World Championship in Stuttgart Part III

Where am I going to stand and watch the individual time trial on
Thursday, 27th September 2007?

Several candidates. First I would like to be relatively alone so that Team
CSC riders can recognize me. (My big ego, I know but can't help...)

I have a plan for the TT. I don't know if the place where I would like to stay
is open to the public. I have to get there and find out.

Bad news is that the weather is not going to be fine. It is forcast that it
is going to rain all day. I will certainly bring something to keep me dry and
warm.

It is past  midnight. It is already 27th. I will leave for Stuttgart in an hour or so.

3 Länder Tour (Germany) Part III

So, I was on top of Weilstetten (Cat. 1 summit) around 4 A.M. in the morning.

It was a starry night and there was nothing around me. It was pitch dark!
Falling leaves made a distinct and enormous sound. Occasionally cars passed
but otherwise it was quiet and nothing distracted me except for the sound of
the gigantic falling leaves and some eerie cries of unknown animals.

I am quite used to being at pitch dark desolate places.

I painted only a little bit, namely I mean literally namely,
BOBBY, FRANK, JENS, KURT, LARS, LUKE and three CSC logos. I slept when
I was done. I think it was around 5:00 in the morning. I wake up around 8:00
and moved to Schoemberg, where Feed zone was. I slept again until noon.

And then the usual, team cars gathered and I greeted Team CSC staff, Sabine
and Thomas, the German pair.

I wanted to go to the finish but after realizing that I would not make it before
the race came. I came home.

Anyway, these are the pictures. At the feed zone I picked up two bidons
(Rabobank and ?) and three bags. Kurt-Alse Arvesen, as usual, smiled at me.

He is on the Norwegian National team for the World. I will definitely paint his
name at Herdweg. They have to go up that climb 14 times! They have to notice
something on the road even if they are not paying attentions. Team CSC riders
may appreciate my efforts (I haven't done yet) to keep their mind off the
hard climb.

The lunch was given out along the route between these two villages;

Weilen unter den Rinnen and Schoemberg.

Attentions Riders! Lunch Ahead!

This is the spot I was standing and waiting for the race to arrive. His (always

upper case letter) clothes (a piece of cloth wrapped around his waist)

was very shiny. It was gold.

This breakaway group included Luke Roberts.

The peloton was being controlled by Rabobank as its leader, Thomas Dekker,

was wearing the yellow jersey. They had to watch out NOT to let the

breakaway go too far.

As far as I can tell, Jens Voigt and Kurt-Asle Arvesen are having lunch and

the the third rider is Bobby Julich (or Lars Bak or Frank Schleck???).

I think I heard a Team CSC rider shout back at me (Frank Schleck?) but it
could have been another rider from another team. Someone definitely
shouted as he passed me. I was alone standing there. The nearest person was
more than 30 meters away. So I am very sure that someone wanted to
say something to me or make fun of me.

One thing is sure: the shouter was not Arvesen as his mouth was holding
on to a piece of sweets as you can see in the photo above.

I hope they noticed my painting 10 km before the ravitaillement.

3 Länder Tour (Germany) Part II

There has been a change in the selection of the participating members.
Fabian Cancellara is out and Bobby Julich is in. Fabian preferred to prepare
his form before World Championship elsewhere, maybe.

Anyway, there is no change in my plan. I will be there for them 23rd of September.

I will drive to and arrive at Weilstetten (1st Category hill) and do something.
Then I will move to Weilen Unter den Rinnen and sleep. The race will pass
there sometime before 15:00. Then I will drive to the Finish if possible.

On Saturday they will have the ITT. This ITT is, I think, decisive. Perhaps,
there will be no changing of jerseys on Sunday as many (or most?) of
stage races do not change the general classification order on the last day.


2006, I went to watch the last stage of 3-Laender Tour (Mannheim -
Frankfurt am Main). I saw the start and the finish. After the finish, Jens
Voigt got a birthday cake and we (spectators and riders) sang "A Happy
Birthday to you,..." for him.

(all pictures taken in 2006)

Jens Voigt receiving the cake with two sticks of firework on it.


Singing.

Karsten Kroon took a second stage win that day. Frank Schleck also kept the
red jersey.

