July 16, 2004

Stage 12: Castelsarrasin - La Mongie

Left the Col d'Aspin early this morning opting for a chance to regroup and get up to Plateau de Beille early and have a decent spot. I did get a few shots of the breakaway group and the main group with Lance Armstrong as they passed through Lannemezan. So that worked out and the thunder and lighting storms hit hard the second they went by. The people up on La Mongie and Col d'Aspin must have gotten soaked. And I can't even image what the traffic was like getting back those spots.

Results:
Stage 12:
1 Ivan Basso (Team CSC)
2 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
3 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile)

General Classification:
1 Thomas Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangère)
2 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
3 Sandy Casar (Fdjeux.com)

Posted by pcmg at 01:26 PM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2004

Stage 13: Lannemezan - Plateau de Beille

Got up early and hiked up Plateau de Beille to just below the 10 km to go mark. It was hot, the hill is steep and with the weight of the camera equipment, my legs thought that was a good place to stay. As I said I parked and camped on the part of the course just before Plateau de Beille. There was nowhere to park on the hill that I saw, but cars were going up the hill all night. In the morning there was still a line of cars going up the hill. The spot I found near the 10k point was not very crowed but the closer the riders came to that point the more people showed up. The race had already exploded by that point. Armstrong came by with Azevedo and Basso, the rest came in little groups of two or three. I've included shots of the Armstrong group (Armstrong is the eventual winner) and the damage done. Also at the end a shot of a village as I was hiking down the mountain and the rain was starting again. From Plateau de Beille, I drove back to Foix, had dinner and then got my first hotel room of the trip in a town called Mirepoix. Tomorrow off to Carcassonne and Nîmes for stage 14.

Results:
Stage 13:
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Ivan Basso (Team CSC)
3 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner)
notable: 6 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile Team) 2:42 back

General Classification:

1 Thomas Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangère)
2 Lance Armstrong (US Postal) -0:22
3 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -1:39
notable: 8 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile Team -7:01

Posted by pcmg at 02:17 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2004

Stage 14: Carcassonne - Nîmes

As I left Mirepoix, I stopped off down the street to take some pictures of the T-Mobile setup. They also stayed in Mirepoix last night. Made the short trip into Carrassone and watched a lot of the sign-in ceremony. Took a few pictures of the Peloton as they left and then I made my way to Nîmes. However, traffic was heavy out of Carcassonne and into Nîmes and I got there way too late to find a place to shoot anything useful so I watched the finish from a bar.

Results:
Stage 14
1 Aitor Gonzalez Jimenez (Fassa Bortolo)
2 Nicolas Jalabert (Phonak Hearing Systems) -0:25
3 Christophe Mengin (Fdjeux.com)
4 Pierrick Fedrigo (Crédit Agricole) -0:29
5 Peter Wrolich (Gerolsteiner) -0:31
6 Marc Lotz (Rabobank)
7 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Liberty Seguros)
8 Santiago Botero (T-Mobile Team) - 0:37
9 Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel - Euskadi) -0:41
10 Egoi Martínez (Euskaltel - Euskadi)

General Classification

1 Thomas Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangère)
2 Lance Armstrong (US Postal p/b Berry Floor) -0:22
3 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -1:39
4 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile Team) -3:18
5 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Illes Balears - Banesto) -3:28
6 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) -6:08
7 Jose Azevedo (US Postal p/b Berry Floor) -6:43
8 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile Team) -7:01
9 Pietro Caucchioli (Alessio-Bianchi) -7:59
10 Sandy Casar (Fdjeux.com) -8:29

T-Mobile setup in Mirepoix. Eric Zabel. Thomas Voeckler. Lance Armstrong. Richard Virenque. Jan Ullrich. Peloton at start of stage (Armstrong is center)

Posted by pcmg at 05:23 PM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2004

Stage 15: Valréas - Villard-de-Lans

For stage 15, I went to the 12 km climb at Col de l'Echarasson. I parked in the little village in the Alps called Saint-Jean-en-Royans. From there I walk up the hill for about 8 Km, stopping occasionally to talk to some of the many Americans wandering around. Carrying the 30+ lbs of equipment along with the heat made it a tough hike. However this climb is not as steep as the Plateau de Beille. At the time the race reached my position Rasmussen and Virenque were at the front on the Col de l'Echarason, followed by O'Grady and Gonzalez. Ullrich was not far behind and had about a 30 second lead on Armstrong's group. Eventually they were all brought back by Armstrong and the lead group of 10 included Voigt, Sastre, Basso, Azevedo, Armstrong, Klöden, Ullrich, and Leipheimer. Armstrong won the sprint.

