Spyns 2010 Tour de France Trips: Armstrong Strong in New Mexico

http://www.spyns.com/
http://www.tdf-tours.com/

Spyns clients are coming to France en masse to see Lance Armstrong win an unprecedented 8th yellow jersey. With riders like Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, and Alexander Vinokourov all riding strongly, Lance will have no shortage of competition this year.

Armstrong finished a respectable third place in the windy second stage of the Tour of the Gila on Thursday, helping teammate Levi Leipheimer preserve his overall lead. Luis Amaran beat out Leipheimer in the final sprint to win the 80-mile loop that started and ended in Fort Bayard. Seven-time Tour de France champion Armstrong finished in a group of about 20 riders.

Wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour hampered riders protecting teammates proved to the major focus of teams. "I don't know that I've seen wind like that," Armstrong told VeloNews. "You have to stay at the front, that's it. You could sit back a little bit, but there's nothing good at the back. You have to stay out of trouble, just stay with your team, just stay at the front." That's just what Armstrong and RadioShack teammate Jason McCartney did, protecting Leipheimer for much of the race, as the course became more hectic and windy down the stretch. "You could tell that the riders were trying not to get wind blown," race co-director Jack Brennan said. "By the time the racers came out of Bayard toward Fort Bayard, Lance was sitting in third position, and then fragments of riders fell of the pace, as the riders sprinted toward the finish line."

Armstrong and defending race champion Leipheimer are using the five-day Tour of the Gila as a buildup to next month's Tour of California. Leipheimer won the opening stage on Wednesday while Armstrong finished 22nd. Before Thursday's race, Armstrong's team director Johan Bruyneel said he advised his team that if conditions got to be a little hectic that winning wasn't worth the overall goal of getting ready for the Tour of California.

"Levi hasn't raced in more than a month, and he's been training at home," Bruyneel said. "His body is going to be shocked after the first stage, and the wind will play a factor in both his and Lance's conditioning. Winning is not our priority or obsession. We only have three riders here, and the factor of the strong field is going to be a challenge the rest of the way."

The wind caused six crashes during the race, though none of the racers needed to be transported to Gila Regional Medical Center. One rider in the Men's 3 Division got hit in the face with water bottle that was thrown at him from a passing vehicle.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2010 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2010 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com, http://www.spyns.com or call 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2010 Tour de France Trips: Greece on the Brink

http://www.spyns.com/
http://www.tdf-tours.com/

A funny thing happened on the way to bailing out Greece... As Spyns Tour de France clients gear up to watch Lance contest an unprecedented 8th yellow jersey, I'm thrilled that all of my euro predictions have come true. The euro is now trading at around $1.32. Unlikely the common currency will dip much further in my opinion.

The euro has been surprisingly resilient despite almost 4 months of 'Greek crisis' headlines. To no one's surprise, the European Union's wan promises of help, thin 2-page press release, and now full-blown bailout have failed to contain the problem. Greece is unfortunately beyond redemption. Had the Greeks imposed some sort of fiscal restraint 5-7 years ago, it would have made a difference. With almost 300 billion in reported debts, and more hidden debts undoubtedly to come, someone is going to have to take a haircut (read: French and German banks).

Barring default, the euro is unlikely to fall below $1.30 because there are now so many short positions that any positive news will cause an uptick in the common currency. Take for example the euro's light appreciation on rumours of a larger IMF bailout.

While the Greeks and most of Europe blame Germany for foot-dragging on the bailout, I applaud German Chancellor Angela Merkel for injecting some realism into what has become a political debate. Like Merkel, I cannot see how loaning the Greeks more money solves the problem. Clearly there are fundamental structural problems with Greece's economy, and many other European debtors (bonjour France).

Germany rightfully fears not the 8 or 9 billion euros it has to loan Greece now, but the half trillion euros in loans other European countries will likely need to stablilize their economies. Portugal is too small to maintain media attention but Spain, facing approximately 36 billion euros in bond redeptions (rolling over existing debt) will inevitably pay higher interest rates. The markets will eventually start demanding higher interest rates for Italy, France, and finally the UK.

So what does all this mean to Spyns Tour de France clients? It means a slightly better euro/dollar exchange rate for one. It will likely hover and stabilize around 1 euro = $1.30. This is welcome news after the $1.45 exchange rate in the summer of 2009 and the punishing $1.65 exchange rate in the summer of 2008.

My predictions for the Greek crisis are as follows: first, the Europeans will continue to dither because Europe lacks strong, decisive leadership (it has no fewer than 3 presidents); second, delays will lead to greater IMF involvement as they can distribute funds more quickly than a gaggle of European governments; third, the Germans will eventually talk their way out of a bailout because thrifty German voters can't stomach it; and finally, interest rates will inexorably rise strangling Portugal, Ireland, Italy and then finally the core economies of France and the UK for example.

Greece confirms that governments cannot continue to ring up debt, pay near zero interest rates, and hope the markets won't price in risk while their economies contract. Although I don't expect the euro to dip below $1.30 in the short-term, the greater risk is sovereign debt default. It simply started with Greece.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2010 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2010 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com, http://www.spyns.com or call 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2010 Tour de France Trips: Don't Count out Vinokourov

http://www.spyns.com/

http://www.tdf-tours.com/

Alexandre Vinokourov, one of the blacker sheep in bicycle racing and one who was not supposed to be riding Sunday in the esteemed Liège-Bastogne-Liège classic, stunned a field of favorites by zipping away from them and winning decisively.

