Life around Tour de France – Stage 8
Andorra
Andorra – Jewel in Pyrenees!!
According to legend, Charlemagne founded Andorra in the year 805, but the first documented proof of its existence is from the Act of consecration of the Cathedral of Santa Maria d’ Urgell in 839. Then in 1278 on the basis of sovereignty the Principality of Andorra was born and after many a changes in 1993 the Principality turned into an independent, democratic & social state with an established constitution. Today Andorra is divided into 7 parishes & has the highest life expectancy in the world!!
The tourism industry of the country highlights the 40 odd churches that are spread around the country. The main attractions include the St. Joan of Caselles church which has a history dating back to the 11th century. Our visit there was preceded by one to the Two Wheeler Museum where there are over a hundred bikes from over the 19th & 20th century, truly a must visit for any biking fan. The St.Joan’s church follows the architectural design of the Romanesque churches prevalent in all the Andorran churches built in the 11th & 12th century. It also has a Lombard style bell tower & a wooden ceiling both of which are unique.
A Pin museum – with over 106,000 pins from across the world on all kinds of occasions, a Postal museum with over 50,000 stamps and a Tobacco museum are the other sights which are a must and unique for this country. We also were able to visit the Palace of Ice – an indoor ice skating facility where they were holding training for budding ice skaters. The loops & spins along with double & triple axle jumps where a delight to watch and since we have a long way to finish the tour, yours truly did not try to experiment on the ice floor just in case it turned out that instead of skating on the floor I end up on the floor, which is definitely where I would have ended up!!
Andorra le Vieille, the main city in this country is where the Tour starts and after the first Category 1 climb at Pas de la Casa it moves into France to finish at St.Girons.
The race stage started of with a break by 9 riders from different teams and the surprise among them was Fabian Cancellera of Saxo Bank team. Having lost over 5 minutes to the leaders yesterday it was his attempt at trying to get back into the tour standings and it did succeed till half way as after 2 climbs he was with the lead riders. But soon after that with over 60kms still left he was picked up by the peleton & its curtains for him as far as the Yellow jersey is considered. Thor Hurshod & George Hincapie (Armstrong’s associate in US postal & Discovery teams) also made valiant attempts to join the lead group, but to no avail.
In the end the relentless rhythm of Team Astana with 4 riders in the top 10 prevailed and they brought home everyone in style, though the breakaway was successful today with 4 of them remaining out of the reach of the peleton till the end, one of those rare days on the tour when the break away succeeds.
For the record in Stage 8 – the Race course was 176 kms and Luiz Leon Sanchez of Spain with the Caisse D’epargne team won the race stage. The individual standings at the top remain the same. The Yellow Jersey remains with Rinaldo Nocentini of the AG2R team from France. Alberto Contador & Lance Armstrong maintain their 2nd & 3rd spots, just 6 & 8 seconds respectively from the top.
The Race tomorrow heads from deeper into the Pyrenees and will start at St. Gaudens and finish at Tabres, a distance of 160 kms. Traditionally, Tabres is a starting point for the race over the years and this is the first time riders will finish here. Today’s race will see 2 serious climbs with Col d’Aspin , a Category 1 being the first one & my favourite the 2115m high Col du Tourmalet , a Hors Category climb. Over the years, this climb has defined mountain climbing & in the tour has broken the will of many a rider. And its from here that we would be trying to catch the race for you….
Adeu!!…
Email : mrq@planningfactory.in
Pic. Courtesy : Priya Q