TdF Stage Five - An Epic Crash Fest!

Today’s stage of the Tour de France started easy and then went straight to insanity! With the course staying along the coast for second half of the race and the roads not even wide enough to allow two cars to pass each at the same time, it was a recipe for disaster that was sure to wreck havoc on all the teams. Before all the chaos began, though, I was starting to wonder if I was really at the Tour! Once again, the break got away without much an effort, and the field shut down. But for once, the calm didn't last long!

The first crash had more riders going down then I could count with bikes flying everywhere. It looked crazy watching it unfold from behind. We were on fresh pavement, and I could see the all the skid marks that the fallen riders’ tires had left on the road, leading straight into the pile of bodies and bikes. I just managed to get my speed down enough to stop right before the pile, swerved through it, and got going again when I came out on the other side. There was no reason to panic, I thought, as we were only about 40 miles into the race. I was with about ten guys closing in on the back end of the peloton when we were flying through what I thought was just another left turn. Only this time, when we came out of it, to my surprise riders again were all over the road. I was going fast and need all my skills to keep from hitting anyone.

After that little moment of panic, I finally made it back to the peloton and was starting to relax when again another crash hit! This one was huge, and I barely managed to keep the bike upright. I blew out the rear tire in the process, and all of sudden the peloton was gone but the cars were still stuck behind the crash. Popo arrived and gave me his rear wheel, but with no teammates around, no caravan in sight, and the peloton traveling at over 40 mph, all I could do was ride steady and hope that some help would eventually arrive.

Finally, two Rabobank riders appeared, and I jumped on their wheel hoping that soon the cars would show up. Their team car arrived and the three of us were flying. We came into a round-about HOT - nearly 40 mph! I wanted to slow down but knew if I lost the rider’s wheel in front of me I might not see the field again before the finish.

Normally a round-about has a zig zag zig turn to it, only this one was a zig zag zig followed by a hook. I didn't make the hook and instead, flew into the fencing keeping the spectators out of the road. By the time I got up and found my bike, I don't have to tell you that the Rabobank guy’s wheel was long gone! 

Again, I was left by myself in no man’s land when all of sudden Johan appeared in the team car. My bike was completely messed up from the crash, so the team mechanic started working hard to get things back in order. I was finally getting back to caravan when another crash must have happened ahead of me because the road was completely blocked by all the cars again. I swerved through the first few, just barely making it through the holes, when I had to completely lock up the brakes and stop the bike. This was making it almost impossible to make any ground up on the peloton as they were still flying – further and further away from me. I got going again and after a few more close calls with the cars, two of my RadioShack boys came back for me, and I was FINALLY back in the peloton. I couldn't believe it, that after I had done that much work to get back to the group, as soon as I got on, the peloton sat up for just a moment while the riders stopped to pee! I was not happy! But that would be the last time it would slow down even a little, as from there to line it was full gas.

We had about 25 miles to go at that point and the breakaway had already been brought back, which was something I hadn't seen happen in a long time. This day was anything but normal! The last 20 miles were even crazier as the sprinter teams were going full gas fighting it out with each other side by side for control of the peloton. I just kept my position at the front, crossed my fingers, and hoped my will was all in order - just in case! 

At the end of day, the RadioShack team didn't come away too well. I crashed, Demi crashed, Popo crashed twice (once into an ambulance even, and once in the same round-about as me), Levi crashed, and Jani crashed so hard he broke his collarbone, got a concussion, and is now out of the race. But, I'm sure there are other teams with more or less the same story after that crazy day. Let’s just say, I can't wait to get to the mountains!