Spyns 2011 Tour de France Tours: Cavendish Favoured in January's Tour Down Under

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As Spyns clients gear up for the 2011 Tour de France, the 2011 racing season will start off with a bang in the Tour Down Under. While Spyns's former clients focused almost exclusively on Lance Armstrong, there is no shortage of talent ready to fight for the coveted yellow jersey. Take Mark Cavendish for example.

The world's best sprinter, Cavendish (pictured here) will get an early look in January at his potential rivals for the Tour de France. The young Brit will make his Tour Down Under debut in Adelaide in January. The winner of 15 Tour de France stages, Cavendish will go head-to-head for the first time against former teammate and two-time Tour Down Under (or "TDU") winner Andre Greipel.


The TDU field already boasts Germany's Greipel, American Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) and Belgian superstar Tom Boonen (Quick Step). Boonen, like Cavendish, will be another new face to follow on the roads of South Australia. In 2006, the Belgian was the first world champion to wear the yellow jersey at the Tour de France since American Greg LeMond in 1991. "You are looking at a Tour de France line-up," said Cavendish's lead-out man Mark Renshaw. "When you add in the likes of Lance Armstrong, it is arguably the strongest line-up in the history of the event. Traditionally the tour is a sprinter's race and January's route looks no different. HTC is taking the race seriously and has named a very strong squad of riders. When you factor in the likes of Matt Goss, Bernhard Eisel, Bert Grabsch and the American Danny Pate, we're heading to Adelaide wanting to dominate."

Tour Down under race director Mike Turtur described Cavendish as "a precocious talent." "When he lets his legs take care of things, there are few in the peloton who can match him. "The field does have the first week of a Tour de France feel about it." Spyns clients will have to wait until July 2011 to see how he performs on such famous climbs as Galibier and Alpe d'Huez.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ or http://www.spyns.com/. You can also call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2011 Tour de France Tours: Ireland Depresses Euro

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A funny thing happened on the way to the bailout. As Spyns's clients gear up for the 2011 Tour de France, they can count on a slightly lower euro thanks to Ireland. The media tends to exaggerate things (how many times can you use 'crisis') but the underlying financial rot will still be there nothwithstanding a bailout. The former celtic tiger isn't in much danger because the European Commission, a protective lioness, is ever ready to help out. But I predict this is simply the end of the beginning.

If you believe recent press reports, the International Monetary Fund and European Commission are now poised to bail out Ireland. Putting things in perspective, Ireland's population is roughly the same as greater Philadelphia (4.5 million). With a Gross Domestic Product (the value of all goods and services in a country) of approximately 221 billion euros (US$309 billion), its economy is roughly the same size as Massachusetts. Despite its size, Ireland's recent problems have resulted in wild fluctuations in share prices across the globe and a weaker euro. While good news for clients taking Spyns Tour de France tours, imagine what will happen when California or Italy have similar problems.

I haven't worked in finance for years but I can still count. And the numbers in this situation don't lie. International banks financed Ireland's real estate boom by lending money both abundantly and cheaply to Irish banks. These banks loaned recklessly to Irish companies and consumers. The collateral was property however property values are down sharply from the boom years. We've seen this shell game before on a much larger scale in the Greek bailout and Fed's quantitative easing. 

Bankruptcy is an admission one can no longer service or repay debts. This is a game changer. Lendors accept this reality and debts are either written down or written off. This is called a haircut in financial circles.The former bankrupt is deprived of credit, for a time, and forced to reign in spending. This was the standard blueprint for an IMF bailout. Most recently, the IMF bailed out Russia (1999: $20 billion) and Argentina (2002: $15 billion). Debts were reduced or written off, budgets slashed, and taxes raised. Unfortunately, the IMF didn't lead the bailout in Greece because the politicians re-wrote the bailout manual.

Greece will never repay its debts. Clocked at $140 billion and rising, the joint IMF-European Union bailout was like handing a brand new credit card to a shopaholic and, I daresay, dropping her off at the local mall. While everyone focuses on Ireland, just six months into the Greek bailout, the goverment in Athens has missed every deficit reduction target and actually revised up total debt. And yet they're still receiving IMF loans. Why? Blame it on France and Germany. 

French and German banks loaned billions to Greece. France and Germany run the European Union. The EU and IMF saved Greece and with it French and German banks. Let us turn to Ireland which is a little different. French and German banks are heavily exposed to Irish debt. Great Britain is also at risk through its banks. That changes things because the UK isn't part of the EU's monetary union and doesn't use the euro. They didn't have to help bail out Greece but they've got a lot more invested in Ireland. The EU technocrats aren't very pro-British. Not surprisingly, the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (a British version of Ben Bernake) volunteered to help Irish banks and even provided a figure of seven billion pounds (about US$11 billion). It's all just a shell game as governments shift private sector (bank) liabilities to the public purse via bank ownership. This will eventually unravel.

