!http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/fredrod.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/fredrod.jpg!Today’s stage was much harder. More guys seemed interested in going on the attack.

I was feeling a bit better on the bike. I didn't have to keep checking my saddle like I did yersterday, thinking it was crooked, when it was actually my back.

The roads today proved to be a challenge. They were small and rough, which made it feel slower...and harder on the body.

The wind was a bit of a challenge as well, as guys kept fighting for position, waiting for the moment when the field could split. That only happened once, when Liquigas put everyone in the gutter. The field split in half and I was left with the second half. I didn't panic, seeing most of the Discovery guys missed the split. But I wondered what the Liquigas guys had in mind. Did they really think they were going to keep that pace for the next 150 kilometers? I don't think they really thought that plan through very well.

About halfway through the stage, my left hand started bothering me. I think the crash caused some pinching in my upper back, which went through my arm and down to my hand.

Everything was going as planned. CSC did most of the riding so we all waited a bit longer before we put any of our guys up to help in the chase. Today we decided to use two guys, but to rotate them so they wouldn’t have to work all day. We also didn't send them up until 50 kilometers to go.

We knew the road to the finish today was big and the wind was coming from behind, so it meant for a fast finish.

The fight in the last 10 kilometers proved to be intense. Everyone wanted to be in the action. I tried to surf the peloton as much as possible and keep an eye on Robbie. We also had Leif to help out, so he did the majority of the work keeping Robbie out of trouble. I just kept nearby for the final.

As we approached 3 kilometers, we fought to move up but hit too much wind. We noticed Wim was setting the pace very high, so I yelled on the radio for him to pull off, which would allow us to catch our breath and move up a bit faster.

Things started to get crazy. We sat about 20 back and lost Leif for a bit. With about 800 meters, I wanted to make a big move forward to put us within the front 10 guys. Robbie yelled for me to wait. I waited a bit longer, the speed picked up, then Leif appeared. I got on his wheel and he gave it one more hard pull.

But this time he wasn’t making any ground. The speed was too high and he was slowing. He finally pulled off, but at that moment the speed was so high that we had nowhere to go. The road got narrow and we almost didn’t make it. We had to break for a split second and that was basically it. Robbie sprinted around me but it was too late. We were too far back to even take part in the sprint.

We made a couple key mistakes.

First, we misread the finish. I think partly because we were aware of how small and dangerous the roads have been the last couple of stages...so we fought to stay up front too much. We normally wait longer to hit the front.

Second, at 800m, we should have made the big pass to put us in a better position before the big acceleration.

Third, I should have jumped around Leif when I saw he wasn't hitting the speed to pass.

Fourth (and probably the biggest), we sat on the outside of the peloton too much. If you pay attention to the aerodynamics, the front of the peloton is breaking the wind to the sides, so the wind could actually be higher in this area at it picks up the speed to go around. We sat in that spot a bit too much.

But these are all mistakes we will carry to the rest of the tour. Live and learn.

Everything else on the team is going well. The guys are happy and we’re having fun, even if most of the hotels the tour is putting us at are no better than youth hostels. I bet the president of ASO isn’t sleeping on the floor tonight. I had to take off the bottom of my bed to make sure I don’t end up with a sore back tomorrow.

Thanks for your support and wish us luck.

As we bikers say: "Rubber side down."

Freddie

Colombian-born Freddie Rodriguez is a professional American road racing cyclist. He is a three-time US national champion and currently races for team Predictor-Lotto. His Fast Freddie Coffee, the Fast Freddie Foundation, and his new Team Fast Freddie raise funds to support youth cycling in America. Freddie resides in Emeryville, California, and Girona, Spain. Freddie is riding this year's Tour and will give us an insider's perspective on life inside the peloton. He welcomes questions and will try to respond during the Tour.

!http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/fredrod.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/fredrod.jpg!Thank you for your concerns.

I’m starting to feel better.

I had to spend most of the evening at the hospital making sure I could get the green light for the start.  I’ve also had to eat a bit more as my body needs the calories to recover from the energy.

My body is in protection mode, so most of my energy goes into healing.

It will probably take five days to start to come around again.

Freddie

!http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/Pensec4150x150.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/Pensec4150x150.jpg!A very conventional stage today if we didn't have that HEAVY CRASH in the dying moments.

This crash will be in all cyclists' heads tomorrow as it has completely changed the configuration of this race.

I was pretty much expecting a little match between Boonen and Oscar Frere today, but this crash changed everything and finally that is Boonen's teammate who stole the show.

