Team HTC-Columbia (Page 6)

CCCRRRAAAPPPP!!!  What's the deal???  Oh well, I was able to get another stage in.  By the end of this thing, we'll be at 100%, I can feel it.

Recap - July 18.  Stage 17 - 174 km Pau to Col du Tourmalet - Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador finally fought their duel on the Col du Tourmalet, and while the Saxo Bank rider won stage 17 of the 2010 Tour de France, the Astana man confirmed his hold on the yellow jersey, crossing right alongside his rival for second on the day.  Canadian Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Transitions) was fourth on the stage and is now 8th overall.

The peloton tries to avoid a flock of sheep crossing the road as they climb Soulor pass. Photo: AP

Stage 17 - The peloton featuring race leader Alberto Contador of Spain. Photo: AP

“I’m satisfied with the stage win but I also wanted to turn white into yellow but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. I really tried hard, you have to believe me about that. I changed rhythm and I tried everything but I think we’re on the same level on the climbs. Alberto attacked and I could go with him – it was a quick response – but in the end he didn’t sprint to win the stage because I did the most work. I have a lot of respect for that, it shows that he’s a great champion.

2010 Tour de France stage 17. Schleck leads Contador on the Tourmalet. Photo: Graham Watson

“I tried to find out how he was feeling. You need to look at someone to see how he was coping. I think you can find out a lot if you look someone in the eyes. He didn’t have the sunglasses on today so it was possible to see, that’s why I looked so many times. But he always looked good and that’s kind of what killed me.

“El Pistolero is strong, huh? I could no drop him. He was always there. I wanted to find out if he was getting weak but he didn’t succumb. He even attacked me to show, ‘Hey, listen young boy, I’m still here! You better stop playing these games with me.’

“I’m super happy to win this stage today – it’s the Queen stage of this year’s Tour. To win on the Tourmalet is like a win on Alpe d’Huez.
“When I turned to talk to him, I said: ‘You pass?’ And he didn’t. I would have done the same. Why should he pass me? In the end, he let me win the stage and I’m super happy.”

Andy Schleck of Luxembourg embraces Alberto Contador of Spain as they cross the finish line. Photo: AP

Go Team Columbia!!  Let's do it.

I'm out.  Wnt out to get another stage in tonight while it was raining and crashed over the railroad tracks.  Just some scrapes and bruises, but I won't be able to get my big ride in tomorrow.  Looks like I have the same fate as Frank Shleck.

done!  got my last stage in this late this evening...  Humid night and the moon is almost full (waxing gibbous I think) - good night for a quick spin on the cart paths around the golfcourse sans bike lights.  The moonlight is enough to see by and the contrast between the concrete and grass makes pathfinding easy.

Ooooo, sorry to hear that.  Hope you heal quickly.

Got in another stage yesterday and have a big ride planned for today so should be at or near 100% by the end of the day.  Anyone know what happened to Tr-ingtoturn40?  

So I lied.  Nothing was broken and even though I dropped the bike off at the LBS, I still did 2 hours on the spin.  We are at 76+%.  

I think I saw that Tr-ingtoturn40 was on a Mountain Biking trip with her family getting back today or tomorrow.  She should have some good numbers to log when she gets back.

Sorry to hear about the crash, but glad that nothing was broken.  And you still did 2 hrs on the spin, that's awesome.

Recap - July 23.  Stage 18 - 198km  Salies-de-Béarn to Bordeaux - Mark Cavendish of Britain again showed he's one of cycling's best sprinters, winning the 18th stage of the Tour de France in a final dash Friday as Alberto Contador retained the yellow jersey in Bordeaux.

The 25-year-old Cavendish collected his fourth Tour stage win this year and 14th of his career.  Cavendish made it look easy: Within the last several hundred metres, he swerved left to get around two riders including Norwegian sprint star Thor Hushovd, of the Canadian-owned Cervelo Test Team.  At the finish, Cavendish looked back over his shoulder, Julian Dean of New Zealand was second, and Italy's Alessandro Petacchi was third.

Cyclists ride the course of stage 18 of the Tour de France on July 23, 2010 in Bordeaux, France

Stage 18. Photo: Graham Watson

HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish made it look easy, winning his fourth stage at this yr's TdF, and dedicated the win to Renshaw.

Cavendish said: "This win was for Mark. We've missed him a lot."  He added: "It was going to be more difficult (without Renshaw). Mark has made my life easy. He and the whole team deliver me to the last 200 metres.  I've missed Mark, also in the Pyrenees when I didn't have someone who was worse off than me to look at."

Was able to get in the rest of my rides this weekend, had some gorgeous weather to boot!  Congrats on a great challenge everyone.

I've been riding and so was delinquent with my updates.  So glad everybody managed to ride some on the wkend.  So here are the last updates and a few more nice pix.

Recap - July 24.  Stage 19 - 52km  Bordeaux to Pauillac- Astana’s Alberto Contador confirmed his grip on the yellow jersey on Saturday, but found Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck an unexpectedly powerful adversary in the wind-whipped stage-19 individual time trial.

Contador did not win the 52km race against the clock — that honor went to world time-trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), who finished in 1:00:57 — but the two-time Tour champion finished 35th on the day, 31 seconds faster than Schleck, extending the eight-second advantage he held over his rival at the start.

Garmin team rider Ryder Hesjedal of Canada moved up to 7th overall. Photo: Reuters