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Here below a quick little YouTube video intro for the upcoming videos about the Tour de France 2019.
The plan is to follow and to document a few of the stages of the so called “Grande Boucle”, the biggest and most prestigious cycling event in the world. In this videos I aim to share my thoughts and point of view from a different prespective and hopefully to produce something enjoyable and somewhat interesting to the viewers.
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The Criterium du Dauphiné (CDD) is a great cycling event that is usually held in the month of June in the beautiful region of France, which is the territory in the South -east of the country, that includes the departments of Isère, Drôme, and Hautes-Alpes.
Criterium du Dauphiné 2018 Stage 6 La Rosière Avergne Rhone Alpes Savoie
This cycling race is a great opportunity for the professional cyclists and teams to get an idea about where they stand with their preparation compared to their rivals, at only three weeks away from the more important ” Tour de France” (TdF). Most of the CDD stages are ridden on the same roads of the TdF, therefore is also a great opportunity to inspect the terrain on which they’ll be competing again in three weeks time.
Been mainly an alpine region, the Dauphiné presents stunning landscapes and beathtaking sceneries with beautiful mountains always in the background. The race itself is therefore usually more suitable for a climber type of cyclist, however usually a couple of flatter stages and a Time Trial day can help an overall rider with a strong team to aim for victory.
Battle between Gregor Muehlberger and Julian Alaphilippe
Michal Kwiatkowski leading the chase on Col de la Baune stage 6
This 2019 edition has been won by Jakob Fuglsang of Team Astana ahead of Tejay Van Garderen of Team EF Education First, and Emanuel Buchmann of Team Bora – Hansgrohe. Adam Yates of Team Mitchelton-Scott was in the lead of the race up until stage 7, then unfortunately had to retire from the competition due to a stomach problem.
Adam Yates of Team Mitchelton – Scott in Yellow Jersey @FabrizioMalisan
Julian Alaphilippe of Team Deceuninck-Quickstep came to this CDD without expectation he said, but been the amazing talent he is, he’s won a stage and finished in Champéry with the climber’s Polka Dot jersey on his shoulders. Wout Van Aert has won the Green Jersey for the points classification, and BJORG LAMBRECHT is the winner of the White Jersey, for the young rider’s classification. Amongst all the great riders in this year’s Criterium du Dauphiné, there was Chris Froome of Team Ineos that unfortunately had to pull out pretty soon due to an accident that unfortunately seem to keep him out from competing also in the TdF. Let’s hope he’ll be able to get back as soon as possible and so, we wish hil all the best for a speedy recovery.
Nairo Quintana of Team Movistar, Dan Martin of Team UAE Emirates and Romain Bardet of Team Ag2r were also in the group but probably mainly just in preparation for the TdF. Anyway, this CDD has clearly given an indication of the conditions of riders and teams leading to the TdF 2019, of course this is only a week-long event, whether the “Grande Boucle” is a much heavier 3 WEEKS of challenging long stages where anything can happen.
Dan Martin of UAE Team Emirates spinning his legs towards the Tour de France 2019
Gabel Inverso Carbon Nordic Walking Poles Bastoncini Marche Nordique Bâtons reviwed by Fabulous Outdoors
We went to the Nordic Walking Festival EuroNordicWalk, a very well organised event that is held every year in the beautiful Vercors valley of France. The beautiful villages of Méaudre and Autrans immersed in a stunning natural parcit’s definitely a place worth a visit, great as a family weekend away surrounded by nature. Situated in the vicinity of Grenoble, the Vercors valley is easily accesible from your travel ways through France. We took this opportunity to test and review some products for Nordic Walking and Trekking. The Gabel Inverso Carbon is a great hi-performance adjustable pole that we recommend, in this video ..and here’s why:
The Gabel Inverso Carbon is a hi-level Nordic Walking pole in carbon suitable for nordic walkers looking for a professional level pole for top performance, stiffness and durability.
