems there are some out there , even writing Anonymously that have identified " Damage " to their Health !

Here are a couple of excerpts :

  "  When I see cyclists like Danielson, Leipheimer, Hincapie, and others who said they doped with EPO and stopped it at some time, and continued to ride as pro racers, I am quite surprised that many people either

a) believe them they stopped taking EPO or
b) believe they go on with EPO, but

everyone just tries to make himself a picture of the whole thing under ethical aspects: "Are there serious regrets by the rider, has he found back to a honest attitude towards cycling and therefore became clean again?".

Then, there are people with opinion

c) who think haven taken EPO in 2005 just helps you to ride faster in 2013.

I, from personal experience with PEDs/hormones years ago (see my posts in hypothyreodism thread), miss a much more important question, which is hardly ever raised; I´ll mention it as a claim, and I would not write it down if I wasn´t serious and really sure about it:

d) A healthy person who once in his life injects hormones (being healthy!), and stops taking this hormones, isn´t that healthy afterwards as he was before, and will never be again!
He gets from 0 to 5 during the period of misuse, and after finishing this period, slowly gets down to 0 again, then falls to -3, then the body reacts, tries to reach the starting level again, and reaches -1, with which the person now has to go on living.

The more hormones this healthy person injected/misused, and the longer the periods of misuse were, the bigger is the damage to the endocrinologic system concerning the special hormone. There is a thyroid system, a testosterone system, a cortisol system, a GH system, a "blood cell producing" system, to name some important and doping relevant endocrine hormone system within the body. Damaging one of these systems can ONLY be treated by life long continued injecting of the hormone that was misused, if you want to regain the "0" level I mentioned before.

So, finally, every Danielson or whoever has (he admitted it) damaged one (here: red blood cell) system, and has a (more or less seriously) damaged system now, for the rest of his life.

The results to expect from someone like that are weaker or (at the maximum) (almost) equal to the results he showed before the first hormone injection."

  "  Can you comment on the mental aspect of when you stopped PEDs and resumed to your normal (or even sub normal) self? Was that difficult to take at first? "

  " I first have to say that I doped just to improve optical shape and having the physique for photo shoots and appearances, just like bodybuilders do. I didn´t have a 100.000 EUR per year paycheck motivation.

But, yes, it´s mostly mentally disturbing afterwards, for different reasons:

- You feel sh*t, caused by the pure lack of hormone (weak, tired, powerless)
- You feel sh*t because you loved the shape you had when being on high hormone levels, and had to say goodbye to this shape
- You feel sh*t because you can never know exactly how your endocrine systems will recover, and how the mid- and long term endocrine levels will look like
- You feel sh*t because from now on, you need replacement therapy just to get to your natural base level, you have to be honest about the issue towards your treating doctor, have to admit having misused hormones, and know that hormone replacement will be part of all your future life, you´ll dependent on prescriptions several times a year, blood checks and all this stuff
- You feel sh*t because you´re not willing to consider yourself as suffering now from a chronic hormone desease, but officialy, you are

Nevertheless, no regrets. I would regret it if I had taken heroine or other illegal drugs once in my life.
Taking thyroid hormone, which isn´t illegal in Germany, I don´t regret, though I made the experience above.
It´s hardcore, but no reason to become hypocrite and say "It´s all great, there are no dark sides about it."

BTW: Jan Ullrich also used T3 and T4, which I learned later. Ulle knew what works ;-) And certainly also his his replacement therapy now, every morning, for several hormones. But be sure, he´ll never speak about that...

THERE are many more " Retired Racers " out there , WHO , could contribute their views on this subject ! As stated in the previous Post " Junior Racers " need to be aware of where their " Unwitting Actions " will lead !


WHILST the Boston Marathon Event was disrupted this week , and the perpetrators seem to have been removed from public , WHO , in their right mind , will believe that this is not the first of many " COPYCAT Incidents "?

It took a member of the Public to sight BLOOD on his property and alert the Policing Authorities , to
capture the remaining KNOWN Suspect . Had the Policing Authorities been on these grounds , is the question that requiries answering ?

Could it be that the " Manhunt " was not as thorough and systematic as first reported ?

With the London Marathon and the Hamburg Marathon taking place this weekend , WHAT are the ramifications ? What ADDITIONAL Protective Measures will be implemented by the Event Organisers ?

