With the Tour in full swing now I have to throw this out there to see if any other archinectors are as distracted during July as I am. I started watching during the 03 Tour and wonder how I let this sport, and this event, go unnoticed for so many years. Vive Le Tour!
The Tour in London was quite disorienting. Crowds of thousands upon thousands of spectators ambling, slowly, patiently (-ish), queuing to purchase sugary merchandise, occasionally a neck craning to see the angular colourful blur across the barriers. The traffic diversions and crowds worked adequately to obscure the familiar view of the city, but strangest of all: Most times these people, when there's that many of them, walk with purpose, chanting, banners aloft, protesting the latest political knee-jerk policies, or suits on, paper in hand, undone work dragging them through the rain in steaming huddles. But yesterday everyone smiled broad smiles, walked at the pace of the hindmost, positively beamed good feelings. Even the police smiled and tried their policeman's best to chum along. What a huge pleasure.
The Tour de France rekindles my passion for really wanting a new bike. I have my heart set on the Orca Orbea or a Pinarello. Damn, they are both sweet.
Me too Katze, and as far as machines go, both the Orbea and pretty much any Pinarello are on my wish list as well. The carbon fiber craze is great I just get sketchy about spending that much money on a bike that has "catastrophic failure" warnings attached to it.
You can't watch pro (euro) cycling with the hope that some guy's aren't doping. I'm sorry but it's just not what happens.....
For me the problem with cycling is that it is a common factor that leads to both the incredible spectacle and also the dope. What other sport compares in physical rigour?
The landis hearing severely pisses me off... I mean a scientific laboritory found you to have synthetic horomones and rather than taking your licks a la Ulrich pt. 1, Millar, Basso, etc.... and just coming back in a year or two the americans tie it up in court to provide some sort of legitimacy with the hope of saving face. Hamilton did the same thing remember?
Dispite my pessimisim, I remain crazy about cycling, and crazy about the tour.
I miss it so much, I'm gonna get in shape for some crits in sept and make a full return for next season.
I'm getting this in the next couple weeks... it's what Astana rides!!!
Hard not to be impressed when you watch the slow motion sprint of Robbie McKewn ( sp?) and see him drop and I mean drop the best guys in the world with his sprint. the most impressive is that he still looks fast in slow motion....wicked just wicked acceleration. Tuning up for some late season racing by riding up .... well Whistler... and Blackcomb!
Landis' defense specialists argued that the carbon isotope test for exogenous testosterone was actually not positive, and their argument (at least as I understand it from www.trustbutverify.com) was convincing to me with no biochemistry or physiology background. Paul Sherwen was saying during the prologue that there was nothing supernatural about Landis' Stage 16 except for the unusual coincidence of a rider putting together a great solo break and tactical bumbling by his opponents.
McKewen's ride yesterday was awesome. Has anyone heard if Cancellara will be riding tomorrow after his crash?
Oh, I certainly can relate Tarheel_11. It's quite an investment risk, isn't it? I might have to opt for a non-carbon fiber option, which might not be so bad :)
yeah, but i would imagine if you crash or run into a wall or something then its not covered - the warranty would only cover product defects. But interestingly enough, I hear that some manufacturers offer additional "crash" replacement policies which cater torwards racers? Anyone know details about this?
more likely (and less obviously pro American) version:
1)Vino
2)Sastre
3)Evans
with Kloden and Levi just outside of the top 3.
As for the recent events, Cancellara is impressive. I thought I'd seen an impressive sprint earlier in the year when Petacchi was left with no more lead out and still held off the field for 800 meters. Cancellaras dash to the line was at least as impressive as that. It was Armstrong running down Kloden impressive if you ask me.
Is anyone else upset that Petacchi is out. I get the feeling he may be innocent but you never know these days.
