Tour de France stage 19

Liesa, Fien, and I have been at so many stage departures this year that the crew often applauds for us when we show up in the mornings! It makes us laugh and I'm delighted they get such a kick out of us. One of our friends invited us onto the podium for today and so we got to watch not just the pre-sign on entertainment from the podium, but even the sign on itself!

A trio called US Magic puts on a show.

Meanwhile, Nicolas and Marc catch up on their notes and L'Equipe.

Before the riders arrive, the duo provide a highly amusing commentary as the caravan drives past.

A race official went through a box of jersey and bike numbers.

A UCI official prepared the sign on sheets. This was the first time I've gotten to see the papers up close. I hadn't realized it was just 4 pages, probably created in Word or Excel, taped to the podium.

The first rider to sign on, Kristjan Koren, received the pen from the Bic mascot.

Rein Taaramäe waited for his teammate Adrien Petit before he could sign on.

Preparing for the best team award meant opening a suitcase full of stuffed cows.

Cannondale riders stuffed their pockets with snacks.

One of the tallest riders in the peloton, Johan Vansummeren signed for the UCI official and for a fan, too.

Belkin collected the team prize and ahead of cattle.

Jean Christophe Péraud and Thibault Pinot, the first Frenchmen poised to land on the podium in Paris in years, shook hands.

Pinot signed autographs.

Sebastian Langeveld.

Marc had a yellow jersey he wanted to get Nibali to sign so Fien and I volunteered to assume podium girl duties and presented the jersey to the Italian champion (note her Tour appropriate outfit).

Romain Bardet.

We've been Gatis Smukulis fans for well over a year now, but it's only recently that he's really become aware of us. He heard us cheering for him yesterday during both his ascent and descent of Hautacam and today he came over to talk with us after he'd signed on. I think we constitute the traveling branch of his unofficial fan club so he was pretty happy to see us.

The sign on sheets.

Jakob Fuglsang.

Standing on the podium and seeing the crowd from the riders' perspective was eye opening. I saw a dozen 10 year old asking riders for autographs and realized I'm much taller, louder, and older than the typical autograph hunter. Plus I'm a woman, so it's no wonder so many riders recognize my friends and I even though I feel like another face in the crowd. I see how wonderfully ridiculous I must appear to the peloton! Ha!

That said, being on the podium was also a change in that this was clearly not the place for us to shout our support. I found myself fidgeting more than usual in order to keep myself from yelling, “GO ALEX HOWES!” for example. So while some riders understandably didn't spot us, plenty of our favorites did! We got a smile out of Luca Paolini after I greeted him in Italian, Sep Vanmarcke did a classic double take upon seeing us, Maciej Bodnar was visibly impressed and laughed, and Roy Curvers practically shouted with joy at seeing us pop up in such unexpected places. Luke Durbridge saw me as he climbed the stairs, saying, “Good morning, wait, how did you get up here!” My favorite reaction, though, came from Ramunas Navardauskas. He was dismounting his bike when he saw me and I could see him starting to laugh and say, “Oh my god!” He chuckled to himself as he walked up the stairs and said, “Are you the new podium girl?” I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm ridiculous and I'm fine with that because I think I'm ridiculous! After he'd signed on, I started to wish him a good ride just as he said sincerely, “Have a nice day!” What a guy.

Jan Bakelants stopped by for a long chat while he noshed on his banana flavored energy chews.

Lefty Matteo Trentin at the podium.

In the final minute, both Richie Porte and Marcel Kittel raced to reach the podium before it was too late. They made it with moments to spare. Seeing the diminutive Tasmanian side by side with the massive German sprinter was a good reminder that there's a place in cycling for just about every body size.

Sign on complete!

The 3 of us lingered, saying our goodbyes and taking photos with all of the guys who do a million different jobs to get the stage started every morning.

We got in the car and started out for Périgueux. We drove through rain, thunder, lightning, and even hail off and on for a couple of hours. About 30 kilometers before Bergerac, we realized we were pretty close to the course so we took a detour and parked in time to catch the break and the peloton. I was thrilled to see Garmin had Tom-Jelte Slagter in the break. I had said after the rest day that stage 19 was the day for Garmin to get in the break, maybe cause some of their trademark mayhem, and take the victory. Soaking wet, we piled back into the car, drove through another downpour, and got caught in race traffic once more. This time we were probably only a few kilometers from the finish and had actually just missed the riders coming through by a few minutes by the looks of things.

My phone vibrated with a text message. A friend working in the press room wrote to say Garmin had won! It's a good thing Fien had turned the car off due to the traffic because I definitely startled the front seat with an excited yelp!

The minutes passed and I was climbing the walls with curiousity. Who?! Who from Garmin won?? Did Slagter hold on? That seemed unlikely, the stage was too flat for his climbing style. There was one rider whose name I didn't dare say out loud, but I had a feeling my friend Navardauskas had gotten the win. When we couldn't find any information on the radio, I texted a journalist friend who wrote back immediately, simply saying, “Your boy Navardauskas.”

Navardaaaaaaaaaauskaaaaaaaaaaas!

If ever there was a time for me to shout his name like a maniac, this was it!

After Andrew Talansky suffered crashes and an attempted mid stage abandon, after Jack Bauer came within sight of a stage win only to lose out to a rising sprinter, after the Argyle Armada spent precious energy chasing down breaks they had missed in earlier stages, Garmin pulled off a stage win.

As a rider, Navardauskas has shown tremendous strength and selflessness. As a person, he has been nothing but kind hearted, gracious, and generous with me, a silly fan who shows up with bizarre regularity.

Chapeau, Ramunas.