Tour De France 2010 Stage 3 - A trip to the Pavé

I just got back from one of the best cycling related trips I've taken yet. Myself and Stephen O'Shea flew yesterday morning to Charleroi to take in one of the most anticipated Tour stages in a while. The plan was to hire a car at the airport, head to the days only KOH and then dash into France to catch the peloton on one of the days pavé sections and, hopefully, see some real action. Of course, as well as taking the chance to see the Tour, live and in the flesh, it was also an opportunity for two confirmed bike nuts to stand on some of the most hallowed roads in cycling, l'Enfer Du Nord, the Hell of the North.

And the plan worked out to perfection!

After an early start in Dublin, we landed at Charleroi and picked up our nifty little Ford Ka. Thanks to some pre-programming of my sat-nav we had the rough locations of the climb and all of the pavé sections at our fingertips. So it was an easy, ten minute drive to the village of Sombreffe, where traffic was being stopped just before the junction the riders would pass through. We knew the 4th Cat KOH line was a kilometer or two to the east, so we reset the sat-nav to bring us to the junction of the next side road in that direction. We followed the directions and, after passing through a beautiful, sleepy, Belgian village had our first taste of the cobbles as we made our way up to the route.

This part of the day was just what I imagined watching the TDF is like as it winds it's way through the by-ways of Europe. Local families, young and old, lined the roadside. Those whose houses were on the route had their chairs out and were sipping a glass of wine or just chatting among themselves.

The publicity caravan was passing now and the local kids were scrapping for the goodies being thrown from time to time from the speeding advertisements. I'll put up a gallery of the various vehicles seperately.

We set ourselves up, green t-shirts and triclolours on display, at the prime point and were very much a novelty to the locals for a bit. After a long wait, in very pleasant sunshine, the break of 7 arrived led over by Ryder Hesjedal of Garmin-Transitions and Steve Cummings of Team Sky.

Just over four minutes later, the peloton came up the hill, led by the Quick Step team of race leader, Sylvain Chavanel.
Quick Step lead the peloton
Chavanel in the Maillot Jaune
White jersey leader, Tony Martin, leads Juan Manuel Garate
Defending champion, Alberto Contador leads Christophe Moreau

The bandaged Schlecks are protected by their Saxo Bank teammates
World Champion, Cadel Evans, rides ahead of Olympic Champion, Samuel Sanchez
Before leaving Dublin, Steve had tweeted Nico Roche to tell him we'd be at the KOH and to keep an eye out. Being the gent he is, Nico did just that and gave us a quick wave as he passed. If you ever do go over, and there's an Irish rider, do remember your tricolour. They do notice and Nico has said it really motivates him to think people have travelled to support him.
Nico Roche spots the tricolour.
Once the race had passed, the roads were quickly re-opened and we were on our way to join the motorway for France. This was the bit we were concerned about. We had no idea what, if any, traffic restrictions or crowds might block our way to the pavé. All we could do was get there as fast as we could and hope for the best.

We decided to go for the second last, and longest, section of pavé on the stage route. We had the village of Wandignies-Hamage, the start point for these cobbles, selected on the sat nav and, just over an hour later, we were parked up on the edge of the village, right at the barrier where the minor road we were on intersected the race route. The anticipated delays and crowds never materialised. Just a hundred meters or so to our right was the 20km to go balloon, but we needed to head left, through the village and on to the pavé.

It hadn't occurred to me that the Irish tricolour might have an added significance in France, given recent events on a football pitch, but let's just say we heard the name Thierry Henry shouted at us many, many times as we walked the kilometre or so through the village.

Eventually we took a left hand turn and there it was, the almost mythical pavé. I will admit that, after years of watching epic battles over these roads on TV, my heart leapt at the sight in front of me. The anticipation was palpable and my day was made, regardless of what may follow.


We walked on for about another kilometre to get past the crowds gathered around the start of the section. It was surprisingly hard just to walk on the very uneven surface so I could only imagine what it would be like to ride over it. A few bikes passed as we walked, rattling and shaking in a most unnatural way! I wished I'd brought mine.

Once we'd selected our spot we set about making that small section of Hell into an Irish enclave. Flags were hoisted on bushes and sticks and we were ready for action.

We didn't have too long to wait for the race traffic to arrive. Team and official cars rattled past at bone-shaking speeds, while some of the police outriders had opted, sensibly for off-road bikes, although not all.

First rider through, riding on the sandy gutter to avoid the jarring of the cobbles, was Canadian Ryder Hesjedal of Garmin-Transitions. He'd left the his break-away companions on a previous section and was now making a bid for glory on his own.

