Stages 9-14: Through The Wire

Firstly an apology: I have become so engrossed in watching the Tour, and with other constraints on my time, I have fallen massively behind. Therefore it will mostly be a brief stage synopsis so you can scoot over to ITV.com and see the highlights if so required (Yes in other words).

Stage 9 Issoire > St Flour: Sunday 10th July

Garate doesn't start, leaving us with 187 riders. Contador took a tumble early on, continuing his rough week of suffering and crashes. Karma? Poels and Txurruka abandon as a result of this crash.

Break goes away containing Hoogerland, Flecha (SKY), Casar and Voeckler (small Frenchman of 2004 Yellow Jersey and attacking alone often fame)

On the descent of one of the Col du Pas de Peyrol, Hoogerland almost loses it on a tightening left hand bend in greasy conditions.

Minutes later some key players in the GC do lose it on that bend as do half the Peleton. After the dust settles we see Vinokourov being helped out of the forest 10m below the road, Van den Broeck laying in the roaad, Zabriski propped by the Armco, Willems in a crumpled heap by the side, and Kloden picking himself up gingerly.

Gilbert picks up the left over intermediate sprint points.

Further down the road the break away are extending their lead as the Peleton is slowed by the major crash.

Then a French TV car alongside the break swerves to avoid a jutting out tree.

Straight into the side of Flecha. Who in turn hits Hoogerland. Voeckler and Casar swerve but stay upright.

Flecha eats tarmac big style, snapping his front forks. Hoogerland mean while is sent flying off the road and into/through a barbed wire fence. Resulting in this:

Picking himself out of the tangle of barbed wire and more a less shortless a stunned and shocked Hoogerland remounts his bike after being given some new shorts. After some extensive attention and bandaging of his deep lacerations he is eventually caught by the Peleton, somewhat concerned by the mangled rider they see before them. He gets dropped by the Peleton fairly quickly and finishes in a small group just ahead of the Autobus.

Luis Leon Sanchez has caught Casar and Voeckler and proves the strongest taking the stage win. Voeckler rides himself into the Yellow Jersey however.

An emotional Hoogerland steps on the podium to receive the polka dot K.o.M. jersey and then is rewarded along side Flecha, with the most aggressive rider award, first time two people have been awarded it simultaneously.

David Millar reveals afterwards that he crashed twice during the stage, the TV car is kicked off the Tour and all sorts of discussion and debate abounds.

The most dramatic stage so far, for all the wrong reasons.

Stage 10: Aurillac > Carmaux: Tuesday 12th July

The rest day is over and has claimed two riders, one from the unluckiest team, RadioShack (RS). Popovych (RS) retires where as Kolobnev test positive for a banned substance (minute traces, non performance enhancing but sometimes used as a masking agent to hide other substances).

A small crash see's Flecha (again!), Cancellara, Leipheimer (RS), and Gesink go down.

Breaks come and go, there's a light hearted moment as Hushovd returns to the Team car and has his cleats tightened on his shoe, riding with one shoe for a while.

Flat sprinters stage see's HTC dominate at the front but the sweeping bends of the run in catch them out and Cav has to kick early.

He can't hold off the fast approaching Greipel who pips him leaving him second by a wheel.

Gilbert is in Green still, Voeckler Yellow and Hoogerland, after having 33 stitches yesterday is in Polka Dot still.

Stage 11: Blayes-les-Mines > Lavaur: Wednesday 13th July

177 riders start the day after Gadret retires, citing exhaustion after riding the Giro as well.

A couple of short climbs the sprint points are mopped up by the break, Cav taking the next available points.

The weather takes a turn for the worse and approaching the finish the break is caught.

HTC lead Cav to the sprint and Renshaw sets up Cav for an emphatic victory ahead of Greipel and Farrar. Gilbert finishes low down handing the lead in the Green Jersey to Cav. Ned is the first to break the news to a chuffed Cav.