My concerns already centre on the Giro d 'Italia , which is a WORLD RENOWNED Event , that i will be attending  , in May . The Giro del Trentino departures and Arrival areas , did not seem to be as populous as previous years , could be that with Eurosport and RAI TV being involved for only the second year , some people decided that watching from the home was more comfortable ?

Would Those that Attend the Grand Tours be aware that there are Criminals operating in their vicinity ? At London Olympics , bikes were parked and when the owners returned , they found components stripped , wheels , STI Levers , etc . At " Le Tour " bikes get taken , people even " Upgrade " , by leaving their wreck and riding off on a " Top of the Line Carbon Model "!  Baggage is left in a variety of places , people , put their bag down by the barriers , to reserve " their standing point ". Who is to say they will return ?

Good natured banter amongst " Strangers " could NOW become overlayered with an " Air of Suspicion " ? I would think that where before , someone who asked for their neighbour to watch their bag whilst they go for a " drink , beer , sandwich " , will be told , " NO , take it with you "!

This is an area where there will be concern regarding " Personal Safety "!

Many times i have warned people to put their bikes in front of them , rather than leaving it behind , hoping it is SAFE , as it is nearby  . Now there are going to be suspicions if people walk away from their bags ! I recall standing in Sydney Airport , with People waiting for departure . Bags on the ground , essentially within view of the group , and yet a guy snatched a Handbag . Running through a busy Concourse , down escallators resulted in the bag , containing Passport , etc , being jettisoned . One of us captured the Bag and the other raised enough noise the theif was caught a further 100m down the building . No Passport , no flight, luckily , the outcome was good for ALL travellers !

Here is an area that the Authorities can relax :

VIGILENCE during the days of the IRA Threat , was the Watchword , Policing Authorities preached .

NOW it will be a required " State of Mind " for those in furure " High Profile Events "!

YORKSHIRE " Le Bid " SUCCESS !

6th July 2014 will bring the Grand Depart of " Le Tour Edition 101 ", from Leeds , United Kingdom ! With several bids , from various parts of the United Kingdom for this event , it was a jubilant reaction from the Yorkshire " Le Bid Team ", on the Sky TV Network this evening . Chanpagne on the table with reports of work stopping to celebrate , but back to work in the morning , to deal with the huge amount of work that will be generated to create a successful event .

Earlier in the day i was watching Sky News Morning Programme's segment on Sport . During the news items they reported the item about " phat's " denigration of Greg LeMond and the other principals of the www.changecyclingnow.org Petition . If i were the chief of an organisation , that failed to detect , what is now described as the Greatest and Most Successful Doping Conspiracy in ANY SPORT " , i would be keeping my head down , certainly avoiding controversy ? phat must get up each morning and ask himself :

"what stupid thing will I say today"?  In his usual inept way , he has once again " Shot himself in the Foot "!

On the day that Yorkshire is celebrating their success in bringing 5000+ " Le Tour " personnel and Millions of Spectators to the Yorkshire Region , phat is saying " Look at me " , " I am responsible for the voiding the results of the " Lance Armstrong Era "!  Does the UCI need this type of Publicity ?

My personal interest is generated by meeting the Bid Group at the 2012 " Le Tour " . This took place in the VIP Area of the " Le Tour " , on it's arrival in Paris , late on the Sunday Afternoon , after the Racers had paraded on the Champs Elysee . Having been introduced to all the Delegates i left with Peter Dodds card so as to arrange  receipt of " Le Bid " shirts in Box Hill , when i had a delivery address in the UK . Tuesday i arranged with the Dauphine Cycle Shop for the delivery and Wednesday i was riding with the Olympic Racers wearing the " Le Bid " Shirt . Can't claim any success in the success of the bid but as reported in August , i passed one of these Shirts to Francesco Moser . That story and Photos can be found via www.parrabuddy.blogspot.com

During the evening News reports , Sky News played footage of a Skype link to Ben Swift , a Racer from Yorkshire , currently racing with the Sky Team . When ii first met Ben , he was with the Katusha Team at Jesolo for the start of the " Cento Anni " Giro d 'Italia , May 2009 , the photo follows :

Wondering if my friend John Roche , who lives in Ilkley , will have Camping space left on his lawn at this time . Leeds is a reasonably sized City and i recall that it was the Start of an Etappe of the " Tour of Britain " that i attended some years back . Routes of the two days in the area , are yet to be announced , but there are some interesting " bumps " in the neighbourhood . The 2013 Tour of Britain is bound to include parts of the " Le Tour " routes ?

