Professional road racing cyclist Lachlan Morton is attempting to complete the Tour de France this year. Except: He's doing it entirely on his own, without teammates, support vehicles, and transportation from the previous day's finish to the next day's start (which might be dozens or even hundreds of miles apart). That means he'll be riding an extra 1500 miles, climbing an additional 50,000 feet in elevation, shopping for his own meals, and still trying to beat the peloton to Paris. Here's a quick explanatory trailer:
You can follow his progress on Rapha's site and check out updates in this Instagram Story. He's currently ahead of the peloton, even riding day four in Birkenstocks:
Ah, but — the day three press release had an ominous note in it. Right after telling us that Morton had "picked up a tub of couscous and a couple of bags of nuts for dinner" came the real kicker: our protagonist had a bad knee, and had bought new pedals to allow a switch to flat shoes.
So on day four, Morton set off with his new pedals and covered both stage four and stage five of the actual Tour de France — in a pair of Birkenstocks. Despite his sensible sandals, Morton managed to average the same speeds as the day prior, getting through the time trial in 1:17.
(via matt)
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The last man to finish the Tour de France gets the unofficial title of winner of the Lanterne Rouge. Finishing last is not as easy as you might suppose.
The designation falls somewhere between insult and accolade. Mr. Vansevenant, who after Stage 18 sits in 150th place, some 3 hours and 45 minutes behind Mr. Sastre, is indeed the worst-placed rider in the Tour de France. But, in turn, he has outlasted those who abandoned the Tour through illness, injury or simple exhaustion; those who were eliminated for failing to finish within each day's time limit and are forced to withdraw; and those who were banned or withdrew for doping-related causes. From year to year, about 20% of the riders drop out. In other words, you can't simply coast to last place; you have to work for it.
Wim Vansevenant did hang on to become the first three-time winner of the Lanterne Rouge.
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Wu-oh. Floyd Landis had "an unusual level of testosterone/epitestosterone ratio" in his blood after stage 17 of the Tour de France. If his backup sample also tests positive, the title could be taken from him. You may remember stage 17 as the scene of Landis' remarkable comeback. Cyclingnews.com says that "some athletes have naturally high levels, and can prove this through a series of tests"...is it possible that Landis was just super amped up from the effort that day?
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Profile of Floyd Landis, who won the Tour de France yesterday. (via, a.whole)
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The science of Lance Armstrong. Between 1992 and 1999, he increased his muscle efficiency by 8 percent, a gain previously thought to be impossible.
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