Karsten Kroon with two pretty girls whose eyes never met. Do you know what
I mean? These two girls' eyes never met that day. There were absolutely no
eye contacts between them. It seemed like there was a competition between
these two girls. If I remember correctly (and it is not likely that I do but)
one girl was the podium girl that the race organizer selected and the other
was, as clearly recognizable, Queen Maritim (Hotel), who provided the
accommodation for the race organizers, team staff and riders etc..

The final podium.

Frank Schleck being applauded.

Smile! Girls!

One note: Before the start of the last stage, Sebastian Lang, in yellow jersery,
visited Team CSC bus for a few minutes. The reason for his visit is unknown.

Sebastian Lang knocking on the Team CSC bus door.

Before the start, a representative from Bauhaus, the red jersey sponsor,
came to see Frank Schleck.

Tour de France 2007: Stage 13

Stage 13 (Albi-Albi)

Before the race, it was sunny and OK, I mean the weather. In fact, I had only
short-sleeve jersey in the morning.

I was busy painting. I was almost done with painting when riders came
to check the course. Earlier Fabian Cancellara came and waved at me.
He is a tremendously nice guy.

Anyway, some riders, who were interested in doing well that day, came.

It began to rain by the time the race began. I had to borrow some thick
warm jacket from a Luxembourger. It kept raining almost to the end. I
did not take almost any pictures. When Team CSC riders came, I only
shouted. I could not risk destroying my digital camera by using it in the rain.

Alexandre Vinokourov with my painting efforts, Andy and Frank. Andy 
Schleck is not a Tour participant but that day I felt like drawing his name.

Andrey Kashechkin.

Frank Schleck.

Carlos Sastre Candil.

Mateo Tosatto.

Mickael Delage.

I was near this motor home. This belongs to a Luxembourger, who supports

Frank Schleck and Kim Kirchen.

Tour de France 2007: Stage 14

Stage 14 (Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille)

Dave Leipheimer and a fellow American are pumped up and ready to go.




Antonio Colom Mas, I think. He was leading the race at this point.


Dave gave his brother Levi a bottle of water.


The man with "GO LEVI" T-shirt is the father of Levi Leipheimer. Dave in front.


Are these riders Andreas Klöden and Andrey Kashechkin?


This Euskadi rider can be Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau. Astarloza was also destined
to see his name on the road in 200 meters if he was paying attentions. In any
case, he and his teammate, Zubeldia was going to be passionately welcomed
by their fan in orange T-shirt soon, which fact I am very sure of.


Michael Boorgerd and Haimar Zubeldia Agirre or Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau.


Bernard Kohl, Oscar Pereiro Sio and Alejandro Valvelde Belmonte, I think.

Amets Txurruka? or ???

He could be Haimar Zubeldia Agirre. If so, he was going to see his name painted
on the road just 200 meters later. Why? Because I painted his name on the
road in exchange for some sweets at the request of some Basque fans.


Denis Menchov. He came before Jens but finished almost 5 minutes after Jens.
He was not having a good day.


Jens Voigt and Vladirmir Karpets.


Thomas Dekker and Inigo Landaluze Intxaurraga, I think.


Christian Vande Velde and Kim Kirchen, Charles Wegelius, Chris Horner,
Iban Mayo Diez, Carlos Barredo Llamazales, I think but I am not sure.

After the race was all over and I was on my way down on my bike along with
other cyclists, Christian came from behind and shouted at me, "Watch out,
watch out" and passed me. As he passed me, he turned to me and smiled.

Why do I, a Team CSC fan, NOT have a single good picture of Team CSC
riders? You may be wondering by now.

I tell you why. Because I am not looking at the Team CSC riders through
finder or LCD monitor on the back of the digital camera but directly at them
with my own eyes. I am shouting their names or something. That is why.

I don't have a picutre of Inigo Cuesta here at Stage 14. What happened with
Cuesta that day was, I caught him climbing almost alone. He recognized me
as I shouted his name and said, "Thank you" to me. These two words are
at least one thousand times valuable to me than a well focused photo of him.


Paolo Savoldelli and others.


George Hincapie came. The man running along him is NOT Levi's brother.
I met them again later. The last time I met them, they told me they had
a wonderful dinner with the Leipheimers and the Hincapies on the eve of
Champs-Élysées finish. See you guys next year!


