Tour de France Bike Tour Packages: Too Many Professional Races to Choose From

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"Should I stay or should I go now..."
Too many races to choose from in 2011.

I was just looking at the Tour de France website and am thrilled a stage of June's Critérium du Dauphiné will finish in Macon. My wife is from there so it's a good excuse to visit with her family, eat some of my mother-in-law's delectable gratin, and size up the 2011 Tour de France contendors. The question is: with such a crowded race schedule, who will show up?

As we gear up for our 2011 Tour de France tours, I wonder if the field of professional races has become too crowded and, maybe, a bit too greedy. Case in point: riders have to choose between the Giro or Tour de California; in June Tour de France contenders must choose between June’s Critérium du Dauphiné in France and the Tour of Switzerland (Tour de Suisse) to hone their form July. This year, the choice is going to be a difficult one. One of the principal Tour candidates, Dutch climber Robert Gesink of Rabobank, said earlier this year when he saw the ultra-mountainous nature of the Swiss race, with its three challenging mountaintop stage finishes (plus one other stiff mountain stage) and two time trials, that it was too tough to race just two weeks before the Tour. So he marked down the Dauphiné on his 2011 season schedule. I'm sure Cadel Evans with his new "taking it easy" training style will also choose the Dauphiné.


So what does Gesink do now? The just-announced route for the 63rd Dauphiné has all four of its mountain stages finishing on summits, along with one hilltop finish, just one sprinters’ stage and two time trials. Looks even tougher than Switzerland! But Gesink, like many other Tour contenders, will be intrigued that the stage 3 time trial is identical to the only individual TT in this year’s Tour: a hilly 42.5km circuit at Grenoble (see profile). Although the stage in July will come at the end of three weeks of racing on the eve of the Paris finish, when riders are tired and those still with some zip in their legs will come out on top, just riding at race speeds on the course a month earlier will be of great benefit. But will they be too tired?

It’s not an easy TT course. Besides its solid distance and more than 1,600 feet (500 meters) of climbing, the circuit features a variety of roads (both wide and narrow) and some tricky descents. It’s a course on which Gesink could actually do well at the Tour, possibly better than rivals Andy and Fränk Schleck (who have again chosen the Tour de Suisse as their last pre-Tour stage race). The Grenoble TT comes early on, following a brief prologue TT at Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, a valley town in the French Alps; a first mountain stage with a Cat. 2 finishing climb up a spectacular canyon road to Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse; and the flattish stage 2 to Lyon that features the steep uphill finish. The only sprint stage, to my wife's home town of Mâcon (in Burgundy), follows the TT; and then comes a decidedly rugged finale of three alpine stage with mountaintop finishes at Les Gets, Collet d’Allevard and La Toussuire.

Lance Armstrong was often criticised for his all-out focus on winning the Tour de France. I can't see how the Critérium du Dauphiné's winner will have enough energy to win the 2011 Tour de France. I'd look for a lot of riders holding back while doing reconnaissance for the coveted yellow jersey.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in 2011 Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. We specialize in providing clients with Tour de France bike and non-biking packages with Paris grandstand seats and VIP access. 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 go to http://www.tdf-tours.com/ or http://www.spyns.com/. You can also call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.

Tour de France Bike Tours: Me Eating Crow About Cadel Evans...

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Cadel Evans looked very strong
in Italy recently. Now let's hope
he doesn't crash (again).

With just a few months to go before the 2011 Tour de France (can't wait) and Spyns Tour de France trips (shameless promo), you might have heard a strange sound lately. That was the sound of me eating humble pie over Cadel Evans. Followers of the Spyns 2011 Tour de France (shameless plug) blog know that I've often dismissed the accident-prone Aussie. But given his recent and decisive stage win in Italy, he may be a contender for this year's yellow jersey.

Evans won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race following Tuesday's final stage, a 9.3 km time-trial around San Benedetto del Tronto, won by Swiss Fabian Cancellara. Having taken the overall race lead on Sunday and consolidated it with victory on Monday, Evans was in a strong position coming into the final time-trial. However the BMC team leader, a former two-time runner-up in the Tour de France, took plenty of risks early on, coming close to potential disaster on several tight bends. Cadel tends to ride a bit recklessly as Spyns former clients clients may recall, so he tends to fall and break things...a lot.


