final sprint to the finish

Final Sprint: A stage by stage recap.

Stage 1: Off to a good start. Finishing the day in the top 20.



Stage 3: As it wasn't the best day for Robbie McEwan and Mark Cavendish, et al, it wasn't that great a day for me as well.
Not much progress was made on the Clapotis today. I was hoping to get a few dropped stitches in but only made it to the first.

Stage 4: I need to bump up the pace a bit and 'put the hammer down', if I want to get this finished before Paris.



Stage 6: The rain proved to be a problem. No progress once again. Much slipping and sliding and lots of road furniture to deal with.

Stage 8: Managed to get some much needed knitting done on the clapotis despite a slight mechanical problem. Tangled yarn. I had to do some creative cutting and splicing. It has about a foot in length now. Not bad, but not good.

Stage 9: Just like the sprinters in this stage, I fell back into the "autobus". I really need to get some knitting done on this scarf or it will never get finished by the end of the tour. I believe I was distracted by the beautiful French scenery, or was it a pretty sock?




Stage 12 & 13: It was a good couple of days for Team Columbia! Mark Cavendish wins a couple more stages. Love these sprint days. Nice and flat. No uphill=progress. I also had a great day. Making some much needed gains on the clapotis. That "sprint to the finish" racked up some much needed points in the Green Jersey competition.



Stage 16: Some Tour knitting got done, but unfortunately not as much as I would have liked. The descent from Cime de la Bonette-Restefond was a treacherous one for many, especially for Augustyn and Vande Velde. My descending wasn't as great either. Just a bit of road rash visible across the finish line today. No falls off the mountain road, but more time lost. There will be some more uphill knitting tomorrow. It is going to be another long mountain stage.

Stage 17: L'Alpe d'Hues. du Galibier. Enough said.

Stage 18: I find herself fighting to stay within contact of the peloton every time the roads start to go up. I am just not a climber. I haven't even made it halfway through the clapotis. I will have to knit these last three days like crazy to see if I can make up any time lost on these mountain stages.

Stage 19: Made it into the breakaway today and got some much needed points in the race for the Green Jersey.



Stage 20: The time trial is over. It was a tough one. I was dancing on the peddles for over an hour but, unfortunately, had as much luck as Frank Schleck in the end. The green jersey will not be on my back on the road in to Paris tomorrow.

Stage 21: Sprint finish, but got boxed in. No chance to get enough points in the Green Jersey competition this year. Better luck next year.

Despite not finishing the clapotis in time and not getting to pull on the green jersey in Paris, I did get myself a few stage wins that I am happy with. Three FO's while competing in the TdF is quite a feat in itself.




Perhaps that should have been my goal for this TdFKal.
Can't wait for next year.