cobbles

In pics: Heaven and hell on Tour de France [detalii...]

The Tour de France makes a rare excursion onto the famed cobbles of the Paris-Roubaix route, the Hell of the [detalii...]

Spurred into action by an unexpected parliamentary by-election defeat, President Bingu wa Mutharika hastily introduced a new Cabinet last week (7 September 2011), three weeks after dissolving his previous [detalii...]

Australian rider hit in face by pedal will continue today Gerrrans pivotal in Bradley Wiggins bid for podium in ParisTeam Skys Simon Gerrans was ready to start todays fifth day of the Tour de France after being hit in the face by a pedal in yesterdays dramatic third road stage.The Australian required stitches and has swelling to his face after being caught up in one of many incidents on the pelotons bumpy ride across the cobbles.But Gerrans, who is set to play a pivotal team role in Bradley Wiggins bid to be on the podium in Paris on 25 July, was poised to continue the Tour on todays 153.5km fourth road stage from Cambrai to Reims - the first all-French stage of the 97th Tour.Wiggins lies 14th in the general classification standings, while team-mate Geraint Thomas is second overall and will wear the white jersey for leading young rider today.Tour de FranceCycling guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More [detalii...]

Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland has won the Tour of Flanders, the one-day Belgian Classic, ahead of local [detalii...]

Fifth in last years Tour, Schleck crashed during stage three Will be out of competition for a longer period of timeFrank Schleck was poised to undergo immediate shoulder surgery after being ruled out of the Tour de France yesterday, Team Saxo Bank have announced.The champion of Luxembourg, who finished fifth in the 2009 Tour, crashed on the fourth of seven sections of cobbles on the stage from Wanze in Belgium to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut in France.A Team Saxo Bank statement read: "After the horrible crash [yesterday], Team Saxo Banks Frank Schleck was examined at a local hospital where X-rays revealed three fractures of his left collarbone which obviously stopped the national champion of Luxembourg from continuing the stage."After having congratulated his team-mates after a job well done on the cobblestones, he is undergoing immediate surgery and will be out of competition for a longer period of time."Cervelo Test Teams Thor Hushovd won the third stage, with Team Saxo Banks Fabian Cancellara reclaiming the race leaders yellow jersey, while Cancellara also helped Frank Schlecks brother Andys push up the general classification standings.Tour de FranceCycling guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More [detalii...]

First run in 1896, Paris-Roubaix is one of cyclings oldest races. It is well known for the many cobbled sectors over which it runs. It starts on the outskirts of Paris and runs for 259km, 53km of which is over cobbles, finishing in the velodrome in Roubaix, near the Belgian border, northern [detalii...]

Trial by cobbles could further unsettle Tour de France contenders who are already battered and bruisedSo, after two quiet, uneventful days of the 2010 Tour de France, the riders head for the cobbles. With almost all the major contenders nursing bumps and scrapes, some more serious than others, the last thing any of them wants to do today is ride across nine miles of bone-jarring pave. But somewill definitely be dreading the 133-mile stage three from Wanze in Belgium to Arenberg in northern France more than others. In fact, many are predicting thatit will have a decisive impact on the whole race.There is certainly some precedent for great riders falling apart on the relentless terrain. In the 1980 Tour de France there were two consecutive stages with around 15 miles of cobbles. Bernard Hinault won the first but his knee popped on the second and the formidable Badger had to surrender the race. In abysmal weather Lucien van Impe and Bernard Thevenet, both previous winners of the Tour, surrendered more than 10 minutes.More recently the mercurial Spanish climber Iban Mayo came into the 2004 Tour de France having just inflicted a devastating defeat of Lance Armstrong at the Dauphine Libere, beating the Texan by more than two minutes on a time trial to the top of Mont Ventoux. He was going to be a contender until 3.9km of pave was enough to send hysteria through the peloton. Mayo was left with a nasty gash in his thigh and a four-minute deficit; Denis Menchov, the best French rider Christophe Moreau and Thor Hushovd also left their chances in the gutters.This year is the first time since 2004 that the Tour has returned to the cobbled roads of the North and before that the previous occasion was 1989. For many riders this is all right and sensible. "I find it a bit of a shame," says Maxime Monfort, a Belgian who rides for HTC-Columbia. "Its very unpredictable. Im sure one of the favourites will lose the race that day. Apart from Armstrong they will all be stressed, as they are all light guys." Then there is the issue of safety. "It will be great fun to watch, fun for TV but it wont be fun on the road," says Bjarne Riis, the team manager of Saxo Bank, whose line-up includes the Schleck brothers.For others, however, it is just another aspect of bike racing. "I dont understand why people complain," says Sylvain Chavanel, who will aim to defend the yellow jersey in todays stage. "A rider who wants to win a three-week tour must be able to defend himself on the flat, in the mountains, on the cobblestones, everywhere. Thats what makes a big rider."So, who will have had a particularly restless night? Everyone agrees that Alberto Contador, the defending champion, could lose time. Upper body strength is vital for controlling the bike as it goes over the bumps and the Spaniard has a classic climbers spindly arms. He had also never even ridden on cobbles before two recent reconnaissance trips. "I would have preferred if they hadnt put cobbles on the Tour route," he admits.Those most likely profit from any weakness or indecision shown by Contador include Armstrong and Bradley Wiggins. What everyone agrees, however, is that it is going to be unmissable entertainment. "At Paris-Roubaix there is a natural selection of the rider who actually wants to ride on the pave and who knows how to ride on it," says Robbie McEwen, who is riding his 11th Tour and finished third on the stage in 2004 that did for Mayo. "Then in the race theres the natural selection of the race too. At the Tour well have the classics riders wanting to win the stage, the overall contenders trying to make sure they dont lose time and then all their domestiques, some who wont have a clue about the cobbles, doing everything they can to help them. Its going to be carnage."Tour de FranceCyclingTim Lewis guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More [detalii...]

