Loupe: Day Three - Ticker

Day Three: Radio Loop

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

The UCI, after pressure from the remaining teams, and representation from the teams who lost members in the swamp during the Prologue, have agreed on a partial concession regarding the use of race radios, for this stage of the race only.

Teams were instructed to pick up their hand-held one-way walkie-talkies from the race organisers, PUIAB, before the third stage.

Each team was allowed three handsets: one to be held at base, one for the team car, and one to be shared amongst the riders. As we still don't have television coverage for you, we're bringing you a live ticker, to keep you up to date with the race, and we're adding in as many of the radio comments as we can.

14.20 CET Race begins: all the teams get off to a good start, although we are having problems identifying which rider is which, as today's racing is being sponsored by the Hikasuki Corporation, and they have provided race numbers for the day. Unfortunately they have chosen to use Chinese numbering, which is a bit confusing for us, so bear with us if we get some of them wrong.

14.30 CET The rolling start went well, the pack are leaving Loupe along the northern road, and are heading out into the countryside. The radio chatter has already started:

"Euskaltel Car to Euskaltel riders, there is a pothole up ahead, level with the hobbled donkey - it is to the left of the white line and it's quite a big one. Over"
"Euskaltel 1 to Euskaltel Car, thank you, we see it, will try to avoid. Out."

14.40 CET There has been some jostling for position, but no breakaway yet.

"AG2R Car to AG2R 3, we want you to take a turn at the front, Over."
"AG2R 1 to AG2R Car, AG2R 3 isn't with us right now. Over."
"AG2R Car to AG2R 1, well, go and find him, Out."

14.41 CET One of the Astana team - can't quite read his number, it looks like "A Suffusion of Yellow" - has flown off the front of the peloton. Two riders from Saxo Bank - "Softly Falls the Jasmine" and "Spring comes and the Grass grows by Itself" - are in hot pursuit, along with Leopard's "An Eternity of Endless Space". It's far too early for a breakaway, I give them maybe five minutes before they are reeled in.

14.50 CET Yes, the breakaway has been reeled in, well, that didn't last long. One of the HTC riders is complaining.

"HTC Car to HTC 1, say again, Over"
"HTC 1 here, why are we in this shitsmall race? Over"
"HTC Car to HTC 1, shut up and pedal. Out."

15.00 CET We are moving through some lovely rolling countryside here. The pace is picking up slightly.

"Euskaltel Car to Euskaltel riders, we have seen a stone in the road, it's near the left-hand edge, just by a large oak tree . Over"
"Euskaltel 1 to Euskaltel Car, thank you, we see it, will try to avoid. Out."

15.10 CET The Sky riders appear to have some non-standard equipment on their bikes, they almost look like small satellite dishes... Rob, can you have a look on the Sky website and see if they mention it?

(Rob speaks) Yes, Lars, I have the Sky website up on my computer, they seem to be doing a Q and A session live online!

(Lars again) Well, that's a new one on me. What are they saying?

(Rob replies) ummm, well, they're answering questions about the Time Trial Prologue, there's a lot of questions about having to go over that chasm.

(Lars again) Huh! Well, that explains why they are riding in such close formation this afternoon, and don't seem to be paying much attention to the breakaways. Oh, talking of which, a small bunch have gone off the front. Looks like "The clear stillness of autumn water" from Saxo Bank leading the bunch, with "A bird sang, everyone listened" from Leopard and two of the Astana riders, "He moves not the grass" and, is it "A Suffusion of Yellow" again? No, it's not "A Suffusion of Yellow", it's "An Ocean of pure Reality".

15.25 CET The four breakaway men are getting away, they've got 2 minutes 12 seconds on the peloton, but now the peloton are picking up speed.

"Leopard Base to Leopard Car, what is Leopard 2 saying to you? Over."
"Leopard Car to Leopard Base, nothing. Out"
"Leopard Base to Leopard Car, I can see Leopard 2 still talking to you, what is he saying, Over."
"Le'ss go home, le'ss go home awk! Leopard Base this is Leopard Car, ignore that, Leopard 2 is being silly, have sent him back into the peloton. Over."
"Leopard Base to Leopard Car, I will speak to you when we get back. Out."

15.40 CET The breakaway are losing ground, just 1 minute 45 seconds now, the gap is closing.

"AG2R Car to AG2R 1, we want you to take a turn at the front, Over."
"AG2R 2 to AG2R Car, AG2R 1 isn't with us right now. Over."
"AG2R Car to AG2R 2, well, go and find him, Out."

15.50 CET The peloton are picking up speed, and some riders are being dropped off the back.

"Euskaltel Car to Euskaltel riders, there seems to be a broken branch in the road just ahead, it's on the right-hand side, level with the speed limit sign. Over"
"Euskaltel 1 to Euskaltel Car, thank you, we see it, will try to avoid. Out."

16.00 CET The peloton is well strung out now, but the breakaway are working really well together. Leopard's "A bird sang, everyone listened" is pulling really strongly, they are maintaining their lead, in fact they are storming ahead and are now 3 minutes 25 seconds clear of the field.

"HTC Car to HTC 1, what did you say, Over"
"HTC 1 here, I said, I want to know why we are in this shitsmall race? Over"
"HTC Car to HTC 1, shut up and pedal. Out."

16.07 CET The peloton seem to be struggling, the front edge is wide and level again, and they are losing time against the breakaway, who continue to ride strongly together. Oh! I spoke too soon, one of the Astana riders has punctured, I think it's "An Ocean of pure Reality".

