TOUR DE FRANCE 2003
2003 Tour de France collage


PHOTOS
Stage 17 - Dax to Bordeaux
Stage 18 - Bordeaux to St. Maixent-L'Ecole
Stage 20 - Ville d'Avray to Paris

Stage 17 - Dax to Bordeaux
24 July 2003
 
Stage 17 photos
Arrivee a Bordeaux - The finishingline banner and clock
Arrivee a Bordeaux - the finish line banner and clock
Painting the finish line
Painting the finish line
Cours de Verdun - The finishing straight
Cours de Verdun - The finishing straight
Servais Knaven wins the stage in 3h54'23"
Servais Knaven wins the stage in 3h54'23"
The chase group sprints for second place 17 seconds later
The chase group sprints for second place 17 seconds later (2nd Paolo Bossini center, 3rd Christophe Mengin left, 4th Leon Van bon center, back, 5th Salvatore Commesso (Saeco) right, 7th Peter Luttenberger (CSC) right, and 9th Bram de Groot right (Rabbobank)
More of the chase group
More of the chase group: 6th Vincente Garcia Acosta (ibanesto), 7th Peter Luttenberger (CSC), and 9th Bram de Groot (Rabbobank). The right hand of 8th place Mederic Clain (Cofidis) is visible on the right side
Ivan Parra takes 10th place
Ivan Parra (Kelme) kisses his ring as he sails in 1'55" behind Knaven for 10th place
The peloton arrives 8'06" behind Knaven
The peloton arrives 8'06" behind Knaven.
The sprint for 11th place
The sprint for 11th place.  Robbie McEwen (Lotto) beats Erik Zabel (Telekom) and green jersey holder Baden Cooke.  McEwen eventually won the green jersey in Dax but lost it (by two points) on the Champs Elysees in Paris.
More of the peloton sprint
More of the peloton sprint.  14th Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), 15th Fabrizio Gudi (Bianchi), 16th Glomser Gerrit (Saeco), 17th Damien Nazon (Brioche La Boulangere),  18th Jean-Patrick Nazon (Jean Delatour), 19th Luca Paolini (Quick Step), 20th Andy Flickinger (AG2R), and 21st Stuart O'Grady.  Lance and Jan are side by side at the head of the main group.
George Hincapie crosses the line in 69th place
George Hincapie crosses the line in 69th place.
Lance Armstron dons the yellow jersey
Lance Armstrong dons the yellow jersey at the awards ceremony in Bordeaux.

Finding the tour
I arrived extremely underprepared for the Tour; I didn't really know where exactly the race would be routed or when the racers would arrive.  Fortunately, my sister Amber (aka my personal travel agent) had selected a hotel in the heart of downtown Bordeaux.   I got up in the morning and began wandering around, hoping to stumble upon the race route.  Fortunately, across the street from my hotel, there was a traffic information board indicating road closures due to the tour.  I found a map in the hotel lobby and was able to bias my random search in the vicinity of the roads displayed on the traffic board.

After about a kilometer of walking I arrived at the finish line, though it was still under construction.  It was on the Cours De Verdun, a grand, tree-line boulevard reminiscient of the Champs Elysees in Paris, though it was a bit narrower.  There wasn't much of a crowd present yet, but the area was filled with workers painting the finish line (and the signature FIAT logos) and erecting the clocks and banners.

Finding the prime spot
I must have arrived just before the early birds, because within about five minutes of finding the finish line, I noticed that people were starting to steak out real estate along the barriers near the finish line.  Without realizing it, I too had staked my claim on some prime viewing territory.  During my initial indecisive phase, I had been standing on a small (6 foot triangle) traffic island in the middle of a closed intersection.  The crowd barriers were right in front of me and I was about 3 - 4 meters behind the finish line.  I didn't realize the primeness of this spot until an american couple commented on it.