Hesjedal was holding off a very strong chasing group, led towards us by the master of the cobbles, Fabian Cancellara, winner of both Paris-Roubaix and Tour of Flanders in the spring. Strung out behind him were the surprisingly strong Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, Thor Hushovd and Sky team-mates Geraint Thomas and Steve Cummings.

Cancellara drives the chase after Hesjedal
The World Champion, Norwegian Champion and British Champion were all in the chase group
The question for most people then was, where are Lance and Contador? We added Nicos name to that list. Where was he?

Without a stopwatch it's hard to judge gaps but the next group came along quite soon after, led by (I think) Garmin's Johan van Summeren. This was a big group and tucked in there was Contador and, to our relief, Roche, riding really well with some of the big boys.
Johan Van Summeren heads the "main" bunch from Jurgen Roelandts
Roche powers over the pavé behind Vinokourov, Menchov and Gerdemann
"Did anyone see Lance?" was the question going around in several languages after that group passed. No one had. The main group had split! Just a bit behind came another group containing Cavendish and, near the back, Petacchi in the Green Jersey. But still no Lance!

Mark Cavendish rides in the gravel while Danilo Hondo rides the crown.
Green Jersey wearer Petacchi struggles as Sky's Boasson-Hagen loses contact
And then Lance appeared, trailing his teammate, and chief minder, Yaroslav Popovych. Lance really looked to be struggling. I only found out much later that he had been in the Contador group but had punctured just before reaching us, getting a spare wheel from teammate Gregory Rast. He was now starting what would be a long chase to the finish, trying to limit his losses, on what he later admitted was one of his toughest days on a bike.

Lance catches up with Popovych as they chase his rivals
Lance showing the effects of a tough few days on the Tour.
It's going to be a long lonely chase for the RadioShack pair
After Lance went through it was down to the survival merchants. Riders were strung over a huge distance in groups and riding solo, all trying hard to just get to the finish in one piece so they could start another day. Chief among the stragglers were Yellow Jersey, Sylvain Chavanel and Giro winner Ivan Basso, struggling on his first taste of the cobbles in competition, but there were lot's of other big names choking in the dust, way down on the leaders. Here are some of them, in the order they passed me:

French Champion Thomas Voeckler
Ivan Basso followed by Swiss Champion, Martin Elmiger
Tour of California winner Mick Rogers
Yellow Jersey, Sylvain Chavanel, twice a puncture victim
Multiple Tour podium finisher Andreas Kloden
Polka Dot Jersey Jerome Pineau chased by German Champion, Christian Knees
Young Rider Leader Tony Martin was involved in the crash that split the field
Jens Voigt was delayed tending to the injured Frank Schleck
Simon Gerrans, bloodied and bruised but still going
Former Estonian Champion Rin Taaramae leads Danish Champion Nicki Sorensen
No sooner had the last riders gone past than it was time to find some way of hearing the stage result. I managed to get an over-several-shoulders view of a very small TV screen on a car passenger seat, while Stephen was getting a running commentary from his wife on the mobile from home. She was making a great fist of it until the doorbell rang and her shower of expletives had a small crowd in fits laughing around the speaker phone. I could just about make out Hushovd take the sprint in Arenberg but know little more than that. Ruth, in Dublin, provided the rest of the lowdown, including the great news that Roche had managed to finish in the much deplted second group, moving himself up hugely on GC.

What a stage! Exciting racing, crashes galore, drama featuring most of the favourites and some surprising gainers, none more so than Andy Schleck. How will he go now that his brother is out? Maybe it'll free him from a burden of responsibility he always seem to feel towards his (slightly) less talented sibling. And what about Armstrong? He fought a great fight to limit his losses, and was surprisingly philosophical about his misfortune afterwards. But can a 39 year old get that lost time back, against the young guns, Contador and Schleck?

Anyway, enough of the race analysis. That's what the cycling websites are for. I want to try to get across what it's like to have fulfilled two childhood dreams in one day. Le Tour AND the pavé in one day! I could hardly sleep last night as my mind raced with the enormity of it!

And after the race passed it wasn't over. We drove the pavé and then got to visit the legendary Arenberg forest. But I'll post more about that later.

To finish this post off I thought I should put up some pics that might help to show why the Tour is not just a bike race. It's an event. I mean it got me and Stephen (and the nice lady in the sat nav) on planes and automobiles across two countries, old friends re-united on a mutually-obsessed quest. It gets communities out on the side of the road, neighbours enjoying their own streets in a whole new way. It gets fans from countless nations out on the side of a farm track in a backwater of northern France. It gets companies to spend their marketing budgets on hilariously innovative ways to throw tat to kids at 80kph. It is a part of France, even when it's in Belgium. It's great! I can't wait to go back.




The new flag of Flanders!

Walking home after the Tour de France




Anyone need a wheel?
Shaky baby.