A haircut is inevitable. Irish loans were mainly for property and property development. That property is now worth 30-40% less and falling. Someone somewhere is going to have to get less than what they loaned. I have a few predictions. First, Irish bank's subordinated debtholders will take a haircut. Second, British, French and German banks will then disclose some loan reorganisation. But they'll try very very hard to say this isn't a haircut. I'd look to the Royal Bank of Scotland to issue a statement. RBS is heavily exposed in Ireland and its shares are down 10% since the onset of Ireland's crisis. And finally, interest rates everywhere will start to rise - first slowly, and then drastically.

I wrote this was merely the end of the beginning. Greece and Ireland are small players when it comes to world finance but their bankruptcies (and subsequent haircuts) would have pushed up borrowing costs for larger countries like France, Germany and the United States. These countries don't want to pay more to borrow nor do they want markets focusing on their deficits. Unfortunately, they no longer have the growth and with growth the financial means to repay their debts. The Greeks were lucky to be the first because the bailout was the biggest and least onerous. Ireland's bailout will come with stricter conditions, and so on with Portugal, Spain, and Italy. Meanwhile the core European economies will continue paying higher interest rates.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ or http://www.spyns.com/. Please also feel free to call us toll-free 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2011 Tour de France Tours: Armstrong Investigators in France

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The majority of Spyns former clients thought Lance Armstrong was nothing short of a cycling God. Few mentioned "Armstrong" and "doping" in the same sentence even though the French took every opportunity to bash the seven-time Tour winner. Things are now starting to get interesting. Federal investigators and antidoping officials from the United States, including the federal agent Jeff Novitzky, have intensified their investigation of Lance Armstrong and are in France to meet with antidoping officials and members of Interpol, according to a person briefed on the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The investigation of Lance Armstrong has focused on whether he used performance-enhancing drugs to defraud sponsors while he was a member of the United States Postal Service cycling team. United States officials have been scrutinizing Armstrong’s suspected links to doping for several months. Interpol is an international police organization that helps authorities from different countries work together on investigations. The presence of United States investigators in France was first reported Tuesday by The Associated Press, which cited unnamed sources.

Subjected to almost Stasi-like surveillance by anti-doping officials before the 2010 Tour de France, Armstrong has always denied doping allegations. Alberto Contador was recently implicated in a doping scandal that may cost him the yellow jersey for the 2010 Tour de France. Professional cycling has been plagued by a string of doping scandals and authorities are making efforts to clean up the sport. But they may be going too far.

 The investigation of Armstrong began earlier this year and has focused on whether he used performance-enhancing drugs to defraud sponsors while he was a member of the United States Postal Service cycling team. Since the summer, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles has been hearing evidence about Armstrong, a seven-time winner of the Tour de France.  Novitzky, a criminal investigator for the Food and Drug Administration, has been at the center of nearly every important federal investigation into doping. In 2002, he dug through the trash of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, uncovering needles and syringes used to administer steroids and human growth hormone to star athletes.

In recent weeks, the investigation of Armstrong has appeared to branch out internationally. Last week, authorities in Italy raided the Tuscany apartment of the Ukrainian cyclist Yaroslav Popovych, who rode with Armstrong’s 2005 Tour de France team and on Armstrong’s teams in 2009 and 2010. The raid came days after Popovych testified before the grand jury. Armstrong has denied doping, but French antidoping officials have long claimed to have evidence to the contrary.

Before retiring in September as the head of the French antidoping agency, Pierre Bordry said that the investigators from the United States were welcome to Armstrong’s urine samples from the 1999 Tour. Those samples had been retroactively tested for the banned blood-boosting drug EPO in 2005, and several of those samples tested positive, according to lab officials. A Dutch lawyer hired by the International Cycling Union later cleared Armstrong of the EPO doping allegation. “We don’t see any new facts here,” Mark Fabiani, a spokesman for Armstrong, said in a telephone interview. “In the case of the French lab result, all of this is old stuff.”

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call us toll-free 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2011 Tour de France Tours: Andy Schleck is a True Sportsman



Schleck tries to fix his chain as Contador passes.

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"If [Alberto] Contador is stripped of his victory in the Tour, I will not feel like I am the winner," Luxembouger Schleck was quoted as saying in French newspaper L'Equipe on Thursday.

"You win the Tour de France when you cross the finish line on the Champs-Elysees with the yellow jersey. There is no other way," he added.