The Manx Missile takes his 18th stage win in 4 years, Hoogerland retains Polka Dot andVoeckler Yellow.

Stage 12: Cugnaux > Luz Ardiden: Thursday 14th July

The first day in the Pyrenees is a tough one with three mountains to climb.

Romain Feillu doesn't start with tendonitis, Cav will be relieved I'm sure lol.

Its Bastille day and they have a Frenchman in Yellow so a stage win today would be the icing on the cake for France.

At the sprint point Cav takes the remaining points with his HTC team mates taking the next couple of places as well. Shrewd tactics from HTC.

The early break away includes our own Geraint and as they hit the climbs he becomes the virtual Yellow Jersey as they stretch to 9 minutes away.

G has a scare whilst descending a switchback and dives off the bike near a sheer edge. Lucky boy.

The Peleton also suffer on this corner, Voeckler and Velits crashing and Kloden (RS) going down hard.

Roy and G go off the front of the break and stay away till the last 6km, an heroic effort from G there.

Vanendert and Sanchez go off the front of the lead group.

The GC contenders behind start nibbling at each other, first Andy then Frank Schleck. Eventually after Evans and Contador mark the moves, Frank manages to break clear and chases down the two leaders.

Vanendert tries to grab the stage win but Sanchez is too powerful and powers clear, with Frank just a few metres behind Vanendert.

Basso, Evans and Schleck finish in a flurry with Cunego a bit behind and Contador a good few seconds behind him. Voeckler finishes a short time behind the suffering Contador to retain Yellow.

Stage 13: Pau > Lourdes: Friday 15th July

After an epic day in the Pyrenees yesterday we have 2 non starters, Steegmans and the sprinter Galimzyanov who finished outside the limit yesterday.

Roy goes on the attack again (that's 560km in break away's so far this Tour!!)

In the break he is joined later by Boasson Hagen, Hushovd, Pettachi, Pineau and several others.

Kloden decided enough was enough after just 30km after his fall yesterday, and radioShack lose another rider! A little further in Boom and Isaichev call it quits.

At the intermediate sprint Gilbert mistakes the 1km to go banner for the sprint line and goes for it. Cav's HTC train lead him out but Rojas gets the jump on him.

Over the climbs Roy is taking the points and rides himself into Polka Dot Jersey.

Heading into to the run in Roy is caught with 2km to go by Hushovd who accelerates past him and goes on to take a beautiful win. The World Champion had descended the Col d'Aubisque at one point at around 112kmh (69mph!!) truely phenomenal speed!!

Roy's K.o.M. Jersey completes the trio of Frenchmen on the podium currently, Voeckler in Yellow, and Jeannesson in White. Cav holds onto Green for another day.

Stage 14: Saint-Gaudens > Plateau de Beille: Saturday 16th July

No non-starters today so 171 riders remain.

Back in the true Pyrenees again with 6 climbs including the summit finish at Plateau de Baille.

A large break of 20 riders is let off the front with Gerdemann & Voigt (Leopard), Millar, Casar, Riblon, Chavanel, Charteau, amongst them.

Another group goes off the front of the Peleton to chase this one with Costa, Pineau, and two others joining the leaders by the second climb.

Tendam runs wide on a corner and faceplants on a grass verge, one of the most painful looking crashes so far!

Millar, Casar and another descend quickly and pull out 40 seconds on the break.

Voigt crashes into some ferns bushes on the descent and by the time the camera's catch up he's plucking the bike out and carrying on.

On the next descent he hits some melted tar on a corner and goes down again. He gets up and is visibly more annoyed by crashing than any injuries. He duly collects some bottles and energy bars from the team car and awaits the Peleton.

Once he is caught he proceeds to distribute his wares and then demolishes the Peleton and the breaks by riding like a madman at the front. Jens the Legend!

The breaks gradually get caught and we are left with the GC contenders eyeing each other up.

Andy Schleck attacks numerous times but is unable to shale anyone off.

