TOPIC:

Heres a handy App or bring it up on you computer. It gives live pic and a tracker as to positions etc etc etc..
Looks good if you want the race live..

media.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/tourtracker/

Stage 5 2nd longest leg but certainly not he hardest..OGE still looking good



The second longest stage of the 2013 Tour de France ended with a sprint victory for Omega Pharma QuickStep's Mark Cavendish and Australia's Simon Gerrans spending another day in yellow.

The lumpy 228.5km stage from Cagnes-sur-Mer to Marseille was always destined as one for the sprinters, but an early break came close to staying away before losing its lead with 4km left to race.

Cavendish stayed ahead of a crash in the finale to finish ahead of Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) and Peter Sagan (Cannondale) for his first stage victory of this year's Tour.

Simon Gerrans (Orica-GreenEDGE), who placed 15th on the stage, continues to lead the general classification with team mates Daryl Impey and Michael Albasini second and third.




So the old legend has won this one for the Poms. lets hope the Lions dont take heart in it and win the Rugby on Saturday

Gerrans still holds Yellow though with 2 other Aussies holding 2nd and 3RD

What gets me going is the Breakaways and it was a good one tonight. Just couldnt hold out..

Cadel is still in it as a long way to go and patience is the key

I would like to win the race just to kiss those lovely leggy girls who give out the Guernseys

So nice..

Ok some pics

STAGE 5





OVERALL LEADERS - CLICK ON IMAGE FOR BETTER VIEW

To enjoy this sport you must understand the Jerseys so here is a bit more on what each one means.. I must admit when I first started watching this sport I was totally confused.. What really pissed me off was the last leg where no one can advance and the winner is already decided by Gentlemans agreement.. Cant see the point but you will see what I mean when it happens

Jerseys and their meanings

Here's a breakdown of what each of the Tour's jerseys stands for, and what a rider has to do throughout the course of the race to wear it.



Yellow jersey- is worn by the rider who leads the general classification. It is awarded to the rider with the fastest overall time in Paris.

Green jersey- is worn by the rider who accumulates the most points in the race and is usually won by the race's most consistent sprinter. Points can be won at intermediate sprints although most are won at the stage finish line.

Polka dot jersey- also known as the King of the Mountains, it is worn by the rider who tops the climbing classification. The competition comes into its own once the race heads into the mountain stages where most points are on offer.

White jersey- is worn by the best placed rider in the general classification who is 25 years old or under in the year of the race.

For a better description of the Jerseys read the below article

www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0709...t-color-jerseys-mean

Now another thing that came to mind what do these guys get for the agony they must go thru????

1 Euro equals
1.43 Australian Dollars

2012 prize money of course just winning would be reward enough


Stage victories [Powerbar]

The 21 stages of Le Tour 2013 are divided up as follows: 7 flat stages, 5 hilly stages, 6 mountain stages with 4 high-altitude finishes, 2 individual time-trial stages and 1 team time-trial stage.
Prize money: € 22,500 per stage (€ 475,000 in total) and € 25,000 for the team time-trial stage.
The stage victory has been sponsored by Powerbar.
The Yellow Jersey [LCL]

It is worn by the leader of the general individual time classification.
Prize money: € 450,000 for the overall winner (€ 1,009,000 in total).
The Yellow Jersey has been sponsored by LCL since 1987.
The Green Jersey [PMU]

It is worn by the leader of the points classification. The points are won on the intermediate sprints and at the stage.
Prize money: € 25,000 for the overall winner (€ 125,000 in total).
The Green Jersey has been sponsored by PMU since 1992.
The Red Polka Dot Jersey [Carrefour]

It is worn by the best climber. Points for the best climber classification are awarded at the top of any classified slope. The prize money is doubled on the four stage finishes that will take place at the summit of climbs.
Prize money: € 25,000 for the overall winner (€ 110,000 in total).
The Polka Dot Jersey has been sponsored by Carrefour.
The White Jersey [Škoda]

