Queen Stage Definition
Newcomers to the sport of professional road cycling may have heard the term Queen Stage of the Tour and wondered what the commentators were talking about.
Queen stage refers to the defining stage of a multi-stage race and incorporates the climbs up the most gruelling of mountain passes. This is the stage in which the true contenders for overall GC honours put their stamp on the race and make their big move. Alternatively, it’s sometimes the stage in which some of the pre-race favourites fold like cheap suits and limp over the line many minutes behind the stage winner and their hopes of GC victory in tatters.
A Wild Day in Cycling 26-7-2007
- Let’s start with the Good and, let’s face it, the battle between Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) up the last 8km of the Col d’Aubisque during Stage 16 of the Tour was one of the most scintillating pieces of riding in a long time - certainly the stage of the Tour so far.
- Of course this was followed by the news of Michael Rasmussen’s dismissal from the Tour by the Rabobank team management.
- It’s been another testing day for the sport of cycling with another drug cheat detected and another team (Cofidis) removed from the Tour de France.
- A Swiss newspaper has taken the step of now only reporting drugs-related stories for the rest of this year’s Tour de France in the hope that they can help highlight this problem that is threatening the sport.
- The riders of the Tour de France staged their own protest at the start of the 16th stage with 8 teams refusing to move until the rest of the field had started.
- Hardly surprising I suppose but now a “senior IOC official” has come out and stated that after the recent spate of drug scandals there is a cycling risks being ejected from the Beijing Olympic Games. Now, while I think this is virtually impossible, the mere fact that the suggestion is being touted is cause for concern.