Schleck finished the 2010 Tour de France in second place, 39 seconds behind Contador. Many former Spyns clients who saw Schleck drop his chain during a crucial climb in the Pyrenees, were disappointed Contador took advantage of the mechanical failure to attack. This cost Schleck his lead and, many say, a victory. The 27-year-old Contador, a three-times Tour champion, tested positive for the banned anabolic agent clenbuterol during the race. He has said traces of the substance were found in his system after he ate contaminated meat. The Spanish cycling federation (RFEC) is expected to make a decision within three months and Contador has been provisionally suspended by the International Cycling Union.

He faces a possible two-year ban and could lose his 2010 Tour title. Andy Schleck is favoured to win the 2011 Tour de France.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.

Spyns 2011 Tour de France: Paris Grandstand Seats

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"Do you sell Tour de France Paris Grandstand Seats?" This is one of the most common questions clients ask about our 2011 Tour de France trips. "Yes we do," is the answer and many of our trips include grandstand seating. But there is an interesting history to VIP access and Tour de France grandstand seats. But first, here are your options:

1. Rive Gauche

This means "left bank" in French. If you were walking up the Champs Elysees (going from the Place de la Concorde uphill towards the Arc de Triomphe), this Paris finish grandstand would be located on your left next to the metro stop at Place Clemenceau. Located just beyond the finish line, it provides an excellent view of the race course. Tour organizers also include a lunch and open bar. The advantage of "Rive Gauche" seats is they provide more intimate round tables and open access rather than stadium-like grandstand seats. The problem is this particular stand sells out almost every year. For more info about Paris grandstand seats during the Tour de France, please visit our website: http://www.tdf-tours.com/.

2. Grand Palais

The Grand Palace seats are also on the Champs Elysees's left bank. In fact, this section is adjacent to the Rive Gauche detailed above. Unlike the Rive Gauche Paris finish setup, however, these are stadium-like seats going from street level up approximately 10 rows. The Grand Palace has excellent views of race course but it's a bit difficult to see the finish line so you won't likely be able to see the podium. The Tour de France is held in July so you should bring a hat because it can get very hot. There is also a lot of jostling to get seats.

3. Tribune Elysee

If the Grand Palais is a bit like coach, the Tribune Elysee is business class. There are 3 separate "Tribune" sections in this Tour de France grandstand. Lovely TDF hostesses greet you at the stands, you have assigned seats, and drinks are offered throughout the race. When thinking about this VIP grandstand, Frank McCourt's description in Angela's Ashes of sitting in the upper level of the Limerick theatre comes to mind. As McCourt wrote, he could sit with "...a better class of people." That's the tribune Elysee. The flipside of this genteel experience is having to look presentable in the July heat and holding back from yelling, "Wooooooooo!" when your favorite rider blasts by.

4. Triomphe

This Paris finish grandstand is adjacent to the Grand Palais and offers the same type of stadium seating but you get cocktails and hors d'oeuvres before the peleton arrives. I like this particular Tour de France grandstand because it is right near the corner where the Place de la Concorde meets the Champs Elysees. Riders have to slow slightly to get around the corner giving you better photo ops. The people using this stand are often fun and unpretentious. For more info, please visit our website: http://www.tdf-tours.com/.

The Tour de France is owned and operated by the Amaury Sport Association or ASO. As Lance Armstrong grew in popularity from 2002-2005, the Tour started attracting American tourists and eventually North American travel companies. Unfortunately for the ASO, the Tour wasn't making anything from this new revenue stream. So they came up with a rather unique strategy - threats. Starting in 2005, a Paris law firm representing the ASO sent demand letters to all tour companies using the term "Tour de France" or any images of the same for commercial purposes.

Having scared the living bejesus out of the smaller mom-and-pop tour companies, the ASO then licensed a number of "official" tour companies. These were mostly small operators with some prior affiliation to the Tour de France or its sister events (like the Paris marathon for example). All of a sudden, having your picture taken on the podium before a finish (which anyone can do by the way) became VIP access and with it a hefty pricetag. Although we are not an "official" tour operator, we offer most of the things our sister companies often boast about like grandstand seats.

Spyns 2011 Tour de France clients can brave Alpe d'Huez on our various cycling tours. They'll also see the stage finish there on July 22, 2011. We specialize in Tour de France packages for both riders, non-riders, and mixed tours. Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns offers active holidays to Europe including trips to the 2011 Tour de France. For more information about Spyns 2011 Tour de France tours, please visit http://www.tdf-tours.com/ http://www.spyns.com/ or call 1.888.825.4720.