Stage 15
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Ivan Basso (Team CSC)
3 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -0:03
4 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) -0:06
5 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) -0:13
6 Richard Virenque (Quick Step-Davitamon) -0:48
7 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) -0:49
8 Jose Azevedo (US Postal) -0:53
9 Jens Voigt (Team CSC) -1:04
10 Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) -1:24

General Classification
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Ivan Basso (Ita) (Team CSC) -1:25
3 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) -3:22
4 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Illes Balears - Banesto) -5:39
5 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -6:54
6 Jose Azevedo (US Postal)- 7:34
7 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) -8:19
8 Thomas Voeckler (Brioches La Boulangère) -9:28
9 Pietro Caucchioli (Alessio-Bianchi) -10:10
10 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) -10:58

My new friends who gave me a cup of very nice rosé.

Posted by pcmg at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2004

Stage 16: Le Bourg-d'Oisan - Alp d'Huez (Time Trial)

Got up early and walked the 1 1/2 miles into Le Bourg-d'Oisan. Decided that I would not walk up Alp d'Huez with all of my equipment and computer. After walking back to my car and leaving behind my computer and other non essential items, I walked the mile back to the base of Alp d'Huez and then hiked about 5 Km up the hill. I was able to get pictures of almost all of the riders. I missed a couple when a couple of guys decided to run along side and blocked my view. For a lot of the pictures I was sitting on the side of the road leaning back. This became interesting when the riders decided they wanted to ride as close to the side as possible. I thought I had missed Sevilla completely because through the view finder it looked like he was about to ride over me and I leaned away. Some of the top riders like Ullrich, Basso, and Klöden looked pretty good as they passed my position. When Armstrong came by there were a lot more people in my way and I was not able to pick him up until fairly late. When he finally came into view I was shocked at how fast he was moving. It was pretty obvious even at that point that he would win the stage. He ended up catching Ivan Basso, who had started 2 minutes in front of Armstrong, and ended up gaining 2:23 on Basso.

Results:
Stage
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -1:01
3 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) -1:41
4 Jose Azevedo (US Postal) -1:45
5 Santos Gonzalez (Phonak Hearing Systems) -2:11
6 Giuseppe Guerini (T-Mobile)
7 Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears - Banesto) -2:15
8 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -2:23
9 David Moncoutié (Cofidis)
10 Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) -2:27

General Classification
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -3:48
3 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) -5:03
4 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -7:55
5 Jose Azevedo (US Postal) -9:19
6 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Illes Balears - Banesto) -9:20
7 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) -11:34
8 Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) -13:52
9 Pietro Caucchioli (Alessio-Bianchi) -14:08
10 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) -15:04

My little blue car on the right.

Posted by pcmg at 07:17 AM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2004

Stage 17: Bourg d'Oisans - Le Grand-Bornand

Woke up this morning, walked into Saint-Martin-sur-la-Chambre to get food and water for the day's hike up Col de la Madeleine. Watched some woman from OLN doing a piece on the dozens of bike tours following the race. The temperature was about 95 degrees. I walked up about 3Km and waited in the sun. This location gave me a view of the town and a number of switch backs below. At the time they reached my location there was a 5 man break away which included Simoni. Virenque and Moreau where chasing a few minutes behind. Then the Armstrong group. In the end it was another victory for Armstrong. Below are some pictures from Saint-Martin-sur-la-Chambre and the race on Col de la Madeleine.

Results
Stage 17
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile)
3 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -0:01
4 Ivan Basso (Team CSC)
5 Floyd Landis (US Postal) -0:13
6 Axel Merckx (Lotto-Domo) -1:01
7 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank)
8 Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) -1:02
9 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
10 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner)

General Classification
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -0:04:09
3 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) -0:05:11
4 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -0:08:08
5 Jose Azevedo (US Postal) -0:10:41
6 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Illes Balears - Banesto) -0:11:45
7 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) -0:12:56
8 Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) -0:15:14
9 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) -0:16:25
10 Pietro Caucchioli (Alessio-Bianchi) -0:16:33

Posted by pcmg at 11:59 AM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2004

Stage 18: Annemasse - Lons-le-Saunier

Had a quick coffee in the morning and headed off for Lons-le-Saunier, where stage 18 finishes.
Not much happening in this stage. Juan Miguel Mercado was in a long break away and ended winning. There was something going on between Armstrong and Simeoni (who is suing Armstrong) as they both joined the break and then both dropped back. I was at about the 700 meters to go point. Pictures below are from the race and from the the town of Lons-le-Saunier.