Vanendert and Sanchez attack towards the summit and Vanendert pulls clear to take the win and the K.o.M jersey.

Schleck powers away in the last 1km but is unable to get more than a few seconds over cadel, Basso, Contador, Voeckler, Rolland, Frank, Uran and Cunego a few more seconds behind.

Voeckler retains Yellow, Cav retains Green with tomorrows stage being sprinter friendly.

Pain and Glory: Part Deux

Stage 7: Le Mans > Chateauroux: Friday 8th July

A sprinters stage with no categorised climbs. Also the scene of Cav's first stage win in 2008.

So an easy stage with the sprinters teams (HTC basically) driving the Peleton onwards to catch the inevitable break and get a sprinter a stage win and Green jersey points.

But as is so often the case the Tour likes to take it's victims when they least expect it. And so it was today. 193 riders started the day with Kiryienka finishing outside of the time limit yesterday.

Around 90km into the stage Boonen, pulls to the side of the road, hops off his bike and into the waiting Quick Step Team car. Yesterday's crash and chase to finish had taken too much out of him. 192 riders remain.

Shortly after this team RadioShacks atrocious luck continues as Popovych and Zubeldia, along with Gallopin and Kreuziger go down in a crash. All get up and carry on.

Then with a tailwind pushing a speeding Peleton along at 60kmh a crash happens in the middle of the bunch. A group of 60 miss it or get round before the road is blocked.

Pictures are hampered by the overhanging trees but when the cameras get there we see Pauriol on the floor, Horner (RadioShack) in a ditch and Bradley Wiggins cradling his arm sitting on the floor. Disaster!!

Wiggins can't even pick himself up off the floor. Game Over. Broken Collar Bone.

Team Sky riders wait in vain for Wiggins, sacrificing the Team placings and their own GC placings to see if they can pace their leader back. To no avail. Geraint and Boasson Hagen now have a battle to limit their losses as the Peleton pushes on.

Up at the front team HTC lead Cav over the intermediate sprint line ahead of his rivals despite having to do up his shoe with 500m to go!!

With only a few kms to the finish HTC regroup and as the break gets swept away HTC do the prefect lead out.

Greipel and Feillu and Petacchi all kick but with 250m to go Cav kicks and takes the stage.

Just like 2008.

The riders held up in the crash roll over the line 3 minutes later, Geraint having sacrificed the White Jersey to see if Wiggo needed help.

Pauriol and Popovych come in 6 and a half minutes after Cav and Horner the last man in over 12 minutes later.

In Cav's interviews he is delighted and is chatting away to Ned Boulting. Then Ned tells him of Wiggo's crash and you see him become a little confused then you visually see his face drop as it sinks in the Wiggo is out with a broken collarbone.

Cav may be many things, but this is genuine concern and disappointment for a friend and rival, and it's touching to see.

http://www.itv.com/tourdefrance/2011/stages/stage-7/

Horner is escorted away as soon as he finishes and hasn't a clue that he crashed, that he's finished the stage, or what's going on at all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x08VO5-gOh8

Horner is taken to hospital where it is confirm he has concussion, and a broken nose.

His abandonment is confirm before the next days stage. The video makes scary watching seeing him so clueless!

Stage 8: Aigurande > Super Besse: Saturday 9th July

After yesterday's chaos finally some mountains loom large. We are in the Massif Central and there are two Cat 4 climbs, one Cat 3 and one Cat 2 climb to tackle today. Yikes!

The 9 man break away goes early and contains a few known riders Riblon (AG2R), Zandio (Sky), Costa (Movistar) Tejay Van Garderen amongst them.

Very little happens out ont he road, Team BMC forcing the pace to keep Evans up the front. Vino, Flecha (Sky) and Hoogerland break off the front and try to catch the remains of the break away as the fall off one by one.

With 2km to go Vino and Flecha are caught leaving Costa out front being chased down by Gilbert who broke off the front as the GC riders attacked and watched each other closely.