Sylvain Chavanel and Alexandre Botcharov, I think.


Markus Fothen came.


This small group includes Frank Schleck. Christian Knees, Egoi Martinez De Esteban,
David De La Fuente Rasilla, Johan Van Summeren, Iker Camano Ortuzar
and Ludovic Turpin.


German Champion Fabian Wegmann came before David Millar but finished
after Millar.


David Millar and "LEVI" on the road painted by me. I think he did not take the bottle.


Alexandre Vinokourov was being protected by his teammates,
Daniel Navarro Garcia and Serguei Ivanov.

Francisco Perez Sanchez, and Nicolas Portal of Caisse d'Epargne were there.


Marcus Burghardt came. The man wanted Marcus to take his bottle of water.
Instead, Marcus gave him his bidon for his efforts. Or he just wanted to get
rid of this annoying man.


Then the peloton came. You can see Fabian Cancellara in front.

When you see this car, 'Voiture Balai (Broom stick car)', you know the race is
going to end soon.

Is it "Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française des Jeux"? He finished at 165th and was
the last person to finish.

3 Länder Tour (Germany)

"3 laender" means three states in South Germany, namely, Hessen,

Baden-Württemberg and Thüringen. Some people have problems
reading some of these alphabets, so maybe I should write them as 'Hessen,
Baden-Wuerttemberg and Thueringen'.

I am going to visit the last and the final stage on 23rd of September.
The stage starts in Nürtingen and finishes in Bad Dürrheim.

Team CSC has posted the list of participating riders. Good members!
Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Lars Bak, Fabian Cancellara, Luke Roberts,
Fränk Schleck and Jens Voigt.

Thursday of that week, 27th of September, Fabian Cancellara will be riding
ITT to defned his World Champion title in Stuttgart. And of course, I will
be there for him and other Team CSC riders.

Anyway, my plan for 23rd is to get there early in the morning (3 a.m.?)
I am not yet sure where to go first. I have to study the parcours. They
don't have the course profile on their official site. I want to be at
"Weilen Unter den Rinnen", where the feed zone is when the race comes.

I think I am going to drive, first, to Weilstetten, where the Mountain Point is
set (892 meters above sea level). Weilstetten is not far from Weilen UdR.

After the race passes, I will probably drive to the finish. I have to study the
course to see if it is possible.


These photos were taken at Stage 14 of TdF 2007.


When Levi Leipheimer came with Carlos Sastre and others, Levi's family and
other Americans ran up along them. The man in the foreground wearing a
T-shirt with '3' is out of breath because he had also run.

The man with "Go Levi" logo on his back is Levi's father and the man in front
of him is Levi's brother Dave. On the road, you can see something is drawn.
It reads, "From Montana with Love" and something that I painted for the
Leipheimers. For that efforts, I got water, beer and sandwich from the
Leipheimers. I look forward to seeing them again next year!

Why are these pictures posted here? It has something to do
with what I am planning to do on 23rd of September at Weilstetten.

Tour de France 2007: The publicity caravan Part XII

Part XII

41. The Sapeurs-Pompiers caravan. Fire fighters?


Sapeures-Pompiers goods: (pictures will be added)


42. The Motorhome Rent caravan.




Motorhome Rent goods: (ditto, leaflets, I think)


43. The Française des Jeux caravan.
Française des Jeux goods: (ditto, I got 'Sandy Casar' lanyard. Could be
other lanyard with other names)


44. The RMC caravan.






RMC goods: (ditto, megaphones and Haribo stuff)


Is this car part of caravan? I don't remember this car well.

This car was part of the caravan but it does not appear in the official list.
This car was there everyday, so it has to be part of it.


Take a look at this CSC and Carlos painting. I did it! A PMU green hand is
on the ground. I am not sure but the blurry objects in the air are two
helicopters. They were hovering the area. One from Police Nationale I think.


45. The Festina caravan.


This car has a Spanish license number?


Here you can see an object in the air. It is a helicopter.




Rain or shine, people say. Look! This girl is smiling when it was chilly or sunny.

Festina goods: (ditto, reflective bands)


These cars (there were other cars following the caravan) were doing the
dirty job. When a automobile had a trouble, these cars would pick it up
and safely carried it to the finish.
So that is it. I will upload the pictures of the goods and comment on them later.