annecy tt noir

save the last lance for me

this will be the last in my series of lance stretching out legs in annecy.

even looking this serious and focused, he was still able to smile.

maybe he knew something that i did not. i tend not to think so.

darklance

'strike a pose' i told him

'strike that pose, man' i repeated. he did 3 or 4 i remember. he looked very unhappy, when i told him that i had to go. there where other riders waiting.

schleckcentration

tt annecy, le tour 2009

finding friends

'iss funny' he told me in broken english. 'even you can find a new friend insis circus' he continued with a light voice. 'nobody would even sink about it! really! finding a friend while going up the ventoux' he insisted like he was questioning his own words.

col du petit saint-bernard, le tour 2009

some of us drive up in cars. some ride bikes. to the summit.

a bunch of bikes at the top of a mountain.

spectators waiting for the riders at the summit.

quite a few spend 2 nights in their camper, before the riders pass their eyes in a split second.

am kraftwerk

i share a sincere interest with these 4 guys from düsseldorf, deutschland.

riders of the peloton

happy hincapie!

cirque

ill give you the greatest show on earth! le tour de france - a moving city. a media giant moving across continental europe. 'allez le tour!' they scream out of the car windows, when we hazardously rumble down from the mountains in a police protected media convoy.

waiting in paris

astana fan waiting for a few chosen favorite riders. champs elysee, paris.

jens before the crash

enjoying the struggle of petit saint-bernard in a friendly setup. andy, fränk and jens. with lance on their wheels. seconds later jens was down.

dance lance

before the tt in annecy - lance stretching out his legs of fire!

skil shimano at a top

at a glance

tour of denmark - final stage

contador in annecy

'when i beat them, they will know!' he whispered slowly to himself again and again.

on the move

before they started their trip against the clock - contre le montre - they cracked a few jokes. lance, fränk and andy. realising that i underestimated their sense of humour, i shook their hands and told them to concentrate on the race instead. one by one they left on bikes.