Costa takes the stage, the first break away to be successful this year.

Gilberts late attack was enough to get him the Green Jersey by finishing second.

Thor Hushovd finishes strongly to retain the Yellow Jersey.

So a calm and uneventful day on the Tour. Well its all relative!!

Pain and Glory

Stage 5: Carhaix > Cap Frehel: Wednesday 6th July

Once again the stage surges towards the coast with the only noted climb of the day, a Cat 4, coming inside the first 50km. A sprinters stage if ever there was one. Nothing particularly taxing about the stage aside from the need to be near the front to avoid the crosswinds in the last 70km as it hugs the shoreline. The finish is on a slight uphill which could favour the likes of Gilbert, Hushovd maybe even Swift or Thomas.

Shortly after the descent of the Cote de Gurunhuel a crash brings down 12 riders, Wiggins, Chavanel, and Leipheimer the most notable. No one seems to be too badly injured and they dust themselves down as the Peleton gears up for the sprint point.

Cav, Boonen, Rojas, Feillu and a couple of others contest the sprint with the break away having mopped up some of the points already.

Rojas has a good lead out and with Boonen on his wheel the push forward, Cav makes a dash up the left hand side only for Rojas and Boonen to meander over and cut him off into the barriers then go to the other side. Cav sits up and shakes a fist in disgust! One for the commissaires to sort out. Or not.

The Peleton regroups only for there to be another crash, involving Gesink and Brajkovic. Gesink looks to be in pain with his wrist but eventually remounts his bikes and rides on to catch up the Peleton. Radioshacks Brajkovic isn't so fortunate looking bruised and concussed he is put on a stretcher and out of the Tour. Contador also takes a tumble requiring a change of bike.

The Peleton seem not to care with Leopard at the front forcing the pace.

Contador's team mate Sorensen tangles his handlebars with a photographers motorbike and his bike gets whipped out from under him sending him sprawling down a grass verge.

Europcar's Kern retires at the 90km mark.

Then its Boonen's turn to hit the asphalt hard, along with a team mate, looks to be a nasty one as well. He takes his time but eventually gets on an rides to the finish.

With the break swallowed up with 45km to go its down to the sprinters teams to up the pace and lead out their men. Voeckler and Roy lunch and audacious break from 30km to go but get caught with 3km left.

Its anyone's sprint as Boasson Hagen launches early taking Gilbert, Hushovd and Rojas with him, Cav's HTC are all gone and he's left following Geraint who inadvertently gives him a great lead out. With 100m to go Cav switches on the afterburners and pips Gilbert to the stage win and number 16 of his Tour career. And they said it was too uphill for him! Ha!

Better news follows with the commissaires ruling in favour of Cav and disqualifying Boonen and Rojas from the intermediate sprint. There nothing if not consistent these commissaires. Great day for Cav, woeful day for Boonen who limps across the line 13 minutes later.

Stage 6: Dinan > Lisieux: Thursday 7th July

Another coastal stage with rolling hills including two cat 3 climbs and one cat 4 and a short climb to the finish. Probably enough to separate off the pure sprinters but not enough to see off the punchy sprinters like Hushovd, Swift, Boasson Hagen and the like.

One non starter today, Valesco of Euskaltel who went down yesterday late on.

The Peleton sets off at a brisk speed averaging 50kmh for the first hour, but still a break goes off the front gaining nearly 10 minutes in just 66km!

A mixture of rain and sun with some wind gives the potential for some more crashes.

Gesink and Contador both have to change bikes after mechanical incidents.

At the sprint point Cav gets lead out to take the remaining points left after the break have been through and catch on those ahead of him in the Green Jersey.

Joogerland breaks off the front to get the King of the Mountains points.

The break is caught with 10km to go and with 6km remaining Leipheimer takes a tumble on a slippery white line.

The final km is peppered with mini breaks by Vino, Voeckler and a couple of others.

