Watching a time-trial up close and personal makes for a long day. I have the swollen, elephant foot and sunburn/tan to prove it. But, it was so worth it.
We arrived at our viewing location for
Saturday (07/24), Chateau Palmer, in a small village just before Margaux shortly before 10am. We had VIP treatment all day with a tent set up nearby providing catering throughout the day. The last of the caravan was going through as we arrived, then we were surprised by a few riders coming through to preview the course. Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck were among them, with Andy heavily drafting off his team car for this warm-up. I was pleased to be able to get a personal message written in Livestrong yellow chalk on the street in between the cars and riders, although I got warned by a policewoman in French to be careful because it was dangerous.
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| Chateau Palmer |
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| Custom Getaways private viewing location with catering |
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| Message for Lance (too bad the chalk didn't survive until he came through many hours later) |
Then, the fun began. The first rider departed at 10:25am. The time-trial course was 52k and we were located around the 30k point of the course. So, we started seeing riders coming through in regular intervals around 11:00am. One after another they sped right by us, just feet and sometimes inches away! We frequently consulted the GC standings to know whom to expect next. We were positioned on a straightaway following a turn so we got our warning that another rider was coming when the police at the corner whistled. The riders were preceded by a motorcycle cop and followed by a team car with a spare bike in case of a mechanical problem. With the final rider departing at 4:00pm, we spent all day literally standing, cheering, and snapping pictures as each rider whizzed by. What an amazing experience to watch Lance and the others time-trial right in front of us!
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| Lance with cameraman in tow |
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| Lance |
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| Big George |
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| Hesjedal and the Canadians |
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| Wiggins |
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| Cancellara |
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| Petacchi in maillot vert |
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| Andy! |
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| Contador |
After Contador passed our viewing area, we quickly huddled around the large-screen TVs to watch him and Schleck finish the course, as this was for all the marbles. Again, the pro-Andy sentiment is quite strong among the fans that we’ve been around, so there was a lot of disappointment with the outcome.
We then made our way back to Libourne, through the traffic jam with the throngs of other folks leaving the area as well. A few of the team cars though were led through the traffic by multiple motorcycle police as were we all trying to make our way back to the highway. I guess the TdF is a pretty big deal here, huh? :)
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