Category: Grand Tours

Hello, Everyone:

9 stages of the Tour de France completed and over 700 miles ridden so far, and today is a rest day. There are usually about three rest days during the three weeks the peloton is out on the roads of France. “Rest day,” by the way, is a bit of a misnomer. While the riders aren’t racing, they still do a training ride to keep their legs fresh.

So far, it’s been a tour with a lot of shake-ups, crashes, and a change in GC leaders after the race left the Pyrenees with Pogačar the clear leader with an almost three minute lead over Jonas Vingegaard. But this is only the first week of the Tour with lots of racing to come.

Torstein Træen, UNO X Mobility Team, was first in the GC for a few days. On his last day in the jersey, he tragically crashed when he hit the back wheel of a rider in front of him. He subsequently broke his collarbone and had to abandon the race. Meanwhile, the riders have been dealing with excessive heat, including a stage before the rest day that was shortened due to a wildfire.

Meanwhile, here in America, we are experiencing a heatwave of our own but nothing like in Europe. A lot of people don’t even use air conditioning, that’s strictly an American thing. Hopefully, after exercising hard for hours on end in excessive heat, the riders will get some cooling relief in their hotels. But France, I’ve heard, is one of those European countries that still refuse to use the modern convenience.

I hope you all have a brilliant week ahead. Are you getting in some miles of your own on your bike, or are you staying inside and keeping cool as you watch the tour?