“The Tour de France is long and I’ll continue to fight” – Dan Martin
Despite the final climb of Mont Ventoux being shortened by six kilometres due to gusts of wind exceeding 125 kilometres per hour, today's stage of the Tour de France was still expected to be one of the most crucial day's of the race with the road to Chalet-Reynard averaging 8.8% over 10 kilometres. Mont Ventoux did prove to be difficult...
Video of strong winds on Mont Ventoux the day before the Tour arrives
The Tour de France organisers announced yesterday that today's stage of the race would be cut short by six kilometres due to strong winds on Mont Ventoux and a video posted yesterday really shows the impact that strong winds can have on cyclists on the climb. The video was posted by YouTube user kasperbs with the caption: "This was the...
Xeno Young Fourth in Junior Pursuit at European Track Championships
Junior Riders Fourth and Sixth in Pursuit at European Championships in Italy Irish rider Xeno Young finished fourth in the Junior Men’s Individual Pursuit at the UEC Track Juniors and U23 European Championships in Montichiari, Italy today. The Co. Down rider qualified for the bronze medal ride off following his fourth fastest time of 3.20.521, which was 5 seconds...
Onboard highlights from Stage 11 of the Tour de France (VIDEO)
The onboard highlights from today's eleventh stage of the Tour de France from Carcassonne to Montpellier really show what a difficult stage it was for the riders. There were numerous crashes during the stage as the race was affected by strong crosswinds. The riders also had to contend with narrow roads and a lot of street furniture in the various...
“The guys did a fantastic job to keep me at the front” Dan Martin
Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) limited his losses today on what had been identified as a particularly dangerous day on the Tour de France and the 29 year-old Irishman thanked his team mates afterwards. Martin finished in the peloton, just six seconds behind stage winner Peter Sagan and maintained his third place overall. Today's eleventh stage from Carcassonne to Montpellier had...
Peter Sagan takes second stage win and strengthens grip on green jersey
On an exciting day of racing, Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) took his second stage win of this year’s Tour de France with an audacious move 12km from the finish, taking teammate Maciej Bodnar and the Yellow Jersey with him. Sagan’s stage win and the points amassed during the stage help the UCI World Champion to extend his lead in the...
When crosswinds cause havoc at the Tour de France (VIDEOS)
Crosswinds are expected on today's stage of the Tour de France, and this could potentially cause serious problems for some riders if echelons form. The stage from Carcassonne to Montpellier is fairly flat with just two Cat. 4 climbs along the way. However, strong winds of up to 70 km/h are predicted which means riders are going to have be...
Backstage Pass goes behind the scenes of Michael Matthews’ win (VIDEO)
Australian Michael Matthews sprinted to victory on stage ten of the Tour de France today capping off some outstanding work by ORICA-BikeExchange teammates Luke Durbridge and Daryl Impey. The ORICA-BikeExchange trio rode a perfect race, infiltrating the breakaway early in the stage before excellent work by Durbridge and Impey in the closing 30 kilometres set Matthews up in an ideal...
Onboard highlights from Stage 10 of the Tour de France (VIDEO)
There were no major changes to GC on today's stage of the Tour de France from Escaldes-Engordany to Revel as all the main favourites finished in the main bunch over 9 minutes down on stage winner Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange). However, there was a big shake-up in the points competition as Peter Sagan (Tinkoff) infiltrated the winning break and took the...
Cav unhappy with being filmed after a comfort break (VIDEO)
Mark Cavendish (Team Dimension Data for Qhubeka) let his thoughts be known to a motorbike cameraman on today's stage of the Tour de France. The green jersey wearer was making his way back to the peloton through the cars along with team mate Bernie Eisel after a comfort break and let rip at the cameraman who was filming him. "I took...
Riders facing difficult descent in Tour de France due to poor visibility
The riders in the Tour de France face a tough start to today's stage from Escaldes-Engordany to Revel following on from the race's first rest day in Andorra yesterday. Right from the start, the riders will be climbing as they take on the Cat. 1 Port d'Envalira which at 2,408 metres in elevation is the highest point of this...
“On Ventoux there’s no place to hide” – Dan Martin
Despite going into the second week of the Tour de France sitting in third place overall, Dan Martin has downplayed his status as a GC contender. Cast as an underdog before the start of the race, ten days ago, the 29 year-old came through the first nine stages of the Tour de France unscathed and now finds himself on the...