On the penultimate day of the 2014 Tour de France, the riders were faced with a 58km individual time trial from Bergerac to Perigueux. With the winners in the major classifications all but decided, today was a day to watch Tony Martin, the best time trialist in the world, do what he does best. In that respect, Stage 20 did not disappoint, as Martin delivered an excellent time trial, obliterating his closest competition by 96 seconds. In addition to Martin’s dominance, a number of the top ten general classification competitors, including Leopold Konig and Tejay van Garderen, moved up in the overall standings after strong time trials. In perhaps the most disappointing news of the day, a flat tire in the final few kilometers may have cost Romain Bardet his fifth place overall standing, as van Garderen was able to jump ahead of him by only a few seconds at the end of the stage.
Heading into tomorrow’s final stage, Peter Sagan has already secured the green jersey for himself, winning the points competition convincingly this year. While he says that he is satisfied with the green jersey, I’m hoping, for Sagan’s sake, that he can find the finish line first and really put a punctuation mark on his fantastic Tour. Polish rider Rafal Majka will wear polka dots tomorrow, and without enough points left to take it away from him, he will be crowned King of the Mountains at the podium in Paris. Following today’s time trial, Thibaut Pinot has officially distanced himself from Bardet in the young rider classification. Regarding the maillot jaune, there was never any doubt that Vincenzo Nibali would hold his sizeable lead in today’s time trial, and he actually managed to extend his lead with a 4th place finish. With tomorrow’s final stage often more of a victory lap than a competitive stage in most years of the Tour (albeit with a thrilling sprint finish), it looks as though the final top ten for the 2014 Tour de France will be the following: Vincenzo Nibali, Jean-Christophe Peraud, Thibaut Pinot, Alejandro Valverde, Tejay van Garderen, Romain Bardet, Leopold Konig, Haimar Zubeldia, Laurens Ten Dam, and Bauke Mollema.
In honor of Tony Martin’s second stage victory, here is a film preview from his home country of Germany:
Germany
Metropolis
(dir. Fritz Lang, 1927)
Among all of the German films of the expressionist Weimar era (including the previously-featured Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Nosferatu), a strong case could be made that Fritz Lang’s Metropolis (1927) is the most influential and well-known of them all. For decades, the film was only partially available, with title cards substituting for missing segments. However, in 2008, the discovery of a 95% complete copy of the film in Argentina allowed for a new restoration of this classic film that nearly matches Lang’s original. A truly groundbreaking science fiction film, Metropolis is essential viewing for any serious film fan.
Metropolis is the tale a futuristic city (Metropolis) with a significant class struggle: the rich and idle live in luxury, while the working class toil with the dangerous industrial machines that keep the city running. The message of the story is extremely heavy-handed: “The mediator between head and hands must be the heart!” The “heart” in this case is our protagonist, Freder (Gustav Frohlich), whose journey from idle playboy to champion of the proletariat helps him to find peace between the wealthy “head” of Metropolis, represented by his father (Alfred Abel) and the working class, represented by foreman Grot (Heinrich George). The peaceful union of the two classes is saccharine and overdone, but the visual effects and mise en scene are groundbreaking and absolutely brilliant for their time. Metropolis may not be the best film of the silent era, but its influence and importance cannot be overstated.
Bru's Reviews 