Welcome bork to the Drunken Gaming Corner and to the Tour de France! Yes indeed, the riders have a challenging day of racing ahead of them as they head out for the longest stage of the year! The riders will be leaving the beautiful Alps as they start off from Saint-Jean-de -Maurienne and head over to Annoy-Davezieux. Today’s race should be interesting tram!
Here they go through a tunnel towards the beginning of the stage. Wheeees!
The coverage picked up at the second climb at Col du Granier with a pack of five riders taking a nice lead here through the scenic Alps. A bit further down the road are some epic wooded cliffs as they head to Entremont-le-Vieux. Looks like a nice area to camp at perhaps!
Oh noes, we had a bad crash down the descent by David Moncoutie of the Cofidis team. Looks like he needs a new front tire now and his leg is bleeding badly and was taken to the hospital! I hope he will be OK!!!!
Now they are making their way through the food station in Saint-Joseph-de-Riviere as Bradley Wiggins cycles and munches. nomnomnom!
Frank Schleck is grabbing the bag with the food and water in it, while Cadel Evans is having a nice chat with TJ Van Gardener as they pedal through a scenic valley with tall wooded cliffs on both sides! Epic!
Oh mys, I was just reading that a sports writer for Cycle Magazine likes to call Cadel Evans “Cuddle”! I love that name for Cadel!
Ooops, the TV screen rezzed out to a solid green – LOL!
Now they are pedaling through a farming valley outside of Marcilloles as they head towards the sprint area in a flat valley. Not all the riders are participating in the sprint. A pack of five leaders are hanging together through the sprint and they don’t seem to be sprinting.
Wow, they have a cool Castle of the Postman. He built a huge stone sculpture in the back yard for his mausoleum. I wonder if he was a bit nuts by the looks of it – LOL!
More fields of sunflowers! Yays! Awws, a couple of riders in the back are cruising along and having some fun as they smile and wave at the cameras!
Peter Millar won the sprint even though they weren’t really sprinting for it – LOL!
The five leaders are ahead by over 11 minutes with Millar leading the way at about 40 miles out at Drome.
Epic ancient castle at Anneyron where they used to make silk to support the Benedictine Monks. I imagine that they made beer her toos!!!!! Benedictine beer is some of the best on the planet, so drink up meh hearties!!!! And the beer of the Day is Chimay!!! I love Chimay! omnomnomnom!
The cyclists have been riding for over four hours so far! That is a heck of a lot of riding!
Anneyron is a beautiful ancient town with narrow winding roads as the peloton squeezes through.
I wonder if the winner of the stage gets a free baguette? LOL!
Someone has a bright yellow car with racing decals all over and a bicycle rack on top with two bikes mounted up there a couple of guys dressed in yellow jerseys pretending to ride along! They are parked next to a big field of maize.
The peloton is over 12 minutes behind the leaders around Saint-Sorlin-en-Valloire.
Anneyron is the home of the hot air balloon. Wheees! The road is quite narrow here but is no problem for the five leaders.
This guy is having the best time, sitting in his window!
There are many ancient castles in this area. So epic tram! One of the oldest suspension bridges in the world is along the route over the Rhone River.
As the peloton approaches Silon, the leaders are still about 12 minutes ahead. There is a hill coming up towards the finish, so whoever wants to win should be ready to make their move! David Millar is still in the lead with a pack of the same five.
No one attacked as they headed over the last hill, so the pack of five continues over the narrow and winding roads.
Bernard Isel needed a new tire. Seems like a bad time to need to stop – LOL!
Still a pack of five leaders through Silon with a lead over 11 minutes with just a few miles left in the race.
Now they are zooming through Annonoy, and around the round-about as they pick up the pace. Cool ancient house that is built into the side of the hill!
Now Millar has busted a move and taken the lead! The leaders are pedaling like crazy as they cruise through a mix of old and new buildings with just a couple miles to go!
Now it’s down to Millar and Jean-Christophe Peraud to the finish! And after much frantic pedaling, David Millar barely wins! Whew! That was exciting! Usually, the peloton catches the leaders, but not this time! Nicely done Millar! This Chimay’s for you! For all that you do!!!
BREAKING NEWS! Matt Goss has been relegated by race commissaires following his sprint that almost took out Peter Sagan and will lose points from finishing sixth in today’s stage! Bad Matt Goss, Bad!!!
Tomorrow we head towards the Mediterranean in another long stage. Wheeees!