Tour Stage Three

Eric and I made it out to watch the riders climb up Bailey Road one by one. The nice thing about a time trial is that you get to see all the riders over a large span of time, instead of in one great whoosh. After watching the majority of the riders come thorugh Bailey, we drove around to the finish line on Santa Teresa just in time to see the last three riders come in. We also saw the jersey presentations.

Floyd Landis, of Team Phonak, won the 17 mile stage in the incredible time of 35 minutes and 58 seconds. With the stage win, he also claimed the overall race lead. It'll be interesting to see if Team Phonak can defend the gold jersey on tomorrow's 130 mile stage (Monterey to San Luis Obispo via Highway 1).

I'm continually impressed by the almost superhuman ability of these riders. I can scarcely imagine riding today's route in an hour, let alone under 40 minutes. Not that I'd try--riding Bailey when it's not a closed course seems like suicide to me.

Although I shot mostly film, here are some digital pictures:


Coming down Bailey toward McKean.


Bicycles overlooking the starting line at IBM.


Eagerly anticipating the next rider.


Coming through.


Racing by.


Alongside Calero.


Stage winner Floyd Landis flanked by second and third place finishers David Zabriskie and Bobby Julich.