2011 Tour de France – Stage 14 Wrap-up

Pavé would like to thank Handspun, Clément, and Laekhouse for supporting our coverage of the 2011 Tour de France.

Today’s stage was the final opportunity in the Pyrenees for the top contenders to establish a pecking order before the final march in to Alps. It was an exciting stage marked by an early break – the largest breakaway of this year’s Tour de France, which was instigated by Chavanel and quickly grew to a total of 24 riders. With riders like Jens Voigt present in the break, teams with GC aspirations found themselves in an enviable position, able to use these riders...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France – Contador: Can he still win?

Can Alberto Contador win the 2011 Tour de France? This is one of the biggest questions that cycling fans are asking themselves – has Contador lost too much time,  lost his focus from his numerous crashes over the first 9 stages and has he had time to recover from the epic bludgering of pain that is the Giro d’Italia?

Contador’s 2011 Tour has already been marred by several crashes, starting on the first stage where the Spaniard was caught out by a crash that caused a split in the peloton in the final 10km. This split resulted in Contador losing over...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France Preview – Great Britain & Ireland

Great Britain has started to become a force on the road in particular two areas, Sprinting and Time Trails. This year the British riders have brought two from each discipline, and one really consistent all rounder. David Millar and Bradley Wiggins are both great under the clock, both with super aero positions and the power to punch out a good result on short to medium courses. Unfortunately for them, unlike in previous years, this year’s Tour has no Prologue for Time Trialists to try to bag an early Yellow Jersey. Out of the two riders the SKY Team is probably...Continue Reading

2011 Classics Awards, Part 2

With the Giro d’Italia underway, our biggest party of the year, the Spring Classics, is over. We thought it would be fitting that in lieu of bestowing Rider of the Month (which we have probably already made quite clear) and Team of the Month, as we are accustomed to publishing, we could commemorate such a spectacular set of races with a series of awards. We published Part 1 last week. Here are the remaining picks for Pavé’s Classics Awards:

Best Unsung Hero

The Classics are a time for the stars to shine, but nowhere is there greater evidence of the need for...Continue Reading

2011 Classic Season Awards – Part 1

With the Giro d’Italia imminent, the terrible truth is that the Classics Season has drawn to a close. We here at Pavé thought it would be fitting that in lieu of bestowing Rider of the Month (which we have probably already made quite clear) and Team of the Month, as we are accustomed to publishing, we could commemorate such a spectacular set of races with a series of awards. The award articles will be unveiled in two parts; stay tuned for Part Two shortly. As with Rider of the Month and Team of the Month, any of the winners may...Continue Reading