That was incredible - he was the biggest bloke in the peloton by some margin wasn't he, and to watch him haul his huge carcass over the Ventoux and then head for victory was superb.
I remember that 2003 TT, too - I was about 20 foot away from the spot Ullrich crashed. The weather was apocalyptic - as soon as we got out of the car we were soaked to the skin. The disappointment of the crowd when Ullrich came down was palpable - it was awful, the bike sliding on the slick tarmac, the gloom, the headlights' washed out pools, the deperation to get back into the race, the crowd somehow silent and screaming and all centred on that slick of Bianchi blue in a greyed out world.
Last year we were near Gois on our holidays - drove the famous passage both ways with memories of the chute - it's an extraordinary place, a sunken Roman road only accesible at low tide, a ribbon of cobblestones slicked with seaweed and salt water. On the island, you can still see the names painted on the road from 99.
I remember that 2003 TT, too - I was about 20 foot away from the spot Ullrich crashed. The weather was apocalyptic - as soon as we got out of the car we were soaked to the skin. The disappointment of the crowd when Ullrich came down was palpable - it was awful, the bike sliding on the slick tarmac, the gloom, the headlights' washed out pools, the deperation to get back into the race, the crowd somehow silent and screaming and all centred on that slick of Bianchi blue in a greyed out world.
Last year we were near Gois on our holidays - drove the famous passage both ways with memories of the chute - it's an extraordinary place, a sunken Roman road only accesible at low tide, a ribbon of cobblestones slicked with seaweed and salt water. On the island, you can still see the names painted on the road from 99.