Rest day

Today in the Tour

- July 11th saw the longest solo stage win in the history
of the Tour. In 1947 Albert Bourlon hit the gas from the
start in Carcassonne and over 8 hours later he arrived at
Bagneres-de-Luchon, still alone.

- Also on this date the Tour scaled it's first mountain.
It had gone over the Col de la Republique in 1904, but the
first mountain is considered to be the Ballon d'Alsace.
Yes, the same climb the Tour went over yesterday. Rene
Pottier took the climb but Hippolyte Aucouturier took the
stage win in Besancon.

- Merckx? We know the answer. 1971 (Albi TT).

- I'll bet Robert Millar remembers this day. In 1983 he
became the first Scot to win a stage, Pau to Bagneres-de-
Luchon. And he followed that with a July 11th win in 1989
to Superbagneres.

- Gianni Bugno followed Coppi's wheeltracks to L'Alpe d'Huez
in 1990.

- And Lance Armstrong won his first stage in 1993, taking
the sprint from a small group in Verdun. And this date in
1999 is also memorable for Lance because of the Metz TT.
That is where he took control of the race and the yellow
jersey. He's kept pretty good tabs on it ever since.


Bob Schwartz

On Mon, 11 Jul 2005 22:20:18 -0000, Bob Schwartz
wrote:

Today in the Tour

- July 11th saw the longest solo stage win in the history
of the Tour. In 1947 Albert Bourlon hit the gas from the
start in Carcassonne and over 8 hours later he arrived at
Bagneres-de-Luchon, still alone.

- Also on this date the Tour scaled it's first mountain.
It had gone over the Col de la Republique in 1904, but the
first mountain is considered to be the Ballon d'Alsace.
Yes, the same climb the Tour went over yesterday. Rene
Pottier took the climb but Hippolyte Aucouturier took the
stage win in Besancon.

- Merckx? We know the answer. 1971 (Albi TT).

- I'll bet Robert Millar remembers this day. In 1983 he
became the first Scot to win a stage, Pau to Bagneres-de-
Luchon. And he followed that with a July 11th win in 1989
to Superbagneres.

- Gianni Bugno followed Coppi's wheeltracks to L'Alpe d'Huez
in 1990.

- And Lance Armstrong won his first stage in 1993, taking
the sprint from a small group in Verdun. And this date in
1999 is also memorable for Lance because of the Metz TT.
That is where he took control of the race and the yellow
jersey. He's kept pretty good tabs on it ever since.


Bob Schwartz


As one of those guys that checks in to the newsgroup in July and
checks out in August, I thank you for your posts about the history.
I'm old enough at 64 years to remember many of the references. They
bring back lots of memories.

Thanks again.

Robert

Robert Crim wrote:
As one of those guys that checks in to the newsgroup in July and
checks out in August, I thank you for your posts about the history.
I'm old enough at 64 years to remember many of the references. They
bring back lots of memories.

You would probably have enjoyed Davey's birthdays more than crit-pro did,
then.