2013 at 12:21 pm CT.css-79elbk{position:relative;} The sister city relationship between Palatine and Fontenay-le-Comte has added a new dimension that may in fact cement the two cities’ relationship for generations to come For the past week and for the next two weeks 11-year-old Maelle Fourage of Fontenay has been living in Palatine with local families and attending Quest Academy Maelle and her family will soon host her two Palatine “sisters” in Fontenay The girl's father is the mayor of Fontenay which given the young age of the participants is most unique is the Palatine-Fontenay Sister City organization “This is the kind of experience that allows all of us to put into practice the idea of cultural exchanges between sister cities and make global understanding a reality,” said Palatine Sister Cities president Nghi Loi Pappas As a private independent school at which middle school students study both French and Mandarin Chinese the opportunity to host a French student and afford its own students the opportunity to experience France and French culture first-hand I immediately realized the tremendous growth opportunities this exchange represented for all our students,” said Ben Hebebrand The Quest Academy Middle School teacher Mrs Lisa Kropp agrees: “The impact of the student exchange on my students is profound The ability to interact with a French speaker their own age in everyday situations has awakened the realization that the language they are studying is REAL It’s a living thing that truly enriches their ability to share their ideas themselves with people that would otherwise be beyond their reach Classroom exposure is a glimpse through a crack in a wall An exchange blows a hole in that wall and brings it crumbling down,” she explained “Classes are shorter and some subjects at Quest are not offered in French schools such as Theatre  The relationship between teachers and students is also different; it is friendlier here and not so  distant as it is in France while in France it is from noon till 2 p.m.”  Maelle is also surprised that students are allowed to eat and drink in the classroom her favorite places and activities here are “visiting the Willis Tower her favorite food is “the sandwich I pack to take to school Maelle said she is thoroughly enjoying her visit here  Her two host sisters will visit her family in France in July for two weeks when they will be part of the Bastille Day celebration July 14th Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts. Britain's Chris Froome carries his bicycle after falling into a ditch when crashing with other rider sduring the first stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 201 kilometers (124.9 miles) with start in Noirmoutier-en-L'Ile and finish in Fontenay Le-Comte, France, Saturday, July 7, 2018. (Jeff Pachoud, pool photo via AP) Fontenay-le-Comte, France • Down in a ditch, Chris Froome had to hoist himself and his bike back up to the road. It was a startling scene when the Team Sky rider tumbled into a grassy field in the opening stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, immediately putting his pursuit of a record-tying fifth title in peril. Froome, though, is getting used to these sort of mishaps and challenges — whether that means recovering from crashes or clearing his name of doping. “I saw a lot of crashes out there today. It’s just one of those things. We always knew the first few days were going to be tricky and going to be sketchy. It’s part of the game unfortunately,” said Froome, who went down with about 5 kilometers to go as the sprinters’ teams jockeyed for position. With grass stains on his right shoulder and blood trickling down his right arm from a gash on his elbow, Froome got back up and crossed 51 seconds behind Fernando Gaviria, the Colombian who claimed the race’s first yellow jersey with a commanding sprint victory. “I’m just grateful I’m not injured in any way and there’s a lot of road to cover before Paris obviously,” Froome said. When fans at the finish were informed of Froome’s crash, many cheered. Froome, who was cleared of doping in an asthma drug case on Monday, was also jeered at Thursday’s team presentations. Froome was fortunate he didn’t do more damage by avoiding a post near where he fell while riding at more than 50 kph. The Kenyan-born British rider also crashed on the opening day of the Giro d’Italia in May, while warming up for the Stage 1 time trial. But Froome eventually climbed back up the standings to win the Giro — his third straight Grand Tour title. Froome is now aiming to join Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain as the only riders to win the Tour five times. Fellow overall contenders Richie Porte and Adam Yates were also caught behind in the Froome group. And in what was expected to be a calm day for the favorites, two-time runner-up Nairo Quintana lost 1:10 when both of his tires were punctured. The pre-race favorites who finished safely with the main pack included 2014 champion Vincenzo Nibali, Tom Dumoulin, Geraint Thomas, Mikel Landa, Alejandro Valverde and Dan Martin. “It is a tricky finish and just the typical fight between sprinters and GC guys. Everyone wants to be on the front, especially ahead of the 3K marker,” Sky sport director Nicolas Portal said. “It’s the normal tension which is slightly higher than the other Grand Tours.” When overall or general classification (GC) contenders reach the 3K mark, they can relax because from there on in the results are neutralized in the case of crashes. Gaviria, the Quick-Step rider making his Tour debut, easily beat world champion Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel to the line. “The yellow jersey is one that everyone dreams of wearing and to get it on the first day is amazing,” Gaviria said. Gaviria required 4 hours, 23 minutes to complete the mostly flat 201-kilometer (125-mile) stage from the island of Noirmoutier-en-l’Ile on the Atlantic coast to Fontenay-le-Comte. The 23-year-old Gaviria won four stages in last year’s Giro d’Italia and is living up to his billing as the next big thing in sprinting. Accounting for time bonuses in the overall standings, Froome trails Gaviria by 1:01 in 91st position. Fans came out in large numbers for the 105th edition of cycling’s biggest race, standing along nearly every stretch of the route and waving the red and white flags of the Vendee region. For much of the stage, the route hugged the coastline alongside sparkling waters, pristine beaches and an abundance of salt marshes. Three French riders — Kevin Ledanois (Team Fortuneo-Samsic), Jerome Cousin (Direct Energie) and Yoann Offredo (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) — attacked at the start flag and quickly established an advantage of more than a minute. Cousin and Offredo, the last remnants of the breakaway, were caught by the main pack with 10 kilometers to go. Lawson Craddock crashed in a feeding zone midway through the stage and the American continued with blood streaming down his face. The Tour remains in the Vendee region for Stage 2 on Sunday, another flat leg of 182.5 kilometers from Mouilleron-Saint-Germain to the department capital of La Roche-sur-Yon. The three-week Tour ends July 29 in Paris. For e-edition questions or comments, contact customer support 801-237-2900 or email subscribe@sltrib.com sltrib.com © 1996-2025 The Salt Lake Tribune By Sam SchubeDecember 17 2018Team Education First Drapac Cannondale rider Lawson Craddock of US in action after crashing during the 1st stage of the 105th edition of the Tour de France cycling race over 201km between Noirmoutier-en-l'Ile and Fontenay-Le-Comte 07 July 2018.Tour de France 2018 - 1st stage Fontenay-Le-Comte - 07 Jul 2018Kim Ludbrook/ShutterstockSave this storySaveSave this storySaveI've been watching the Tour since I was 8 So heading into the feed zone on that first day I hit a spectator and hit the ground after that “Something's not quite right.” You know something's possibly broken I spent a lot of time at the doctor's car So I had to hold on to the car with a broken shoulder as she's pulling me along at 30 miles an hour and she's rubbing my eye “You have doping control” [basically a random drug test] Which was rough—I have use of only one arm we ran through the whole process: got stitches in my brow The X-ray showed everything was still okay And then he rolled over the spine of the left scapula and you could see a fracture right through the middle of it So seeing that little black line was pretty crushing We started talking: “The way it's fractured it's secure.” It's not like the scapula was in two pieces “There's a chance you could continue,” it's not a chance We got back to the hotel and met with our physical therapist I couldn't lift my left arm three inches We're part of the MPCC [Movement for Credible (Drug-Free) Cycling] You can't take anything stronger than ibuprofen The first few days after the crash, the muscles in your shoulder and in your arm are tight. Every bump, every turn, every time you put on the brakes, there's shooting pain. It was rough. I couldn't get out of the saddle at all for four- or five-hour stages, 120-mile days on the bike. The cobblestones were definitely a big