It is worn by the best young rider aged 25 years old or less in the general individual time classification.
Prize money: € 20,000 for the overall winner (€ 66,500 in total).
The White Jersey has been sponsored by Škoda since 2004.
The Combativity Award [Brandt]

This distinction is awarded at the end of each stage by a jury made up of eight cycling specialists. An overall winner is designated after the last stage of Le Tour.
Prize money: € 20,000 for the overall winner (€ 54,000 in total).
The Most aggressive rider Prize has been sponsored by Brandt since 2005

More at

www.bikeradar.com/road/racing/article/to...ney-explained-37732/

WA RIDER CAMERON Meyer

au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/wa/1786028...t-is-the-wheel-deal/

When Helena Valley boy Cameron Meyer was handed a free pass to the Perth SpeedDome as a 12-year-old, he thought the least he could do was give cycling a crack.

On Tuesday, what began with a 10-minute drive to the Midvale track culminated in a feat no West Australian has achieved before, a stage win at the Tour de France.

Meyer, 25, was part of the Orica-GreenEDGE team which stunned the peloton with a record-breaking victory in stage four's 25km team time trial on the streets of Nice.

It was the second victory in as many days for the Australian-owned team and propelled Melbourne-born Simon Gerrans into the yellow leader's jersey.

Speaking to _The West Australian _from the team bus yesterday, Meyer said the feeling of winning a stage of the iconic race was hard to put into words.

"It was one of the happiest moments for all the guys on the team and especially me in my first Tour de France," he said. "It's a bit of a dream come true and a bit of a whirlwind at the moment."

Meyer is the second WA rider to compete in the Tour de France after Henk Vogels, who rode the race in 1997 and 1999 with French team GAN.

Great to see Daryl Impey get the Yellow off his team mate. First South African to get the Yellow.. Member of the OGE as well

Andre Greipel is the stage overall winner. From Team Lotto. Well done

A couple of Riders out the field is dropping off


Sure some are interested in what the riders eat and Drink.. bit of a background







We know Tour de France cyclists have strong legs and the desire to win, but what role does food and drink play in their chances of success?

The Tour de France is considered one of the world’s most demanding events of physical endurance. In its 100th edition, this year’s Le Tour – currently underway – encompasses 21 stages, totalling 3,479 km, including six mountain stages with climbs as high as 2,000 metres.

We can expect cyclist speeds and stage times nearly identical to last year’s event, which featured 20 stages plus a prologue time trail, over 3,497km).

The time taken to complete individual stages ranged from 51 minutes and 24 seconds (stage nine: a flat time trial over 38km, with a mean speed of 48.4 kilometres per hour) to five hours, 42 minutes and 46 seconds (stage 12: a medium mountain-stage over 226km, with a mean speed of 39.5km/h) with an overall mean race-pace of 39.9km/h.

Given such speed and consistency of pace, it probably seems obvious that hydration and nutrition are crucial.
Drink up

Hydration is the first priority for competitors in any prolonged endurance event. Sweat rates vary between individuals and depend greatly on the workload (heat produced by muscle contraction) and climatic conditions (temperature, humidity, air passage over the body) but are probably about one-to-two litres an hour for most Tour cyclists.

Excessive fluid loss can lead to a loss of power, so it’s recommended that any athlete engaged in vigorous exercise minimises fluid losses to no more than 2-3% of body mass during exercise; electrolytes (such as sodium and potassium) are also lost in the sweat and should be replaced if sweating is heavy and exercise prolonged. But here’s where things get a bit tricky.

In a sport where a one per cent change in performance could be the difference between wearing the coveted yellow jersey and second place, fluid over-replenishment may also equate to carrying unnecessary weight. A 70kg rider who has lost two litres of sweat (about 3 per cent of body mass) has less mass to push uphill.

