2015 Tour de France Notebook Stage 6

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Here is my Stage 6 notebook entry:

Shorthand translation:

Great beauty, triumph, and heartache in this stage.  Beauty in the amazing Normandy scenery.  Triumph in Daniel Tekleheimanot being the first African rider to earn the Polka-Dot Jersey.  And heartache in Tony Martin crashing in the last few kilometers of the stage.  Mom and I are hoping he recovers tonight and is back in yellow tomorrow.  Quite a stage.

2015 Tour de France Notebook -- Stage 4

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Here is my Stage 4 notebook entry:

Shorthand translation:

Pave or cobblestones -- whatever you want to call them, they defined this stage.  All the favorites did well -- especially Nibali & Froome, who not only stayed in the front when the peloton split, but drove the race through some of the most difficult pave sections.  But then the real shining star at the end was Tony Martin, who after switching a bike with a teammate within the last 10K, then pulled ahead of the pack to win the stage.  Amazing!  After three stages of disappointment, it was wonderful to finally see him take yellow.

2015 Tour de France Notebook -- Stage 1

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Here is my Stage 1 notebook entry:

Shorthand translation:

An exciting and amazing stage -- all under yellow umbrellas in the 100-degree weather.  The eventual winner, Rohan Dennis of the BMC team, chose to start early and set a world record time that no one could beat.  Some highlights: seeing the Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin race amid the roar of the crowd in Utrecht, cheering on Fabian Cancellara (didn't quite make it into 1st, but nice to see him back in action), and seeing the amazing architecture of this very modern city with beautiful bridges and old buildings mixed in with the new.