Tour de France - Stage 4 - July 11

Tour website ^ | 7/11/07 | Aeronaut

[Aeronaut]

Four cat 4 climbs today.

[Aeronaut]

Tour de France ping!

Please FReepmail 'Aeronaut' if you want on or off the Tour de France 2007 list.

[PeteB570]

Lining up in the neutral zone with a planned start in about 12 minutes.

I will be checking in with versus until TV coverage starts at 0830.

[Ready4Freddy]

Stage 4 - Wednesday, July 11: Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny, 193km
By Tim Maloney, European Editor (Cycling News)

Stage four is a classic early Tour de France stage run in the countryside to the east of Paris that traverses the rolling hills of the Champagne region, the wide plains of Brie before the final hills across the Yonne. Once again, an early break will certainly escape before the sprinters' teams pull it back in the final 50 kilometres before the finish in Joigny.

Climbs:
Km 23.5: Côte de Veuilly-la-Poterie: 1.0 km climb @ 5.2% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 62.5: Côte de Doucy: 1.9 km climb @ 4.9% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 144: Côte de Galbaux: 2.4 km climb @ 3.8% avg. grade / 4th Cat.
Km 148.5: Côte de Bel-Air: 1.3 km climb @ 5.4% avg. grade / 4th Cat.

Sprints:
Km 69: La Ferte-Gaucher
Km 122.5: Soligny-Les-Etangs

[RoadTest]

Good coverage for an other-than-cycling news organ!

[Ready4Freddy]

Which ‘other-than-cycling news organ’ are you referring to, RoadTest?

[leilani]

He’s probably referring to AFP, R4F.

Hope you don’t mind but just I stole your graphics for an off-campus post.

(all is fair in love,war & thread-building!)

[Ready4Freddy]

Hey leilani! LOL, “off campus” post.

[gura]

Today’s route profile suggests a break will have a better chance, but I still wish they would get rid of the radios, because they’re what allows the teams to time it so they catch the break in the last 10k’s or so. However if the break didn’t sit up with 1k to go yesterday they might have stayed away.

[Cecily]

Eurotwit's homeboy Thor won today's stage.

[lainie]

Could you add me to your ping list?

I watched yesterday’s coverage last night — up until it ended, two hours shy of the end! How in the world did Versus manage to provide “live” coverage and miss the mark so badly?

And where in the heck has Vinokourov been?

[Texas2step]

How in the world did Versus manage to provide “live” coverage and miss the mark so badly?

It was the tours longest stage, and they rode at the slowest rate in over 10 years for a couple of different reasons.
1. Into a head wind the whole trip.
2. Only two riders in the long break, and they were not interested in killing themselves for nothing. They rode slow, the peleton paced themselves behind the break (but almost mistimed "the catch" after two other riders joined the break.
4. 4th stage is when the body starts complaining hard about the efforts used in the first 3 stages. Riders are sore/stiff.

The took 2 hours longer to finish the race than they should have. Versus coverage was actually extended, but you probably only DVR'd the scheduled time.

And where in the heck has Vinokourov been?

Laying low and staying out of trouble. Just like most of the main "GC" contenders. Flat stages are not where the TDF is won. They're waiting for Sunday, and the Alps.