obstacle. Those are hard on the body when you're healthy. You're riding over the absolute worst terrain that the organizers of the Tour de France can find. Honestly, I came into the Tour excited for the cobbles, and that turned into fear pretty quickly. It was a brutal day. We had made leaps and bounds in terms of rehab, but you're still racing with a hair fracture in your shoulder blade. The last road stage was one of the hardest I've ever done, just with the mountains that we climbed. I was off the back. But I was just telling myself, “What is fighting tooth and nail to make it over this mountain? What is that compared to what I've had to do for the last three weeks?” Finally, on Stage 20, you realize, “Okay. This is it. This is the final obstacle.” And then when I finally saw the one-kilometer banner, it was a pretty emotional moment. Crossing the finish line [in Paris], I saw my parents were there. My wife, my brother were there. They made the trip to Paris to be there for me. My brother squeezed a bit too hard. “Lanterne Rouge” comes from the olden days. Trains would put a red lantern on the last car to signal at each stop, “This is the last car.” That's how the last place in the Tour de France got its name. In no race do you wanna be last. But a lot of times it tells a story of who had the hardest time getting from the start to the finish. And while I didn't look for it coming into the race, I was last place, and I'm proud of it. A version of this story originally appeared in the December 2018/January 2019 issue with the title "Tour De F#©k-It-I-Got-This." You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker This year’s race begins in the Vendée and heads across northern France before turning south to the Alps and the Pyrénées Stage one, Noirmoutier-en-Isle-Fontenay le Comte 201kmStage 1A flat opener no doubt amid relief that the race is not crossing to the mainland via the tidal causeway of Le Passage du Gois although with long stretches on exposed coastal roads if the wind blows the race could splinter as it did in Holland in 2015 a sprint from a reduced bunch is a near-certainty with a single fourth-cat climb: another day for Mark Cavendish and company Time to explain a minor change to the format intended to liven up the the first nine stages; as well as time bonuses at the finish a few seconds are on offer at a sprint close to the finish; today’s is 14km out and should make the finale even more hectic For the GC men days one and two are about staying upright and in touch This is the first chance for gaps to open – particularly if it’s breezy or wet – and all eyes will be on Team Sky who have yet to win a Tour team time trial peppered with corners and with two little hills after halfway to put any strugglers under pressure Into the cycling heartland of Brittany for a third sprint day - no wonder the young Australian fastman Caleb Ewan was devastated to be left out The race should have a more controlled pattern now – breakaway sprint – where it is to be hoped that Peter Sagan will stay in a straight line avoiding last year’s controversy and a final 100 kilometres with five climbs with the bonus sprint on a further short ascent near the finish A good day for a break as the finale will be hard to control or for a sprinter who can climb like Sagan or Arnaud Démare A classic tense stage when the Tour won’t be won but it could be lost dead straight Breton Alpe d’Huez in the final 16 kilometres: the first true test for the overall contenders The run-in to the climb the first time will be hectic as the riders fight for position; a crash or a puncture could be ruinous this climb favours riders such as Spain’s Alejandro Valverde or Chris Froome probably with the wind on the riders’ backs on the rolling roads of Normandy; this will be fast and it is destined for a sprint although if the breeze is north-westerly and teams feel enterprising the race could split up in the finale One for the usual suspects: Mark Cavendish André Greipel and new kid on the block Fernando Gaviria The fifth flat day out of the first eight; let’s hope the sprints haven’t all gone to Marcel Kittel and that the shenanigans have been relatively restrained repeated small climbs and descents which look innocuous on the profile the wind could make life interesting; again Lots of cobbles on a potentially key stage: the final 109km includes 15 pavé sectors but offering little respite - the longest tarmac stretch is 12km - leaving little chance to regroup after a puncture or crash Toughest section is Camphin-en-Pévèle at 18km to go this could be carnage; Geraint Thomas will fancy