TOUR de FRANCE 2012 ? leak or what ?

A.S.O. has had a “ leak ” of the official version of the 2012 TDF ?

Not likely that what “ Podium Café ” has reported will be 100% correct but I am sure that some of the rumours are likely to be true !

2012 Etapes ?

2011 route in photo , but sidebar shows 2012 details

Some of the comments to “ Podium Café’s ” announcement report :

If this is true
Some ASO employee will have had a very bad day at the office. L’ouch!
Me like bike, no?

me thinks it's a bad day out of an office after this one.
OR they released this to hear if it will float and the real course will be announced and be a doozy.

I'm sure this will be the course...I saw rumors of ASO wanting to show off the medium mountains next year
so they won’t be doing insane Giro amounts of climbing…though I’d love to see them get some tough finishes for flatter days


what ASO needs to do,
in my arrogant DDIFP-opinion
is to figure out a way to make the GC guys race the middle climbs and not just the last one.
The Alps rocked this year cuz of that.

mountain top bonifications, perhaps?


and shorter stages
moo


Absolutely
Alpe d’Huez was the best day of Grand Tour racing this year.


Should I find myself in Europe next July the ITT in Chartres will allow me to get to Paris to see the finish on the “ Champs Elysee ” ! This year I finished in the Alps since a return trip to Paris to watch the jostling on the Sunday had no appeal .

OF Course this “ LEAK ” could be deliberate as “ Giro d’Italia 2012 ” is also available !

OOPS ! Go to www.Tourdafarce.blogspot.com

AN OPEN LETTER to CHRIS PRUDHOMME

Letter to Chris Prudhomme


Swanning around in your Limousine with a variety of " notable personalities " you will rarely see the " Glitches " that the everyday visitor to " Le Tour " has to overcome ! Certainly your subordinates have done their best to see that you have a " Trouble Free Ride " each day . No doubt you have briefings with your personnel each day to keep you abreast with potential problems .

Whilst you were with France TV you were quick to pick my brains about my activities on the periphery of " Le Tour " and also whilst " understudy to JM Leblanc ", but since becoming " The Man " you rarely deem a simple "hello" as appropriate for a man of your importance . Amazing then that i get to meet some of the General Officers of the Sapeur Pompiers , Army and Gendarmerie as well as assorted Politicians whenever i find the time to be at a " Depart " or " Arrivee " ! Some i have advised of my Blogs , so it may be that their staff have been detailed to have the occasional read . Phillippe Sudre is also aware of these blogs but as to whether he deems it worth his time to read my offerings i couldn't say .

In previous " Open Letters " to you i have suggested ways to improve the security of the " Signage " but neglected to point out that many of the large Roadside Signs proclaiming " Road Closure details of route nos with dates and times " could be better . All Media receive a looseleaf book , known as the "Guidebook" and this is a very helpful tool to ALL , but it neglects to coordinate that very important issue of "Road Closures" ! Surely you want the world to know WHEN the routes of the " Le Tour " each day will close , don't you ? Many of those i speak to at the " Le Tour " tell me that each Department of France has a Web Site that offers info on these " Route Closures " but the general public are rarely aware of this , let alone the Overseas Visitor , many of whom do not understand the French Language whether written or spoken .

BY adding an additional column in the “Guidebook “ to the Caravan and the Racers anticipated passing certain points times , " ASO " will in consultation with the various authorities be able to advise the WORLD of the "Road Closure " times . Media of all persuasions will no doubt pass on to their readers this information , as they tend to copy out your pages as if it was their own work in the effort to inform their audience . Each Department has it's own branch of the Police National and Gendarmerie responsible for the "Security of the "Le Tour route" and since these signs have to be constructed to inform the public then the information should be accurate and All will see a coodinated result !

