TRP World Update – Racing Overload Edition

May is FULL of racing! July may belong to France, but May...May is for the World!

We thought we’d take a look at some of the cool events so far this month…

Quatre Jours De Dunkirk –  This, typically, five-stage race is held in the Nord Pas de Calais region of France and is centered around the city of Dunkirk…the last city in the region to be liberated from German occupation in world War II, a full 9 months after the rest! A staple in the French calendar since 1955, it has been won by the likes of Bernard Hinault (’84),  Stephen Roche (’90), Johan Museeuw (’95 and ’97) and Thomas Voeckler in last years run up to Tour glory.

Stage 3 (hint: the crux stage!) – A fun stage because you can see the escape develop almost perfectly from about 14:00 on…nice move by Saur-Sojasun’s Jimmy Engoulvent

Tour Of California – Seven years in development, the race gains prestige each iteration and the views from stage one were certainly on par with anything thrown out elsewhere. That three of the UCI’s top four teams are present this year only adds to the mystique. Would we like more mountain top finishes? Sure. Do we lament the central valley slugfest that is stage ? Yep! But the Nor Cal stages are simply sublime and Mt Baldy is a worthy challenge. We’re lucky to have Team Exergy representing TRP this year and they threw out a special edition of their Felt team bikes to boot: 

Highlights from the stage:

Giro D’Italia – while we don’t have any official teams in the race, we do provide the brakes that do the stopping on a host of the TT rides. This years event boasts  71Km’s of time trialing, including the marquee Team Time Trial on stage 4. Here are some shots for you: