The Critérium Cycliste International de Quillan? Who Knew?

YES, MORE CYCLING. A few weeks ago Kerri and I noticed a banner hanging betwen two trees advertising a criterium bike race to be held in the neighboring village of Quillan on Friday, August 15 (that's today). We weren't exactly sure what kind of event it was, but our guess was that it was a small community race that might feature some of the area's best amateur riders.

We were wrong.

The race was actually the Critérium Cycliste International de Quillan, the oldest criterium bike race in France (it was first held in 1938). And it's not a bunch of amateurs; it's actually a well-repsected race that draws some great riders -- past winners include Jacques Anquetil, Laurent Fignon, Pedro Delgado, Richard Virenque, George Hincapie, and Sandy Casar. And while today's race did include some area amateurs, it also featured Tour de France riders Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis), Stéphane Goubert (AG2R), Nicholas Portal (Caisse d'Espargne) and...Tour winner and CSC rider Carlos Sastre (that's him with P & J in the above photo). A total of 50 riders made 75 loops around a 1.12 km curcuit through tiny village streets and Sastre ended up winning the race after a final lap sprint against Chavanel and Goubert. [Note: I must admit that I was convinced Sastre wasn't going to try to win. I told my wife and mother-in-law that he would just show up, collect his appearance fee, finish in the middle of the pack, and return home to Spain. Boy was I wrong. He led out on a lot of the laps and sprinted to a relatively easy finish. Geez, now I like him even more than I already did.]

A fun event to be sure. We were happy that PP and GG could see it since they missed the TDF by a couple of days. Some photos:

Henry has a prime spot to see Stéphane Goubert.

The narrow streets of Quillan, France.

The bridge leading into Quillan.

P & J with Sylvain Chavanel

CJS