I thought it would fit...

Right off the bat, let me say to Peter Sagan, Tony Martin, Albuterol Clintador and the other riders caught up in today's large crash in the closing kilometers of today's stage - my bad. I woke up late (the Corsican wine is incredible) and didn't catch my ride to the race start. I scrambled and then sweet talked my way onto the Orica-GreenEdge team bus with my new best friend and fellow oenophile Gary Atxa, team driver for Orica-GreenEdge.

The set up was perfect as I got to follow the race via the on bus video system, listening to the official Tour radio for the inside scoop, while traveling in air-conditioned comfort with all you can drink espresso. We cruised along, Gary and I making small talk as best we could with his 20 or so English word vocabulary. Then we reached the finish line and that stupid arch. Anyway, there's some uptight French dude in a suit yelling at him to stop and I'm like, "Gary. Dude. You got this. It'll totally fit." Really, all I'm thinking about is how I'm going to be at the finish line with perfect timing to write down all the action and maybe grab some photos.

There's this super load screeching metal-on-metal noise. Gary slams on the brakes and just glares at me with the international "why did I listen to you?" look on his face. He opens the door to inspect the problem and I take the opportunity to quickly absent myself from the situation figuring that I would just add to the problem without being able to contribute anything meaningful to correcting the situation.  The two Corsican police officers who tackled me as I bolted for the anonymity of the crowd must have thought I looked suspicious or something.

A few hours of them yelling at me and me discovering that the American Embassy isn't really concerned about minor situations like mine, finally resolved itself. I tipped the officers a handful of Euros for their trouble and made my way back to the hotel, the after race parties long since over.

So the leader board of the 2013 Luna Cycles Fantasy Tour de France came down to the impossible to predict third place finish of Danny van Poppel (son of TdF sprint legend and current DS for Vacansoleil, Jean-Paul van Poppel). Our current top 3 after the first stage of this year's Fantasy Tour de France looks like this:

It was just a matter of time...

Alberto Contador at the pre-Tour party
photo by Simon Archer Hurlstone

Inevitably, when you get a bunch of press people together in a sultry Mediterranean playground like Corsica, you are going to have to attend some press conferences and the Tour de France is no exception. I am world weary and the race hasn't even begun, but my firm sense of professionalism won out over any selfish inclinations I had toward staying deeply ensconced in the downy goodness of my hotel bed, working my way through a healthy sampling of Corsican red and white wines in the hopes of gaining background material.

So off I went to the stuffy confines of some warehouse district dive to stand around with a bunch of other awkward and burned out members of the cycling press. Sure, there were lots of really skinny guys with ridiculous accents talking tough about their chances for winning the Tour, but there are a lot of days left between here and Paris. What I really needed was a local who would be willing to help me out on this island and allow me to get the inside line on the best way to cover this historic first stage.

My Corsican guides

Luckily, I found some super nice people (who spoke English!) and said they would love to help me out. They are going to help me get dialed in on the local culture, hip me to the night life and let me experience the "flavor" of Corsica. I'm in a pretty sweet position now to really cover this race with depth!

Ten teams have joined the Luna Cycles Fantasy Tour this year and there is still time to join if you haven't already done so. Head to velogames.com, create your free team, and then join the Luna Cycles Fantasy Tour de France mini-league with league code 24114540. Deadline to enter is this Saturday!

Arrivee Corsica!

The view of Corsica from my hotel room balcony

My chauffeur dropped me off at my hotel, kindly reassuring me that the 5,000 euro charge for the ride from Switzerland to Corsica was about $5 in American money. No wonder the European economy is in shambles, everything is so cheap! Suffice it to say that this palatial hotel is truly a good deal at just a $1 a day (1,000 euros).

Corsica is beautiful. This place is exceptionally mountainous and according to the locals, the most mountainous island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is hard to believe that the Tour de France has never been here before, but by forgoing the traditional prologue time trial in favor of a road race that travels all over this island of 3,000 square miles. After being cooped up in the back of a limousine for the better part of two days, I'm ready to stretch my legs and explore this place before the real work begins on Saturday with the kickoff of the first stage of this 100th Tour de France.

Ten teams have joined the Luna Cycles Fantasy Tour this year and there is still time to join if you haven't already done so. Head to velogames.com, create your free team, and then join the Luna Cycles Fantasy Tour de France mini-league with league code 24114540. Deadline to enter is this Saturday!

Le Tour awaits

 I've spent the past couple of days making my way to Corsica for the start of this year's extra special, 100th edition of the Tour de France. I arrived in Switzerland on Monday to handle some minor banking tasks that my travel finances required. Following this bit of business, I hired a somewhat dodgy looking driver to give me the scenic tour of the countryside en route to Corsica. Through my detailed pre-trip research, I have discovered that Corsica is an island, it is closer to Italy than to France, but it is claimed by the French nonetheless. 

My driver and I have made a brief stop over in Italy to stock up on provisions and to gird ourselves for the coming trials that in depth coverage of the Tour de France seems to always mete out. I am firm and resolute in my mission to bring you all the Fantasy Tour de France coverage I possibly can, limited only by the frailty of the human body. 

Many have been joining the Fantasy Tour this year and there is still time to join if you haven't already done so. Head to velogames.com, create your free team, and then join the Luna Cycles Fantasy Tour de France mini-league with league code 24114540.

It's Fantasy Tour de France time!

 OMG! You've got one week to get to velogames.com and register your free Fantasy TdF team and then join the 2013 Luna Cycles Fantasy Tour de France mini league by entering the mini league code 24114540! Once again, I'll be travelling as part of the press corps, doing my utmost to bring you all of the action as it happens*. 

*some reporting may be embellished due to sleeping in or otherwise being occupied