Tour de France

I hope I can continue this throughout the tour! And not forget,

Anyone else watching it? Interested?

Saturday's start in Monaco was amazing! with typical warm and very humid weather.
Yesterday riding from Monaco to Brignoles was also warm and sunny at the start but clouds formed with the development of storms in the area. However there was no rain over the course. Temps were in the high 20's along the coast (Monaco) and the low 30's inland (Brignoles).

Today the tour will go from Marseille to La Grande Motte.

While both places are on the coast, the riders will travel slightly inland again.

Marseille's and La Grande Motte, both along the coast are forecast to be 22-29 and sunny skies.
Arles, inland will be 20-31 and sunny.

I don't mind watching it Tony, but only the first hour or so. Would love to take Julys off when Wimbledon/Ashes/Tour are on.

Cavendish looking strong again. Hopefully Cadel can get better support this year.

Alot of people say that last year was cadel's year to win, I will give him this year, if he doesnt win this year, that will be it for him unfortunately

I should say that some places are forecast to be 32 and 33, all depending on altitude of inland areas. Salon-de Provence for example, near to where they are riding has a forecast of 21-32 with clear blue skies. Quite warm weather!!

Today there is a team time trial in and around the southern city of Montpellier.

Montpellier is usually quite a hot city because it is on a flat plain. Astana might do well in this stage.

Looks like the forecast for Montpellier is 21-30, humid with more clouds athan sun.

sorry about not updating this last night, I fell asleep early after being up for over 24 hours!


Anyway the tour today is in Spain, going from the inland northern city of Girona down to Barcelona. So I will get forecasts today from Spain's official weather site, the Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia (or the State Agency of Meteorology)

Girona today is forcast to be 16-27 with rain (mostly afternoon possibly)
Barcelona on the coast will be 21-26 with showers about.

Along the coast near Girona, Tossa de Mar will be 18-26 with rain
Lloret de Mar will be 18-25 with rain
closer to Barcelona Canet de Mar will be 19-25 with rain
inland of Barcelona Sabadell will be 17-26 with rain

So it could be a wet day today. Spanish radar is showing showers in the Barcelona area at the moment so it could be interesting. Who would this benefit? Anyone and no one!

Tony

I hope you got a good sleep then Tony. It's tough being on this side of the world from a lot of the sporting action. I'll be in Barcelona on 3rd September

It's going to be a drier day in Spain today but there still may be a shower in the high mountains. Today's finish is going to be at 2200m above sea level in the Mountains of Andorra, so the scenery will be magnificent!

Another sunny and warm day in the Pyrenees, breakaway is about 2 and a half minutes in front, I am going for Thor Hoshovd for today's stage win.

Well obviously I know nothing about the tour!! Thor didn't win, but I am happy that an Italian is still wearing the yellow

Today will be the last day in the Pyrenees, a classic day staring in the valley, then up into the mountains and then ends on the plains again.

Will be another hot and sunny day in the valleys for example Saint Gaudens, where the day will begin will be up to 29c and Tarbes where the day will end will be at 30c. Meanwhile up in the mountains, La Mongie at 1800m will be 23c and the highest pass for today, the Col du Tourmalet at 2114m temps will probably be in the high teens.

rest day in the city of Limoges, a very warm humid and stormy day today!

A mainly flat stage today through central France, some hills but but nothing to worry most cyclists.

Watch out for French cyclists as it is Bastille day. VIVE LA FRANCE!!!

weather for today

Limoges: 16-25 showers about
Gueret: 15-23 showers about
La Chatre: 17-24 partly cloudy skies
Issoudun: 17-24 partly cloudy skies

Despite the fact it is an 'easy' flat stage, if showers do fall along the course, could make for some interesting crashes, just like the day in Spain.

The best thing about the tour are the crashes! lol

Another flat stage today through the Loire Valley. Going to make so more wonderfully fantastic scenery! Whish I was there! I bet they will also show some amozing Chateaux (is that how one spells it?) as well. Will me a mild day and probably dry as most of the storms about France will be further south.

Cavendish won yesterday, he could do the same today!
Yesterday there was this amazing coverage of the cyclists, riding past these snails, with the snails in danger of being squashed! But they survived and I am sure they enjoyed watching the cyclists! lol

Vatan: 14-26 sunny
Saint-Fargeau: 12-25 partly cloudy

Out in the north east of France today. Bit of a mixed stage with hills about but still pretty flat in stages too. Mark Cavendish won again, but Nocentini is still in the yellow! Go Italians!!!! But he won't win, I am liking Contodor at the moment but still anything could happen.

There will be quite a few breaks today and so anyone could breakaway and win today. A nice sprint finish again today I predict.

The weather in NE France will be warm and sunny. So it should be the perfect day for cycling. I am sooo jealous!!!


