Apparently...
Team Astana have put in a formal protest. They are outraged that there will be no racing today. And what is more they are seeking confirmation of rumours that there will be no road closures, race radio, motor bike outriders or safety cars and most importantly no podium girls! They are a furious at this blatent disregard for rider safety. As a consequence they are refusing to rest and will be staging their own stage with from Limoges to Lake Vasiviere. They have invited other teams to join them in their protest but so far only Caisse d'Epargne have shown interest in providing support for one of the Astana riders. Astana have confirmed that while there is no official leader for this stage that team orders are to ride tempo to the base of the final climb and then have a nice chat about who should go first.
In a statement to the press Lance Armstrong provided an explanation: "Frankly the first few days have not been that hard and I don't think the organisers appreciate that we all really like riding our bikes. I am feeling pretty good right now and I want to make the most of it. This is not about me it is about raising awareness of a terrible affliction that affects all of us"
Rumours still abound about continuing dissention in the Astana ranks and it was believed that Lance favoured a long flat TT while Contador was keen to go for a mountain top finish. It is believed a compromise was reached to race out to Lac Vasiviere and run a TT around the mountain top lake used in previous Tours. When Contador was pressed to comment he was quoted as saying: "Yes - we talked about it in the bus and everything is fine"
Organisers of the race are said to be confused "We have always had rest days in the past and it has never been a problem - obviously we will need to re-think our approach." They confirmed that they would indeed be doping control in operation and that Armstrong would be tested every 10km of the stage.
When asked about why they had adopted such an unorthodox approach to racing in the Pyrenees this year - a spokesman said "We have found that the French riders find it hard to keep up when we put the mountains at the end of stages so this year we put them near the front so that they can get up them when they are fresh. We have been very pleased with the outcome." When asked about the rumour that the stages had come out that way because of a printing error and that in fact the race had been run the wrong way round - the spokes man declined to comment.
Verses have anounced that they will be postponing coverage of the scheduled bull fighting and will be covering the stage live. "This is a real bonus for us" said Bob Roll "We have a number of special features on Cancellara's seat that we were unable to screen in our regular broadcast but now we will have plenty of time to cover this and the Tour organisers have agreed to sponsor a race free half-hour of continuous commercials - we are really quite excited."
So it looks like another positive outcome for the sport of cycling.
Vive le Tour
Team Astana have put in a formal protest. They are outraged that there will be no racing today. And what is more they are seeking confirmation of rumours that there will be no road closures, race radio, motor bike outriders or safety cars and most importantly no podium girls! They are a furious at this blatent disregard for rider safety. As a consequence they are refusing to rest and will be staging their own stage with from Limoges to Lake Vasiviere. They have invited other teams to join them in their protest but so far only Caisse d'Epargne have shown interest in providing support for one of the Astana riders. Astana have confirmed that while there is no official leader for this stage that team orders are to ride tempo to the base of the final climb and then have a nice chat about who should go first.
In a statement to the press Lance Armstrong provided an explanation: "Frankly the first few days have not been that hard and I don't think the organisers appreciate that we all really like riding our bikes. I am feeling pretty good right now and I want to make the most of it. This is not about me it is about raising awareness of a terrible affliction that affects all of us"
Rumours still abound about continuing dissention in the Astana ranks and it was believed that Lance favoured a long flat TT while Contador was keen to go for a mountain top finish. It is believed a compromise was reached to race out to Lac Vasiviere and run a TT around the mountain top lake used in previous Tours. When Contador was pressed to comment he was quoted as saying: "Yes - we talked about it in the bus and everything is fine"
Organisers of the race are said to be confused "We have always had rest days in the past and it has never been a problem - obviously we will need to re-think our approach." They confirmed that they would indeed be doping control in operation and that Armstrong would be tested every 10km of the stage.
When asked about why they had adopted such an unorthodox approach to racing in the Pyrenees this year - a spokesman said "We have found that the French riders find it hard to keep up when we put the mountains at the end of stages so this year we put them near the front so that they can get up them when they are fresh. We have been very pleased with the outcome." When asked about the rumour that the stages had come out that way because of a printing error and that in fact the race had been run the wrong way round - the spokes man declined to comment.
Verses have anounced that they will be postponing coverage of the scheduled bull fighting and will be covering the stage live. "This is a real bonus for us" said Bob Roll "We have a number of special features on Cancellara's seat that we were unable to screen in our regular broadcast but now we will have plenty of time to cover this and the Tour organisers have agreed to sponsor a race free half-hour of continuous commercials - we are really quite excited."
So it looks like another positive outcome for the sport of cycling.
Vive le Tour
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