![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
So. Just so you know.
Jul. 5th, 2014 12:26 amThe Tour starts in the morning.
Jul. 5th, 2014
Stage One: Leeds to Harrogate, 190.5 km
Jul. 5th, 2014 10:50 pmAhh, early July: sun, rolling hills, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, a Prince of England, hot tarmac, screaming masses, and 198 men determined to make it to Paris no matter what. Must be Tour Time.
I can't tell you how utterly delighted I am that the Tour de France is starting in England this year. I enjoyed it more than I can tell you when the Tour rolled through London in 2007, and this time, I get to see parts of England I never got to see when I was there. And I really do get to look this time, because it's the first stage, and not too much hangs in the balance quite yet. Quite. The early excitement is a three-man breakaway from the line that stays away most of the day, though eventually, the only one left is the amazing Jens Voight. He's 42 this year, and in his last Tour. He is a wonderful, outgoing, classy rider, and I'm delighted to see him take the polka-dot jersey as King of the Mountain.
One thing everyone is making much of today, however, is the fact that the stage ends in Harrogate. This is the hometown of the mother of one of the best sprinters the sport's ever known: Mark Cavendish. He spent many days there as a kid, riding the streets. He knows this route. Even more exciting, he's been reunited with his best lead-out man, Mark Renshaw, now that the latter has joined Omega Pharma-Quickstep. And when Renshaw and the rest of the team get Cav into the right position, no one can keep up with him.
So here we are on the ride into town. Everyone's looking for Cav. His own country, his mum's hometown, the Princes and Kate waiting at the finish line-- there's some pressure. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Fabian Cancellara decides to take a bit of a stab at it. Spartactus, as they call him, has jumped too early, and is soon enough caught, but it's exhilarating to watch. Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel push and push and-- what the hell? There is a crash. Right there. RIGHT THERE AT THE END. Cav has tried to muscle past Simon Gerrans, and both men have gone down! And there is ONE man left down on the ground: and it fucking well has to be Mark Cavendish.
Marcel Kittel takes the day, just edging out Peter Sagan. And hey, I don't want anyone to think I'm not thrilled for the guy. But to see Cav helped back onto his bike just so he can cross the line, holding his right arm across his ribs in that awful, all-too-familiar way that says, "I've snapped my collarbone," is heartbreaking. This should have been his day. It should have been his first sprint win of the 2014 Tour de France. Now it looks like it's probably his last day.
Well. Welcome to the Tour.
I can't tell you how utterly delighted I am that the Tour de France is starting in England this year. I enjoyed it more than I can tell you when the Tour rolled through London in 2007, and this time, I get to see parts of England I never got to see when I was there. And I really do get to look this time, because it's the first stage, and not too much hangs in the balance quite yet. Quite. The early excitement is a three-man breakaway from the line that stays away most of the day, though eventually, the only one left is the amazing Jens Voight. He's 42 this year, and in his last Tour. He is a wonderful, outgoing, classy rider, and I'm delighted to see him take the polka-dot jersey as King of the Mountain.
One thing everyone is making much of today, however, is the fact that the stage ends in Harrogate. This is the hometown of the mother of one of the best sprinters the sport's ever known: Mark Cavendish. He spent many days there as a kid, riding the streets. He knows this route. Even more exciting, he's been reunited with his best lead-out man, Mark Renshaw, now that the latter has joined Omega Pharma-Quickstep. And when Renshaw and the rest of the team get Cav into the right position, no one can keep up with him.
So here we are on the ride into town. Everyone's looking for Cav. His own country, his mum's hometown, the Princes and Kate waiting at the finish line-- there's some pressure. And all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Fabian Cancellara decides to take a bit of a stab at it. Spartactus, as they call him, has jumped too early, and is soon enough caught, but it's exhilarating to watch. Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel push and push and-- what the hell? There is a crash. Right there. RIGHT THERE AT THE END. Cav has tried to muscle past Simon Gerrans, and both men have gone down! And there is ONE man left down on the ground: and it fucking well has to be Mark Cavendish.
Marcel Kittel takes the day, just edging out Peter Sagan. And hey, I don't want anyone to think I'm not thrilled for the guy. But to see Cav helped back onto his bike just so he can cross the line, holding his right arm across his ribs in that awful, all-too-familiar way that says, "I've snapped my collarbone," is heartbreaking. This should have been his day. It should have been his first sprint win of the 2014 Tour de France. Now it looks like it's probably his last day.
Well. Welcome to the Tour.