TDF 2013: Stage 7 *SPOILERS* Montpellier - Albi
RideOnTime
Posts: 4,712
Presumably they've all had a sleep over in Montpellier.
Does someone sleep in with Garmin-Sharp's bikes since they had them all nicked off the truck in the Tour de Meditterranean?
I know this first page will need a profile and a finish map, a geological overview, an assessment of local custom, some commentary on wines and food and some little known facts. Otherwise my early break here has failed and I will deservedly be swallowed by the peleton and go straight to the back.
:oops:
Interesting how tight the GC is and there have been no signinificant successful breaks - YET. Today? We're in the mountains now. Yesterday's 5 second gap seemed to come from nowhere - was that just some bad wind? :oops:
Albi The origins of Albi are in the Bronze Age (3000-600 BC) although it didn't grow much until the 11th century. In 1040 the Pont Vieux (Old Bridge) was constructed. New quarters were built, indicative of considerable urban growth. The city grew rich at this time, thanks to trade and commercial exchanges, and also to the tolls charged to travelers for using the Pont Vieux.
In the 13th century the region suffered at the hands of the Catholics when they (the Cathars) developed their own version of Christianity and was annexed by the Crown.
By 1282 things started to look up a bit and the bishop Bernard de Castanet, completed work on the Palais de la Berbie, a Bishops' Palace with the look of a fortress. He ordered the building of the cathedral of Sainte-Cécile starting in 1282.
Albi has conserved its rich architectural heritage which encapsulates the various brilliant periods of its history. Considerable improvement and restoration work has been done, to embellish the old quarters and to give them a new look, in which brick reigns supreme. The town has a population of 67,000.
Yellow Jersey, Classification
General classification standings after stage six:
1. Daryl Impey (SA/Orica GreenEdge) 22:18:17"
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Sky) +3"
3. Simon Gerrans (Aus/Orica GreenEdge) +5"
4. Michael Albasini (Swi/Orica GreenEdge)
5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Omega Pharma - Quickstep) +6"
Stage six result:
1. Andre Greipel (Ger/Lotto Belisol) 3:59:02"
2. Peter Sagan (Svk/Cannondale) SAME TIME
3. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Argos Shimano)
4. Mark Cavendish (GB/Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
5. Juan Jose Lobato (Spa/Euskaltel)
Does someone sleep in with Garmin-Sharp's bikes since they had them all nicked off the truck in the Tour de Meditterranean?
I know this first page will need a profile and a finish map, a geological overview, an assessment of local custom, some commentary on wines and food and some little known facts. Otherwise my early break here has failed and I will deservedly be swallowed by the peleton and go straight to the back.
:oops:Interesting how tight the GC is and there have been no signinificant successful breaks - YET. Today? We're in the mountains now. Yesterday's 5 second gap seemed to come from nowhere - was that just some bad wind? :oops:
Albi The origins of Albi are in the Bronze Age (3000-600 BC) although it didn't grow much until the 11th century. In 1040 the Pont Vieux (Old Bridge) was constructed. New quarters were built, indicative of considerable urban growth. The city grew rich at this time, thanks to trade and commercial exchanges, and also to the tolls charged to travelers for using the Pont Vieux.
In the 13th century the region suffered at the hands of the Catholics when they (the Cathars) developed their own version of Christianity and was annexed by the Crown.
By 1282 things started to look up a bit and the bishop Bernard de Castanet, completed work on the Palais de la Berbie, a Bishops' Palace with the look of a fortress. He ordered the building of the cathedral of Sainte-Cécile starting in 1282.
Albi has conserved its rich architectural heritage which encapsulates the various brilliant periods of its history. Considerable improvement and restoration work has been done, to embellish the old quarters and to give them a new look, in which brick reigns supreme. The town has a population of 67,000.
Yellow Jersey, Classification
General classification standings after stage six:
1. Daryl Impey (SA/Orica GreenEdge) 22:18:17"
2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor/Team Sky) +3"
3. Simon Gerrans (Aus/Orica GreenEdge) +5"
4. Michael Albasini (Swi/Orica GreenEdge)
5. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol/Omega Pharma - Quickstep) +6"
Stage six result:
1. Andre Greipel (Ger/Lotto Belisol) 3:59:02"
2. Peter Sagan (Svk/Cannondale) SAME TIME
3. Marcel Kittel (Ger/Argos Shimano)
4. Mark Cavendish (GB/Omega Pharma - Quickstep)
5. Juan Jose Lobato (Spa/Euskaltel)
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The 'hammer' references on yesterdays thread reminded me of this Pellos cartoon
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Jerry3571 has posted I nice little bit of intro footage for Stage 8.
Worth a look before tomorrow.0 -
Climbs aren't big enough to shake off the sprinters so it's another crazy final 10km. Fast and furious!0 -
LutherB wrote:The 'hammer' references on yesterdays thread reminded me of this Pellos cartoon
I might borrow that hammer for my mother-in-law. I've come into work (I'm the only person here, apart from the security guard) to avoid having to go the Rijksmuseum. It does mean I get to watch the stage though
P.S. Did he steal the hammer from Didi?Correlation is not causation.0 -
^Who/what is Lomo Marto' ?
