'Free Baby' Stage Race

Just a quick post here to get some pictures up I took at the final stage of the Daupine Libere stage race 1.5 weeks back. I rode out to Sallanches with Steve (friend from here) and Elizabeth (friend of a friend from Berkeley). The course is part of the epic 1980 worlds course that Bernard Hinault won on, where there were only something like 18 finishers.

Check out the cyclingnews report for what happenened in detail (... and honestly some much better pictures ...), but this day was equally epic. Hincapie and Popovych got away on the approach to the final loops, but then just laid it down in a gallery of on road explosions. The group behind chased and chased, but these two hard pipe hitters, just put time into the best guys in the world. We rode half up the climb and then got a good spot overlooking the first major switch back.


The first time through with Popovych on the front.

The chase 1st time onto the circuits. Leipenheimer, Beltran, Menkov, etc.

A straggler, Mt. Blanc, and our neighbor on the hill ... in that order.

Elizabeth and Steve happy to be off in France for the day watching the race.

Popvych leading Hincapie on the climb.

From left to right...Landis, Beltran, Botero, Vinokourov, Leipenheimer.

Looking down the Chamonix valley at Popovych leading Hincapie with 1 lap to go.

Pretty good day. Any day in the Alps in France is a good one though. Perhaps I will catch a little of the Tour, but it doesn't come so close to me.

Other than the above, I've been busy recently. My brother Nick arrived over the weekend. Just got back from 2 days in Stuttgart. And a did a little local (kinda) bike race. More on these soon.