At 500m to go Geraint leads out Boasson Hagen who kicks off the front with 400m left. Chased down by Gilbert, Hushovd, Rojas and Goss (HTC) he holds them off til the end to take Sky's first Tour stage win!!

Gilbert holds on to Green by 1 point and Hushovd still remains 1 second ahead of Evans.

Bridging the gap

Stage 3: Olonne -Sur-Mer > Redon: Monday 4th July

A nice flat stage with the added spice of being coastal and therefore susceptible to crosswinds.

There is a single categroy 4 climb, 66m above sea level......literally!

The bridge over the River Loire at Saint-Nazaire.

The usual break goes away and is held at a manageable gap by the Peleton who cruise along at 40kmh for a couple of hours.

At the sprint point the leading sprinters signal their intentions by getting closer to the front.

Cav has a slight tussle with Hushovd as the battle to get the 10 points for the Green Jersey. A slight direction change from Thor, a gentle nudge with the head by Cav and they cross the line with Cav taking the 10 points.

As the Peleton hit the bridge they are getting buffeted by strong on shore winds splitting the Peleton in half. Briefly. Once all back together they have upped the pace (with the help of a tailwind) to a terrifying 70kmh. Rolling the big gear through the French countryside the sprint teams are trying to control the Peleton. The break is swallowed up at 9km to go and HTC and Garmin dominate the front of the pack.

Into the finishing straight HTC's 5 man lead out train is getting swamped and it's the Yellow Jersey of Hushovd and his team mate Julian Dean who deliver Tyler Farrar across the line for the win from 150m.

Roman Feillu crosses second Rojas third and Cav in 5th.

Worse news for Cav comes after when the commissaires dock him and Hushovd their points at the intermediary sprint for their coming together. A bemused Cav tweets his confusion whilst Thor offers to take the blame. Cav responds by calling him a 'true Gentleman' and launching some criticism of 'kamikaze Feillu'. Cav's battle with the commissaires resumes for another year!

Last word though goes to Farrar, an American, winning on Independence day and dedicating it to the memory of his close friend Wouter Weylandt who died in the Giro earlier in the year.

A fitting tribute.

Stage 4: Lorient > Mur-de-Bretagne: Tuesday 5th July

A coastal stage for the first 100km or so then pushing inland with the odd hill to contend with and an uphill finish.

A wet start but still a break away pops off the front of the Peleton, notable riders in it are Jeremy Roy and Johnny Hoogerland.

The first 50km was enough for Omega Pharma-Lotto's Jurgen van de Walle and he jumps in the Team car and out of the Tour. He was also one of the first riders to fall on the first stage.

Farrar pips Cav to the intermediate sprint points to cap a great couple of days for him.

The break is absorbed with 4 km to go and then its a slog up the hill to take the stage win.

Van den Broeck makes a break for it but is pegged back by Contador and Evans. Evans marks Contador then bolts for the line. Contador closes quickly and punches the air as they cross the line! Hushovd keeps up with the leaders to take the same time and keep the Yellow Jersey with Vino, Frank Schleck, Gilbert and Boasson Hagen all present in this group. Andy Schleck and Wiggo lose some valuable seconds as there is a split between bunches.

The photo finish shows that Evans is a wheel rim width ahead of Contador and thus gets the stage win!! Contador's luck seems to have deserted him this week, or maybe that's just karma......

Trial and trail

Stage 2: Les Essarts: Sunday 3rd July

The have the same letters, begin the same and end the same way yet swapping over the 'A' and 'I' gives different emphasis to the words. Take Alberto Contador for example. The Team Time Trial is more about making up some time on his rivals, yet it is one of his weaker disciplines. So could he lose yet more time making it a Time Time Trail for Contador, and an opportunity for the others to stick the boot in. The 23km circuit is unspectacular, short and should make for some quick times as the riders go full guns the whole way. Team Sky, Garmin Cervelo and maybe even HTC or Saxo Bank could fight it out today for the win and potentially the Yellow Jersey. Philippe Gilbert starts in Yellow but it's Saxo Bank and Contador who start off the preceedings.

