This Week's Schedule is Totally Messed Up & Le Tour

This week's schedule is a mess. Tomorrow is the 4th of July holiday, so I won't be posting. So, today, I'm giving you today and tomorrow's profile for Le Tour de France stages 3 and 4. As for my personal schedule, it's all over the place. Normally I swim on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This week, because of the holiday and an eye doctor appointment, I'm swimming today, Thursday and Friday. Like I said ... it's a mess - LOL. 

As Le Tour enters France, where it will stay for the 
remainder of the race, we've got a "flat" stage. Now this 
doesn't look like a flat profile, but these are minor 
hills - nothing like the Pyrenees or the Alps to come. 

Today, Le Tour moves from the Basque country into France, where it will be for the remainder of the race. We've got two flat days ahead before the mountains on Wednesday and Thursday. This is one of the few opportunities for the sprinters to shine, and one of the few opportunities for Mark Cavendish to set a Tour record with the most stage wins. He tied the great Eddie Merckx last year, and despaired of getting onto a team this year to try and break that record. It's probably his only chance to do that, and all he has to do is win one stage, but we all know that's a much easier thing to say than to do. Still, he's got a chance over the next two days, and if he can survive the mountains ahead, he'll have one more chance on Stage 11 and Stage 19 (again, if he survives a lot of mountains). It's a brutal course this year. 

On Day 4, the 4th of July holiday, that "flat" stage is 
hilly once again, but it's the rolling up and down of 
standard topography. Not quite the flats of Nebraska, 
but closer to the rolling flat lands of the Nebraska/Kansas 
border. Certainly NOT the ups and downs of the 
Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevada peaks. 

In any case, it's a solid nine days of racing before the first rest day, and the riders have only raced two days so far. There have already been riders who have been dropped - mostly because of injuries in a pile-up on Day 1. What a sad thing - to work all year to qualify and start Le Tour, and then to go out on Day 1 because of a crash on the road. Totally sucks! 

The nice thing about Peacock is that I already have 
it loaded on my phone and my laptop from last year's 
Olympics and some golf tournaments. This is the 
first year I've had to pay for it, though. It used to be 
a free perk with my Xfinity subscription. Now I have 
to pay $5/month. I'll live with it. 

But I'm glued to my phone in the early mornings, watching Le Tour on Peacock. As I understand it, the only network coverage in the USA will be on the first day (already past) and the final day (July 23rd). I don't get Peacock for free any more, so I actually signed up and am paying them $5/month. Yes, I am a Le Tour junkie - LOL. 

The riders all know that they need to grab opportunity 
when it presents itself, but they have to do it with 
intelligence. It's a long race, and overextending themselves
for no gain will not serve them over the 21 race days. 

So, as I wrap things up and head to the pool, I'll be thinking of today's stage. Flat stages usually aren't of much interest, but the riders know that these days are totally wrapped up in strategy and that the unexpected can happen with complacency. Come to think of it - that's rather a good description of life in general, isn't it? Make your plan, try to stay with it, but be ready to change at the drop of a hat when necessary. Have an excellent Monday, and a great 4th of July holiday. I'll be back on Wednesday. Slava Ukraini.