I hope he goes good but something always seems to happen...
yeah cancellara was awesome... the balls it takes to try that.
not too worried about petcchi ODing on the medication or whatever it was.... he's kinda boring like cipo for me; just rips the drag race sprints and does nothing else. Boonen and McEwen are much more entertaining in my books.
Okay Evans never quite gets it together but with things being quiet I suspect he's just holding his cards close.
I like Stegeman's size, power and speed, multiple times this year he's had to wait for Boonen. Kloden should be in the top three if he rides more aggressively than in past, I have never felt that Sastre could do it on his own, he's got a great team but if it came down to a individual effort on back to bac days I don't think he can win ( he can hang in there pretty well but never seems to be aggressive enough)
...so bloody! It's going to be interesting to see how Vino and Klodi's encounters with the pavement effect the GC heading into the mountains. L'Equipe is reporting Kloden's coccyx is broken and he may not be able to start tomorrow. Vinokourov has hamburger ass, but evidently also banged both knees badly during his crash - looks to be a sleepless night for both riders even if they can go tomorrow. Vino's crash happened so quickly that apparently one of the France 2 motorcyclists had to put his bike down to keep from running Vino over.
damn... crashing in stage races is the WORST... but if he can pull through the next few days he's still my fave.... loving those retro coloured oakleys!!
Gerdemann had a hell of a ride today - Phil Liggett deemed labeled him as potentially rabid due to copious frothing around his mouth as he was escorted into the soigneur's van. Wow.
Great to see Kloden and Vino were both able to keep it together.
haha, you guys are awesome.....I do have this insatiable thirst for the tour every year. I began my love for the tour back during one of the last years Lemond did his thing. I dropped off for some time, and became rejuvenated when Lance appeared on the scene. I have been fortunate enough to also see him win 2 of his seven (I stood on the cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées) and shouted him on.
As for the tour this year...I am too glad to see that Vino has survived this far. Part of me still wants an american up front, but will settle for Contador of Team Discover (a spaniard) to move up in the GC and be the wild card/surprise this year.
I generally detest Christophe Moreau, but yesterday it was great watching him try and pull the chase up to Tignes all by his lonesome. In the post-race press conference, he pretty much called out Valverde for being a weakling.
It was also interesting to see T-Mobile melt down just one day after Gerdemann's epic ride - Rogers goes over the guardrail and Sinkewitz obliterates some old man on the ride back to the hotel. I used to think that it was bizarre that the TdF was on Versus since it is all bull-riding and ultimate fighting. Now not so much.
Surprising time trial today - what are you guys guessing as they enter the Pyrennes for three decisive stages? Rasmussen will hold despite the doping allegations? Vino will attack and take the yellow? Cadel defies the critics who say that he hasn't got the competitive guts to pull it off? Contador? Looks like without a suspicious Landis-like assault, Moreau and Valverde are done.
Did anyone else have problems finding a FREE live stream of the Tour in the past? I found this on cyclingfans via a google search. Which seems so obvious, but I swear I couldn't find anything in 2006...
Depends on where you are - I think a lot of the internet video feed have licensing deals that limit them to certain regions. France 2's website has it for francophone countries, but I don't think there is one on Versus.
Kloden wasn't looking very happy today, but since he can time trial I don't think he's lost all hope. Vino is done... he hadn't even crossed the line before the tv coverage broke away.
I am hoping that Kloden can break and get his team to focus on a better result for his sake, with so few really in the running I would the battle could be a little more focused and less random, don't get me wrong its been very exciting with all the wild cards and favourites falling out the back. But if some one wants to win they'll have to pull some big time into Rassmussen otherwise he'll still be in Yellow by Paris if he rides like he did the other day.
I am fully expecting Kaos the next couple stages and would be disappointed if the various favourites ( even those out of contention , for their own pride ) dont' try and put on a big hurt for the field in the coming stages. ie Vino could be back with revenge (a la a certain stage 17 like Floyd ) he's certainly crazing enough to try it at least.
i get the feeling kloden and evans are just trying to keep in contact with rasmussen and contador, and hoping they can make up the difference on the longer time trial, which is possible. but a little risky.
