During the Tour de France the riders generally are aware of what day it is only by how many days there are to the mountains, or to the rest day, or to the finish. They are not as aware of what the exact date is except for July 14th. This day belongs to the French for their Bastille Day celebration. It’s a French national holiday that puts the French riders on guard to break free, attack, and hope, pray and wish for a victory.
Coming off of a rest day many of the riders will start to realize their chances for victory are quickly vanishing as each day passes. After departing Limoges the sprinters will have a heightened sense of purpose. After suffering through the mountains this 193km relatively flat day is a chance for the teams with speed to get back in the spotlight.
Limoges has had many Tour finishes, with famous winners, such as Jan Raas, Johan Lammerts, Giani Bugno, Guido Bontempi, and Christophe Agnolutto. But none are etched into the memories as the 1995 win of Lance Armstrong. On stage 15 Lance’s teammate from Motorola, Fabio Casartelli , crashed on the descent of the Portet d'Aspet and died. It was a shock to his team and to the peloton as everyone tried to come to grips with this tragedy. Several stages later Lance soloed off, from a small breakaway, pointing to the sky as he crossed the finish line first. It was a symbolic stage win into Limoges for Lance and his team. After the race Lance commented, "I felt like I was riding for two today."
This will be the first time for Issoudun to host the Tour and it should be a spectacular dazzle of color and speed that arrives with a Tour field sprint.
