So, I'm having trouble feeling inspired for this year's wines of the Tour de France. Instead, I'm very tempted to simply enjoy a July month of Riesling. I may even end up with a mix of the two. But for today, stage 1: Passage du Gois - Mont des Alouettes.
And indeed, it was an interesting stage. Although the finish was as many expected with Philippe Gilbert powering to an easy victory, the road held a few surprises along the way, including two field splitting crashes. Most importantly was one that came with about 8.5 kilometers remaining. Maxim Iglinskiy clipped a spectator standing a bit too close to the action and went down heavily. Since he was close to the front, the domino effect took a terrible toll, wiping out all the riders closest to him. The resulting crash formed a highly effective roadblock with only around thirty riders got through. One who did not get through was defending champion and pre-race favorite Alberto Contador was held up and ended up conceding one minute, fourteen seconds to his main rivals including Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck.
A second crash inside of 3 kilometers held up many raiders, but due to the "inside 3 km rule," they were given the same time as second place finisher Cadel Evans. Will the time Contador lost be meaningful? We will all have to wait and see. Next up, tomorrow, the much-beloved team time trial.
Stage win: Philippe Gilbert
Wine of the day: NV Château de l'Aulée 12.5% abv $13.00
Why? I usually start the race off with champagne. But, today's stage rode through the Vendee and it forms part of the western Loire Valley region, making a Cremant an easy choice.
As for the rest of the Tour, I'll paste the schedule below. Wine suggestions more than welcome.
| Date | Route | Region | |
| Saturday 2 July | Passage du Gois La Barre de Monts > Mont des Alouettes Les Herbiers | Vendée (Loire) | |
| Sunday 3 | Les Essarts > Les Essarts | Coteaux-du-Vendômois | |
| Monday 4 | Olonne sur Mer > Redon | Brittany | |
| Tuesday 5 | Lorient > Mûr-de-Bretagne | Brittany | |
| Wednesday 6 | Carhaix > Cap Fréhel | Brittany | |
| Thursday 7 | Dinan > Lisieux | Normandy | |
| Friday 8 | Le Mans > Châteauroux | Indre (Reuilly-Valencay) | |
| Saturday 9 | Aigurande > Super-Besse Sancy | Auvergne (Loire) | |
| Sunday 10 | Issoire > Saint-Flour | Massif Central | |
| Monday 11 | Rest day | | |
| Tuesday 12 | Aurillac > Carmaux | Tarn, Midi-Pyrénées | |
| Wednesday 13 | Blaye-les-Mines > Lavaur | Tarn | |
| Thursday 14 | Cugnaux > Luz-Ardiden | Pyrenees | |
| Friday 15 | Pau > Lourdes | Pyrenees | |
| Saturday 16 | Saint-Gaudens > Plateau de Beille | Pyrenees | |
| Sunday 17 | Limoux > Montpellier | Languedoc-Roussillon | |
| Monday 18 | Rest day | | |
| Tuesday 19 | Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Gap | Hautes Alpes | |
| Wednesday 20 | Gap > Pinerolo | Piedmont | |
| Thursday 21 | Pinerolo > Galibier - Serre Chevalier | Hautes-Alpes | |
| Friday 22 | Modane Valfréjus > Alpe-d’Huez | Rhône-Alpes | |
| Saturday 23 | Grenoble > Grenoble | Rhône-Alpes | |
| Sunday 24 | Créteil > Paris Champs-Élysées | |
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