Tour de France 2014 - Au revoir Yorkshire and the south, bonjour les montagnes et les côtes!!

[Panwearsjaune]

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Photo finish!!!

Drama, it really is!

I'm catching up too with the "live" footage of the final stage as I was at a festival in Yorkshire over the weekend. (I was a bit disappointed they didn't have a screen set up in a corner of the bar)
Go Jens! Good to see sky in the breakaway too. It is an easier watch without Cav and the anxiety that he could crash/be blocked in/ beaten in the final meters. I'd still rather he was there though.

The velodrome races are mad. I like the one where it's like a slow bike race and they do 'track stands' trying not to be in front. Really enjoyed watching it in the Olympics.
See you all here for the vuelta.

Looking forward to it, the vuelta should be more of a race than the tour. Assuming they all stay upright this time.

Jensie was tweeting pics of his pets this week He has a lab and a ginger cat, apparently.

At least the weather is almost guaranteed to be good for the Vuelta, so there should be fewer spills.

Have you all seen

Caveat: I have seen the orgininal film which is beyond brilliant and I have seen several parodies but this had me sniggering by the end.

Oh I like a good Downfall parody.

When are the teams announced?

Bradley Wiggins said after the Commonwealth track event he wasn't going to ride any more grand tours, more or less:

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/commonwealth-games/28476411

Heh. It's ages since I've seen a downfall parody.
Brad is turning into a bit of a diva, who would have thought a World Tour team would be competitive and focussed on winning races?

Just watched the time trial. Could England not have provided Alex Dowsett with a matching helmet?

ariadne - if MN did a "Like" button, I would "like" your post

I was at the Time Trial - got some good photos of them setting off and again, round a corner shortly before they wet back on to the Green. I'll post a few once I've downloaded them.

Really looking forward to Sunday - even though it'll be an early start as the Women go off at 8. 12 times around the City Centre - will be able to support/watch from lots of different points. We're planning on doing what we did last year for the British RR Champs and criss-cross the route on our bikes.

I'll probably miss Sunday as we will be on holiday and don't suppose I'll get the chance to sit in the house watching cycling.

Imagining prettybird riding backwards and forwards 12 times for the women, then 12 times for the men....

We'll start off outside Billy Bilsland's, the LBS that's been on the news having helped out some of the African cycle teams. We already knew it was a great bike shop as we spend a fortune there for ds buy ds' stuff there and it sponsors ds' bike club.

Might not be as many as 12 times - but it'll be close

The San Sebastian Classic is on Eurosport at 2.30 just to get you all in the mood for the Tour of Poland starting tomorrow.

Ooh, ta ariadne, I've started on a new painkiller which is brilliant but as I'm now on continuous release morphine based stuff through a patch on my arm I've placed myself under house arrest until I know if I'm likely to start dancing how I react to it. A bit of cycling on eurosport it is then, marvellous.

Well that last climb really broke everything up. Hopefully that's cheered up Valverde a bit after the TdF.

Poor Yates and his sore chin though . I want to go to Spain now.

San Sebastian is gorgeous, I've been a few times and I've never had a bad meal; food and cooking is a Basque national pastime.

I know, we were in Bilbao a couple of years ago then camping near Pamplona (they are going right by where we were in the Vuelta this year) and it was one of the best holidays ever. The people were lovely, the food was amazing (even the 1 euro rose ) and, to sound like my mother, everywhere was so clean . I think we'll have to go back next year, was lush. I've got this fabric on my bed upstairs, just delivered from America. I think my dream of buying a camper van, deocrating it with this fabric and similar ones I've found, then just driving round for a year after the grand tours is going to happen soon . I'd be the size of a whale at the end, have to take my to make up for it .

Love that fabric. I'd love to take a year off to follow the tours, you must do it and send us live colour to the grand tour threads.

My DH raves about San Sebastian and how fabulous is. He's been a few times with work & really wants to go back there with me.

I'd love to follow the Tours in a camper van. One day, when we have the DC finally off our hands and don't have to work as hard as we do now, we might actually do it.

Drama I am totally going to follow the tour in a camper van when I've retired and got rid of children, after the two days I saw in Yorkshire it's just amazing and I would not get bored of it.

Not that I have been awake thinking about this but...
When DS1 has finished A levels, DS2 will have just finished GCSE's and DS3 will be leaving primary school (and I know, yes, I didn't think those age gaps through at all well). So that gives me four years to save up, buy camper, pimp camper with my lovely fabric and, voila, one awesome tour following holiday. This may actually work you know! Plus I think we will all be in need of a holiday after all that stress!

See that My Belle of the Bike Gracie Elvin is in the mix for a road race medal!

And then she gets dropped.

I'll catch her!

Pete Kennaugh appears to be channelling Tony Martin.

It's intriguing isn't it? With such a tricky bendy road the course is with him isn't it?