The clock stops when the first 5 riders of the 9 man team cross the line, so losing a few along the way won't matter, although it will mean longer turns at the front for everyone else.

Saxo Bank post the best time of the day to start with. 25minutes and 16 seconds. Mainly because it's the only time so far. That said Euskatel and Vacansoliel follow without threatening the time.

AG2R get closer than the others but still Saxo Bank lead the way, that is until Rabobank come and take 16 seconds off them with a 25minutes dead time. That's an average of 55kph (33mph!).

Garmin leave the ramps and are tearing up the course, quicker by far on all the splits.

Final time of 24mins 48 seconds takes 12 seconds off Rabobank a

nd a full 28seconds quicker than Saxo Bank. Oh dear Alberto!! David Millar's speciality may just have done enough to put Hushovd into the Yellow jersey by virtue of the fact he finished slightly ahead of him yesterday.......

Sky leave the start ramp, will they be able to eclipse Garmin and get Geraint into Yellow?

Splits are suggesting they are fractionally slower 40mph to Garmins 41mph!

Sky cross the line in 24mins 52secs, 4 seconds behind Garmin. No Yellow for Geraint then :( just the White Jersey ; )

Out on the road Radioshack, Katusha and the other teams aren't threatening. HTC are pushing but are several seconds down at the splits. HTC finish to slot in behind Sky.

Mean while Cadel Evans BMC team are surprising everyone with some quick split times. He was 3 seconds ahead of Hushovd going into today's stage so could take Yellow!

Leopard Trek finish a few seconds down on Garmin; HTC, Sky and Leopard all within a whisker of each other.

BMC cross the line in 24minutes and 52seconds!

Cadel Evans misses out on the Yellow Jersey by 1 second! Thor Hushovd will be in Yellow for tomorrow's stage as Gilberts Omega Pharma-Lotto and doing decidedly average out on the course.

So where does this leave everyone?

Hushovd is in Yellow with Millar on the same time and Evans 1 second behind.

4 seconds behind Hushovd is Geraint, Wiggins, Boasson Haagen (Sky), the Schlecks and Cancellara.

5 seconds down is Cav, Swift is 11 seconds down and languishing in a lowly 75th is Alberto Contador 1minute 42 off the Yellow Jersey.

So yet more time lost by Contador, his rivals must be loving this, but discount him at your peril, tainted he may be, talented he is definitely.

Away from today's stage the Tour is covering a total of 3430.5km in it's three week duration. That's roughly 2059miles, in a loop around France. Impressive in three weeks. However these are professional athletes who's job it is to ride bikes.

Much more impressive is the feat of riding 4262 miles from the East Coast of the USA to the West Coast. In 3 months.

This is exactly what my good friend Matthew Farrer is undertaking as I type. He is more or less 3/4 of the way across have traversed mountains, plains, middle America and much more besides.

If you get a chance pedal on over to his blog:

http://longhaultruckin.tumblr.com/

the pics are awesome and it's a good read. Wish him well and be inspired!

Keep it up Matt!

All at sea

Stage 1: Passage Du Gois > Mont Des Alouettes: Saturday 2nd July

Well here it is. The talking stops and the graft starts. For some it is going to be the hardest 3 weeks of their life. Others won't even last the three weeks before succumbing to injury or illness. Some will achieve greatness whilst others will experience bitter disappointment. The myriad of emotions that makes an exciting Tour!

So they are starting on an island in the Atlantic, Noirmoutier, and riding across the causeway at low tide (well obviously as it isn't there at high tide!!). Last time the Tour crossed this it was in 1999 in the actual race (this is the neutralised warm up) and several crashes occurred on the slippery seaweed strewn cobbles!!! For today at least they will have to save the crashing for the roads of mainland western France (well except Andre Greipel who did actually manage to fall off and cut his elbow on the causeway! Won't matter as the Tour is too big a race for him to win anything (find the Cav quote on Greipel!)).

