{"id":2071,"date":"2011-06-07T22:11:35","date_gmt":"2011-06-07T20:11:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/?p=2071"},"modified":"2011-06-07T22:11:35","modified_gmt":"2011-06-07T20:11:35","slug":"tour-de-luxembourg-part-1-of-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bakkerbugle.com\/blog\/2011\/06\/07\/tour-de-luxembourg-part-1-of-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour de Luxembourg: Part 1 of 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This time last year<\/a>, just after the 2010 Tour of Luxembourg<\/a>, Luxembourgish pro cyclists Frank and Andy Schleck were offered leading roles on a new Luxembourgish pro team. Six months later, in January 2011<\/a>, the world learned<\/a> that Team Leopard-Trek would have its eye on the Tour de France<\/a>, from July 2nd to July 24th. With proven talents like Fabian Cancellara, Jens Voigt, and Stuart O’Grady riding with the Schleck brothers, the new team caused a stir in pro cycling. <\/p>\n

The team’s ambitions extended to all the major European races<\/a>. The hype<\/a> grew as the cycling season began this spring. Cycling commentators<\/a> dubbed them the number one team on paper.
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\nThe Tour of Luxembourg was important to the team<\/a> from the beginning of the season. It is, after all, Leopard-Trek’s home turf, and the timing and difficulty of the staged race makes it a good tune-up for the Tour de France.<\/p>\n

In May, during Stage Three of the Giro d’Italia (Tour of Italy), Leopard-Trek rider Wouter Weylandt<\/a> died after crashing on a descent. The team withdrew from the race the next day, after the entire peloton honored Weylandt by turning Stage Four into a memorial procession<\/a>. Over the next weeks, the Tour of Luxembourg gained significance as the team dedicated itself to the memory of their friend and teammate.<\/p>\n

The prologue was Thursday, June 2nd, on a very short course through the streets of Luxembourg-Ville. Fabian Cancellara, who had several top-three finishes in the spring, finished first and earned the yellow jersey of the race leader for Team Leopard-Trek. That evening he said<\/a>, “I wanted to get a personal win and a win for the team, but I especially wanted to add to our happiness after our loss a few weeks ago. This win is for Wouter. It is also a win for Luxembourg.”<\/p>\n

We were there. I even rode in a chase vehicle for one of the time-trialists, thanks to the generosity of The Expatresse<\/a> and another local friend.
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\nThat’s the build-up. The story continues in the descriptions of our photos from the Prologue, Stage 1 and Stage 2. You’ll find them in the following Flickr sets of photos:<\/p>\n