Imagine being in his shoes at the end yesterday. Alone in the lead on the decent with the view, the crowd and your thoughts. That stage win will be the one the stick with him forever.
That's it. I say its time to split the tour into two sections. One juiced and one not. The simple fact is that they are NEVER going to stop juicing. Its all about supply and demand. If someone wants to win, they will find a way to cheat the system.
Its like baseball. Its not about who's juicing and who's not. its about who has the money to pay for cutting edge drugs that A)haven't been discovered by testing facilities yet, or B)are virtually undetectable.
I'm not sure about the entire team thing and I will ahve to watch tonight to get more info but it COULD be a sponsorship thing. I could imagine a sponsor wanting to be mentioned with the problem and trying to limit its exposure that way.
As for the juice... the REALLY scary thing about the tour is that there are a relatively large number of available substances that are meant to be topically applied. I'm talking about legal substances that could be say.... put in a water bottle and sprayed onto riders as they pass. With some of these as little as a few cc's absorbed into the system would result in a failed test so it is completely possible. I'm not saying that it is or has happened, I'm just saying its a scary thought.
Having thought about it some more, I'm okay with cycling again. Failed tests might mean that cycling is on the mend. People are doing the right things: the doping laboratories didn't leak the results to a journalist, the Tour asked Astana to retire from the competition, the commentators are universally pissed, and the last stage in the Pyrenees will begin tomorrow morning.
What I'm wondering: will everyone attack Rasmussen tomorrow to strip the Tour of another dubious winner? Maybe some inter-team tactics?
Rasmussen pulled from the race! So Leipheimer's into 3rd and Contador takes the top spot. Leipheimer could conceivably make a shot at the lead, unless he decides to ride for Contador.
Tour De France 2007
With the Tour in full swing now I have to throw this out there to see if any other archinectors are as distracted during July as I am. I started watching during the 03 Tour and wonder how I let this sport, and this event, go unnoticed for so many years. Vive Le Tour!
Bien sur!
Vive le maillot jaune!!
EPO killed the tour for me...
too bad,
no TV-set in the office this year.
kraftwerk
is it me or is Lance racing again? Is it that le testicular solo can't stay away?
I support the guy that isn't EPOd to the eyeballs and with blood so thick with other people's red blood cells that he bleeds chunks.
I'm watching it, and also sort of hoping that Landis is cleared when the arbitration results come out in the next week or two.
Last night I watched Louis Malle's Vive Le Tour, and Hollentour for a modern update. I am, as ever, a devoted professional cycling fan.
The Tour in London was quite disorienting. Crowds of thousands upon thousands of spectators ambling, slowly, patiently (-ish), queuing to purchase sugary merchandise, occasionally a neck craning to see the angular colourful blur across the barriers. The traffic diversions and crowds worked adequately to obscure the familiar view of the city, but strangest of all: Most times these people, when there's that many of them, walk with purpose, chanting, banners aloft, protesting the latest political knee-jerk policies, or suits on, paper in hand, undone work dragging them through the rain in steaming huddles. But yesterday everyone smiled broad smiles, walked at the pace of the hindmost, positively beamed good feelings. Even the police smiled and tried their policeman's best to chum along. What a huge pleasure.
The Tour de France rekindles my passion for really wanting a new bike. I have my heart set on the Orca Orbea or a Pinarello. Damn, they are both sweet.
Me too Katze, and as far as machines go, both the Orbea and pretty much any Pinarello are on my wish list as well. The carbon fiber craze is great I just get sketchy about spending that much money on a bike that has "catastrophic failure" warnings attached to it.
You can't watch pro (euro) cycling with the hope that some guy's aren't doping. I'm sorry but it's just not what happens.....
For me the problem with cycling is that it is a common factor that leads to both the incredible spectacle and also the dope. What other sport compares in physical rigour?
