The Chase - Life on the Road

Stage 2 - Utrecht to Zeeland

This was the stage I was dreading the most when I had first download the Tour Road Book provided by ASO back in early June. I knew it was going to be tough.  Add to that I had violated one of Tim De Waele's golden rule, the first thing you see and you like it, just STOP and take the picture.  

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Last night I didn't decide where I was going to stop but I did work out if I did stop how I was going to get to the finish. Where I was going to stop was decided during breakfast which was the Erasmus Bridge. The bridge from an architectural point of view is gorgeous. Since I have started photographing architecture and interiors, I wanted to incorporate some form of architecture into a few of the landscape images during the Tour.  

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Even before entering Rotterdam, the start was spectacular. I have not seen so many people line up the side of the road like this in all my previous grand tours. Especially in and near Utrecht. As much as I wanted to stop there was no space to pull over at all.  It would have been a beautiful photograph capturing the elated atmosphere of Dutch fans surrounding the peloton.

Getting to the finish wasn't straight forward as I had discounted the fact about experiencing traffic as well as discounting the existence of Lift Bridges. I couldn't believe I forgot about the later, albeit Netherlands being famous for their extensive usage of Lift Bridges.  I arrived at the finish line, well outside the barriers just as Gripel took victory.

Not much one can do about missed opportunities, considering how much time Nibali and Quintana have lost already. 

As the French say, C'est La Vie!!!!