Life around Tour de France – Stage 12
Sports Travel / Tourism
This is a guest post by Mr.Q, a professional quizmaster and an ardent Tour de France follower
Vittel – the city which is a brand!!
The 12th Stage of the Tour de France started off in Tonnere & ended at Vittel a distance of 211 kms, with the course running through the towns of Rugny, Channes, Juzennecourt, Chaumont & Malaincourt.
Tonnere, is a town in the Burgundy belt of France and yes, as most of you would have known it is one of the most famous wine producing areas. Though with a small difference as in the early half of the 20th century, the wines made here became popular, but in the 70’s phylloxera, a grape attacking pest, took its toll and most of the wine farms in the region had to close. Now for over 30 years the farmers have replanted but not enough to sell on a big scale, so there are many a places where excellent wine is available for good price.
The local population of around 7,500 people are very much involved in this Tour and the town supports the fans by offering many a service, including local transport totally free for the whole day. This is the first time the tour is stopping by at Tonnere.
And coming to the destination city of today – it’s a brand of mineral water known across the globe today – Vittel. The romans in the 10th & 11th century were one of the first ones to discover the place & the thermal spas, which they frequented for curing all their ailments!! Today the Mineral water & the Spas give Vittel a distinct identity. The city has many a tourist attractions but the Art deco hotels & the architecture of the old buildings are a treat to the eyes. The city also gets a fair share of tourists who want to try their hand on gambling for it has a casino & a race course too, neither of which yours truly is planning to tempt in this visit!!
The race started of at a steady pace and it was only after 150 kms that a serious break away with 6 riders later joined by Sorenson of Saxo Bank team broke from the peleton.
Armstrong was caught out by a tyre puncture some 55 km away from the finish, but had 4 of his team mates who waited for him to get it changed and then pedaled him back to the peleton for a safe finish. Right from the days of 2002-03 when he was the undisputed leader of the tour, Armstrong has always maintained that its such incidents that can change a course of the tour, if you are caught unguarded. A fall, a puncture, a mass crash…etc. and this time around he was lucky!!
The breakaway of 7 riders was broken when Nicki Sorenson of Norway raced away with just 23 kms remaining with Sylvain Calzati of France keeping pace with him. Another burst of speed with 4 kms remaining left him all alone at the front to win the race with ease, his first stage win in the Tour in 10 years of professional riding.
For the record in Stage 11 – the winner was Nicki Sorenson of the Saxo Bank team. 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 is from Vittel to Colmar a distance of 200 kms and there are couple of steep climbs but nothing much to challenge the leader board. But me thinks there might be a Thor Hurshod attack for the Green Jersey. So it might be an interesting race stage after all and we wait for the tour to arrive in Colmar, the city which in some ways gave us the Statue of Liberty!!
Au revoir!!…
Email : mrq@planningfactory.in