So that rider’s performance should be better on climbs, as long as his power output is not compromised by the mild dehydration. Only with long hours of testing can a Tour rider determine their own optimal balance between hydration, body-mass and power output.
Eat up

Consuming a sufficient amount of dietary carbohydrates before, during and after exercise is also crucial. We store carbohydrates predominantly as muscle and liver glycogen, and a tiny amount as blood glucose. These are the key fuels for muscle contraction during intense exercise: glycogen depletion below a critical threshold will result in a dramatic decline in performance (known in cycling as “bonking” or “hitting the wall”).

Carbohydrate loading can super-compensate glycogen to beyond normal levels, thus minimising the chances of bonking.

Consuming carbohydrates during exercise can also reduce the rate of glycogen decline, enabling an athlete to maintain a given exercise intensity for longer before the onset of fatigue.

Although sports drinks are one practical way of delivering fluid, electrolytes and carbohydrates (simple sugars such as glucose and fructose, and complex carbohydrates such as maltodextrin), a rider could do similar with water, jam sandwiches and a banana.
Balancing act

To support optimum performance over the three-week Tour, riders also need to consume enough daily energy to offset their high expenditures, and adequate dietary protein to support muscle recovery.

Negative energy balance (such as when the total daily energy from food and drink is less than that expended) or inadequate dietary protein can lead to metabolic changes and cannibalism of existing body proteins to produce additional energy for cells.

It sounds worse than it is, but those changes may impair exercise performance. Tour riders attempt to minimise the risk of impairment by consuming as many kilojoules (kJ) of energy as they expend.

Which raises the obvious next question: how much energy does a Tour de France riders actually expend, and what do they eat and drink?
In the pros' pockets?

Well before the advent of sports nutrition, riders competing in early Tour editions were pretty much left to their own devices to complete each stage, which included foraging for themselves along the way to satisfy their hunger and thirst.

Times have changed although, surprisingly, there is very little published data on the dietary practices of modern-era Tour de France riders.

In one of the very few studies to offer clues as to what professional riders eat and drink in the modern era, a seminal investigation of five 1988 Tour de France competitors published in 1989 found that, on average, they consumed 24,700kJ per day and expended 25,400kJ (divide kJ by 4.2 to get calories/kcal).

That’s around two and half times more energy than a typical sedentary male of similar size might expend. Fluid intake averaged 6.7 litres a day (the largest daily intake was 11.8 litres!) with 61% consumed during cycling.

Dietary carbohydrates accounted for about 61% of their energy intake, fats about 23% and proteins about 15% (nearly 230 grams a day for a 70kg rider).

Half of their daily energy was consumed during exercise, mostly as carbohydrate (about 94 grams an hour), and sports drinks alone contributed 15% of their total daily energy. Interestingly, sweet cakes eaten during rides were the major energy provider in the diets.

High in simple sugars and fats, these were energy dense and clearly palatable.

Stage 7 5 Jul SBS

Looks like a couple of big climbs that should sort the men out from the boys.
Polka dot Jersey should be up for grabs..

Interesting

Great posts by cardy. So a west Aussie won a stage? Did I hear right. The second Aussie this tour? Brilliant stuff.

anchorman wrote: Couldn't believe it when Chris Froome complained about his team not helping him in the stage yesterday,He should try riding for the team that Cadel Evans rides for.I don't remember him having a train of riders to help him and give him an arm chair ride like Froome has had for the first week.And this is the same bloke that packed sad because he had to be part of the train for Bradley Wiggins.

Yes found that quite incredible and the team just slowed down so could save some Strength for the mountains comming up.. Didnt come to the podium on time and I suspect the interview they were going to have didnt happen because he didnt want to.
As one of the commentators said Millions of people around the world watch the TDF so he is obligated to do the right thing. If he hadnt appeared at the podium for his yellow he would of had a nice fine as well... Maybe that was why he turned up.
Pretty bad sportsmanship by him towards his team and the organisers.

Lets hope Cadel can pick up a bit of his time in the mountains and get off 23 place.
OGE have done there bit but have a climber so lets hope he can win a stage.