his chances but Vincenzo Nibali won the 2014 race on a similar stage A lengthy transfer to the Alps for more off-roading two kilometres of unpaved road on the hors-catégorie Col de Glières; three other climbs will provide a rude awakening after nine stages on the flat With a descent to the finish after the brutal double of the Cols de Romme and Colombière the script is an attack from Romain Bardet Following the recent trend for short mountain stages this has three major ascents including a summit finish; La Rosière is draggy rather than steep so the main selection will come over the Cormet de Roselend tackled mid-stage after 38 mainly uphill kilometres One for a specialist climber with a sprint so ideal for a Movistar rider such as Mikel Landa or Alejandro Valverde a very traditional climbing stage: the Cols de Madeleine and Croix-de-Fer – 25km and 29km long respectively – followed by the Tour’s toughest summit finish With masses of points on offer in the King of the Mountains someone will take an option on that jersey here with the the overall distilled to half-a-dozen contenders at most The overall battle will go back on hold for a typical contest between a break and the sprinters teams depending on what they have in their legs after surviving the Alps rolling roads in the middle as the route skirts the Vercors The sprinters teams should handle it but it could be tight One of the few days when the break is highly likely to stay away so the tussle to get in it will be intense and the steep finish climb up to the airport is made for Julian Alaphilippe although British fans remember this as where Wirral’s finest Steve Cummings outwitted Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot for a tactically perfect win back in 2015 this includes the first-category Pic de Nore 40km from the finish with an elite selection of overall contenders behind them But these are roads eminently suited to a surprise attack from an all rounder such as Nibali the final week opens with a lengthy run in to the Pyrénées and three short steep climbs The winner should come from the early escape - a climber such as David Gaudu or Pello Bilbao - while the elite group of overall contenders are liable to watch and wait with tomorrow in mind this short stage will see the favourites “gridded” at the start as the battle for position will be intense with the race heading straight up the Col de Peyresourde before a summit finish made for Rafal Majka or Nairo Quintana – 2,215m above sea level after a 16km climb it should at least whittle the overall contenders down to two or three An abrupt transition to flat roads could offer an intriguing diversion from the main plot; a similar stage in 2012 witnessed a desperate contest to get in the early break This is the last chance for any non-climbers to try for the stage win – Edvard Boasson Hagen for example – and the sprinters’ teams may not be in sufficient shape to pull a group back A final day of classic Pyrenean climbing: the triptych of Aspin Aubisque – climbed via the little known Col des Bordères – before a descent to the finish A holding operation before the next day’s time trial for whoever is in yellow with a break going all the way – someone such as the Pole Rafal Majka for the win – and perhaps a final fight for the King of the Mountains jersey over a distance that would have been termed short in the 1980s or 1990s the final contre-la-montre witnessed a fraught battle for the podium The Basque country course is far from flat so Chris Froome will start favourite rather than Tom Dumoulin although the ups and downs will also suit Richie Porte the now-traditional evening stage in the heart of Paris and again using the full circuit around the Arc de Triomphe It’s 15 years since this was won from a break so the sprint seems inevitable: last year victory went to Dylan Groenewegen and this finish has also smiled on Mark Cavendish and André Greipel – but who will be in yellow This article was amended on 5 July 2018 to correct the name of Dylan Groenewegen from Tom Groenewegen as an earlier version said In a frenzied finale to the opening stage when the peloton fought for space on narrow roads, the defending champion edged too close to the verge, lost control and fell heavily on his right side, starting yet another Grand Tour with a fall, as was also the case in May’s Giro d’Italia. the right side of his white jersey shredded along with his fellow Briton Adam Yates and Australia’s Richie Porte lost just over a minute to the stage winner “I’m just grateful I’m not injured,” Froome said “There were a lot of crashes out there but