Tag: Jakob Fuglsang

Where have I been?

The last time I wrote to you, The Tour de France 100 was having its most exciting period – so why did I leave you – where have I been? I return to explain it all.

I stopped blogging about Le Tour de France, when doping once again became a topic in the cycling world – not because they caught anyone – but because suspicion became fact for some, when in fact they had no evidence to prove their theories. Chris Froome won this year’s Tour, but during his reign on top, every news outlet and every fan of an opposing team tried to throw dirt on him – allegation after allegation, nothing stuck by him. His victory will go down in history – but the allegations hurt a lifelong cycling fan. That is why I left. Another important note is that Jakob Fuglsang, from Denmark, did everything we dreamed of in Denmark. We are all very proud of him.

But where have I been since then? I could have written a movie-review, but I didn’t. I could have written about sports, but I didn’t. Why? Well, the answer is simple. I’ve done four things in my hiatus: write, rank, theorize and been accepted by a College/University in Denmark. First things first, I’ve started writing a fictional political drama, set in America, about a former congressman being a star-politician’s right hand man. That’s going well, though I’m not finished just yet. I’ve also begun ranking the Presidents in America – by working from Obama and down, I’m now at FDR. The NFL is almost back, and I have theorized since having created mock drafts, and such, I’ve now got my thoughts on this season collected in writing. It will probably demand a blog post.

Finally, and thankfully, I’ve been accepted to the University of Copenhagen. There I will study English at the highest level, with English-speaking Professors and Teachers teaching me about all things English. I’m happy.

My life is about to begin yet again. And I’m back.

I’m Jeffrey Rex.

9th Stage – Tour de France 2013

Cycling_Tour_de_Fra_766705a

This stage was not really one I was looking forward to, but Movistar changed that completely. After Kennaugh crashed, Movistar took the lead of the Peloton and punished Sky all day – leading to Porte losing  over 10 minutes and Froome being isolated all day. But as Brian Holm has said, it looked more like a race for second place – and that’s because Saxo-Tinkoff didn’t do much; even though Danish TV would like you to think so. In the end it was a strong two man breakaway that fought for the win, unfortunately resulting in our own Jakob Fuglsang being put in second place by Dan Martin.

Sky Pro Cycling
This was a really tough day for Sky, not only was Froome isolated – but Kennaugh crashed, Porte lost his GC placement and Kiryienka was thrown out due to the time limit. This was tough, but through it all Froome was ready. Before the rest day they look shaken, but not broken or bent.

Jakob Fuglsang
Astana actually had a helper for Fuglsang today. Alexey Lutsenko was really good, but in the end it took a Fuglsang attack/breakaway to make us all very excited. Jakob was second on the stage, but deserved to win due to his many leads in the breakaway. Jakob went from 17. GC placement to 12. GC Placement. A nice jump for Jakob.

Jersey
– Froome remains in the Yellow Jersey.
– Quintana remains in the White Jersey.
– Rolland now owns the Polka Dot Jersey.
– Sagan remains in the Green Jersey.

8th Stage – Tour de France 2013

PROFILTDF13E8
The 8th Stage of Le Tour was amazing. It was a stage were the entire GC was shuffled around, and a day where some fell and some arose. Today we will focus on Sky & Jakob as always. But before that, I’d like to make a statement: You are always innocent until proven guilty. Doping is wrong, but you don’t know anything until it’s been proven, so stop this witch hunt.

Sky Pro Cycling
How amazing where Team Sky? Sure some of the riders didn’t do a lot, but wow I loved to see Peter Kennaugh as a Grimpeur. Kennaugh was amazing, as was Porte & Froome. The real story is that Sky completely broke Alberto Contador, who lost 1’45” on the 8th. It will be interesting to see how they react on the 9th, ’cause they are far behind Sky who where just better than everyone.

Jakob Fuglsang
He didn’t have any help, but he managed to make it to 17th on the stage. Impressed. Jakob lost around 3 minutes to Sky, but is still placed well in the GC.

Jerseys
Nairo Quintana in White.
Chris Froome in Yellow.
Chris Froome owns the Polka Dot, worn by Pierre Rolland.
Peter Sagan in Green.

6th Stage – Tour de France 2013

Cavendish hurt
This is something new to the Blog. During the Tour de France I will be following Team Sky and Jakob Fuglsang on their way through France. After each stage I hope to write a few sentences about what happened in general, and what happened specifically to Fuglsang and Sky. Let’s begin.

Action
Today’s stage was not one we all looked forward to – it was a simple flat stage, and the only Mountain point was given out after few kilometers. Prior to the stage we heard Maxime Bouet had left the race, along with Jurgen Van den Broeck. During the stage we saw Nacer Bouhanni struggling, and he abandoned the race; along with a Swedish rider, who I’ll mention in the Fuglsang-section. The real action today was in the last 30 kilometers, primarily when Mark Cavendish crashed. It came as a shock to me, ’cause we didn’t hear of it until after he was back on his bike. He also had trouble in a roundabout, when cars weren’t paying attention. Cavendish had to work hard to get back to the front, but he did get back. In the Mass/Bunch sprint Cavendish was not lucky, his rivals Lotto-Belisol rode perfectly and got Greipel a great win. Cavendish was mad after the stage, perhaps due to the aforementioned problems – but I also saw a Lotto-Belisol Domestique blocking Cavendish in the bunch sprint. An angry Cavendish, that says it all today. Note that they created a gap in the bunch sprint.

Sky Pro Cycling
First note, Edvald Boasson Hagen is now second in the race, 3 seconds behind the New Yellow Jersey, Daryl Impey. Sky didn’t do a lot today, other than keep Froome and Porte safe in front of the Peloton. Geraint Thomas was back in front of the Peloton, a great sight to see – impressive. Nothing real important to report for Sky today, other than the fact that Edvald is dangerously close to a Yellow Jersey Sky don’t want to defend just yet. If Impey doesn’t perform tomorrow, Edvald is in the Maillot Jaune.

Jakob Fuglsang
Jakob lost the same seconds that Froome, Contador and Evans did – so no real problem there. The real problem for Jakob was his teammates. Andrey Kashechkin left the Tour on the Second Stage, and today Frederik Kessiakoff left the Tour as well. Not only is Jakob losing two teammates, he might lose the strongest Domestique he has, in Janez Brajkovic. Janez was injured severely at the end of the race, and lost a lot of seconds, thus solidifying Jakob as the real Astana Captain. Jakob Fuglsang, it’s almost all up to you. It is presumed that Janez will leave the Tour.

Jerseys
Daryl Impey is the new Maillot Jaune after Simon Gerrans almost handed it to him, he has 3 seconds to Edvald Boasson Hagen and 5 seconds to the real favourites. Orica GreenEDGE are still the best team, Pierre Rolland is still in the Polka Dot Jersey and Michal Kwiatkowski is still in the White Youth Jersey. Peter Sagan keeps the Green jersey, now with 159 points, but Greipel(130) and Cavendish (119) are still chasing him. The Tour will tomorrow be more exciting, and it’ll be interesting if Cavendish is ready for a potential bunch sprint tomorrow.

See you tomorrow

– I’m Jeffrey Rex.