Welshman takes white jersey after surprise second-place finish Thor Hushovd wins on day of further casualties for Tour ridersBritish interest in the 2010 Tour de France was supposed to focus on Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish, but today we may have witnessed the coming of age of a new home-grown superstar.The last time Geraint Thomas rode in the Tour, in 2007, he was the youngest rider in the race and finished 140 out of 141 competitors. Now, after second place in an attritional third stage, the 24-year-old Welshman from Team Sky finds himself second in the general classification and will today wear the white jersey, for best young rider. Not bad for someone who went into the race saying that he was Wigginss "bodyguard".The courage and maturity of his performance today, in a 133-mile (213km) stage that included six sections of brutal cobblestones, cannot be overstated. He finished in an elite group of six riders, just behind the winner Thor Hushovd, but considerably ahead of almost all the favourites for the Tour de France. Even more remarkable was how composed he was after a day where he came in almost a minute ahead of the reigning champion Alberto Contador and more than two minutes in front of Lance Armstrong."The white jerseys a nice bonus, and Im going to enjoy that tomorrow, but Im here for Brad[ley Wiggins]," said Thomas. "We have had a few spills, but confidence and morale in the team has been good, so hopefully we can keep that going."It may seem that Thomas has come from nowhere, but that might be because we had so many gold medallists from the 2008 Olympics that it was hard to keep track of them all. In Beijing he was a member of the team pursuit squad, which also included Wiggins, and was subsequently awarded an MBE.He had form coming into the Tour, having won the national road racing championships last month, but still he surprised everyone, including himself, by placing third in Saturdays prologue time trial. There could be more to come too, as he is rated as a strong climber for the mountain stages that start at the weekend.Perhaps the most remarkable feature of stage three was that it lived up to the breathless pre-race billing. Everyone was saying that one of the main contenders would lose the Tour on the day, and sadly for Frank Schleck, who has twice finished fifth, that prediction came true.The older of the Schleck brothers was a victim in the Sars-et-Rosieres sector 25km from the finish and is now going home with a broken shoulder. There will be mixed feelings in the family as it was younger brother Andy, bandaged heavily from his falls yesterday, who rode the best race of the main contenders to finish in the lead group.It is hard to convey the formidable challenge presented by the cobbles, best known to cycling fans from the Paris-Roubaix one-day race, also known as The Hell of the North. The width of the path varies, but is just five feet in many places and has a vicious camber. Many of the sections were laid 200 years ago and the gap between the granite cobbles can be almost as big as the stones themselves. Its a pretty shoddy job.There has been considerable controversy over whether the race should even come across such a minefield, only the second time it has done so since the 1980s. When the route was announced, Lance Armstrong posted on Twitter: "Going. To. Be. Carnage."Certainly, sending the Tour de France through here is akin to asking the worlds best footballers to play at Wembley. Of the 193 riders left in the 2010 Tour, only 104 (54%) had any previous experience of riding Paris-Roubaix - Contador notable among the newbies. Armstrong had been the rider most expected to profit from going off-road and he promised before the stage to take "measured risks" to distance his rivals. He had the experience of the conditions and the upper body strength to handle the relentless thudding.Wiggins, a veteran of five Paris-Roubaix races with a best finish of 25th last year, was also fancied. In the event, Wiggins rode well to finish 53 seconds behind Hushovd, while Armstrong had a long day at the office. Choosing to ride in the gutters rather than the high part of the cobbles, to minimise vibrations, he punctured and it was only an obdurate display of solo riding that has kept him in contention. However, he now has mountains to climb, in every sense, if he is going to win his final Tour."Sometimes you are the hammer and sometimes you are the nail, today I was the nail," he said. "But I have had plenty of days when I was the hammer. Look at the results: everyone thought the climbers were going to lose minutes today, they were the ones at the front, and the guy who was supposed to take advantage was the one at the back. Thats the nature of racing."Finally, some housekeeping. Fabian Cancellara is back in yellow after Sylvain Chavanel punctured twice and then threw his bike in the ditch. The luckless Christian Vande Velde is now up to five broken ribs, adding two yesterday to the three he had coming in to the race, and did not start the stage. The ginger dog that unseated David Millar and Ivan Basso on Sunday is also understood to be recovering well.Tour de FranceBradley WigginsCyclingTim Lewis guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More [detalii...]