The usual early break goes away with no one special in it particularly although Jeremy Roy (FDJ) maybe seems to enjoy his break-aways (see Stage2/3/4/5!)

The stage profile is predominantly flat with a small hill a few km's from the end. Oh and the Mont Des Alouettes that the stage ends on the top of! Miles and miles of flat countryside and they chose the one significant hill (232m above sea level, 2.2km of 4.7% gradient Cat 4).

This will play into the hands of the one day specialists and punchier climbers. So ideal for Philippe Gilbert and bad news for Cav. Maybe a stage for Ben Swift to introduce himself to the Tour though or an old hand like Thomas Voeckler to steal a cheeky win.

The intermediate sprint however is flatter and should see some interesting battles if they choose to go for it.

Got to make it there first though, after 30km or so we get our first fallers of the this years Tour. No big names though. Soon followed by another crash with a couple of Team Sky's riders falling, no damage done though.

Intermediate sprint is contested and Cav's HTC lead out get swamped. Tyler Farrar claims maximum points with Cav a couple of places behind. Well he always starts his Tour's slowly.....

The break slowly begins to get reeled in and then at 10km to go a team Astana rider clips a yellow T-shirted spectator on the roadside and chaos ensues!!

Half of the Peleton are either sprawled out across the road in a tangled mess or being forced to take evasive action into the roadside ditch to get round it!! Just as the pace was being increased at the front as well!

Amongst those caught up in the chaos is Alberto Contador, who is already 32 seconds down on the lead group with 4km to go. All other GC contenders were safely in front of the crash. Phew.

Poor Contador looks to be losing time already, that's a real shame (I'm struggling not to laugh as I write that!! lol).

Just 2km to go and another crash takes out a chunk of the already small Peleton. This one will need to be untangled and we'll see who suffered.

Meanwhile up front Fabian Cancellara has bolted for the line, closely followed by Gilbert and Voeckler.

Thor Hushovd and Cadel Evans make a burst for the lead group and as they cross the line its Gilbert from Hushovd and Evans.

Geraint Thomas crosses with David Millar 6 seconds later. Wiggins, the Schlecks, Cav and others caught in the 2km crash were initially given times around 80 seconds down but this was later altered to give the time of the main group that crossed 6 seconds behind Gilbert (the 3km rule; any crashes inside 3km on flatter stages and the times are given as a whole to the Peleton).

Contador crossed the line with those caught in the 2km crash but doesn't get an altered time as he was already behind!

So Stage one finishes uphill with Contador losing time (1min 20secs! yay!), Gilbert winning (expected) and Thomas in the White Jersey (excellent!).

Exciting contested intermediate sprints, crashes, uphill finishes and doomed break-aways. A good start to the Tour. Lets see what tomorrows Time Trial holds, Contador needs to get some time back that's for certain!

Vive Le Tour!

It's back!!!

Like a hibernating animal this blog has re awoken to find that it has missed out Winter, and Spring and accidentally a couple of months of Summer as well. Whoops. Lets pedal out the normal excuses now, buying and selling cars (as always), buying a house (almost but not quite there), and general laziness (ah yes the one true constant!!).

So after getting off my literary bike and abandoning , I have once again got excited about cycling.

The person to blame is Ned Boulting. Those of you familiar with ITV will know him as either a football reporter or as the Tour De France reporter for ITV. Either way it was his new book, "How I Won The Yellow Jumper" that got me excited for this years Tour.

Books are not my strong point but this was one of those books. I couldn't put it down. Witty, inciteful, personal and interesting I thoroughly recommend you get a copy, if you're reading this, you'll love reading that!!

Those of you who read my last post (no doubt still waiting for part 3!) would be interested and disappointed to note that the Contador case is still rumbling on with Spanish Cycling Federation banning him, then over ruling it then the UCI and WADA appealing to CAS over the over turning.