Results
Stage 18
1 Juan Miguel Mercado (Quick Step-Davitamo)
2 José V. Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears - Banesto)
3 Dmitri Fofonov (Cofidis) -0:11
4 Sébastien Joly (Crédit Agricole)
5 Marc Lotz (Rabobank)
6 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Fassa Bortolo)
7 Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) -11:29
8 Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo)
9 Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner)
10 Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis)

Posted by pcmg at 02:09 AM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2004

Stage 19: Besançon - Besançon (Time Trial)

Stage 19 in Besançon is a time trial. I wanted to get there early to get a spot at the start ramp. I got a late start and ended up in Besançon at about 9 AM. The first rider in the time trial was scheduled to start at about 11:30 AM. Once in the city I found the start area and it was packed. I did notice a couple of people on a 10 foot high wall on the other side of the side walk, but with my camera bag I could never climb it. So I walked around the complex, which turned out to be a hospital, and was able to find some stairs behind the wall. I ended up sitting on the wall for about 6 hours through a number of showers. Met a few Americans on the wall and a few of the people who worked at the hospital on the stairs behind the wall. We were all soaked and cold and stiff from sitting on the concrete wall for so long in the rain. One celebrity was at the start and it was not Sheryl Crow. After Lance Armstrong started a few of us tried to find another spot out on the course, but the closest spot was few kilometers away and the maps of the course had almost everyone we ran into confused. I ended up spending the time trying to figure out where I parked. Luckily the mapping program I used kept the last position where I had the gps turned on. Right where I parked. Below are a few pictures from Besançon and some of the starts in the time trial. And of course Jean-Marie Lablanc (Race director of the Tour de France) with celebrity. Although Lance had pretty much wrapped up win number 6, barring a crash, he again dominated the field in a time trial.

Results
Stage 19
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -1:01
3 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) -1:27
4 Floyd Landis (US Postal) -2:25
5 Bobby Julich (Team CSC) -2:48
6 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -2:50
7 Jens Voigt (Team CSC) -3:19
8 Vladimir Karpets (Illes Balears - Banesto) -3:33
9 Jose Luis Rubiera (US Postal) -3:40
10 Jose Azevedo (US Postal) -3:49

General Classification
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile) -0:06:38
3 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -0:06:59
4 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -0:09:09
5 Jose Azevedo (US Postal) -0:14:30
6 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Illes Balears - Banesto) -0:18:20
7 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) -0:18:46
8 Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) -0:20:10
9 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) -0:20:31
10 Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) -0:23:13

Jean-Marie Lablanc and Robin Williams (doing the very French thing of wearing a Che shirt)

Posted by pcmg at 01:43 AM | Comments (0)

July 25, 2004

Stage 20: Montereau - Paris

Last race post. Not that much happening in this stage, just ceremonial for Armstrong. Tom Boonen, former US Postal rider won the stage. Took a lot of shots of the crowd on the Champ-Elysées and walked out toward the Louvre. Got a few shots of the race and of the Postal team on parade on the Champ-Elysées. Short day tomorrow so this should be the last post.

Results
Stage 20

1 Tom Boonen (Quick Step-Davitamon)
2 Jean-Patrick Nazon (AG2R)
3 Danilo Hondo (Gerolsteiner)
4 Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo)
5 Erik Zabel (T-Mobile Team)
6 Jimmy Casper (Cofidis)
7 Stuart O'Grady (Cofidis)
8 Baden Cooke (Fdjeux.com)
9 Massimiliano Mori (Domina Vacanze)
10 Bram de Groot (Rabobank)

General Classification - Final

1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
2 Andreas Klöden (T-Mobile Team) -0:06:19
3 Ivan Basso (Team CSC) -0:06:40
4 Jan Ullrich (T-Mobile) -0:08:50
5 Jose Azevedo (US Postal) -0:14:30
6 Francisco Mancebo Pérez (Illes Balears - Banesto) -0:18:01
7 Georg Totschnig (Gerolsteiner) -0:18:27
8 Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) -0:19:51
9 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) -0:20:12
10 Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) -0:22:54

Yellow Jersey - Overall
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)

Green Jersey - Points
122 Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Domo) -2:59:18

Polka Dot Jersey - Mountian
15 Richard Virenque (Quick Step-Davitamon) -0:28:11

USA
1 Lance Armstrong (US Postal)
9 Levi Leipheimer (Rabobank) -0:20:12
23 Floyd Landis (US Postal) -0:42:55
33 George Hincapie (US Postal) -1:04:09
40 Bobby Julich (Team CSC) -1:12:42
56 Christian Vandevelde (Liberty Seguros) -1:48:11