July 08, 2004
Assassins!
"You're assassins! All of you!Octave Lapize, screaming at race officials after climbing the Col du Tourmalet in the 1910 Tour de France
It took something like fourteen hours for Lapize to complete this stage (the last rider took some eighteen hours and crossed in the dead of night).
I don't know if the Col du Tourmalet is in this year's TDF. I do know that the L'Alpe d'Huez is. It is a vicious climb and, this year, the scene of an individual time trial (which may well decide the winner amongst the contenders). In fact, that whole last week of the Tour is filled with climbing stages, some with several Category 1 climbs and a couple with Hors Category (the most difficult classification--literally "beyond classification" climbs).
It should prove to be a fascinating week to watch and one where the teams (and their strength climbing) will become a major factor.
Posted by artandscience at July 8, 2004 10:41 PMComments