Sneaky Ville-la-Grande! You thought you could trick me by not posting the names on any of your streets and that I would get lost and give up on watching the sign on for stage 7 of the Dauphiné. But you underestimated me and the fact that I tend to over prepare (it’s the teacher in me). I had pretty much memorized the town map the night before. Plus, these neon arrows are useful.
Lack of street signs aside, Ville-la-Grande is a cute French town near the Swiss border. I arrived to find the set up crews busily preparing the podium, start line, banners, wiping down surfaces and attending to a host of other details not to be overlooked.
I was feeling pretty optimistic with the overall arrangement of the sign on podium and the likelihood of being able to interact with the riders.
When you are the only spectator around and you’re standing in the same spot for a couple of hours, you tend to strike up conversations with the various crews. It’s a nice way to pass the time and it’s a good way to practice my French. I’d met 2 people who were especially easy to talk to (by which I mean, one was very patient with my French and the other spoke Spanish) and they both turned out to be unexpectedly generous. My French speaking friend gave me the road book for the race (it’s like a program which details all of the important information for each stage as well as practical details like the nearest gas station to each stage finish) while my Spanish speaking friend got me a VIP bracelet. I was floored by each of these gifts!
The view of the sign on truck and fan area from the roof of the VIP zone.
Did you notice the photo of the man washing the side of the truck amidst the set up photos? That spot was just a few paces from where every starting rider would have to climbs the steps to sign on. It’s where I parked myself!
Cofidis showed up en masse and I got my first autograph from Estonian national champion Rein Taaramäe (pictured far left). He asked where I wanted him to sign and I replied, “Anywhere!” He found a good piece of real estate on the cover of the road book and proceeded to sign his name slowly and with a sense of deliberation I’ve never seen before. (And of course, it just looks like 2 unclosed ovals to me!)
The Astana bus on its way to the team parking lot.
There’s an inevitable long pause between riders and teams at the start of a sign on, so that’s when the emcees need to entertain the crowd. I’d never seen the 2 emcees at the Dauphine before but they were great!
As more riders started to turn up, I got a huge kick from checking out their bikes. I’m not a gear geek, mostly because I don’t know enough about the gear, but you didn’t need to be an expert to realize that these were incredible bikes. Below: Danny Pate’s bike.
When Alex Howes and Andrew Talansky rolled up together, I promised them I’d keep an eye on their bikes for them. You can be sure that no harm came to them under my watch!
Oh, and Howes approved of my sock choice.
With several climbs, including 2 HC mountains at the end of the stage, lots of riders had maps or handwritten notes to keep on top of the topography.
I was sure to stand out of the way and only to talk with riders who were more or less within arms reach. Even with that criteria, I got to chat with plenty of riders! I spoke with most of Garmin and a few other riders who’ve seen me around at the races like Maciej Bodnar, Kévin Réza, and Simon Gerrans.
I love Colombia (both the country and the cycling team), so it was great to talk with Darwin Atapuma in particular. The Colombian Spanish accent remains my favorite!
I’ve come to be a big fan of Giant and several of my favorites were here. I bumped into Thierry Hupond and Johannes Fröhlinger a lot at Tour Down Under so they always get a kick out of seeing me pop up at random races in Europe (I get a kick out of watching them race!).
Lieuwe Westra parked his bike right next to me even though there was plenty of space elsewhere, so we talked about his narrow loss yesterday to Jan Bakelants. He shrugged his shoulders and laughed, “That’s racing!”
Not too long after, Bakelants appeared. While he moved up considerably in the GC after yesterday’s breakaway win, it wasn’t enough to crack the top 10 but it did land him second in the points competition to Chris Froome. Since Froome was wearing the yellow jersey, Bakelants was borrowing the green jersey. We shared a laugh about how my presence is good luck for him and talked about upcoming races. When he asked me if I was going to follow the Tour de Suisse, I told him I would love to but I couldn’t afford to travel in Switzerland for a week, to which he responded, “I know! It’s just crazy how expensive it is!”