During one Etappe i had a Gendarme as he passed me in his car as i rode up the "Col" tell me that i should stop as the "Col" was closed ! This was more than an hour before the Sign Posted Closure time ! When i arrived at the " Col" there were several " touring cyclists " but none of the private cars that passed me after this rash statement was made . The " Major " then again told me that the road was closed even though there remained 35 mins until the posted time . My solution was to pick up the bike and walk off the road until i reached a point beyond the " Col "
where i could ride once again . Further down the road i found that the times posted had been extended another hour and half as is normally the case when you pass into a new area of control . As to what happened to the " touring cyclists " i could only speculate , but had they relied on the published information then they were sadly inconvenienced and carrying a "touring bike " with luggage in many cases is out of the question .

Expect to hear more points of interest from me over the next months as i know how hard it is to get action when too many issues are raised at the same time . Have your people read my " OPEN LETTER to Pat Mc Quaid “ about the " Authorised Driver Permit " that i feel is required to avoid a repeat of the incident that nearly killed two racers .

No where on page 7 of the " Guidebook " does " ASO " refer to driver conduct in relation to the Racers or even the ordinary cyclist AND since the " Le Tour " as an event is about Cycling , one wonders who was responsible for coordinating the material published ? No doubt Phillippe Sudre after our discussion took a look at that page . After publishing my blog post about the RMC Radio Stationwagon i saw the driver many times but he never again caused me any problems . Whether this was good luck or he had the matter brought to his attention is not for me to say .

Security of the "Le Tour " route is an important concern but having the Public sit on the side of the route for 5 hrs each day is asking too much particularly since the "Tour de Suisse" is able to run an event with "Private Security on motorcycles " and Army reservists causing the routes to be closed for periods ranging from 10 mins to 30 mins before the arrival of the racers unless in the mountain passes when longer periods may be required . Could be that your people need to look at the abilities they display and adopt some of their expertise !

A Bientot

CONNED by SPIVS !

Each day as you travel the routes of the Tour de France you will find " spivs " stealing from the public !

YES STEALING ! What happens is this , you are cycling or driving down the TDF route and usually at a corner or " halt" sign there will be two or three guys with a box in one hand and a small french flag in the other . As you are going slowly , since there is a queue created by these mongrells they will demand you buy one of their flags and nag on at you if you are french that " you are not patriotic " if you refuse; should you be a visitor then the monies are going to a " charity ( yes their pocket ) so you are a cheapskate if you refuse ! Generally you need to rev your motor or keep moving so they get out of your face . Of course you will see them again the next day and the next !

"Georgethecyclist.blogspot " has many stories to relate from over the years about what he has seen since he gets to sit and observe occasionally . After finding him and Vince on the road today i saw a grandfather with three young children , he had been fleeced ! Mongrells stopped and gave one flag to a girl then asked if they would like "nougat ", of course the children did and so they gave the girls the nougat and DEMANDED 10 euros from the man , he wanted to give it back but they would not leave without the money but by now the children were in tears !

Operating so early in the day they surround a village and canvass the shops and homes and control the traffic and the authorities are presently " powerless " to prevent this behaviour ! George will tell you that they have swerved in front of him causing him to run off the road on occasion , whether this is deliberate or in the attempt to canvass " donations " from the unsuspecting public they stop without thought for others he is not sure ! As regards myself when i am on the bike i stand up and pedal harder thus they get the message and get clear , of course there is occasion when i have had to avoid hitting one of them since they work in gangs from a variety of station wagons or people carriers .

In past years i have gone to the nearest Gendarmerie and reported their location but there is a reluctance to act since there are more important things to be done whilst the TDF is in the area . How many more Grandfathers have to be coersed into parting with their pension monies before this pestelence is eradicated . TDF officials are aware of this problem just as they are aware of the " gangs " that prey on the cyclists careless enough to leave their bikes unattended and with removable items . Locked bikes pose no problem as they carry " bolt cutters " and these are effective at solving that nuisance !

Time marches on and more riding to be done , thanks to Laurent in Nouans les fontaines and some Aussies living in this village i was able to overcome the problem of another closed Library (biblioteke )!

Since arriving in Chateauroux i have come across one of the many " Commandant rank officers of the CRS " and in my poor french explained this situation . Should he take the time to look at this blog post after "googling " for " skippydetour " he will see that this is a blight on the " honor of FRANCE "! Just why the authorities have known the problem but not acted remains a mystery to all .