The Week That Was...
By Ian Melvin
Jul 19, 2004, 23:49

Week two and this is getting hard now!  After an initial idea to try and focus on events away from France for a three week period, the news sources have dried up and unless you’re interested in the on-going doping scandal with the Australian track squad or which second string riders are being picked for the up and coming second string races, there really is little to report on.

The Tour has really captured everybody’s attention this year with some fantastic performances and a handful of surprises and withdrawals already...

Lance is showing better form than 2003, his pre-race preparation certainly seems to have gone to plan. 

The Kaiser, Jan Ullrich is already over 6 minutes behind and his race for the general classification really does seem to be over.  Jan appears to have peaked during the recent Tour of Switzerland and seemingly left his climbing legs behind as he boarded the flight for France.

Of the other pre-race favorites, I think we saw the best of Iban Mayo in the Dauphine Libere ­ beating LA in the Dauphine is one thing but it sure isn’t the Tour!

Captain courageous, Tyler Hamilton, has again fallen foul of the French tarmac.  After injuring his back in an early race fall, Hamilton was forced to abandon in the second stage through the Pyrenees.

Armstrong’s former lieutenant Roberto Heras is seemingly learning the hard way that riding the Tour, as a support rider is a very different proposition to leading a challenge yourself.  So far Heras has failed to show any of the form that has previously propelled him to victory in the Vuelta. 

Whilst this group of riders has, in general, failed to live up to the pre-tour hype, their absence from the standings has provided an opportunity for a new group of riders to emerge to challenge for the race honors.

Leading the Tour for the past week is 25-year-old Frenchman, Thomas Voeckler.  By rights, this unknown rider from the Brioches la Boulangere team should have surrendered the maillot jaune on the first day of serious climbing to the finish in La Mongie. Instead, leaving the Pyrenees, Voeckler and his team were still defending a 22 second lead ahead of Armstrong.

By Paris, it’s unlikely that we’ll still see Voeckler on the final podium but one rider sure too not be too far away is the former winner of the tour’s white jersey, Italian Ivan Basso.  After changing teams at the end of last season, Basso and his CSC team have been prepared meticulously by team Director, Bjarne Riis and it certainly appears to have paid off with Basso being the only rider able to stay in contention with Armstrong in the Pyrenean climbs.

Finishing not too far behind on both stages was Sydney Olympic Games medalist, Andreas Klöden of Ullrich’s T-Mobile team.  Although team leader Ullrich has said he will happily support the team’s best placed rider, it’ll be interesting to see what happens if his legs finally catch him up in the Alps.  Anyway, I digress…

Over the past few months, I’ve had all sorts of emails sent in to me asking me a whole host of questions some of which I’ve been able to answer, some I’ve not and others that I had just forgotten about.  Since I’m boycotting Tour talk this week, I figured I should try and get through a few of these questions...

1. Do you know how I can contact Jan Ullrich? Drop the big guy an email at jan@janullrich.de

2. How do I get a job on the Tour de France?  The TdF is organized by the Amaury Sport Organisation in France.  Their website is at www.aso.fr. Alternatively, just send them your resume to Amaury Sport Organisation, 2 Rue de Lisle, 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux, France.  (Any luck with a job and my cut is a meager 10%!)

3. How do I get a job with a pro team?  Now this one is quite simple really ­ grovel!  Grovel and be prepared to work for next to nothing until you’ve racked up so much experience that you’re unsuitable for any other occupation and you never know, by then you may just get put in charge of washing the bidons each night!  Seriously, the only real way into this tight knit community is to knock on doors and keep knocking.  Offer your services and then knock some more. Good luck!

4. Why do sunglasses cost so much?  Don’t know but they look pretty cool, huh!

5. What tire pressures do riders use on each stage of the Tour de France? This really depends on the rider, stage, weather conditions and also the specific brand of tire or tub.  Pressures can vary anywhere from 90-120 psi with the higher pressures generally put into the tubs.

I also want you to know that Roadcycling.com succeeded at raising $1,775 for the Tyler Hamilton Foundation in our recent Tyler Hamilton signed jersey auction. We thank our readers for your help with making the auction a success and hope that the money will be helpful to the Tyler Hamilton Foundation.

Support our Tour coverage by telling your friends about it and write your favorite cycling product manufacturers letting them know you enjoy our coverage, and asking them to support us by advertising with us. Know anyone who is going to the Tour and would be willing to send us photos, reports or paint "Roadcycling.com" on the French roads for the TV cameras to pick up? Contact us at info@roadcycling.com.

Ian

ian@roadcycling.com