Stage 16 of the Tour de France 2009

In the summer of 2009 my friend and I went to Italy on holiday. During our holiday we would visit two stages of the Tour de France. We were staying at a fellow cycling fan's place. On the 21st of July we had to get up really early to leave from her place, because we wanted to be on time in the Alps for the first stage (first for us, but 16th for the riders, from Martigny to Bourg-St-Maurice). We went to a little town called Pré St. Didier. We watched the first part of the race on TV in this little bar, where we had lunch. After lunch we were ready to go to our spot near the course. We went halfway up the mountain from were we could see the Mont Blanc, and the riders coming up our mountain. My friend and I were really surprised how fast the riders actually go even in the mountains (it was the first race we have ever watched live). So we both missed the opportunity to take a picture of the attackers. We felt a little stupid, as you can imagine, but we had more luck with the peloton.
We could see the team Astana was leading the peloton, which was divided in different groups. In the first picture you can see the chasing-group (actually the remaining part of the peloton). The first rider, from Astana, threw an empty bottle away. I had to jump away to make sure the bottle didn't hit me in the head... It was just crazy to see two men almost fight over a bottle .
A few minutes later the first group behind the peloton arrived at the place we were standing. Filippo Pozzato, Alessandro Ballan and Damiano Cunego were leading the group behind the peloton. Because we were standing on a curve of a mountain road, we could see the riders for a while longer then we would have had on a straight road. I managed to take a decent picture of Denis Menchov.
After the last group passed us, we started walking down the mountain to get back to the little bar from the beginning and watch the rest of the stage. When we reached a curve below the one we were watching the race from, a French police officer stopped us. He told us that we had to wait because there was still one rider who had to pass our spot. We were a bit scared by the police officer, who was really mean and angry, so we immediately stopped and waited in order to avoid getting in trouble. It turned out that Kenny van Hummel was the last rider from that stage (and almost every mountain stage of that Tour until he crashed and had to abandon the race). After he passed, we moved on and got back to the little bar. We watched the last part of the stage and we saw Jens Voigt's terrible fall. It was very surreal to see him falling like that and being so badly hurt when he just passed us a few minutes ago. After the riders had finished the stage, we left the bar and got in the car to get back to our hostel. We had to get there early so we could start getting ready for the next day, when we would see the start of the Stage 17 of the 2009 Tour de France.

To be continued.....


Written by Marleen

Tour de France 2009, Departure of the 14th stage:

Tour de France 2009

Departure of the stage 14: Colmar-Besançon

Saturday July 18^th 2009

Saturday morning, it’s 8 o’clock and I’m in my bed. Oh no!!! My mother wakes me up… I’m so tired and I just want to sleep. But I remember why she is waking me up: today we go to Colmar to see the departure of the 14^th stage of the Tour de France.

Ok, I hurry up. I wear a t-shirt, jeans and Converse - simple and comfortable.

In the car, on the radio they speak about the last stage and about this mad person who shoots a gun at the riders. At that moment, I think that there are people who are really, really stupid.

I arrive in Colmar at 9.30am. I’m so excited; it’s been a long time since I’ve last seen a race.

Too bad, it’s raining. Then I walk to a hotel. Unfortunately, no teams are there, just journalists.

I’m on the starting line. I had forgotten that the Tour de France was so big.Whoa!

I find a place with no people around so that I can see the riders when they sign in. Behind me is the “Village Départ” and in front of me there are the team cars.

Let’s go! The first rider to arrive is Mikhail Ignatiev.

For now, the atmosphere is still calm. I can see Laurent Jalabert; Christian Prudhomme; Raymond Poulidor; Bernard Thevenet; and the Minister of Culture, Frédéric Mitterand.

There are more and more riders coming. My mother is asking “Who’s this one? You like him?” every two minutes. But the ones that I really like aren’t there yet.

Amongst the riders that I see there are Thor Hushovd, Fabian Wegmann and Daniele Bennati. Many French riders are passing: Lefèvre, Dessel, Lequatre, Bonnet, Haddou and Brice Feillu.Suddenly, we hear a lot of noise. "Oh!" ;Riders from Saxo Bank: Fabian Cancellara, Nicki Sorensen and Jens Voigt. Just after, Andy Schleck. And it’s not finished yet: there is a big ovation in the stands. I’m wondering for whom. Of course… Lance Armstrong. I thought that he was not so popular in France but no, people love him. He has a bodyguard. This guy has class. Really. A few minutes after him, Alberto Contador arrives. But now, it’s another atmosphere. People hiss him. I don’t understand why, even if you don’t like him (which is not my case), a little bit of respect is not that difficult…The riders that I wanted to see are gone. There is the yellow jersey Rinaldo Nocentini who arrives and… his wife who runs after him.

Twelve o’clock - the riders depart. There are some of them who are late, like Mark Cavendish. And it’s over; everybody is gone.

I hope that the Tour de France returns close to my home soon…

-Written by Delphine (delphsworld.tumblr.com)

Delphine is a supporter who lives in France, near the border with Switzerland and Germany. She has been a cycling fan since the last victory of Lance Armstrong in 2005. After that, she started watching the races on TV and if one comes near her home, she goes. Her favourite riders are Jakob Fuglsang, Fabian Cancellara and the Schleck brothers. Besides cycling, Delphine likes shopping and fashion.