#10: C’est la guerre!

…Dary! Legendary!!!

Hello everyone, I’m Jeffrey Rex!
Le Tour de France 2011, that is the scene you need to picture. This once so beautiful sport has gone through a metamorphosis! It’s no longer the sport in which athletes beautifully showed us how you can tame the roads majestically with a bicycle – this sport event is now a media event in which you are lucky to survive a day with no injuries at all. This event has blood and dirt on their hands.

Le Tour de France 2011 was depicted as the battle between Alberto Contador & Andy Schleck. Everyone was ready for a tough battle, would it be the best rider in the world (IMHO), Alberto Contador, or would the better team Leopard Trek, with Andy Schleck, prevail?
We were all anxious to find out. But already on the first day, drama and nerves set in. A fan standing to close to the road caused a rider to crash, but the crash also threw a hole half of the Tour de France-riders into the ground. Including Alberto Contador. However, the crashes didn’t end there. The following days, captains were eliminated due to pressure, speed, anxiousness and whatnot. Including the Dauphine Liberé winner, Bradley Wiggins from Sky Pro Cycling & the Legend Alexandre Vinokourov. But these crashes aren’t that firmly set in our minds at this hour. We remember how ASO, Prudhomme & the rest of the guys behind the Tour de France didn’t plan a good enough road, and that they didn’t have their men ready for the fierce battle.

The first rest day is now almost over, and we remember how Nicki Sorensen, SaxoBank-SunGard, was ripped off his bike by a motorcycle, and how a car, with French Television Logoes printed on, collided with riders Juan Antonio Flecha & Johnny Hoogerland – this is printed in our memory! This horrific incident and the barbed wire tearing into Johnny Hoogerland’s legs and whatnot terrifies us!

And most importantly, terrifies the riders! I beg of you, keep them safe – at least for the remainder of this years Tour de France – then you can plan a better road next year!

Once again, I’m Jeffrey Rex!

And the next post will be Legen… Wait for it!