In the end the Aussie, who only kicked his season off two weeks ago, did enough to finish 11secs ahead of Dutchman Robert Gesink of Rabobank, who leapfrogged Italian Michele Scarponi into second place. Despite the comparatively short distance, no one could touch world and Olympic time-trial champion Cancellara, whose time of 10min 33sec left the rest trailing in the Leopard-Trek rider's wake - that's Andy Schleck's team for those who didn't know he's no longer with Saxobank.


Dutchman Lars Boom, also of Rabobank, took second on the stage, nine seconds back, with Italy's Adriano Malori third at 18 seconds. Australia's 2009 world road race champion Cadel Evans won the Tirreno-Adriatico stage race following Tuesday's final stage, a 9.3km time-trial around San Benedetto del Tronto, won by Swiss Fabian Cancellara. Having taken the overall race lead on Sunday and consolidated it with victory on Monday, Evans was in a strong position coming into the final time-trial.


In the end the Australian, who only kicked his season off two weeks ago, did enough to finish 11secs ahead of Dutchman Robert Gesink of Rabobank, who leapfrogged Italian Michele Scarponi into second place. "First stage race of the year is done and a good start to 2011 if I say so myself," said the 34-year-old on his website. Evans, who also finished third in the 2009 Tour of Spain, conceded that the stage had been set for specialist Cancellara but he had been concerned that overall victory might slip away because of rustiness.

I criticized Cadel for taking so much time off when others were sweating away at training camps or racing. Evans isn't the youngest rider but the hiatus from competition and intensive training appear to have worked. He looked very solid on his bike despite the traditional Cadel near misses. "I was okay, it took me 2-3km to get into my rhythm, having eight months since my last 'crono', not surprising, but a bit of a worry when you only have 6km to make for lost time. "My time trial legs eventually got into gear, enough to hold onto my general classification position, and happily get the trophy." Evans' next target is the Tour of Catalonia - which runs from March 21-27 - and admitted that the tougher climbs would test him. "A different style of race there, on longer climbs against a field of climbers," said Evans. "We'll see ...I am not quite there yet on the really long passes like we will face in Andorra, but I won't be bad...."

We'll see how he performs in the 2011 Tour de France.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in 2011 Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. We specialize in providing clients with Tour de France bike and non-biking packages with Paris grandstand seats and VIP access. 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 go to 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 Trip Packages: While Contador Fights on Armstrong Eats Steak

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"Where's the beef?"

Spanish cyclist Alberto Contador has today vowed to fight any attempts to reimpose doping sanctions against him following a positive test during last year's Tour de France. Both the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency still have the right to challenge a decision taken by the Spanish Cycling Federation not to issue Contador with a one-year ban from all competitions. The outcome could change final standings for the 2011 Tour de France. Without Contador, Andy Schleck was favored to win as he came a close second in the 2010 race.  

Steak may be off the menu now for Alberto Contador, but another multiple Tour de France champion, the recently retired Lance Armstrong, has put a date in his diary to tuck into a nice, juicy T-bone., The 39-year-old, who last month announced that he had permanently retired from competitive cycling, is to be the guest of honour in April at the Steak & Steak Dinner fundraiser for Boys & Girls Clubs of Springfield. Armstrong is clearly in his permanent off season. The cancer survivor and seven time Tour de France winner has given his backing to a proposed new tax on sales of tobacco in California that would add one dollar to the price of a packet of cigarettes in that state, with the proceeds being used to fund research into cancer and other conditions caused by tobacco.

The legislation, which it is believed would raise more than $500 million a year, could be put to a public vote in either June this year or February 2012, and is supported by organisations including the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association.

Spyns is an active travel company based in Whister, BC (Canada) and Beaujolais France. Spyns specializes in 2011 Tour de France packages for both riders and non-riders. We specialize in providing clients with Tour de France bike and non-biking packages with Paris grandstand seats and VIP access. 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 go to http://www.tdf-tours.com/ or http://www.spyns.com/. You can also call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720.