Located in Magreglio overlooking Lake Como, by the Madonna del Ghisallo chapel contains an exposition of vintage bicycles and cycling memorabilia, many trophies and cycling photography history.
Beside the church there is the cycling museum “Museo del Ciclismo del Ghisallo”.
Very recommended a visit if you love cycling history and it’s also a great area to discover for cycletouring if you are a keen cyclist.
Just passed the church, the road descends for a few kilometres towards Erba, then with a right turn at a roundabout, you will discover the Sormano climb with also the steepest climb variation called the “Muro di Sormano” a 1800 metres climb with a 12% to 27% gradient!
If you need more information about this region don’t hesitate to write me in the comment section below this video on the Youtube channel: “Fabulous Sport Outdoor Photography”
Looking North from Bellagio, you’ll see a stunning view of the lake with it’s surrounding mountains and, on the left side you have the “”Como side of the lake, on the right side the “Lecco side” of it.
Behind Bellagio there’s a winding road that climbs it’s way up to the Madonna de Ghisallo, very popular for it’s Church and for the cycling museum.
The road is known also for being part of the cycling Giro di Lombardia and this year’s Giro d’Italia 2019. Proceeding along past the Madonna del Ghisallo, the road descends into a beautiful valley that meanders it’s way to Erba (Como) or, with a sharp right turn, climbs up towards the town of Sormano.
Popular in the cycling world for it’s very steep climb “Il Muro di Sormano“, a 1.6 Km climb with gradients ranging from 17% to 25%, a love/hate challenge for cyclists.
At the top of the climb you’ll get to the “Colma di Sormano”, a popular lookout, famous for it’s Sormano Astronomical Observatory
Descending back down towards Como, the road is quite steep and winding, with great views over the lake and coming back down before reaching Como, the characteristic town of Torno is worth a visit as it merges into the lake giving you a great point of view.
The town of Torno on Lake Como – Fabulous Outdoors
A great way to discover this part of Lake Como is by ferry, a daily ticket allows you to get on and off the boat to go visit all the beautiful town and villages surrounding the lake, stunning gardens and villas open to the public.
In Bellagio and pretty much all around the lake you’ll find great hospitality, delicious food and drink to compliment your stay, making sure that your Italian travel experience, to explore and discover Lake Como won’t disappoint your expectations.
Restaurant Terrace in Bellagio over Lake Como
Thank you for passing by and for reading this post, if you need any more information, don’t hesitate to ask and hopefully we’ll be able to help you out.
As usual.. remember to GET OUT MORE as it’s…
In this video we went for a photography walk in the mountains, the alps of France with the hope of finding wildlife to capture in photo.
I’ve taken this opportunity to share a few Wildlife photography tips and camera settings, particularly for Canon camera owners / users that hopefully will find it useful.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Canon EF 70-200mm F/2.8 II IS Lens
If you are a beginner photographer, an amateur photographer thinking about which camera to buy in 2019 for Wildlife photography or for Sports photography, in the Canon range you can find cameras that have been out on the market for a few years now in 2019, but that they’re still good for Wildlife and Sports photography and, at a more affordable price.
Canon EOS M5 + 10-18mm IS Lens
Canon EOS M5
Cannon EOS M5 + 10-18mm IS Lens
These cameras can also be found used in the second hand market and a good selection of lenses are available from Canon and from other manufacturers such as: Tamron, Sigma, Tokina and more.
If you need any more information about this topic, you’re welcome to write a question below the video.
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Thank yu for passing by and for reading this post and, remember to Get Out More as it’s..
12th December 2018 Snow Report.
We went to check out the snow conditions in the beautiful ski resort of Courchevel in the French Alps.
The snow coverage is very good on the slopes, freshly groomed runs and cold temperatures. In the lower part of the resort, snow making is on, so it’s going to be soon well covered with snow all the way down to 1300mt. which is the village of Le Praz.
