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Well its starting again tomorrow 29 June.. Lots of late nights I suppose for some
Dont follow bike riding in anyway but never miss this as it is a game of tactics and a good watch

All the best to the Aussies AUSSIES

Simon Gerrans, Matthew Goss, Stuart O’Grady, Simon Clarke, Brett Lancaster, Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEDGE), Rohan Dennis (Garmin-Sharp), Cadel Evans (BMC), Adam Hansen (Lotto-Belisol), Richie Porte (Sky), Michael Rogers (Saxo-Tinkoff).

Have a couple of links here if your interested SBS is of course the best but interesting article for the arm chair watcher from Perth Now. Will most probably be in the Sunday times as well.

www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/?gclid=CNvnmf-ghrgCFcUipQod90UAVg

Perth now guide to race
Everything you need to know about the 100th Tour de France

Sky's Richie Porte is a better chance of Aussie glory at the Tour de France than Cadel Evans, according to the bookies. Source: AFP

www.perthnow.com.au/sport/everything-you...&net_sub_uid=6289335

Last night was the first Leg of the Tour.. Sprinters stage.
The race started in Corsica and as per usual the commentary was brilliant along with the scenery.

Argos Shimano won the first leg and gets to wear the Yellow Gurnsey.
It was a Chaotic start with the Green Edge Bus (AUST TEAM) Getting stuck under the Finish banner. This caused major problems and the Finish line was going to be changed to the 3 km mark but they ended up getting the bus out.

At least 3 major pile ups that knocked a few of the favourites out of the Sprint finish. Advertising banners on the side of the road caused a couple of accidents due to them being to close to the road!!! ... The good news is none of the riders will be penalised time due to it being beyond their control.

A brilliant night of viewing and 3 weeks to go. Some pics









Argos Shimano winner of first leg

Stage 2. Pretty uneventful stage with a few climbs. A Dog decided to join in and could of caused a bit of strife.. He must of thought all his Christmas's had come a once with so many bikes

Jan Bakelants held off a fast charging peloton to win a punchy second stage of the Tour de France by a single second, giving him the overall lead.

It is so incredible for me to take this jersey, to give something back to the team after all this misery I had this year. When I crossed the finish line I was overwhelmed with joy.
Jan Bakelants, Radioshack Leopard

The Radioshack Leopard rider finished ahead of Peter Sagan (Cannondale) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) at the end of the 154km stage from Bastia to Ajaccio.

The 27-year-old Bakelants, who has been a pro since 2009 but has not won a race in that time, took the yellow jersey of the general classification leader from Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano) who finished well off the pace.

STAGE 3 1 July

Couple of climbs and the first one looks like a beauty




Teams Cadel Evans is with Team BMC.. Easy to spot in the Black and red
Evans declared himself satisfied with his performance in Sunday's second stage of the Tour de France after coming home just a second adrift of surprise stage winner Jan Bakelants

Evans is feeling his way into the 100th Tour having taken a break after coming third at last month's Giro d'Italia, although he was comfortable on a short but tricky 156-kilometre ride from Bastia to Ajaccio that featured four testing climbs.

Indeed, the 36-year-old, who won the yellow jersey in 2011 and is looking to become the oldest ever winner of the sport's greatest race this year, was among the first riders to reach the top of the final climb, the third-category Cote du Salario, 12 kilometres from the finish.







The Aussies have a team in being GREEN EDGE. Best of luck to them.

GreenEdge GEC
Brett Lancaster AUS
Cameron Meyer AUS
Daryl Impey RSA
Matthew Goss AUS
Michael Albasini SUI
Simon Clarke AUS
Simon Gerrans AUS
Stuart O'Grady AUS
Svein Tuft CAN

FULL TEAM LISTS

www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/tour-de-france-2013/teams-riders

Your right there one error and the whole group goes to shit. Part of the fun I suppose.. I think from what I heard on SBS the field has been cut down already.
SBS has hightlight every morning and afternoon around 7pm I think.
Must admit it is a brilliant live call by the commentators and we get a Travel Doco as well..

Froome is the favourite at the moment to win. Bookies have him under $3 so must be a chance but as they say in Footy - still a long , long way to go over 3 weeks.

Broadcast times and highlight packages SBS CLICK ON PIC

Short stage brings down Tour s Corsica stint

AFP © Short stage brings down Tour's Corsica stint

AJACCIO, France (AFP) - The Tour de France completes its historic passage through Corsica on Monday with a short 145-kilometre third stage from Napoleon Bonaparte's birthplace in Ajaccio up the island's west coast to Calvi, where the explorer Christopher Columbus is said to have been born.

After arriving in Calvi, the Tour will move to mainland France for the first time, with the fourth stage, a team time-trial, taking place in Nice on Tuesday.

Tuesday 2 July

Go Aussies Great win to Gerrans over Peter Sagan.. Green Edge is the Aussie team and a huge victory for them.



Stage 4 is a time trial being held tonight.. on SBS around 8pm I think

Yep agree.. Few surprises to come I would say. Would be nice if the Aussies could win the Time trail but I dont think so.
The guy I was riding with last night Simon Clark (Green Edge) who was in the breakaway at the start and they led for over 134 kms.. He only had to get over the last climb to the the King of the Mountains guernsey.. Hey would of got 5 points as well to give him a good lead.. Didnt think they would catch him but they did unfortunately.
Really felt for him after such a hard ride. All he had to do was get over that mountain and the go back to the Peleton for a easy ride home and a guernsey.

No problems though Gerrans made up for it with the overall win but no Yellow.
Great start for Green edge though considering only 2nd year in

Simon Clarke



ORICA-GreenEDGE is thrilled to announce that Simon Clarke has extended his contract with the team. On top of his original two-year deal, the 2012 Vuelta a España mountain classification winner has extended his contract by two years, through 2015.

“Being Aussie in an Aussie team is a dream come true,” said Clarke. “I think I made a big step up this year, and in part, that’s because of the support I’ve received from this team. To have the chance to stay here for at least another three years is perfect for me.”

Clarke won the fourth stage of the Vuelta and a hard-fought battle for the climber’s jersey. In addition to his Grand Tour success, Clarke finished on the podium in the Rogaland GP, the second stage of Vuelta a Burgos, two stages of the Tour of Norway and finished second in the Tour of Norway general classification.

Orica GreenEdge website

www.greenedgecycling.com/

Well Fark What can you say... OGE or Orica Green Edge won the Team time trail tonight BY LESS THAN A SECOND. Shit how good is that for a Aussie team and everyone should be proud of the achievement.

Gerry Ryan the owner an Aussie as well very happy. Owner of Jayco and King Kong and other Aussie companies.. I encourage you to read this article as he is certainly a promoter of Aussie sport.. Orica are an interesting Sponser but I am sure they have a few spare dollars.. eg Orica is a multinational corporation that provides commercial blasting systems, mining and tunneling support systems, and various chemical products. The company operates in more than 50 countries worldwide and serves customers in more than 100.

www.theroar.com.au/2013/06/04/belkin-sav...-without-gerry-ryan/

Now back to the race...We are lucky in the West as we dont have to stay up all night like over east.. Usually on around 8pm but check your guides

Stage 5 comming up and back into the real race
228km and a couple of small climbs.. The big climbs come later




I suspect a couple of the bigger teams are starting to worry about the OGE team

All the info at www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/

Heres the individual standing.. All other standings e.g team,points etc are at

www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/tour-de-france-2013/standings

Click to enlarge For individual standings



Orica Green Edge winning the time trail