Loupe - Day Four

Day Four: Speciality Loop

Hello again to all our listeners, you're back with me, Lars Fargleson, and my colleague Rob is in the studio again, for the fourth and final day of this exciting race.

Today, much to our relief, we are back in normal race numbers, so it should be easier for us to identify the riders.(laughs)

So, what thrills and spills have the PUIAB in store for us today? Well, in line with the request from the UCI to make road cycling "more interesting", that's their words, not mine, the PUIAB have provided bikes for today's racing.

The course is a simple loop around the town, starting as usual from the Town Hall.

Riders will mount their bikes and follow the course, paying close attention to all road signs, to avoid accidents.

And here they are lined up at the start.

Well, this is quite a sight to see, I have no idea where the people of Loupe found all these bicycles for the teams to use. Perhaps it is a good thing that we lost so many teams in the Prologue. (laughter)

Oh, I'm being told by Rob at the studio that these bicycles are traditional in Loupe, and have been since the 1870s.

Of course, they are what we would call "fixies", which means no freewheeling, and no changing gear: just hop up and off you go. But these bikes have one significant advantage over track bikes, in that they do have a brake: yes, just the one, but it does give the rider at least some chance of stopping it safely!

 And Geox take the intermediate sprint, just pipping Sky to the points.

 Things are really starting to hot up  now, as they take the sharp bend out of town, heading for the ring road.

AG2R are well in the lead, with Sky hanging on behind them.

 And as they pass by the River Loupe again, AR2R make a strong bid to win the King of the Mountains jersey as well as the sprint points, what a valiant effort!

Finally, in an exciting end to the day, there is a bunch sprint for the finish line.

Well, what can I say, a fantastic end to a somewhat unusual but generally enjoyable four-day Loop of Loupe.

Rob and I are so glad that you were able to join us, sorry we can't bring you the podium finish as, once again, we are out of time, and I assure you those podium girls are well worth seeing!

Oh, nearly forgot to give you the results, we are still waiting for the final points to come in but it looks as though Leopard are clear winners, with Sky in second place, and Saxo Bank third.

Well, we hope that you enjoyed the last four days as much as we did, and we look forward to seeing you all hear again next Spring.