that’s part of the game unfortunately.” Froome said much the same after his heavy crash in Jerusalem at the start of this year’s Giro but with Monday’s crucial team time trial and the following weekend’s cobbled stage to Roubaix looming on the horizon Froome crashed in the opening week and started the cobbled stage hampered by broken bones in both hands he was forced to abandon the race even before reaching the dreaded cobbled roads of what is known as the Hell of the North his climbing teammate Egan Bernal also fell victim to a crash in the last 10km of racing that left him cut adrift from the main field Bernal’s fellow Colombian Nairo Quintana also had a torrid time breaking both his wheels and being left to fend for himself by his all-star Movistar team Quintana’s wheel changes took an age and cost him well over a minute to the co-leaders who survived the chaos to finish with the front group Quintana’s hopes of overall victory look to be receding a select group of the peloton’s best sprinters fought for the stage win with the Tour debutant Gaviria taking Colombia’s first sprint stage win from Peter Sagan chasing Eddy Merckx’s record of 34 Tour stage wins “There’s probably 10 teams that want to be in the front,” said Cavendish’s key lead-out man Mark Renshaw “There’s only 10 spots in the front so there’s only 10 riders who can be there Even before the race began, rider security and the hostility directed towards Froome had become a pressing issue. But Froome’s sports director, Nicolas Portal, insisted that neither his team leader nor his team would change their strategy or tactics because of intimidation. “I am never going to ask Chris ‘please stay in the bunch’, because it is too dangerous, especially if it is a moment for him to win the Tour,” Portal said. “That is why we have to have a constructive relationship with the UCI and race organiser, so we can avoid this kind of situation.” But the focus of attention has now moved from Froome’s salbutamol levels to the credibility of Wada’s testing procedures, with the UCI president, David Lappartient, among those to call for a review by Wada. “The test doesn’t seem to be strong enough, to be honest, and I think that Wada will have to review it,” Lappartient told the Observer. “But I fully understand the feelings from the fans. “Froome was guilty for some of them, so they think it’s the fault of the UCI. But that’s not the reality at all, because the Froome case does not constitute an anti-doping rule violation.” Lappartient denied he was the source of the original leak, as some within the Tour convoy have suggested. “There is no truth in that, but I know who said that and I know who has an advantage in saying that,” the Frenchman said. “The reality is that it didn’t come from me or from the UCI. What could be the advantage for me to have a big crisis like this?” This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025. The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media. The Tour is set to get under way Noirmoutier-en-l’Île in the Vendée department in north-west France at around 10am BST making a 201km journey to Fontenay-le-Comte I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice The Tour de France begins on Saturday 7 July and we now know that Chris Froome will be racing, have been absolved of any wrongdoing in his Salbutamol case and given the go-ahead to ride by the race organisers, ASO. Froome is the favourite to win the Tour but he faces stiff competition from a strong Movistar team featuring the Colombian Nairo Quintana, the experienced Alejandro Valverde and Froome’s former teammate, Mikel Landa, as well as a host of others such as BMC’s Richie Porte and Bahrain-Merida’s Vincenzo Nibali. This year, the race’s start – the Grand Départ – begins in the north-west of the country. The Tour will then head over the cobbles of northern France, over the Pyrenees and the Alps and back to Paris for the 21st and final stage. The Tour is set to get under way Noirmoutier-en-l’Île in the Vendée department in north-west France at around 10am BST, making a 201km journey to Fontenay-le-Comte. Stage 1 is a relatively flat route along the coastline which could be affected by crosswinds coming from the Atlantic. Take a look at our stage-by-stage guide for more on the route: Eurosport and ITV will be broadcasting every stage live while The Independent will provide live blogs to keep you updated. This year the race is almost exclusively in France, taking in some of the iconic climbs like Alpe d’Huez and the Tourmalet, with a brief dalliance in the Spanish Pyrenees the only period outside The race will end as it traditionally does, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, on Sunday 29 July when the winner will be crowned. