Awards and citations:


1997: Le Prix du Champagne Lanson Noble Cuvée Award for investigations into Champagne for the Millennium investment scams

2001: Le Prix Champagne Lanson Ivory Award for investdrinks.org

2011: Vindic d'Or MMXI – 'Meilleur blog anti-1855'

2011: Robert M. Parker, Jnr: ‘This blogger...’:

2012: Born Digital Wine Awards: No Pay No Jay – best investigative wine story

2012: International Wine Challenge – Personality of the Year Award




Friday, 25 July 2014

2014 Tour de France: Stage 19 bunch sprint in Bergerac?

Stage 19: Maubourguet to Bergerac 208.5 kms

After three days in the Pyrénées this stage that takes the riders north to Bergerac will seem pan flat to the riders. Actaully the middle section is very flat but the start and the finish are more undulating. Just 10 kilometres from the finish there is a Cat 4 climb (1.3km@7%) – the Côte de Monbazillac – preceded by a few lumps. Although it is likely that this stage will finish in a bunch sprint the lumpy finish may knock out some of the sprinters like Marcel Kittel. The other possibility is that a breakaway manages to stay away. Today it will be down to the sprinters to control the break, while the rest of the peloton looks for a quiet day unless one of the GC contenders has a problem at the end, when it could get frantic as every second counts in the fight for a podium place. 


Weatherwise it is unlikely to be a quiet day as storms with the possibility of hail are forecast for this afternoon with an warning (vigilance orange) in place. 

Vines are a theme today as the race passes through the Armagnac region, Buzet and finishes at Bergerac having climbed up to Monbazillac.  

See detailed review of Stage here.

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