Tonnerre: 12-31 sunny
Essoyes: 13-30 sunny
Chaumont: 11-29 sunny
Vittel: 14-27 sunny

Yesterday there was this amazing coverage of the cyclists, riding past these snails, with the snails in danger of being squashed! But they survived and I am sure they enjoyed watching the cyclists! lol

They won't last long Tony, you know how the French love their escargot

hahaha rivergirl, the poor snails...the survived the cyclists and now probably in someone stomach!!!

A 'medium' mountain stage today. In the Vosges mountains today, which while not as high as the Alps or Pyrenees, can still be quite hard. Also we are heading towards Germany, so lots of German sounding place names in the area!

Cold front has gone through so there might be some rain about and definately much cooler temps as well.

Vittel: 15-20 rain
Xertigny: 16-20 rain
Gerardmer: 14-19 rain
Lautenbach: 16-21 showers
Colmar: 17-24 showers

There may be some storms about as well in the area! Makes for an interesting day!

A sorta Aussie won last night YAY!!!
Heinrich, the Aussie (worn and raised in Inverell, NSW and now a German) but soon to be an Aussie again. I was so glad to see it and the rain made for an interesting stage.

A sort of flat stage today, going from Colmar to Besancon. This will be a nice rest before the Alps begin. Begins in the flat Rhine plain (with german sounding place names) to the more hilly Doubs region near Besancon.
Could be some more wet weather but possibly by the time the riders begin, it will be dry and cool. A good day for racing.



Colmar: 13-20 showers
Mulhouse: 12-20 showers
Delle: 11-17 showers
Baume: 11-20 fine
Besancon: 12-19 fine

First real mountain stage in the Alps and we will be in Switzerland

As it is a mountain stage, look for an early break because people may want to begin making moves on the leader board over the next few days. Lance Armstrong may do something today or tomorrow or possible Cadel Evans, but then again someone I don't know might do something and win the stage! I don't know!

The weather at the start in Pontarlier should be dry and cool with temps in the high teens.
The as they travel into Switzerland, temps should warm slightly in the valleys but cool considerably up in the mountains

Yverdon should be 12-22
Gruyeres should be 9-16
Aigle should be 12-22
Martigny should be 11-21
Verbier should be in the low to mid teens.

Might even be some remnant snow on the highest peaks today, and I predict they will ride through some thick fog at some point today. As usual, will make for some interesting riding. And there will be amazing scenery in Switzerland!

It was Contodor's day, he came in first, he is now in the Yellow and will be hard to beat. Lance will do his best to get the victory for Contodor from now on. My opinion anyway!

Rest day today in Switzerland, but tomorrow oh what a day!!! Switzerland to France via Italy, and via the two St Bernard Passes. If you like scenery, watch the Tour tomorrow, wont get any better than the Alps in my opinion.

The three country ride today, from Switzerland to France via Italy. It's going to be a hot day today, temps in the 30's in the valleys. But the two peaks today are going to be amazing. The Great St Bernard Pass and the Little Saint Bernard Pass. An up down up down stage.

In Switzerland, valley temps will be about 14-30, up in the mountains I say take 15c degrees away!
In Italy, Aosta will see similar weather, 16-30, while in France Bourg Saint-Maurice, at the finish line is going for 14-33.

There is some high cloud in the area at the moment, and who knows, maybe the heat might make a storm or 2 develop!

Poor cadel, he hinted that his team is not working for him! So looks like he won't do much. I hope I am wrong.

Looks like Cadel Evens is not gonna win now. He was who I was going for, I just hope lance doesn't win. I don't like him!

The big stage today, 5 mountain passes today so it's going to be very hard. A make or break stage for everyone.
Weather should be fine, with possible cloud about, but very warm in the valleys.

In the valleys
Bourg Saint Maurice will be 16-32 and fine
Beaufort will be 17-30 and fine
Flumet will be 16-29 and fine
Sallanches will be 16-31 with the possibilty of showers
Cluses will be 19-32 and sunny
Le Grand-Bornand will be 17-29 with some showers.

In the mountains, again think of temperatures in the mid to high teens, and maybe snow on the mountain tops. Not falling of course, just just those permanant spots of snow than never melt!

A bit of rain about Tony, making the roads very slippery. A couple of lads have almost come to grief, especially cornering on the painted lines!!

Edit: Just saw a Spaniard take a tumble. Interesting day ahead...

Sorry I havent posted the past couple of days. I had a 'moment', some people might call it a hissy fit! Wasn't sure if anyone was interested.

Been dry and fine the last few days. And as I am watching this, there are fires near where they are riding. Just like in lots of places in southern Europe!

To finish off, the Tour rides into Paris. A warm summer's day in Paris. 13-28 some cloud about probably as a change is moving into northern France, but I don't think rain will spoil the day. At the moment we have, Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, and Lance Armstrong in the top 3. However just like every year the leader is being questioned. People are saying the Contador must be on something for the way he has attacked the mountains.