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies odds and more","description":"The Tour is set to get under way Noirmoutier-en-l’Île in the Vendée department in north-west France at around 10am BST The grand départ of the 2018 Tour takes place next weekend on the Atlantic coast Our writer rides his Brompton through dunes and forests with pit stops to sample fine local seafood The beaches, forests, lagoons and marshes of the Vendée coast will provide a scenic backdrop to the start of this year’s Tour de France on 7 July. And while football fans can’t have a kickabout on the pitch before a World Cup game, anyone with a bike can have a go at riding a stage of the Tour. But I looked at the race route and soon realised I’d best forget the bits that use fast main roads; instead I’d follow the traffic-free coastal bike path, the longest of the Vendée’s 1,800km of waymarked, often traffic-free cycling routes. Read moreI rode south on a cycleway whose verges were dotted with purple marsh orchids whitewashed windmills with witch’s hat roofs and a long tidal lagoon home to a large and noisy population of seabirds when they’re a stopping-off point for migrating species Noirmoutier’s rich but sandy soil is known for growing excellent potatoes claims the title of the world’s most expensive spud bonnottes are harvested by hand and can fetch absurd prices in Paris a much longer route along France’s Atlantic coast from Roscoff in Brittany all the way to the Basque country It’s well-signposted and my first few hours took me through fragrant coastal forests of pines evergreen oaks and mimosas bursting with scented yellow blossom Read moreAfter more sandy beaches, forest tracks, canals and marshes, I reached Les Sables-d’Olonne and the end of my first day’s ride. Its long seafront promenade looks out over the biggest expanse of sand I’ve ever seen, and its port is the start and end point of the Vendée Globe the solo round-the-world yacht race that is one of the few sporting events to rival the Tour de France as a test of physical and mental endurance It was once home to the largest cod fishing fleet in France Early morning guided tours of the wholesale market and auction halls are available (€6.30 Plage du Veillon is huge and back by dunes. Photograph: Jack ThurstonThe next morning I stopped for a swim at Plage du Veillon, a huge dune-backed strand with a surf school and a stylish, wood-clad beachfront bistro From here, I followed the Vélodyssée route inland across the Payré estuary. My destination was Port de la Guittière, home to France’s smallest oyster farm, Viviers de la Guittière where the oysters grow in sacks tied to wooden posts in the esturary’s clear water I ate a dozen oysters (€10 with a glass of local white wine) They engage all the senses: the scent of the sea cut with aniseed and wild thyme; the colours of blue-green sea holly and acid yellow and green euphorbia; the rustling sound of wind-blown marram grass it is decorated with exotic artefacts and hunting trophies: a tiger skin rug But Clemenceau’s greatest joy was the garden which he designed with the painter Claude Monet It is an impressionist vision of a Vendée dunescape with loose drifts of plants in a naturalistic style that was ahead of its time a century ago the area around La Tranche-sur-Mer is all holiday villas coastal forests and a seemingly endless sandy beach that’s perfect windsurfing as much of the cycleway runs alongside a busy main road; it gets more interesting around the mussel country of L’Aiguillon-sur-Mer Everywhere I looked little places were offering moules marinières a small museum just outside Chaillé-les-Marais (adult €5/adult) there were brightly painted bicycles and homemade banners welcoming the Tour It’s an honour for a town or village to be on the route and councils vie to host the start of a stage or For the Tour is much more than the world’s biggest bike race; it’s a 3,000km rolling jamboree in which France celebrates cycling and itself the teams will be ramping up the pace as each lead-out train jostles to deliver its star sprinter to the front of the pack in the final few hundred metres My Brompton and I continued our more leisurely journey following the meandering River Vendée upstream to the finishing line in the town of Fontenay-le-Comte The professionals will cover the distance in less than five hours But I’d seen a whole lot more of a corner of France that Bike hireFor short trips, it’s usually not worth