Erik Zabel has little left to celebrate. In 2007 Erik Zabel stood in front of the press in floods of tears as he spoke about his 9 year old son while confessing to using EPO in the first week of the 1996 Tour de France. In his own words he described how, just on a single occasion he chose to use the performance enhancing drug before stating that thanks to the severity of the side effects, he never used it again. Today Erik Zabel told the world otherwise, having been named in the French Senate report as testing positive in the 1998 Tour...

 

The Tour of Poland starts today and in fact its the 70th edition - quite an unusual stat fro a race outside of France, Belgium and Italy which means there is a certain pedigree here. If we have become use to Poland's use of City Centre crit stages and largely flattish terrain then this years edition starts with a bang because the opening two stages happen to be in the very mountainous north of Italy...

 

 

 

It was clear yesterday that some of the fans on Alpe d'Huez were getting in the way, Riblon and Van Garderen both ended up throwing punches and it's understandable - Policing on the Alpe seems to lack more each year and with two ascents this time around it was clear some fans were going to have had an extra beer or two (or 10) But if the behaviour wasn't always impecible then the atmosphere would have been pretty crazy - Imagine being Dutch and riding through the orange waves of Dutch corner, that would surely give you an extra boost...

 

The Tour de France makes history tomorrow to mark its 100 edition with a double ascent of Alpe d'Huez. Looking above, this profile is enough to strike fear into any professional bike rider but if many will be looking to take it easy and focus on just getting through the day - this stage could also be the last real opportunity for anybody looking to overhaul Chris Froome.

 

 

 

What better accompaniment to the frankly stunning scenery of Mont-Saint-Michel than Tony Martins winning TT performance that almost put him into the record books: 

The Alps are looming just around the corner and without getting out on a bike and actually riding the climbs of the Tour, the closest most of us come to the mythical French mountains is watching the pro's ride them on TV and of course they make it look far easier than it actually is. The Breakaway - Cycling the Mountains of the Tour de France by Rolf Rae-Hansen looks not only at the climbs and their history but at just what it takes to ride them both physically and emotionally, their effects upon the soul, on body and mind in a Journal that truly bares all on the mountainside...

 

 

Here is Pierre Rolland in his Polka Dot 'King of the Moutains' Tour de France kit - it's true that for some the colour is a little hard to take but none the less this often undervalued jersey is a sure sign of a very talented and enduring rider, in fact I have as deep a respect for the 'mountains' jersey as I do for the the Yellow - whoever is in Polka Dots come the end of the Tour has undoubtedly been one of the strongest riders in the race, sure they might finish a mile back on the GC in the end but the power, energy and determination it takes to consistently ride to the top of the mountains first, each mountain, every day is something to behold and marks an incredible achievement - besides I quite like the spotty kit though Pierre could do with the matching gloves and socks here (each to their own) but if you don't like the colour blame Chocolat Poulain who became the first sponsor of the Mountains Classification in 1975 thus creating the now iconic jersey which just so happened to be the colour of the Chocolat Poulain bar wrappers. Nice.