Tour de France thread

Lance’s first TdF he quite because the tour was tough. He described those that race and lead the tour were beast.

 

Broken wrist would probably be worse on the climbs/flats , they are yanking on the hoods and bars like mad for power.

 

Best Tour I’ve watched, so far. Love the uncertainty.

 

Are they really talking, and drawing it out, about break away riders, drafting off of the camera people on motorcycles filming the race? I guess a rider complained and nothing else is going on.

Whats funny to me is the time it takes to hand off water bottles and other things from team car personnel and the riders.

 

I thought it was a broken thumb. Half of Cofidis out with a stomachache. Degendt is my new favorite racer. Alaphilippe is pretty cool to watch too. Always stirring shit up. I love Sagan’s interviews. He kills me!

 

...And that, kids, is how important reading the weather forecast is. Like Bruyneel before him, Vaughters understands how to use crosswind echelons on an otherwise boring day. (Coloradans know how to be honorary Belgians)

 

Let me bump this along.

Continued different winner, with every stage.

First day in the mountains today was pretty good with another unexpected winner.

Unknown reasoning for rider abandonment with plenty of speculation. Seems a shame to pull the “fuck it” card without a good reason.

ITT tomorrow will surely shake up the GC standings.

 

You know the teams have 'scouts' that precede the peloton and give condition feedback to the team director, who relays it to the leader and so forth. There's no art to it, at all

 

And, the armchair expert has arrived.

 

I’m sorry but aren’t we all? I will tell you now that I have several prominent degrees from the esteemed WERA BBS Forum.

Just don’t asked for any certificates

 

Derp

 

Lot more knowledgeable people on a wider variety of topics than I’ve seen on any other board. Quite astounding, actually.

 

Anyone else see Lance giving his take on the race in yesterdays coverage. I was like, when did the racing community forgive him and allow him to cover the sport again? Cheating is one thing but the intimidation and threatening aspect was something I figured might still be frowned upon. Or did he go on Oprah and all is forgiven now?

I thought it was in poor taste

 

Yeah, I was surprised with their first interview of him.

I still have huge admiration and respect for the guy, regardless.

 

Pretty darn awesome individual time trial today!

 

I’m watching it tomorrow and will back it up with the next stage. I’m looking forward to seeing how things shakeout from the ITT.

Awesome event by the organizers, so far.

 

Just stating a fact in case it had slipped past. The more I know about the race based on actual accounts from people involved as riders, coaches, directors etc, the less pure it is revealed to be, far less than the magic made out in media. If that makes me an expert in your eyes then so be it.

It's still an awesome race and spectacle, just a bit less magical than I used to think it was.

 

Don’t let all that spoil anything about the sport for ya’. Some things are better not known. If one were to let the purists run the show, they’d still be riding steel frames, wearing wool, not wearing helmets, no communication systems, no team busses, etc. Things evolve, for good or bad, no matter the sport. To me, it’s still the greatest spectacle on earth.

Initially, I let the doping scandal taint my view of cycling. But, the reality is they were ALL doping. It goes way back before Merckx and into the Coppi era or even before. Because there weren’t testing protocols available, they weren’t caught. Yet, people still worship all these old guys....and rightfully so. Lance and the rest of the modern-era dopers deserve the same admiration. They’re no less a rider. It has happened in all sports and it is what it is. Unfortunately, society has its way of selecting who gets away with stuff and who doesn’t, regardless of surrounding circumstances or field of play.

 

Another fantastic stage today, wow!