taking your own bike, as bike hire is widely available in the region. Reckon on €100-€120 a week for a decent hybrid or tourer. Lyn Eyb of freewheelingfrance.com offers a free service matching cyclists with bike hire providers and arranging one-way hires Regional trains carry bikes for free and are a great way to get back to the start point of a linear ride Unless a bike folds – such as my Brompton – and can be checked in as normal luggage airlines levy an extra cost for bicycles (£40 each way) Le Petit Bouchot, an elegant seafood restaurant in Noirmoutier. On Noirmoutier, Hôtel Villa en l’Île (doubles from €62 B&B) is between the town centre and the wooded north coast Le Petit Banc (dinner only, three courses €25.50) has just seven tables and serves traditional Lyonnaise cuisine. For seafood, Le Petit Bouchot (menus from €20.50) is an elegant restaurant with rough limestone walls and an outside terrace In Les Sables d’Olonne, Maison l’épicurienne (doubles from €85 B&B two nights minimum) is a boutique B&B by the beach At Plage du Veillon, La Plage (mains €12-€17) is a stylish bistro serving moules frites In La Tranche-Sur-Mer, Les Isles offers a bewildering choice of artisanal-ice creams and sorbets while Slice Cafe breaks from French staples to serve fancy burgers, bagels and vegetarian dishes. L’Equinox has a great terrace by the beach The trip was provided by the tourist boards of Vendée and Pays de la Loire Jack Thurston is the author of the Lost Lanes series of cycling guidebooks Looking for cycling holiday inspiration? Browse The Guardian’s selection of cycling holidays on the Guardian Holidays website Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España.Get the latest with our sport podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.Watch on SBS SportSport News Now that the Chris Froome situation has reached a conclusion to everyone’s satisfaction and the UCI has expressed its hope that we can all focus on it’s time to take a look at the 105th Tour de France which starts on Saturday in Noirmoutier-en-l’Île with a sprinter’s stage ending in Fontenay-le-Comte Canadian Cycling Magazine will examine the route After a couple of sprint stages where Peter Sagan Arnaud Démare and Andre Greipel grapple for yellow the riders face the 35-km team time trial in Cholet where wind could play havoc with the eight-man formations At least two teams will have lost riders in the first two stages a Classics day awaits in Brittany on Stage 5: 200-km from Lorient to Quimper with 10 hills to climb and an uphill finish The next day the field will tackle the Mûr de Bretagne twice the race takes on the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix including the brutal Mons en Pevele section In all there will 15 cobbled sectors for 21.7-km on Stage 9 before the first rest day and instead of packing them all in the latter half of the stage The cobbles might be the only thing that can stop Chris Froome A transfer south to the Alps ushers in the first big mountains The La Rosière and L’Alpe d’Huez summit finishes will provide the second week’s big GC skirmishes on Stages 11 and 12 First comes Stage 10’s taste of the mountains and a serving of hairy dirt roads The 2-km of dirt comes at the end of the 6-km Before the finish in Le Grand-Bornand the riders will climb the Col de Colombiere Stage 11 is short at 108-km but has four ascents including the first summit finish on La Rosière Alpe d’Huez comes at the conclusion of 175-km Stage 12 with the Col de la Croix de Fer situated just past the mid-way point It’s been three years since the storied 21-hairpin turns of Alpe d’Huez last appeared The climb ascends for 13.8-km at 8.1 percent with a maximum of 13 percent Madeleine + Croix de Fer + Alpe d'Huez = 5 000 m D+ #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/oMEPeA74j1 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 17, 2017 La nouveauté : Col de Portet – 2215 m – 16 km – 8,7% #TDF2018 pic.twitter.com/V523yGas8O — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) October 17, 2017 The last mountain stage on July 27 contains four big climbs the Tourmalet and finally the Aubisque peaking 20-km from the line in Laruns The final test of the GC men will come on the hilly 31-km individual time trial in the Basque Country The course is hilly enough to give the non-specialists a chance with the Côte de Pinodieta (900-metres at 10.2 per cent) situated near the end A procession into Paris for the sprint on the Champs Elysees is July 29 Get the digital edition of Canadian Cycling Magazine Δdocument.