2011 Tour de France – Stage 13 Wrap-up

Today’s stage 13 from Pau to Lourdes saw an ideal situation for the contenders, who found themselves on a reasonable stage between two extremely trying days in the Pyrenees. Despite the peloton holding a torrid pace for the first part of the stage, a large group broke off – including the disparate bunch of Alessandro Petacchi (whose legs must be fresh because I don’t think he rode any of the previous stages), Edvald Boasson-Hagen, David Moncoutie, Thor Hushovd and the perennially off the front Jeremy...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France – Stage 6 Wrap-up

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

After yesterday’s crash-marred Stage 5, the peloton is left with a long injury list, including GC contender non-starter Janny Brajkovic, and injuries afflicting stars including Tom Boonen, Alberto Contador, Robert Gesink, Sylvain Chavanel, et al. Were the crashes avoidable? What should be done? Fingers are pointed at each other, but ultimately race director Jean Francois Pescheux decided to blame the “movement in the peloton“. Today’s stage did not bring the deserved relief - poor weather with strong winds, showers through the stage and rain...Continue Reading

2011 Tour de France – Stage 5 Wrap-up

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

Short and sweet – with slighly lumpy finish – describes today’s Stage 5. Most sprinters must feel that they are running out of opportunities to shine in this year’s TdF. First of all there aren’t many stages designed for the sprinters, and most of them felt that their chance at glory was robbed in Stage 3‘s chaotic finale. I found it notable that most top sprinters tried to latch onto HTC’s well-drilled train, only to follow it off the rails and lose their...Continue Reading

Dugast Rhino/Pipistrello Hybrid!

From Marianne Vos’s bike at WC Pont-Château. These look like the absolute pinnacle of cyclocross tires. It’s like putting The Stooges “Raw Power” and Black Flag’s “My War” on a rim.

Pics courtesy of Gregg Germer at ChainringsTours.com