The 36-year-old Kazakh, who rides for Astana from his homeland, was added to the team’s line-up late last week to replace an ailing rider. Vinokourov was coming off a tiring victory Friday in the multiday Giro del Trentino in Italy and was ostensibly added just to help Alberto Contador, the Astana leader and two-time Tour de France winner, in the Belgian classic. Instead Vinokourov sped away from a group of favorites, including Contador, with 17 kilometers left in the 258-kilometer, or 160-mile, race. Only Alexandre Kolobnev, a Russian with Katusha, could stay the rest of the way with Vino, who left him behind with 500 meters to go and finished first by six seconds. Second place in a major race is all too familiar to Kolobnev, who finished there in the world championship road races in 2007 and 2009.

Three big favorites — Alejandro Valverde, a Spaniard with Caisse d’Epargne; Philippe Gilbert, a Belgian with Omega, and Cadel Evans, an Australian with BMC — finished in that order behind the two leaders. They were one minute 14 seconds behind Vino, who was clocked in 6 hours 37 minutes 48 seconds. He was congratulated by Contador, who inspired the winning breakaway by launching a strong attack two hills from home. Since most eyes were on the Spaniard, Vinokourov was ignored as he jumped away in a display of team tactics. “This team was created for and also thanks to me,” the winner said. “I’ve completed my punishment so I don’t see why I shouldn’t come back.”

This was the Kazakh’s second victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, following one in 2005, when he was in full bloom as a champion. In 2007, however, he was ousted from the Tour de France for blood doping and spent the next two years in litigious suspension. During that time he quarreled with his team’s management and was scathing in criticism of the Tour’s organizers, the Amaury Sport Organization. They are suspected of being prepared to bar him from the Tour this year, but, since they also organized Liège-Bastogne-Liège, they may have to soften their hearts.
The race in shirtsleeves weather was staged through the dark forests of the Ardennes and over 10 longish and steep hills, with the last three of them the customary killing ground.

First, with 35 kilometers to go, came La Redoute, 2.1 kilometers long with an average grade of 8.4 percent, most of it painted in white and yellow with “Phil” in honor of Gilbert, who grew up in the dingy town of Remouchamps. Next, with 20 kilometers to go, came the Roche aux Faucons, 1.5 kilometers long with an average grade of 9.9 percent. It was on the descent there that Vinokourov made his move. He and Kolobnev maintained a lead of under a minute to the final obstacle, the Saint Nicolas hill, a kilometer long but with a grade averaging 11 perceent and six kilometers to the finish. By that time, a chase by Gilbert ran out of steam and Vinokourov was able to ride alone on the final uphill ramp to unexpected glory.

This 96th edition of the race marked the 30th anniversary of a Liège-Bastogne-Liège that has become legendary. In 1980, the start was held in a heavy snowstorm and frigid winds, and riders began dropping out immediately. By the finish, only 21 riders remained of the 174 who set off. Bernard Hinault, the French champion, was first across the line, 9 minutes 24 seconds ahead of Hennie Kuiper, a Dutchman in second place.

“I had to stop,” Maurice le Guilloux, a French teammate of Hinault’s, told the sports newspaper l’Equipe last week. “I was out of strength because I couldn’t eat. Because of the cold, my hands were paralyzed and I couldn’t get at the food in my pockets.” Hinault meant to drop out himself at the first feeding zone, but the storm abated and he continued on in sudden sunlight. Then the snow resumed. “I thought of nothing, I saw nothing,” Hinault remembers. “Everything was white. I rode in the tracks left in the snow by the official cars ahead of me.” Two of his fingers were so frozen that they remain stiff to this day.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2010 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2010 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/, http://www.spyns.com/, or call 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2010 Tour de France: Armstrong Voted Most Influential Athlete

http://www.tdf-tours.com/

http://www.spyns.com/

In the build up to Spyns 2010 Tour de France trips, a recent poll shows that Lance Armstrong star continues to shine. Just 2 1/2 months from attempting to win his eighth Tour de France title, Armstrong is the most influential athlete in the United States, according to surveys by Encino, Calif.-based E-Poll Market Research. Spyns tours has experienced Armstrong's star power via double-digit growth in its 2010 Tour de France trips.

The firm measures 46 attributes of more than 5,000 celebrities, including influence, awareness and likability.More than half of all Americans know who Armstrong is, according to E-Poll data, more than Peyton Manning or LeBron James. Nearly a third consider him to be "influential," while 46 percent profess to "like him a lot." Talent is just a part of why the public would consider an athlete as "influential." The rest, according the research poll, "is drawn from endorsements and media attention, along with off-the-field image (cancer awareness work only helps, of course). In short, has the player raised interest in the sport he plays?"

"It means that people feel he's making an impact," said Gerry Philpott, E-Poll's chief executive.Notably missing from the list: Tiger Woods, whose scores placed him at or close to the top less than a year ago, according to Philpott. "No one can doubt Woods' enormous influence on golf over the years," Philpott said. "But the retreat of several of his sponsors in the wake of his personal problems has people naturally assuming that his influence is waning."People hear about Accenture, AT&T and others pulling out, and they figure he's just not as influential any more," Philpott says."

Armstrong on the other hand, seems untouchable. That is, unless you're Alberto Contador!

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2010 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2010 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/, http://www.spyns.com/, or call 1.888.825.4720.