Edit - or is is Lo Ma Marto' ?0 -
Quick, before the race starts here's some local info...
At 38km today's stage passes through Pézenas, a pretty market town that always seems to be unexplicably stuffed with ex-pat and tourist Brits. The local speciality is "Le petit pâté de Pézenas": a small sweet/savoury pie supposedly made to a recipe from Clive of India, who taught it to the pastry makers of Pézenas when he was staying at the Château de Larzac in 1768. They taste weirdly sweet yet meaty.
At 63km the race passes through Faugéres. I'm very fond of the red wine from here which typically tends to be heavier and oakier than the Pic St Loup reds from yesterday, although not quite as good in flavour (in my limited experience).
The climbs up to the Col de 13 Vents and Croix de Mounis takes them up around the top of the Caroux massif. Unusually for the Midi this is a granite massif (insert ddraver geology info here) with some picturesque gorges further to the west (and some excellent but little known multipitch rock climbs)
After that, they're into the Tarn and my local knowledge ends...0 -
Some random, but strangely interesting information is creeping into these threads. I approve.0
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TimB34 wrote:
These look tasty. hmmmm. Will Confidis be stopping off for a picnic...0 -
Loving the local knowledge.... very educational
I'll try and contribute when the race gets to Brittany0 -
RideOnTime wrote:
These look tasty. hmmmm. Will Confidis be stopping off for a picnic...
Bless em0 -
Cycled up the Cat 3 Col de 13 Vents many years ago with latertobe Mrs MM. It wasn't trivial, very nice landscape though.
Nearby Lamalou le Bains is one of the most depressing places I have been - Spa town full of obviously very ill people hoping for a cure.0 -
Tim- where does the local knowledge come from?0
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I reckon Eddie is getting yellow today - sky must be expecting to take it tomorrow anyway, and they'd have to be complete bastards to deny EVB his chance!0
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And of course there is Albi's most famous son Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Made famous in that awful film with a singing Ewan McGreggor and Nicole Kidman, remember pint size Kylie as his absinthe fairy?
Any way Toulouse-Lautrec was one of France's most influential cultural figures of the late 19th Century. An inbred he captured the rich, colourful and louche life of Paris' more seedy districts before dying at the age of 36 from alcohol related issues combined with syphilis.
Some bike related Toulouse-Lautrec
And here's a Camargue horse by Toulouse-Lautrec for Frenchie!
Correlation is not causation.0 -
Above The Cows wrote:Some bike related Toulouse-Lautrec
Just googled the Simpson Chain - did it really look like this?0 -
Chateaus...Tell me about some big houses.
Churches...Tell me about picturesque hill towns with churches.Half man, Half bike0 -
Impey can climb a bit. He shouldn't have too much trouble with today.ALIHISGREAT wrote:I reckon Eddie is getting yellow today - sky must be expecting to take it tomorrow anyway, and they'd have to be complete bastards to deny EVB his chance!
Tomorrow there will be loads of people keen to be in a break and no team to defend the jersey really, so perhaps an opportunity for a break to take some time. As long as it's climbers far down GC Sky won't bother, people like De Gendt, De Clerq, etc. Although, with that HC climb Rolland will want to be in there...0 -
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This is reputed to be based on a visit to the Catford velodrome in south-east London, long since demolished:Above The Cows wrote:And of course there is Albi's most famous son Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec did time in Catford in 1896. The diminutive brothel-loving soak was a huge fan of cycling and in 1896 was asked by a company called Simpson to work on a poster for their new bike, which used a new type of chain. This, according to Wiki, ‘was composed of linked triangles forming two levels. The inner level was driven by the chainring and the outer drove the rear cog. Instead of teeth, the chainring and cog had grooves into which the rollers of the chain engaged.’
I’m not sure what that means, and probably neither did Lautrec, so he came to the newly built Catford Velodrome to watch the bike in action during special races, set up by Simpson to advertise their product. Lautrec produced a couple of images during his visit. The poster was one of the last he designed before his death in 1901.0 -
Part of the track is still visible at Catford, you can see it on the train as you pass.0
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Hopefully this works, here's a Google Earth image of Catford Stadium;
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ladywe ... l&t=h&z=180 -
andyp wrote:Hopefully this works, here's a Google Earth image of Catford Stadium;
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ladywe ... l&t=h&z=18
That was the old dog track for many years - spent a few evenings down there seeing three or four generations of punters placing their bets. Also had a car nicked from outside Catford station, only to have it recovered by the police a few days later with only about 6 extra miles on the clock.0 -
That's road book type stuff, please tell or post link how the curious folk amongst us can see.PeteMadoc wrote:
Climbs aren't big enough to shake off the sprinters so it's another crazy final 10km. Fast and furious!The titifers have sung their song.
Now it's time for sleep.0 -
My understanding is that the dog track was built on the same site as the velodrome.
Happy to be corrected, but the bits left look more like a velodrome than a dog track.0 -
andyp wrote:Hopefully this works, here's a Google Earth image of Catford Stadium;
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=ladywe ... l&t=h&z=18
That's just round the corner from where Spike Milligan grew up.0
