Time Trial was AWESOME!

This is Lake Annecy and today was the time trial here!  It was such a great day! We got passes to go into the team zones and were hanging inside the gates with the teams while they warmed up, etc. It was really cool to see everything behind the scenes and just seeing all the riders up close and personal. We were mostly with the Cervelo team, as my dad was chatting with the founder of the company, Gerard Vroomen. I ended up meeting Cervelo rider Thor Hushvod, the winner of the tour’s Green Jersey (which is for sprinting). Pretty good!

Allez Sax0 Bank!

Just a few bikes!

Thor

We watched a few of the departs also, which was really cool! They wait up on the ramp and then take off… and they’re gone so fast! Everyone was 3 minutes apart so it was a long day… with departs stretching from about 11 to 4 30. All the main guys; Lance, Contador, Shlecks, etc. left at the very end.

Cavendish about to take off

Grahamer in the action..

The team warm-ups were sweet. Their muscles are actually incredible and just standing 5 feet away from them while they’re warming up, you can actually see for yourself. Personally, I like the Shleck brothers, so I was in the Saxo Bank area. The cyclists are like rockstars here. Its crazy… crowds are gathered around the gates and cheering when they come out of the buses. Its huge! The tour is a world of its own. There was always a massive crowd near Astana, but I knew when Lance arrived because of the screams you could hear and flashes you could see across the field. Everyone wants a piece of Lance.. the whole time I was watching people were yelling at him ” Wave Lance!.. Smile Lance!” It must be hard sometimes for him… no wonder he has that Ipod on.

The Schlecks warming up

Lance and Contador.. and thats Matthew Mcconaughey standing beside Lance too.

We watched everyone depart and then went to watch the race on the Jumbotron. The whole town was so busy and it was hard to get around when we weren’t in the athlete dens. It was such a cool day because we could go back there with the teams, and see how they operate and just watch. I’m loving the tour! Super stoked!

LANCE!

ANDY SCHLECK!

CONTADOR!