!http://www.active.com/Assets/Cycling/RobKlingensmith.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/Assets/Cycling/RobKlingensmith.jpg!I'm sitting on a grassy slope, just below the 2km-to-go banner on the hors categorie climb of Plateau Beille. I'm filing today's blog directly from the race course, thanks to a slick 1-pound computer I carried in my backpack called a FlipStart . It's the "mini me" of full-featured laptops, at a fraction of their size and weight.

Today's race is the first of three consecutive Pyrenean stages that, together, will probably determine the outcome of this year's Tour de France. Now is the time for those cyclists who consider themselves climbers to go toe-to-toe with yellow jersey-holder Michael Rasmussen.

I left my bed-and-breakfast this morning and joined an American group from Ride Strong Bike Tours  for the 40-kilometer ride from Foix to the base of the climb in La Cabannes. The town was jammed with cone-licking Tour fans and media trucks, so I grabbed a quick sandwich and pointed my Cervélo towards the mountain.

The serpentine road up Plateau Beille is 16 kilometers long, with plenty of sections that exceed 10 percent gradient. It's a very difficult climb and a perfect end to today's challenging stage.

Today, virtually every inch of road is occupied by fans who claimed the best vantage points up to three days ago. Thanks to their boistrous cheering and encouragement, the steep climb wasn't too bad.

Thousands of other cyclists were on the road, and the common strategy was to weave your way to the summit finish line, then descend to a choice location on the upper elevations to view the race.

Before any pro cyclists can be seen, however, the daily parade of Tour sponsor floats and vehicles roll by, throwing candy and useless schwag to the crowd. This whips everyone up into more of a frenzy, if the all-day, beer-steeped tailgaiting parties weren't enough.

By now, you'll know the outcome of today's race, and will probably watch it on TV tonight. But nothing beats the experience of joining an international crowd of cycling fanatics on the slopes of a mountain stage, for a glimpse of the athletes and hours of cultural immersion in the Tour de France.

Rob

Rob Klingensmith is an avid recreational cyclist and an executive at Active.com. Rob will provide a unique perspective on what it's like to be inside some of the most decisive stages of 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!The hard thing about this is it’s not the first time I have faced a survival day at the Tour. So I knew exactly what I had ahead of me.

In most races under these strains, I just pull out and recover for the next one. But it’s almost a tradition that you go out there for the Tour de France until you can't go any more.

I woke up this morning feeling very sore, especially my right hamstring. I just couldn’t use it. I wasn’t sure how I would pull that off on the bike. My body was in a bit of shock. My stomach was giving me problems. I couldn’t eat.

When the race started, I had no idea what my outcome would be. I braced myself for the first attack. All I could do was hold the wheel in front of me. The wind came from the side, and I knew it was going to be a battle.

I kept finding myself at the back of the group just hanging on for dear life. I couldn’t activate my left hamstring so it felt like I was pedaling a BMX bike.

At one point, I couldn’t take it anymore. I really thought that was it. I was going to pull out. But I kept fighting and kept fighting, since I seemed to have just a little more fight in me. Or it could have been that the fight in the others was starting to die.

I somehow survived the crosswinds and kept contact with the field. But I knew the battle had just started. With 65km to go, we had a pretty hard Cat 2 climb and I knew that if we raced up it, I would be left alone.

I was pretty lucky, as the road was very open and the wind was blowing strong straight in our faces. That made the pace in the peloton doable.

Once I survived the climb, I knew I would make it. I was starting to fade, since I couldn’t eat anything with my stomach not feeling well. I decided to hold on a bit longer. The last 50km was fast downhill, with some small climbs just to change things around.

I just followed along and it felt like I was in the back end of a Formula One race, when suddenly, the guy in front of me couldn’t hold the speed. I called that my sign to take it easy and ride in.

I had survived a day that could have easily been my ticket home.

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 nickname, "Fast Freddie," is due to his reputation as a sprint specialist. 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, USA 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/Pensec4150x150.jpg|style=padding:10px;|align=left|src=http://www.active.com/images/newsletters/cyclist/TourdeFrance2007/images/Pensec4150x150.jpg!Everybody was expecting another transition stage and we were all even scared of getting bored by that stage…

But what a surprise and what a stage! It’s in my top three for this year for sure! Team Astana played a fantastic trick by using the wind to create a breach in the peloton. It was so strategic and so well made that this is something we should show in cycling clubs. A real lesson of cycling today!

In the end, with this massive offensive, there is one of the leaders who is now pretty much out, and I’m talking about Christophe Moreau. With 3:20 late, it’s over for him. So, I’m thinking about the “discussion” he had with Fignon now, and if he was the great leader he said he was he should have seen the trick coming and he would have anticipated it to stay in the leading group. Obviously, he didn’t have a clue of what was going on, and in the end he has lost his chances to win the Tour, I think. I’m guessing that today has explained to us that Moreau was just not good in strategy. This should answer your question, ahoops, I think…

Finally, we have had great cycling today and this takes me back to the decision of the German TV to stop broadcasting the Tour. In some way, today was the best answer cycling could give: Just showing how cycling can be fun, exciting, complex and beautiful!

I’m telling you, everybody is talking about this here. And we are pretty much all on the same page. What they did is a shame, it’s just not rational. Now if they want to push the thing a little further, I would like them to tell tomorrow that they won’t broadcast the Olympics, nor the next FIFA World Cup, for example.

If they had the guts to do so, then I would show them lots of respect. Because in the end, by just creating tension as they did with this story, it’s focusing everybody’s attention on a problem that shouldn’t even be mentioned. Sinkewitz was already out of the race when they made their announcement. So what is the point in doing this? Honestly, there is something or someone who is not being fair with the sport of cycling and there is no reason for that.

As you said Fleur, I can tell you that you get into sport because you love it and you don’t do it for the money. Once you start doing it for the money, you can tell yourself it’s already too late and you can be sure that your career is already behind you.

To answer the ahoops question about Discovery: The reason why they can’t find a sponsor is not because of Operacion Puerto or Basso is implicated, it’s simply because Discovery is an American team and they are looking for a national sponsor, but in today’s U.S. cycling there is no one as charismatic as Lance--and I’m guessing everybody would like to have a new Lance each year. But there has only been one Michael Jordan, one Tiger Woods, one Fangio and this is what makes sports and life so unique!

Enjoy the show and feel free to ask anything on the Tour. I’m your insider!

Ronan

Ronan Pensec participated in 8 Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in the 1990. He now operates Ronan Pensec Events, an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.

Travel is always fun NOT!

Kind of a funny story. Been racing George Hincapie from Girona to London. His team flew him out of Barcelona while my team flew me out of Girona where we all live. I checked in with him this morning (July 4) to see how he was. He was on his way to the airport as I was finishing breakfast before an easy ride.

I just sent a message to his Blackberry telling him that we had a little traffic, so it would be 10 minutes before I arrived at my hotel. He was still at the airport waiting for his bags.

I think I am going to win this race. He flew business class on a normal airline, while I flew one of the vacation economy lines out of Girona. So I had to travel tight and light. But I'd rather be fast than comfortable.

Final score: I win.

I was halfway through dinner before George arrived at his hotel.

That goes to show you how crazy our travel plans can be. Sometimes you get a good flight, and sometimes it can be a long day off the bike.

--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.