The Tourmalet.

Tonight’s stage is all about the Tourmalet.

It is a mountain, in fact it is one of the toughest mountains in France. But it is more than a mountain. It is hell for sprinters. Mark Cavendish, Thor Hushvod, Andre Griepel will all struggle today.

The winner of the 1910 Tour walking up the Tourmalet. Tough then, tough now!

But the Tourmalet is something completely different for climbers. A mountain is always an opportunity. Set a fast tempo and see who can hang on, gain minutes over main rivals by setting a pace that they physically cannot match. Attack repeatedly until some of the world’s fittest men look like they are Homer Simpson on a treadmill.

The Tourmalet was the climb where a young cyclist called Eddy Merckx showed his immense strength for the first time. It was his first Tour and he rode away from the peloton in 1969 to ride solo for 100+km and gain an 80 minute advantage over his competitors! Merckx of course went on to win 5 Tours and become (in my humble opinion) the best cyclist of all time. They called him the cannibal because he was ruthless and noone could match him. He was never satisfied with one jersey, Merckx would constantly get all three jerseys – the clean sweep. He was also not solely about the Tour, Merckx went in everything and won everything, we averaged a race a week for 6 years! Wow.

But this is not about Merckx, it is about the Tourmalet

For Contador, Schleck(s) and Evans this is the opportunity to get in yellow, to put their names at the top of the leader board.  They will need to drop Thomas Voeckler, which is not an easy thing to do having seen the form he  is in and the way he seems to use his tongue to gain extra concentration! Mot easy, but as good an opportunity as any.

After the end of tonight’s stage I think we will see a change in yellow. I have said this previously, but I am hoping that Cadel is wearing yellow by the end of tonight.

Come on Cadel, you can do it! You have a heart that is twice the size of a normal human heart! (literally that is, I am not making a statement about his capacity to love) Use it to pump blood and courage and determination through your muscly body! Do it for Aussie cycling and local bike stores; do it to finally get the Tour on the morning news! Do it to increase cycling culture in Sydney; do it to make more fans of cycling so I have more people to talk to about cadence and steak.

Go Cadel.

The other thing that we will see tonight is French cyclists attacking! Bastille day.

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