Because of this crash that happened only two kilometres before the final sprint, we have had a pretty confused sprint when everybody was waiting for a big final.

Today's first and single échappée was the good one as it got only caught by peloton a few kilometres before the arrival. It has been a very strategic race today for all the teams that ended up in the unexpected finish.

Belgians were expecting a win of one their compatriot today but I bet they were not expecting Steegmans who usually prepares the sprint for Boonen who is anyway now on top of the rankings tonight.

Quick step has been lucky today and as I said yesterday this Tour will be lots of surprises but hopefully better than today's one.

Back tomorrow with some more hot news.

Ronan

Ronan Pensec participated in eight Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in 1990. He now operates Ronan Pensec Events, an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.

!http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/fredrod.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/fredrod.jpg!With 25km to go, Robbie got caught in a crash, largely due to the narrow roads.

With about 18km, Quickstep decided to take advantage of our problem. They increased the pace in hopes that Robbie would not come back. At that point everyone except Cadel, Horner and myself were sent back to chase and help Robbie.

The team did an incredible job closing the gap. With 9km to go, Robbie made contact with the back of the group. At that point, I was sitting behind the Quickstep lead out waiting for the guys to bring him up.

I drifted back a bit with 4km to go since I noticed that he was not there yet. With about 3km to go Robbie was on my wheel. We started our way up the group. We moved to the right in hopes of a better place to pass.

Robbie passed me to take advantage of an opening. At that moment, my teammate Leif Hoste was behind us and he yelled at me to let him pass through as well. Seeing that he was part of the lead out team, I gave way to him in hopes of putting all three of us in a good place for a strong lead out.

At that moment, we entered a technical and dangerous part of the course and Leif lost contact with Robbie.

Robbie found the sweet spot in all of the mess and was able to make some big passes with little effort.

I told Leif we had to go full gas or we would not make it for the lead out. He did a good job passing, but we came a bit short into the last corner and had to break before we made contact with Robbie.

I was within the first 20 guys and was able to see Robbie sitting well within the first 10. I also noticed no one had control of the lead out and the speed was low, which would favor Robbie's quickness.

I should point out that the rest of the top sprinters favor fast sprints. This was a twisty, low-speed sprint, which favors a true, fast-twitch sprinter like Robbie.

At that point, it looked like no one wanted to be the first one to jump, and they all waited. That put Robbie in perfect position to explode out of the pocket and accelerate to top speed before anyone could even get up to speed.

That's why Robbie's speed made such an impact when compared to the others.

We have radios so there's direct access to directors and everyone on the team. So we had full info about what was going on at all times.

We always celebrate with some champagne...and a big cheer that everyone in the restaurant can't hear.

Freddie

Colombian-born Freddie Rodriguez is a professional American road racing cyclist. He is a three-time US national champion and currently races for team Predictor-Lotto. His Fast Freddie Coffee, the [Fast Freddie Foundation|http://www.fastfreddiefoundation.com/], and his new Team Fast Freddie raise funds to support youth cycling in America. Freddie resides in Emeryville, California, and Girona, Spain. Freddie is riding this year's Tour and will give us an insider's perspective on life inside the peloton. He welcomes questions and will try to respond during the Tour.+

!http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/lim150x150.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/lim150x150.jpg!Although the prologue is the shortest event in the Tour de France it is by no means the easiest. At 7.9 km, the 9- to 10-minute all-out effort involved in the prologue is excruciating, requiring the complete utilization of both oxidative and non-oxidative energy systems. Generally speaking, this means that the athletes who do best in the prologue have the best combination of both aerobic and anaerobic power. That said, every athlete is different and for this time frame, some athletes better known as long time trial specialists or climbers may produce the majority of their power through aerobic systems while other athletes better known as sprinters or as pure prologue specialists may rely more on their anaerobic power.

Regardless, the prologue is a gut-wrenching effort that requires extraordinary effort, focus and, of course, fitness. Historically, this means that the winner of the Tour will generally make the top 10 in the prologue despite not being a prologue specialist. Still, the short time frame of the prologue means that a lot can go wrong. One bad corner, a slight loss of concentration, or a mechanical can mean the difference between making the top 10 or settling for the top 50. In addition, at between 30 to 33 mph, aerodynamic drag is the primary form of resistance holding back the riders on the essentially flat prologue course. Thus, decreasing aerodynamic resistance is as important if not more important than an athlete's ability to produce power during the prologue.