Froome showed up and parked his bike just as Bakelants was about to head back to his bus. I watched as Bakelants paused for a moment and gave Froome’s bike a once over. He hesitated and then picked up Froome’s bike to test its weight. He then picked up his own bike for comparison. Bakelants clearly made a face, but I couldn’t tell what the face meant. Still, it was pretty interesting to watch a Tour de France yellow jersey wearer investigate the bike of a Tour de France yellow jersey winner.
Since so many riders wait until there’s only 15 or 20 minutes left to sign on, there’s often a big traffic jam of riders and bikes traveling in different directions, in addition to staff, VIPs, and journalists wandering around. It was at one such moment when your favorite Welshman and mine, Geraint Thomas, rode up and couldn’t find anywhere to lean his bike so I stepped in and volunteered to hold his bike for him! I don’t mind saying I was pretty damned pleased with myself! He thanked me after he’d completed his sign on duties and I seized the opportunity to tell him something I’d been hoping to say to him for quite some time–that I was really excited to see him working closely with my favorite brand of yogurt! We excitedly talked dairy for a minute or two–what else would you talk about with a man who has won multiple track gold medals in the Olympics and is a 3 time team pursuit world champion? As for the yogurt, The Collective makes fantastic yogurt in incredible flavors. I make sure to have it whenever I’m in the UK and I lived off of it when I backpacked in New Zealand. I’d recently spotted his new crème brûlée flavor (and immediately snapped a photo of it) so I’m looking forward to trying it before the Tour de France kicks off in Leeds next month.
Ryder Hesjedal was one of the last to sign on. It’s such a thrill when my favorite riders know me and stop to say hi! He told me he liked my tweet about him and David Millar using the buddy system at the end of yesterday’s stage.
Sylvain Chavanel posed for a fan photo while the peloton went about its business.
Katusha made their way to the start line.
I couldn’t resist: 3 cheers for Poland! Michał Golas, Maciej Bodnar, and Bartosz Huzarski.
David Millar with kiwis Jack Bauer and George Bennett.
Froome in yellow and bandages.
Only mild chaos at the starting line.
The peloton waits.
And waits.
Froome and Bakelants.
Alberto Contador and Edward Beltran.
Wilco Kelderman.
Photographers wove their way through the peloton, snapping away.
The jerseys.
Go time!
Talansky, Howes, and Navardauskas.
Once the team cars had all passed, the crews got to work breaking everything down. I made sure to find my 2 friends again to profusely thank them for their kindness!
Given that the Dauphiné is an ASO race and such an important tune up for the Tour de France, I am delightfully shocked by how low key the whole affair is. There is no media caravan whatsoever and the minimal press is mostly interested in the jersey holders. With such talented cyclists, demanding stages, and no fuss spectating, I’d like to catch more of the Dauphiné next year.
When the dust had settled, I counted 26 autographs!
On the cover of my road book: 5 Danny Pate, 38 Rein Taaramäe, 47 Ivan Santaromita, 72 Natneal Berhane, 74 Cyril Gautier, 77 Kévin Réza, 85 Tony Gallopin, 106 Marco Marcato, 111 Bob Jungels, 118 Haimar Zubeldia, 126 Pete Stetina, 167 Ramunas Navardauskas, 168 Andrew Talansky, 172 Nikias Arndt, 174 Johannes Fröhlinger, and 176 Thierry Hupond.
On the back cover of my road book: 26 Nicki Sørenson, 54 Jose Ivan Gutierrez, 103 Maciej Bodnar, 122 Darwin Atapuma, 135 Simon Špilak, 175 Chad Haga, 191 Wilco Kelderman, and 193 Lars Boom.
I also had my calendar with me in hopes of adding 2 more autographs to it and I succeeded! Jens was happy to sign and said doing the calendar was an “interesting” experience.
Historically, Pippo Pozzato has been a tough autograph for me to get but I triumphed today! He was talking with someone when he saw me waiting off to the side and he gestured to take the marker. When I handed him the calendar too, he broke into a huge grin and proudly exhibited the photo to his friend. Yeah, it was a different reaction than Jens!
Only 4 unsigned months left…