Jodie Batchelor
Jodie is the current Victorian Vets Criterium and Road champion in her age group. She has been racing for several years now and likes any event that involves sprinting and not too many hills. She initially used cycling as an important part of her rehabilitation from a mountaineering accident in New Zealand. She then got into racing as a replacement for martial arts in which she represented Australia and won Gold, Silver & Bronze medals in the Martial Arts World Games in 2000.
Tour de France - Stage 6 (in review)
- By Jodie Batchelor
- Published 11-Jul-08
The up hill finish today saw the riders come splintered with time gaps in between. The stage was one by Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval) with a one second gap to Cadel Evans and Alejandro Valverde.
Cadel seemed to follow Valverde, but then that's all he needed to do as he is ahead in GC and I think they are still checking each other out before they hit the Pyrenees from Sunday.
Cadel is now 2nd on GC (6 seconds behind) Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia). Kim is one to watch as he has a strong team around him. Valverde also has a strong team and last night seemed to be the only GC contender that had any team members left when it came to the final few kms. This may be a telling factor for the tour - we'll know in the next week or so.
I was surpised that Cadel did not have any of his team around him given the team was specifically chosen for this purpose. It could mean that they are tired, they don't have the gas in the tank or they were just caught out - none of these scenarios are particularly good for Cadel and his aim for yellow. Were still in the first week and there is a long way to go to Paris still.
Another rider has withdrawn from the tour - Aurélien Passeron (Saunier Duval), which is the rider that crashed into the spectator in stage 5. The spectator broke their arm and Aurélien though finished the stage was taken to hospital with pain in his back and abdomen. The spectator sustained a broken arm. Saunier Duval is down to seven riders now, and Cofidis and Barloworld have lost 1 rider each.
