2015 Races, Commentary

July 12th, 2015

CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part VIII)

John Kavouris

Editor’s Note: John Kavouris finishes his exclusive coverage of the Tour for In The Crosshairs. It has been great having John on board and we hope to have him back during the cyclocross season for more coverage. Please let us know what you thought of our “offseason” coverage. Tweet at us at @CXHairs. Or send an email to CXHairs@gmail.com. And please, follow John and give him a virtual pat on the back at @JohnKavouris on Twitter and Kavouris on Instagram. All photos © 2015 John Kavouris.

Early morning overcast skies broke very quickly, for another gorgeous day of bike racing through the Brittany region of France. You couldn’t forget that we’re in Brittany (Bretagne, in French), because the flag of Brittany is EVERYWHERE. Not familiar with the flag of Brittany? You’ll figure it out pretty quick from the photoset. But right. Bike racing. Continue reading “CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part VIII)”

2015 Races, Commentary

July 12th, 2015

CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part VII)

Sean Roach

Stage 7: Livarot – Fougeres (190.5km)

In light of the drama, crashes, and weather over the last few stages, I am unreasonably happy to report that stage 7 was your average, run of the mill, Tour de France sprint stage. Weather was warm but not unbearably hot, breezes were light, the course was gently undulating. With only one cat-4 climb just after the start, this is the last day for a while that the pure sprinters will have a chance at victory. Besides the TTT on Sunday, a rollingly hilly stage 13, and Champs-Élysées, the riders will be seeing a LOT of mountains in their future, and the sprinters will be seeing a lot of time in the grupetto. Continue reading “CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part VII)”

2015 Races, Commentary

July 11th, 2015

CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part VI)

John Kavouris

Stage 6

Abbeville – Le Havre (191.5km)

Stage 6 of the Tour ran from Abbeville to Le Havre, on a mostly coastal route. While predominantly a flat stage, the course featured three categorized climbs (all cat 4), and an uncategorized but punchy finish on the Côte d’Ingouville in Le Havre – 850m at 7% average grade. The weather was fantastic: ~20C, sunny, and a crosswind light enough to not cause any problems for the group. I spent the majority of the day absolutely shredding the backroads of France trying to head-off the race for more photo opportunities. But unlike yesterday, I had ample time to snack, caffeinate, and even tap the shutter button a few times in the start town. Continue reading “CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part VI)”

2015 Races, Commentary

July 10th, 2015

CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part V)

John Kavouris

Stage 5: Arras – Amiens (189.5km)

Today’s stage started off pretty miserable for everyone. Weather in Arras was cold and rainy, I was slow out of bed this morning, and traffic into Arras was unfortunately slow. I arrived to the start a mere 20 minutes before riders would roll-off, and didn’t even get my breakfast of hospitality village snacks. Sometimes, life at the Tour is truly hard. Continue reading “CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part V)”

2015 Races, Commentary

July 8th, 2015

CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part IV)

John Kavouris

Stage 4: Seraing, BE – Chambrai, FR (223.5km)

The Tour de France actually entered France for the first time in 2015, and it did so in epic fashion. Furthermore, it’s as close to CX as it gets at the Tour: cobbles. From Seraing to Chambrai, the peloton saw 7 secteurs of cobblestone ranging from 1,200 to 3,700m in length, with a total of 13.3km of stones. If that wasn’t enough, the consistent threat of rain throughout the day kept suspense high for what flavor of slippery the riders might have to face: dusty or wet. Continue reading “CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part IV)”

2015 Races, Commentary

July 7th, 2015

CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part III)

John Kavouris

Stage 3. Antwerp – Huy (159.5km)

After the miserable weather conditions of yesterday, today should have been a change of pace for the riders. A few cat 4 climbs and beautiful weather is all that separated the riders between Antwerp and the Mur de Huy (and the Côte de Cherave, a punchy .9k cat 4 a few k before it). Not that Cherave and the Mur de Huy are easy (they’re not), but so close to the finish, all a rider needs to do is get up the damn things, and they’re not going to miss a time cut. It should be exciting racing for those at the front, but not demoralizing for those not. Now, with that being said… Continue reading “CXHairs Goes To Le Tour (Part III)”

2015 Races

July 6th, 2015

CXHairs Goes To LeTour (part II)

John Kavouris

Stage 2: Utrecht – Zéland (166 km)

Before saying anything about the weather conditions of a race, it would be wise to actually check the weather. Looking at the profile of today’s stage, one would think that yes, this is a straightforward sprint stage, but that’s not quite how things unfolded. Continue reading “CXHairs Goes To LeTour (part II)”

2015 Races, Commentary

July 5th, 2015

CXHairs goes to Le Tour (Part I)

John Kavouris

EDITOR’S NOTE: It may not be cyclocross but it’s cycling and it’s the freakin’ Tour de France. So when the opportunity to have a reporter in the field arises, we are going to take full advantage of it. These reports come to us from Crosshairs Skinny Tire French Grand Tour and Chemistry Correspondent, John Kavouris. John is usually based in Boston, where he is usually an organic chemist. Occasionally, he gets to live in Europe, get press access to grand tours, and report for CXHairs. He is always a cyclist. All photos © 2015 John Kavouris.

If you were paying attention to Instagram (follow CXHairs and Kavouris on IG) or Twitter (@CXHairs and @johnkavouris) yesterday,

you should know that ‘day zero’ of TdF coverage went well for CXHairs. One harrowing journey* later, and I have all kinds of ridiculous access/perks. Continue reading “CXHairs goes to Le Tour (Part I)”