16.10 CET That was good work from the Astana car, "An Ocean of pure Reality" is back with the breakaway.

"AG2R Car to AG2R 2, we want you to take a turn at the front, Over."
"AG2R 3 to AG2R Car, AG2R 2 isn't with us right now. Over."
"AG2R Car to AG2R 3, well, go and find him, Out."

16.15 CET At last, the peloton are getting organised, Garmin are at the front and are pulling well.

"Garmin Base to Garmin Car, tell Garmin 2 to stop rolling his sleeves up. Over."
"Garmin Car to Garmin Base, he always does it. Over."
"Garmin Base to Garmin Car, well we don't like it, it spoils the look. Over."
"Garmin Car to Garmin Base, well I've told him, and told him, but he always does it. Over."
"Garmin Base to Garmin Car, well tell him again. Over."
"Garmin Car to Garmin Base, tell him yourself. Over."
"Garmin Base to Garmin Car, don't give me that, get on to him and TELL HIM. Out.

16.20 CET There's something happening at the front of the peloton, one of the Garmin riders appears to be having an argument with his team mates, and is now sitting up. The rest of the Garmin team are losing their cohesion, and several of them are pulling at their sleeves. HTC are moving up towards the front of the peloton.

"HTC Car to HTC 1, get up the front with the others, would you? Over"
"HTC 1 to HTC Car, why bother, it's a shitsmall race. Over"
"HTC Car to HTC 1, shut up and pedal. Out."

16.30 CET The move by HTC has had some success, the peloton are stringing out again, and oh, another puncture, looks like "An Eternity of Endless Space" from Leopard with his arm up. The team car is running up behind him - yes, it's a puncture. Whoops, the mechanic has dropped the new wheel, that won't earn him any praise, but it's all right, the new wheel is in place, and "An Eternity of Endless Space" is back in the race.

"AG2R Car to AG2R 3, we want you to take a turn at the front, Over."
"AG2R 2 to AG2R Car, AG2R 3 isn't with us right now. Over."
"AG2R Car to AG2R 2, well, go and find him, Out."

16.40 CET Well, Rob, I have to say that having such a small number of teams left in the race is really playing havoc with the peloton, isn't it?

(Rob replies) Yes, Lars, with so few teams, we have 3 teams in the breakaway - Saxo, Astana and Leopard - which means that there's less teams in the peloton prepared to do any work. Garmin had a go, but there still seems to be some sort of squabble going on, and one of the HTC riders appears to be sulking at the back. I'm a little surprised that AG2R aren't making more of a showing.

(Lars responds) Yes, AG2R have some good strong riders in their team, in particular, er, "One single still light shines bright" I would have thought he'd be well up the front, but they seem to be scattered all through the peloton.

(Rob says) "One single still light shines bright"? Or did you mean "Leaves fall and flowers bloom"?

(Laughter - Lars replies) You are right, I did mean "Leaves fall and flowers bloom" of course! These Chinese numbers are very hard, aren't they? (more laughter)

"Euskaltel Car to Euskaltel riders, there seems to be a paper bag blowing loose in the road ahead, this might be a problem. Over"
"Euskaltel 1 to Euskaltel Car, thank you, we see it, will try to avoid. Out."

16.55 CET Our breakaway group are starting to look at each other. With only 9km to go, they must be thinking about having a go. "An Ocean of pure Reality" looks to be struggling, that earlier puncture might have given him more of a problem than we thought. The other Astana rider, "He moves not the grass" is looking nervously around. If he can't rely on his team-mate to come with him, well, that could make it difficult to leap away from the bunch. That's it! "A bird sang, everyone listened" has made a break, quickly followed by Saxo Bank's "The clear stillness of autumn water" who leapt across to the Leopard's wheel. The two Astana riders are dropping back, it looks as though it's going to be a two-horse race at the end here.

"AG2R Car to AG2R 2, is AG2R 1 there, we want him to take a turn at the front, Over."
"AG2R 3 to AG2R Car, AG2R 1 isn't with us right now, nor is AG2R 2. Over."
"AG2R Car to AG2R 3, well, go and find them, Out."

17.03 CET Oh, my, the peloton is in trouble, there's a sheep or a large dog or something in the road.

"Euskaltel 1 to Euskaltel Car, was that a sheep in the road? Over."
"Euskaltel Car to Euskaltel riders, there was indeed a sheep in the road, so sorry that we didn't warn you about it, anyone in trouble? Over"
"Euskaltel 1 to Euskaltel Car, well, we all missed the sheep, we're all ok, no tumbles. Over."
"Euskaltel Car to Euskaltel riders, well done everyone! We'll keep an even closer eye out for trouble. Over"
"Euskaltel 1 to Euskaltel Car, thank you, it was a close one. Glad you're watching out for us. Out."

17.12 CET And it's getting exciting, the two leaders are giving it full gas to get to the line first, they are already turning back into the outskirts of Loupe, while the peloton are steaming up behind them, with Garmin's "Above speech and silence" leading the pack.

17.22 CET It's going to be really close!

17.24 CET It's a win for "A bird sang, everyone listened" from team Leopard, barely ahead of Saxo Bank's "The clear stillness of autumn water". Third place was taken by "The moon does not get wet" from Geox, who came from nowhere to beat the Astana guys to a podium place.

Well, that was an, er, unusual race for us commentating, I have to say that I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we go back to the normal race numbers.

We're out of time, no time to show you the podiums, which is such a shame as I can tell you, the podium girls are real crackers! (laughter)

Join us here tomorrow for the fourth and final day of this - well, interesting race.