After yesterday’s excitement at the finish line and seeing so many cyclists afterwards, I knew it would be tough for today to top it. The plan was to catch the start of stage 2 as it left Bastia and headed through Corsica’s categorized mountains for Ajaccio. As usual, I was up and out the door, looking for the perfect spot before half of Bastia had even woken up.
I found where the riders would come to sign in before the stage start and I glued myself to the bench. That was probably a bit unnecessary as I was literally the only spectator there, but when it comes to the Tour, I don’t take chances!
The next fans to arrive were a mother-daughter duo from Belgium and they proved to be great company. We swapped stories about our favorite riders as we set up our respective national flags on the barricades.
Since this was a sign in as opposed to a team presentation, riders cycled up to the podium as they were ready, which meant we had to be on our toes because we never knew who would show up next. I did a great job at first of writing down which cyclists I’d taken photos of, but that inevitably fell apart as the cyclists started to arrive in bunches.
French national champion, Artur Vichot of FDJ.
King of the mountains, Juan José Lobato (Spain, Euskaltel).
The rider with the biggest smile, as always, was Jens Voigt (Germany, RadioShack Leopard Trek). I started screaming, “JEEEEEEENS!” the moment I saw him on his bike and he gave me a big smile and wave, which delighted me.
Sports are big in Canada but the most popular ones tend to involve ice, so I went out of my way to cheer for the 3 Canadians in this year’s Tour. David Veilleux (Europcar) was the first Canadian to sign in and he was clearly pretty thrilled to have a fan. When he got back on his bike, he rode straight to me and signed my copy of yesterday’s L’Equipe!
Remember that Katusha water bottle I got yesterday after the stage? Alexander Kristoff (Norway, Katusha), wearer of the green jersey, signed it!
Marcel Kittel in yellow and his Argos Shimano teammates.
I wasn’t kidding when I said the Belgians next to me were good company. They’re just as passionate about the sport as I am and had the props to prove it. Today is Marcus Burghardt’s (Germany, BMC) birthday so she had made a birthday banner for him (in fact, it was from a previous year!) and had a gift for him: a Belgian chocolate bar wrapped in red polka dots that said “Happy birthday to youuuuuuuu!” She’s been to enough of Marcus’s races that they know each other so he rode over to us with a big grin on his face and happily accepted his present!
I lucked out with a fantastic two-for-one with Orica Green Edge. Svein Tuft (Canada) signed in right after Stuart O’Grady (Australia), so when I cheered for both of them, they rode over to me and signed my newspaper! While Stuey borrowed my marker to sign a few other autographs, Svein and I chatted about where in Canada we’re from before he signed my paper.
Lots of people cheered when Andy Schleck (Luxembourg, RadioShack Leopard Trek) singed in, but I was cheering for Andrew Talansky (USA, Garmin). Yup, in this picture he’s smiling and waving at me because I tend to be not so subtle when it comes to supporting my favorite cyclists. He signed my newspaper, too! Love those Garmin boys!
In fact, I don’t know if I’ve ever taken so few photos of Garmin riders as today, but that’s only because I was too busy getting signatures from Dan Martin (Ireland) and David Millar (UK)! And I’m thrilled to report that I was more loquacious than I’ve been with cyclists in the past! I congratulated Millar on his great finish yesterday and had a good, quick chat with both Millar and Martin. When Ryder Hesjedal signed in, he couldn’t help but notice me (or my shouting, rather) and my Canadian flag so he came over and I finally got a picture with him! Not to mention, a perfect trifecta of meeting the Canadians in the 2013 Tour!
In all, I got autographs from Andrew Talansky, Dan Martin, Stuart O’Grady, Jurgen Van Den Broeck, Michael Schär, Jacob Fuglsang, Svein Tuft, David Millar, Alexander Kristoff, and David Veilleux. Wow!
At the risk of sounding like an infomercial: but wait, there’s more! Jens Voigt had returned to his team bus after signing in, so he had to pass by the spectators again to get to the start. You won’t be surprised to hear I was jumping up and down and waving my arms and calling his name as loud as I could and you also won’t be surprised to hear Jens rode over to me and signed my newspaper! He signed a couple of autographs but kept talking to me. I brought up the ride to benefit the Epilepsy Society back in April in England and he immediately remembered me as the rider in the rented bike and running shoes! I couldn’t believe he remembered me! I said I’d see him again in Paris where he’d get to meet my brother who is an even bigger Jens fan and Jens said he’s looking forward to it!
So, yeah, it was an overwhelmingly great day.
Stage results
1. Jan Bakelants (Belgium, RadioShack Leopard Trek) 3:43:11
2. Peter Sagan (Slovakia, Cannondale) +0:00:01
3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland, Omega Pharma-Quick Step) +0:00:01
Overall results
1. Jan Bakelants (Belgium, RadioShack Leopard Trek) 8:40:03
2. David Millar (UK, Garmin) +0:00:01
3. Julien Simon (France, Sojasun) +0:00:01
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