In today's prolgoue, Fabian Cancellara put in a truly amazing performance. In fact, I can't recall a rider putting in that dominating of a performance in the prologue since Chris Boardman set the Tour prologue speed record of 55.12 kph on a 7.2-km course in 1994. At 53.59 kph (33.2 mph) over today's 7.9 km course, I estimate that Cancellara had to maintain an average power of 541 watts (See this chart ). This would give him a power-to-weight ratio of 6.94 watts per kg. If all of his power came from only aerobic energy sources, then his maximal aerobic capacity or VO2 max would be, at the very least, a stunning 88 ml/kg/min (average Tour rider is about 75 ml/kg/min).

In contrast to Cancellara's performance, the next fastest time was Andreas Kloden who was almost 13 seconds slower. Though not as fast as Cancellara, Kloden's ride makes him one of the main athletes to watch at this year's Tour. For his time, I estimate that Kloden needed to average 462 watts. This gives him a power-to-weight ratio of 7.11 watts per kg, which is extraordinarily high for an athlete not known as a prologue specialist. What's more interesting is that despite finishing 3rd overall in last year's Tour, Kloden only finished 24th in the 2006 prologue--a 7.1-km flat course very similar to the course in London. In last year's prologue, I calculate that Kloden only averaged 400 watts. Thus, his estimated 62 watt gain is fairly remarkable and if he maintains that form through the next three weeks, my thought is that he could easily be this year's winner depending upon how his Astana team decides to play things tactically. With Vinokourov's seventh-place ride, there is no doubt that Astana is the strongest team in this year's Tour.

Another interesting result I noticed in today's prologue was the fact that only two riders from last year's top 10 made the top 10 again this year. Those riders were George Hincapie (464 watts in 2007 vs. 460 watts in 2006) and Vladimir Karpets (485 watts in 2007 vs. 465 watts in 2006) with Dave Zabriskie (434 watts in 2007 vs. 423 watts in 2006) just missing at 11th place. The rest of the top 10 was made up of four riders not in the 2006 Tour (Cancellara, Gusev, Vinokourov, and Dekker) and four riders making from extremely significant improvements to slight improvements over their performance in 2006.

Finally, I couldn't help but notice the strong ride of Bradley Wiggins (4th) and David Millar (13th) in their home country. Both riders made improvements over their prologue performance from last year. In an event with so little allowable margin of error, it's nice to see riders still elevate their performance when it really counts. In the end, this year's Tour won't only be made with great power, equipment and tactics, it will be made with the heart and passion of some truly incredible athletes and support staff. In the end, it's not so much about the science as it is the intangible spirit of the human will. With that in mind, I look forward to not only giving Active readers some scientific insight at this year's Tour but to also shed some light on the more human side of the greatest race in the world.

--Allen

Dr. Allen Lim received his Ph.D. in Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Prior to obtaining his doctorate, Dr. Lim did his undergraduate training in Exercise Science at the University of California at Davis and completed his master's degree in Exercise Physiology. Dr. Lim has extensive coaching experience. He guided the UC Davis Cycling Team to its first national championship and coached the resident national cycling team at the US Olympic Training Center. He has also coached numerous amateur, professional, and Olympic athletes. He founded and acted as the full-time director of the Celestial Seasonings Professional Cycling Team and serves as the Director of Education for the Saris Cycling Group, Dr. Lim is also a partner of ThriveHFM, a health and fitness management consulting group, as well as the Director of Development for the Boulder Life Performance Center.

!http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/Pensec4150x150.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/Pensec4150x150.jpg!First of all, I must confess I have not been so excited like this since a few years!

I can tell you that this '07 Tour de France will be one of the most open, uncertain and exciting to watch, for sure.

It’s clear that there are many players in the field who could win in three weeks' time. There is no team today that will have the control of the peloton and I think this is why teams will have to play it strategic, will have to be offensive, and riders will have to be able to create and catch opportunities along the race!

Everybody has been talking about Vinokourov here for weeks, and all the media are already making him champion. Well, I can tell you that there is a lot of pressure on his shoulders; I could feel it today when he was talking to the media, and I think the media will not actually help him to raise his level to win this Tour. We will see how it goes, but today, it is Klöden who really impressed me.

We have a potential champion here. No one is talking much about him so he is in a very good position to create some surprises. And as I said, this Tour de France is going to be full of surprises!

Ladies and gentlemen, there is 3,570 km to get to Paris now and I’ve not felt so excited like that for some time now. If I was listening to my heart, I would jump on my bike and run one more!

Back tomorrow with some more hot news, meanwhile enjoy the show!”

Ronan Pensec participated in eight Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in 1990. He now operates Ronan Pensec Events, an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.