Limoux / Foix (119 miles)
Le. Tour. De. France.
So Wiggins rode point for Boasson Hagen (Geipel won anyway) and the commentariat can’t wait to proclaim him the new “boss”. Le Tour has reached that gossipy point where Vilager Idiots are talking about “respect” and not wanting to be too dominant.
Fools. Tiger Woods is already coming to win on Thursday and your quaint 20th century notions of “sportsmanship” are obsolete. This race is just little over half over but it’s already done.
I suppose a bus. First day of the Pyrenees and someone could put it away or back in contention over the one 2 and two category 1 climbs. The Point award is well after the initial category 2, but even in Point competition the margins are all in favor of the current leaders and it’s unlikely here shall be much change unless someone gets caught out on the time limit.
Tom Veelers and David Moncoutie withdrew Friday and Robert Gesink did not start. Tony Gallopin withdrew yesterday.
General Classification
| Place | Rider | Team | Time/Delta |
| 1 | WIGGINS Bradley | SKY PROCYCLING | 59:32:32 |
| 2 | FROOME Christopher | SKY PROCYCLING | +02:05 |
| 3 | NIBALI Vincenzo | LIQUIGAS-CANNONDALE | +02:23 |
| 4 | EVANS Cadel | BMC RACING TEAM | +03:19 |
| 5 | VAN DEN BROECK Jurgen | LOTTO-BELISOL TEAM | +04:48 |
| 6 | ZUBELDIA Haimar | RADIOSHACK-NISSAN | +06:15 |
| 7 | VAN GARDEREN Tejay | BMC RACING TEAM | +06:57 |
| 8 | BRAJKOVIC Janez | ASTANA PRO TEAM | +07:30 |
| 9 | ROLLAND Pierre | TEAM EUROPCAR | +08:31 |
| 10 | PINOT Thibau | FDJ-BIGMAT | +08:51 |
Coverage is customarily on Vs. (NBC Sports) starting at 8 am with repeats at noon, 2:30 pm, 8 pm, and midnight. There will be some streaming evidently, but not all of it is free.
Sites of Interest-
- 2012 Le Tour
- Limoux / Foix (119 miles)
- Wikipedia
- Geek Guide (very basic)
- Guardian Interactive Guide
The Stars Hollow Gazette Tags-
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Limoux
After being developed around its church, the city rapidly developed thanks to its linen and leather industry. Today, Limoux is renowned for its blanquette (sparkling wine), its Toques et Clochers Festival, its carnival, its museums and its gastronomy.
– la blanquette – it is the oldest sparkling wine in the world. Discovered in 1531 its method of wine production was subsequently applied to champagne by Dom Perignon. It makes up the main economy of the town and of the region. You can also include the Anne de Joyeuse cave that produces quality AOC wines.
– Toques et Clochers – this wine auction held in Spring takes place with the aim of raising money for the restauration of the ancient belltowers (clochers). It is followed by a meal prepared by a top chef (Toque).
– the carnival – every winter it lasts nearly three months. It is the longest carnival in the world. Festivities begin 12 weeks before the religious festival of Palm Sunday.
– the museums – the Petiet Museum is dedicated to paintings, there are also museums celebrating the piano, automata, printing and plants at La Bouichère.
Foix
Foix is a commune, the capital of the Ariège department in southwestern France. It is the least populous administrative center of a department in all of France. The town of Foix probably owes its origin to an oratory founded by Charlemagne, which afterwards became the Abbey of Saint Volusianus in 849.
Right in the heart of the Ariège, at the foot of the Pyrenees, Foix, symbolised by its three towers of its Château Comtal, combines the quality of life of an average town with the advantages of its immediate proximity to a great metropolis, Toulouse, but also with the Pyrenees, Spain and Andorra. Undoubtedly the emblematic monument of the city, the Castle (10th – 15th centuries) stands majestically on its rock and was home to the Counts of Foix, including the brilliant Gaston Febus (1343-1391). A Tour stage town and popular with tourists, Foix combines the authenticity of its ancient medieval centre with the diversity of its businesses and the quality of its beautiful natural environment. This unspoiled environment is perfect for so many sporting activities and outdoor leisure pursuits: cycling and mountainbiking, walking or horseriding, rafting in calm or choppy waters or even paragliding down the valley. Foix is in a privileged spot for discovering the treasures of the Ariege department: middle age castles, Cathar citadels, roman abbeys, prehistoric caves.. or quite simply sublime natural locations.
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Peter Sagan has collected another 20 points for the green jersey.
The order over the line at the 99km mark was:
1. Peter Sagan (LIQ) 20pts
2. Steven Kruiswijk (RAB) 17pts
3. Sandy Casar (FDJ) 15pts…
The 11 escapees:
Gilbert (BMC), Gautier (EUC), Izaguirre (EUS), Sagan (LIQ), Minard (ALM), Vorganov (KAT), Casar (FDJ), Kruiswijk and Sanchez (RAB), Paulinho (STB) and M. Velits (OPQ).
Last year Port de Lers was a category 3 mountain. This year it is a category 1
… because of its horrible luck with first week crashes, he has only four team members to support him … so he wins on a breakaway.
For those who don’t watch bike racing any other time of year, wondering why Sky did not take advantage of the 30 riders who suffered flats due to some spectator spreading tacks and nails on the summit of the final climb … when that included 4th place Cadel Evans … they decided not to.
Why not? First is the publicity ~ “Sky wins due to sabotage!!!”. Second is the complexities of racing a bike season. With all the various goals of all the various teams in different races, a reputation as a team that races fair is definitely worth something over the course of a season.
And the Yellow Jersey receives a sufficient measure of deference that if Team Sky decided to neutralize the pursuit to allow BMC to rejoin, then the other teams would respect that decision and not try to take advantage of it by attacking. With the Green Jersey race all but decided today (Sagan has to stay on his bike and finish in Paris without being eliminated by time in a high mountain stage, but given that, the Jersey is for all practical matters his), there was no interest among the sprinters teams in racing for minor points after the Stage Winner was certain to be in the lead group.