Mendrisio Worlds Part 3

And so to Sundays big one, the Elite Mens race. On a beautiful sunny day in Mendrisio, the atmosphere was building before we even got there on the train. It was even more exciting for us given that there was a very real feeling going around that the Irish lads had a real chance of success. We had the green "Ireland" t-shirts on and the Tricolour out so we were a match for blue Italian, red Swiss and orange Dutch fans any day.

We were only a few minutes out of the station when the first sound of the helicopter approaching had us making for the roadside. As we turned an Irish voice beside us was telling her Mum to get to the barriers. She spotted us with the flag and was straight over. She was surprised, and delighted, to hear that there were Irish riders in the race.

Turns out they weren't over from Ireland for the event but were in fact locals! The mother was from Galway.  She'd married a Swiss man 25 odd years ago and had moved to Mendrisio with him. The voice we had heard first was her daughter, in her early twenties and Swiss born and bred. That was amazing to us because her accent was pure Galway! Apart from how she pronounced some place-names you would not have thought she came from anywhere else. So we chatted for a bit, explained what was going on in the race, pointed out the three Irish lads in the bunch and moved on.

Irish Champion, Nicolas Roche

Dan Martin and Philip Deignan on Acqua Fresca
early in the race.

After going to the second climb, Novazzano, on Saturday we headed for Mendrisio town and the first climb, Acqua Fresca. This was another steep one, rising in several ramps through the town and out into the country above.

If the other side of the course was the Belgian village, there was no doubt but that the Dutch had taken over this side.  At one point the Dutch and Swiss fans on opposite sides of the road were counter chanting "Holland", "La Suisse", "Holland", "La Suisse"! Just like their Benelux neighbours the Dutch were downing the beers with enthusiasm as the DJ called out party games and race related quizzes for Dutch themed (ie Orange) prizes.

By this stage the race had settled in to the usual Worlds pattern. A ten man break had opened a 7 minute gap on the bunch and were grinding out the laps in the sunshine. German sprinter Andre Greipel was a surprise inclusion in the break, not least to himself according to his post race interviews.

Andre Greipel (Germany) in the early break of the day.

The bunch was being controlled by the big nations, including the Aussies and the Belgians.

Stuart O'Grady of Australia (right) leads former

World Champion Tom Boonen of Belgium (far left)

At this stage, before the inevitable fireworks kicked off, it was time for some lunch. As we tucked in to a stand up lunch in a local shopping arcade, who should come along only the Irish/Swiss mother and daughter from earlier. But this time there was no doubting their loyalties. Having found out there was Irish riders to support they'd rushed home, donned their best Ireland tops and grabbed their Tricolour. They were out for the day now!

A couple of laps more and a surprising split was formed. Actually there were two splits. The first was being forced by the Italians and contained defending champion Allesandro Ballan, while the second was being driven by the Belgian team and contained former champion Tom Boonen. The two groups joined up and for a bit it looked like the peleton was not going to close it down. Most of the big countries were represented in the break so who was left to chase?

Defending World Champion, Allesandro Ballan of Italy

follows Belgium's Greg van Avermaet in the mid race split.

Well that was answered soon enough. The strong Aussie team were obviously not along for the ride and, despite having Mick Rogers in the split, massed at the front to get their co-leaders Evans and Gerrans back into contention. It was a powerful display  of teamwork and strength and eventually bore fruit as the remains of the field came back together for the finale.

The Aussies lead the chase.

At this stage the Irish lads were still in there. Philip Deignan looked the more comfortable, Dan Martin was hanging in but Nico Roche was looking like he was feeling the pressure.

 Philip Deignan looks more at ease than eventual winner, Cadel Evans.

Nicolas Roche feeling the effects of a long season.

As we made our way back towards the finish area we heard that Roche had had enough. The word from the Irish pit was that after his amazing Tour De France debut, and subsequent heavy racing schedule, he was just too tired.

As on Saturday the rush was on now to find a telly to see the finish. Today it came courtesy of a Belgian fan club whose tent must had had fifty odd people crowded around to witness Cadel Evans outwit the Swiss and Italians to net Australia's first World title. As a former resident of that fine country I was almost as happy as I'd have been if one of ours had done it (well not quite, but a bit happy!).

Dan Martin leads 2009 World Champion,

Cadel Evans

1st Cadel Evans (AUS)                      6:56:26

2nd  Alexandr Kolobnev (RUS)            +0:27

3rd Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (ESP)          s.t.

For a full race report see http://www.cyclingnews.com

One of the great things about attending in person at an event like the Worlds is you get to enjoy the non-racing parts too. At the Start/Finish are there was a trade village with various stands including a very impressive display team.

And best of all I finally got to fulfil a dream and take the final stage in the yellow jersey (well almost!).