Phew. Acronym pile up aside its a frustrating situation with the potential for last years winner and maybe this years winner being stripped of both titles.

And all the while the vultures circle ever closer to Armstrong.

Well whatever the outcomes of these cases we'll focus on the here and now, the 2011 Tour De France.

The Route:

This year it starts in Atlantic Sea! Starting in the Vendee region of western France it heads up the coast and round parallel with the English channel to the town of Lisieux.

From there it drops down to Le Mans through the centre of France to the Massif Central Mountains.

Then it heads south westerly towards the Pyranees before hugging the Mediterranean coast to Montpellier.

Finally its off into the Alps and then the long train ride up to Paris for Cav to win on the Champs Elysees!

The Teams:

So in the closed season it appears that a game of musical chairs went on (substitute chairs for teams) with riders going here there and everywhere!

Team Sky - Bradley Wiggins, Geraint Thomas, Ben Swift

Wiggins comes into the Tour in fine form, as National Champion and winner of the Dauphine Libere. He is down to 69kg an astonishing 13kg less than at the Beijing Olympics!

Thomas has had a good season and this is his 3rd Tour so he'll be looking to get the White Jersey on his shoulders early on.

Swift originally wasn't going to be in the squad but an illness to Micky Rodgers and string of good performances and wins means he rides his first Tour. One for the future a punchy sprinter.

Leopard Trek - Andy and Frank Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Jens Voigt

Formed from the stars of the Saxo bank team but yet to fulfil the potential. Endured a tough Giro D'Italia where one of their riders, Wouter Weylandt, died in a crash on a descent. Experience by the bucket load, should win the Tour.

Garmin Cervelo - David Millar, Thor Hushovd, Tyler farrar

Millar has his autobiography newly released (I've not yet started it but it's waiting for me) and is in the twilight of his career. Has made up with Wiggo after a public falling out, and is the thinking man and reformed doper of the peleton.

Thor "God of Thunder" is the current World Champion and will no doubt be a thorn in Cav's side going for the green Jersey as will Tyler Farrar. Farrar withdrew from the Giro after the death of his close friend Weylandt so his form is an unknown entity.

HTC Highroad - Mark Cavendish

What can you say? The Manx Missile has been winning stages and races all season so the Tour will be no different. Expect him to speak his mind, get in trouble and win. A lot.

Will probably be at Team Sky when the dust settles on the Tour. British super team.

Saxo Bank - Alberto Contador

Moved from Astana to Saxo Bank about 2 days after the Schlecks and crew left en mass. Not much strength in depth, but plenty of controversy. Should he even be here?.........hell no!

Astana - Alexandre Vinokourov

Back after his doping ban and in his last tour. Unrepentant and unlikely to do much, maybe a cheeky stage win. Close the door firmly behind you on your way out Vino.

BMC - Cadel Evans, George Hincapie

Cadel was the non attacking, quiet introverted Aussie. Then he won the Worlds, discovered how to attack and ride with a fractured elbow and thumb. Hats off to him. Hincapie is the old man of the Tour, still in fine form on his record 16th Tour. Potentially holds the keys to the Armstrong case, being the only credible team mate left!

Omego Pharma-Lotto - Philippe Gilbert

The Belgian Gilbert is the best cyclist in the world currently. True. He smashed all comers (including both Schleck brothers at the same time!) in the One Day Classics and can do no wrong. Belgian National Champion he is perfectly suited to the slightly lumpy first week stages.

Other Teams - AG2R, Cofidis, Europcar, Euskaltel, FDJ, Katusha, Lampre, Liquigas, Movistar, Quick Step, Rabobank, Radioshack, Vacansoleil.

Phew! An epically long blog post it maybe but it puts you in the picture of who is where and who to keep an eye on. Stage by stage updates will appear over the next few days so watch this space!!