Tour de France 2008 - Stage 1

And Le Tour has finally begun! I for one was ready for it a few days ago after reading way too much on just about anything that could be chatted about regarding it, I was ready to get the riders on the road. This year I not only have Christian I'll be following closely but Will is also racing his first ever Tour. I couldn't be more excited for them and the team. It is such a pleasure to see C having grown into a leader roll. I think CSC might've been the best home for him to develop as a rider and aid in getting to this point and to see him doing so well this year just rocks! And right now, I'm not sure he's ever looked better. Always wishing him the very best. :-)

Today's stage was great to watch on TV. After months and months of watching races in a small window on my computer screen, sitting back and watching it on a 42" flat screen was sweet. Now if we could just do something about all the dang commercials. I know it's sponsorship and all but can we maybe group more together and have less breaks. It felt like very few minutes we were off to more. And my other ill fated thought was that the morning live show would be more racing and less profiles and side bonuses. I love that stuff but prefer to see it during the primetime show later. As of this first stage, I don't know there was any difference from the live to the primetime.

But enough of that silly stuff - the Tour is ON!!! Valverde won today's stage and looked to do it with ease. Pretty impressive watching the aerial shot of him coming up and over Kirchen for the win. The first couple stages are known for nerves and today we had a few crashes and lost one rider already with a broken wrist. Then later, another crash took down Soler and he could possibly be out but we should know more in the morning. I almost put him on my VDS team but by the end decided no. If he can get through a couple days, maybe he might be okay.

There were some good shots of Pate and Will today on tv. They're on my Bottle Runners team and I hope they get a chance to go for a break, amongst many other things. It may seem like a poop job to have to go run errands but it is so important. Where would all those leaders me with out such great teammates. The racing was quick and the finish was exciting. So fun!


ESPN.com_BonnieFord: Two For The Road (Danny Pate and Will Frischkorn)
CN: Stuart O'Grady's Tour Diary - Getting ready
JulianDean: Final Countdown...
ESPN: I'm back! Here's a look at one wide-open Tour (By Bobby Julich)

BikeRadar: Millar hopes for Tour de France glory
CN: Tactical advantage for battle-ready Garmin-Chipotle at the Tour de France
RockyMountainNews: Garmin-Chipotle has framework to make impact at Tour de France
BikeRadar: Bjarne Riis reinstated as Tour winner
Spinnin'Wheel: Tour de France 2008: Building a Rainbow

Garmin Chipotle - H30
191 Christian Vande Velde (USA)
192 Magnus Backstedt (Swe)
193 Julian Dean (NZl)
194 William Frischkorn (USA)
195 Ryder Hesjedal (Can)
196 Trent Lowe (Aus)
198 David Millar (GBr)
199 Danny Pate (USA)

Live Chatter: CN - VN - DP - PdC1 - PdC2 - PdC Post Race

Stage 1 - Saturday, July 5: Brest - Plumelec, 197.5km
Results
1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 4.36.07 (42.91 km/h)
7 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.01
11 David Millar (GBr) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
14 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 0.07
15 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
16 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
17 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
18 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
28 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Columbia
29 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia
36 Trent Lowe (Aus) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
44 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
45 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
82 Julian Dean (NZl) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 0.52
91 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 1.01
93 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC - Saxo Bank
99 Danny Pate (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 1.12
127 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.00
136 Adam Hansen (Aus) Team Columbia
161 William Frischkorn (USA) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30
178 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Team Garmin-Chipotle p/b H30 4.56

Garmin: Le Tour stage 1: Millar 11th with just 1" gap
CSC: Frank Schleck in Seventh Place
PEZ_Jered: TdF'08 St.1: Comin' Out Guns A'Blazin
Gazette-Mail: City native riding in Tour (Write up on Will)
Spinnin'Wheel: Tour de France 2008 Stage 1: Isn't It A Piti

VN: FreshKorn - Ain't Nothing like the Real Thing
CN: Stuart O'Grady's Tour Diary - A chaotic start to the Tour
RyderHesjedal: One Down...
CW: Millar happy after gaining precious seconds in Plumelec

GrahamWatsonPhotos: Stage 1
TeamCSCSaxoBank: Tour de France
TeamGarminPhotos: Tour de France

VeloNews TV:
Tour de France 2008 Stage 1 race highlight
Stage 1: Post race with Garmin-Chipotle's Danny Pate.
Stage 1: Pre-race predictions for stage 1 & final podium in Paris.
Stage 1: VN TV RD w/ Team Columbia's George Hincapie.
Stage 1: VN TV RD w/ Garmin Chipotle's Magnus Backstedt.

Jens Voigt talks about the state of drug testing in cycling.
CSC-Saxo Bank press conference w/ Fabian Cancellara.
CSC-Saxo Bank press conference w/ Andy Schleck.
CSC-Saxo Bank press conference w/ Jens Voigt.
CSC-Saxo Bank press conference w/ Stuart O'Grady.
Team Columbia press conference w/ George Hincapie.
In Girona w/Team Columbia's Michael Barry: Olympic hopes & Tour selection disappointment.
In Girona w/ Garmin-Chipotle's Ryder Hesjedal: First Canadian at the Tour in ten years.

Versus:
Christian Vandevelde Post-Stage 1 Interview
George Hincapie Post-Stage 1 Interview
Christian Pre-Stage 1 Interview
The Birth of Slipstream
George Hincapie Pre-Stage 1 Interview
Jonathan Vaughters Pre-Stage 1 Interview ?
Doug Ellis Pre-Stage 1 Interview
Garmin-Chipotle Profile
Team Columbia Profile

CV TV (formerly TBR):
Christian likes his team and his form for the 2008 Tour!
Columbia's Bernard Eisel and Adam Hansen after stage 1.
Christian Discusses Stage 1 of the Tour.