Asunto: Tour de France 2015

A summary of 2 fantastic days of the Tour de France in the Netherlands, with of course the usual ups and downs :)










The Grand Départ in Utrecht was a great success, Christian Prudhomme called it magnifique. Close to a million people have visited Utrecht in the past 2 days to watch the Tour de France in and around Utrecht. I hope this wasn't the last time to see the Tour live in Utrecht, and who knows, maybe even a second Grand Départ :)


(Cyclists under the Dom Tower link)

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And some unique footage from an on board camera :)





Great On Board footage to get an impression how the riders experienced the opening time trial of the Tour de France, as massive crowds were packed along the roads in Utrecht - by Velon CC

Stage 3, Antwerpen (Anvers) / Huy, 159.5 km






Mur de Huy


One of the corners of the Mur de Huy

Elevation: 204 m (669 ft)
Location: Wallonia, Belgium
Altitude: 121 m (397 ft)
Length: 1,300 m (4,300 ft)
Average gradient: 9.3 %
Maximum gradient: 26 %

Mur de Huy

The Mur de Huy (English: Wall of Huy) is a 128 metres (420 ft) high hill located in Huy, Belgium. It is also known as le Chemin des Chapelles (English: The Path of the Chapels) because of the seven chapels along its route. This climb is famous for being part of the route of La Flèche Wallonne professional cycling race. It will also serve as the finish for the third stage of the 2015 Tour de France.

La Flèche Wallonne

The Mur de Huy has been the site of the finishing line of the Flèche Wallonne since 1983 and of the La Flèche Wallonne Féminine since 1998. It is climbed three times for men's and two times for women's with the finishing line at the top of the last climb up the Mur. The climb has a length of 1,300 m (4,300 ft) with an average grade of 9.3% and some sections around 17% (up to 26% in one bend).[1] The Flèche Wallonne is often decided on its slopes.


Live stage overview: sporza.be

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Thanks :)

Damn, Tom Dumoulin is out! :S I really hope it's not going to be such a Tour again ...

as long topfavorites aren't going out like last year , it's ok !
But it's always a pity when somebody leaves due a crash !

Of course it's no fun if too many favorites are out, but this is far from okay :S Because of what happened yesterday and today the top 10 will absolutely be different.

EDIT: the white jersey is out, and the yellow jersey can't keep up, both because of this crash. How sad for the first week of the Tour.



Tour de France 2015 Crash: FULL VIDEO

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Purito win!! ^^

This was absolutely 1 of the stages Rodriguez had marked in his agenda the moment he knew this finish and he did it. No surprise he won this stage ;) And apparently his knee wasn't injured that badly :P

First day an individual time trail (very hot, 33 degrees), second day open terrain with lots of wind and rain, today a wall and tomorrow cobblestones ... the only thing missing in day 5 is a mountain stage :/
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very hot, 33 degrees

you make me smile

I don't think you understand what I mean with 33 degrees in the sun, a humid heat (sea climate) and no wind in a city of the Netherlands, when it's the third day in a row 30+ degrees.

And specially not for Dutch spectators, as a week ago it was cold, 13 degrees in the evening and three weeks ago (16 June) freezing at night, -4 degrees!

But you know how it is over here ....

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ordinary summer day

A welcome change to the usual boring first week stages :)

I have had hot summers in Italy and Spain, but this swampy heat is something else. And also very difficult to get used to when 3 weeks ago is was still freezing at night. So I'm not going to have another useless discussion with you while you don't know what I'm talking about.

EDIT: And the big difference with your 30+ degrees is this: humidity 13% in Bucharest, 60% in Utrecht!

It’s a Dry Heat: Difference in Humid and Dry Heat
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It is indeed different and not boring at all :) Maybe something to remember for the Tour organization when planning the stages. Clearly it doesn't have to be a boring flat stage that will definitely end with a sprint.