Making the strategic alliance
I made quick friends with them by letting them join me on the island.  I was quite fortunate to make this strategic alliance because, when I left my hotel, I was expecting to do a bit more traveling before finding the race route.  I was planning to pickup some more water and lunch along the way, but I hadn't stopped before arriving at the finish line.  This presented a major problem because I was alone, and I would have to forfeit my spot if I needed to leave.  My fellow countrymen offered to hold my spot if I needed to leave to get food or use the restroom during the next four hours of waiting.  As it turned out, they went to a bakery and brought back a bunch of sandwiches for us.  When the advertising caravan arrived, there was plenty of free food and, more importantly, water.  At the tour concession truck, a 0.5 L bottle of water was selling for 2 euro!  There caravan sponsors also brough alot of other junk that I wasn't interested in, but I did take a yellow Credit Lyonnaise baseball cap.  They apparently wanted the finish lines to be filled with yellow and the Credit Lyonnaise logo.

Enduring the elements
The weather was a little bit erratic while we were waiting for the race to arrive.  In the morning it was sunny and beautiful, but in the mid afternoon it began to rain.  I was very happy I had brought along a rain jacket!  The guy painting the finish line continued to work in the rain, erecting a makeshift canopy and using propane blow torches to dry the pavement.  The rain lasted for about an hour or so and then it cleared up briefly, becoming very muggy.  By the time the race arrived, it was overcast and I was worried that I would have to use a low shutter speed and my pictures would be blurred.

Capturing the action
Fortunately, my camera (Sony DSC-F707) had a low enough f-stop, allowing me to shoot in sutter priority at 1/1000th sec.  (The pictures of the award ceremony are blurry because it was extremely crowded and I had a very hard time holding the camera steady enough for the autofocus to work.)  Shooting moving subjects, such as cyclists crossing the finish line at 60 kph, is problematic even when high shutter speeds are used.  Unless you're using a super high-end professional camera, autofocus algorithms are too slow to catch the action.  Therefore, you have to focus the best you can before the riders arrive (One of my only complaints about the F707 is the lack of an optical viewfinder for focusing.  Its difficult to focus using a 320x240 LCD.) , and then you have to be careful to take the picture at the right time.   This latter task is problematic with digital cameras.  Ask just about anyone who owns one and they'll complain about the long delay between pressing the shutter button when the camera actually takes the picture.  This time is shortened, but not eliminated, by putting the camera in manual focus mode.  I decided to use the F707's burst mode to help capture the action.  I thought it worked pretty well, but check out the photos to judge for yourself.



Stage 18 - Bordeaux to St. Maixent-L'Ecole
25 July 2003
 
Stage 18 photos
Depart Bordeaux
Depart Bordeaux - the pre-start line
Lance is awarded le prix orange
Lance is awarded le prix orange by the tour's journalists and photographers
The riders line up
The riders line up
The three jerseys
The three jerseys lead out the pack while Lance has trouble getting his cleat and pedal to cooperate
Victor Hugo Pena
Victor Hugo Pena
They're off to the real start
And they're off to the (real) rolling start

Finding the tour...again
Just like the day before,  I didn't know where the race would be routed.  I began my search near the finish line.  The tour organizers run a pretty tight operation.   If I hadn't been there the day before, I wouldn't have known that the race had passed through; there was nothing left.  I guessed that they might start near the Garrone river and started walking in that direction.  Once I got to the river, I could see the starting area because of all of the brightly-colored caravan vehicles.  By the time I had crossed the river, the place was quite crowded.  I was able to find a decent spot near the starting line and staked my claim.  Fortunately, I didn't have to wait all day again; the race began in after about an hour or so.

The pre-start
Each stage of the tour has two starting points.  The first occurs at a traditional starting line (this is what I witnessed).  The clock isn't actually started here.  Instead the riders slowly roll away.  The real start is a rolling start that is signalled by the race director once the riders have reached the first major highway outside of the start city.

Le prix orange
I didn't realize it at the time, but I managed to get a picture of Lance holding le prix orange-a crate of oranges that the tour journalists and photographers award to the most coopertive rider.  In 2002, Lance was given le prix citron-a crate of lemons given to the most uncoopertive rider.  Quite a turn around...


