le grimpeur

The return of the Colombians1
Guy WR posted in Climbers, Classic Stages, Doping on August 29th, 2007

It was back in the 2002 Tour de France that a Colombian last set the race on fire in the mountains. Santiago Botero showed tremendous form that year and claimed a stage win at Les Deux-Alpes. An unconventional climber, in style and build, Botero used his time-trialling prowess (he won the first long ITT that year) to dominate the stage.

Botero also won a stage at Briançon in 2000 and placed second when the race finished there in 2005. It seemed fitting, therefore, that the next Colombian to claim a mountains stage in the Tour would do so in the town. (more…)

The anti-grimpeur0
Guy WR posted in Climbers on August 27th, 2007

New Zealand pro sprinter Julian Dean is the anti-grimpeur.

In this year’s Tour de France, for Dean and the other non-climbers, the stages through the Alps and the Pyrenees were all about finishing the stage without being eliminated by the time cut-off.

“For me it was back into survival mode where the focus is just about getting through and saving as much energy as possible for the coming days,” he wrote in his website diary.

And the Kiwi also has some delightful turns-of-phrase to describe his mountains experiences.

“To tell you the truth, I’m shitting my pants about it [stage 9 to Briancon] ’cause as always, if I’m dropped at the start, I’m screwed for the day.” (more…)