Our way to Bruton brings us to Redlynch crossroads before Dropping Lane takes us down into the town. An old road, the Hardway, leads eastwards from the crossroads towards Stourhead where the Hoare family created their notable garden and lake. The landlord of the inn on the Hardway says that coaches used to take on fresh horses there for the pull up Kingsettle Hill.Recently we were taken to walk a curious and little-known track, made of broken cobbles and sometimes called the old coach road, following a rigidly straight line from Redlynch towards Stourhead for several miles across fields. We wondered at the purpose of a second coach road seeming almost to duplicate the Hardway. From a point where you could see the track enter Stavordale Wood, we walked the cobbled way westwards towards Redlynch, passing Coachroad Farm and Walk Farm as we went between the meadows, some recently cut for hay in this dry summer. By the gates of Redlynch House, we were glad to shelter under the parks spreading trees from a rare and torrential downpour.Once home and dry we were shown a book which told us that Parson Woodforde, the diarist, and a group of relatives and friends went in September 1763 on a jaunt from his home at Castle Cary to "Mr Hoare the Bankers Gardens at Stourton". They took Lord Ilchesters private way through his Redlynch estate, thanks to the fact that a friend had keys to the gates. The public roads were poor; there were few well-kept turnpike roads in the district. Our cobbled track was, it seems, a private road for Lord Ilchesters family and friends, and offered an altogether safer, smoother ride than other folk enjoyed on the first leg of the 120-mile journey to London, which Lady Ilchester undertook for each of her six confinements. Nowadays we all take our equal chances on the A303.SomersetJohn Vallins guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More [detalii...]

GB rider Thomas second overall as Cancellara claims yellow View the overall standings after stage three of the TourThe British rider Geraint Thomas finished second in the third stage of the Tour de France as Norways Thor Hushovd sprinted home ahead of him on another day marred by crashes, punctures and injuries to cyclists.Thomas, who rides for Team Sky, will wear the white jersey signifying the best young rider, having kept pace to move into second place overall, 23 seconds off Switzerlands Fabian Cancellara, who claimed the yellow jersey after finishing sixth. Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), who went into todays 213km ride from Wanze in Belgium to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut in France wearing the yellow jersey, finished down the order having suffered multiple punctures, forcing him to change his bike. Australias Cadel Evans (BMC Racing) came home third in a stage that had seven cobbled sections totalling 13.2-km of the total distance. The drama began when the Luxembourg rider Frank Schleck crashed to the ground and broke his collarbone on the first section of pavement after coming off the cobbles as the stage entered France. Schleck was unable to finish the stage, ending his Tour before he has even had the chance to tackle the challenge of the mountains. His brother Andy Schleck, Thomas and Evans avoided the stages many hazards to enhance their positions in the overall standings, while the favourite Alberto Contador (Astana) claimed bragging rights over his fierce rival and seven-time winner Lance Armstrong (Team RadioShack).Bradley Wiggins, also of Team Sky, finished in a small group ahead of Contador, pulling back some time lost in the opening prologue.Tour de FranceTeam SkyCycling guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More [detalii...]