Stage 20 - Ville d'Avary to Paris
27 July 2003
 
Stage 20 photos
The peloton arrives led by Team
Francais des Jeux
The peloton arrives led by Team Fancais des Jeux and the green jersey contenders: Baden Cooke (FDJ), Robbie McEwen in Green (Lotto-Domo), and Erik Zabel (Telekom).
US Postal helps out up front
US Postal helps out up front in order to keep Lance Armstrong out of trouble
George Hincapie (5) and Manuel
Beltran (3)
George Hincapie (5) and Manuel Beltran (3)
US Postal Paceline
US Postal Paceline
US Postal paceline with the yellow caboose
US Postal paceline with the yellow caboose
Vinokourov and Ullrich follow
Armstrong and the US Postal paceline
Vinokourov and Ullrich follow Armstrong and the US Postal paceline
Tyler Hamilton
Tyler Hamilton
Peloton passes on the near side of
the street
Peloton passes on the near side of the street
Peloton passes on the near side of
the street
Peloton passes on the near side of the street
Vinokourov in the peloton
Vinokourov in the peloton
Blurry side view
Blurry side view
Koos Moerenhout
Koos Moerenhout
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel
Robbie McEwen and Erik Zabel
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong wins his fifth Tour
Lance Armstrong wins his fifth Tour
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
1st place Lance Armstrong, 2nd place Jan Ullrich, and 3rd place Alexander Vinokourov
The four jersey winners
The four jersey winners: Yellow-Lance Armstrong, Green-Baden Cooke, Polka-dot-Richard Virenque, and White-Denis Menchov

Finding the tour
It wasn't very difficult to find the race in Paris.  The race ends with 11 laps of the most famous Parisen boulevard, the Champs Elysees.  My hotel was only a few blocks from the Louvre and the Place de la Concorde (at the top of the Champs Elysees).  I arrived in Paris the night before the race.  That evening, I strolled down to the Champs Elysees to find a good spot for the next day.

Finding the prime spot
Unlike in Bordeaux, I found that it would be impossible to get a spot at the finish line (or for that matter, a spot within 250 meters of the finish line).  There were large temporary seating areas erected near the finish line and it was pretty apparent that they weren't available on a first-come-first-served basis.  I realized that I would have to get up early the next day to find a good spot.  I arrived at the Champs Elysees at about 7:30 AM the following morning and found that the good spots were going fast.  In Bordeaux, the crowd barriers were right on the curb and it was possible to get a relatively unobstructed view down the road.  However, in Paris.  the barriers were arranged in such a way that nobody could get within 3 meters of the road.  This made even the best spots somewhat mediocre because the Champs Elysees is lined with large trees which obscured the view down the road.  I eventually settled on a spot at the intersection of the Champs Elysees and Avenue Winston Churchill.  I was on the Southwest side of the intersection and on the northeast side there was a large video board so I could watch the race until it arrived in Paris.  This also happened to be the intersection where they kept the 'yellow brick road' awards stage.  I could see it on the north side of the intersection.  As it turned out, I was right behind the stage and was able to get some pretty good shots of the awards ceremony.

Enduring the elements
The weather was typical of Paris (or so I'm told).  It rained off and on all day.  By the time the race arrived it had dried up and the sun was coming out intermittently.  Though it was somewhat muggy all day, I'm glad that the sun wasn't out all day because when it did come out things got pretty uncomfortable.

Capturing the action
Again, I was shooting in shutter priority (1/1000th sec) and using a manual preset focus.  It was still very difficult to get pictures that were not blurred because of the crappy crowd barrier setup.  I couldn't get much of angle on the riders as they passed.  Luckily, the riders made 11 laps of the Champs Elysees, giving me some time to work things out.  Eventually, I decided to rotate the camera to track the riders as they passed.   This worked suprisingly well.  The riders were no longer motion blurred, but there was no guarantee that they would be centered in the frame.  Oh well, I did the best I could.



Copyright © 2004 by Ryan Kier. All Rights Reserved.