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value" French boatbuilder Ocea recently delivered two type FPB72 fast patrol boats to the Nigerian Navy and won a new order placed by the same client The all-aluminium FPB72 is 24m long with a beam of 5.8m It has a top speed of 35 knots and a range of 600nm at 12kts The hulls were produced by Ocea’s Fontenay-le-Comte yard and fitted out at Sables d’Olonne the boats were sent to Saint-Nazaire where they were loaded onto the deck of a cargo ship bound for Nigeria Ocea delivered three type FPB72 craft to the Nigerian Navy in 2012 followed by a 32-metre type FPB98 in 2013 The latest order is for three more type FPB72s while the group also holds an order by the same client for two FPB110 MkIIs currently under construction These 35-metre FPBs are based on ten similar boats delivered to Kuwait between 2003 and 2005 the main difference between the two versions being in their propulsion systems the Nigerian FPB110 MkIIs will have conventional twin screws and shaftlines instead of waterjets One of the FPB110s ready for delivery to Kuwait in the early 2000s (© Mer et Marine - Vincent Groizeleau) The two FPB110 MkIIs and the three additional FPB72s are scheduled for delivery in early 2018 the hulls will be built at Fontenay-le-Comte and fitted out at Sables d’Olonne Whereas hulls produced by the Fontenay yard were previously fitted out at Saint-Nazaire this is no longer possible as the yard is fully booked Ocea’s Saint-Nazaire yard produces structures for cruise ships Although the value of the orders booked fell in 2016 In addition to the FPBs on order for Nigeria the orderbook counts six other FPBs and passenger vessels The group hopes to win a new order for five FPB98s and is actively working on crew boat and yacht projects has been selected for a driver’s spot for the EuroNascar season 2023 after a drivers recruitment day held at EuroNASCAR’s test track in Fontenay le Comte The 16-year-old Coastie who grew up in Killcare began his formal motorsport career in Formula Ford He’d previously raced go-carts when attending the Central Coast Sports School Last year Max competed in the EuroNASCAR Club Challenge in Racingfuel Motorsport’s number 58 Chevrolet Camaro at Zolder Belgium making a stunning impression on race organisers The cars in the series house 5.7 litre naturally aspirated V8 engines with a power output of 450 hp or 340 kW Talking to media after trials Max said “The car’s super fast and super fun it’s a great experience and it’s something new as I’m not used to this kind of vehicle “I’ve had a little bit of experience in the EuroNASCAR car before but this circuit is really fun and it suits the car very well.” said young Max Mason is a new breed of driver who uses simulated digital racing technology to enhance his driving skills He reportedly uses high-end simulators many hours a day to get used to a track before jumping into the super high-powered cars he now drives Max follows in the footsteps of the only other Australian driver to compete in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series after Josh Burdon who finished second in the EuroNASCAR 2 championship in 2013 The 2023 season begins on May 6th with the Valencia NASCAR Fest at Spain’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo The young upcoming racing star is currently negotiating with various professional teams that are keen to sign him up Though thanks to his outstanding track times his season selection is assured In his spare time, the young driver hosts a motorsport podcast called Path to the Podium, featuring interviews of drivers and engineers and organisers. Local motorhead fans can watch the series as all the qualifying and race sessions for the 2023 season will be broadcast live on EuroNASCAR’s YouTube channel, Motorsport.tv and select TV channels around the world. I travel on the new trains daily from Woy Woy to Central and vice versa. I love the new trains apart from (the fact) they are absolutely freezing. I bought… Business NSW has congratulated Central Coast Federal MPs Emma McBride (Dobell), Dr Gordon Reid (Robertson) and Pat Conroy (Shortland) on their re-election on May 3 and called for a renewed… Humpty Dumpty Foundation has sprung into action to help Central Coast Local Health District provide seven breast pumps for its midwifery and Aboriginal health services. The Pumped For Life Mother’s… is back to present his delicious fourteenth serve of Taste le Tour a gastronomic journey that follows the route of the 21 stages of the epic Tour de France cycling event Gabriel discovers the beauty and the specialities of the region leaving you wanting more