The landis hearing severely pisses me off... I mean a scientific laboritory found you to have synthetic horomones and rather than taking your licks a la Ulrich pt. 1, Millar, Basso, etc.... and just coming back in a year or two the americans tie it up in court to provide some sort of legitimacy with the hope of saving face. Hamilton did the same thing remember?
Dispite my pessimisim, I remain crazy about cycling, and crazy about the tour.
I miss it so much, I'm gonna get in shape for some crits in sept and make a full return for next season.
I'm getting this in the next couple weeks... it's what Astana rides!!!
Hard not to be impressed when you watch the slow motion sprint of Robbie McKewn ( sp?) and see him drop and I mean drop the best guys in the world with his sprint. the most impressive is that he still looks fast in slow motion....wicked just wicked acceleration. Tuning up for some late season racing by riding up .... well Whistler... and Blackcomb!
Landis' defense specialists argued that the carbon isotope test for exogenous testosterone was actually not positive, and their argument (at least as I understand it from www.trustbutverify.com) was convincing to me with no biochemistry or physiology background. Paul Sherwen was saying during the prologue that there was nothing supernatural about Landis' Stage 16 except for the unusual coincidence of a rider putting together a great solo break and tactical bumbling by his opponents.
McKewen's ride yesterday was awesome. Has anyone heard if Cancellara will be riding tomorrow after his crash?
Did sherwin say that on the US coverage by chance?
I think Cancellara's injuries were quite minor but i only read a preliminary stage report...
Oh, I certainly can relate Tarheel_11. It's quite an investment risk, isn't it? I might have to opt for a non-carbon fiber option, which might not be so bad :)
they all have warranties if you get em new eh?
yeah, but i would imagine if you crash or run into a wall or something then its not covered - the warranty would only cover product defects. But interestingly enough, I hear that some manufacturers offer additional "crash" replacement policies which cater torwards racers? Anyone know details about this?
I'd check the individual companies....
OK let's get to it: pode predictions
1.Vino
2.Karpets
3.Klodi
Hoping for Cadel Evans to see a podium place
ok Podium:
1)Levi
2)Vino
3)Valverde
more likely (and less obviously pro American) version:
1)Vino
2)Sastre
3)Evans
with Kloden and Levi just outside of the top 3.
As for the recent events, Cancellara is impressive. I thought I'd seen an impressive sprint earlier in the year when Petacchi was left with no more lead out and still held off the field for 800 meters. Cancellaras dash to the line was at least as impressive as that. It was Armstrong running down Kloden impressive if you ask me.
Is anyone else upset that Petacchi is out. I get the feeling he may be innocent but you never know these days.
cadel is a diva
I hope he goes good but something always seems to happen...
yeah cancellara was awesome... the balls it takes to try that.
not too worried about petcchi ODing on the medication or whatever it was.... he's kinda boring like cipo for me; just rips the drag race sprints and does nothing else. Boonen and McEwen are much more entertaining in my books.
Okay Evans never quite gets it together but with things being quiet I suspect he's just holding his cards close.
I like Stegeman's size, power and speed, multiple times this year he's had to wait for Boonen. Kloden should be in the top three if he rides more aggressively than in past, I have never felt that Sastre could do it on his own, he's got a great team but if it came down to a individual effort on back to bac days I don't think he can win ( he can hang in there pretty well but never seems to be aggressive enough)
I'm rooting for Vinokourov - the guy is a blast to watch and attacks with abandon in the mountains.
I'm surprised we haven't seen a Campy vs. Shimano rant, seeing that this is a design forum.
CAMPY is for divas! ha there!
thumbs up for vino... so eastern bloc... so mysterious
...so bloody! It's going to be interesting to see how Vino and Klodi's encounters with the pavement effect the GC heading into the mountains. L'Equipe is reporting Kloden's coccyx is broken and he may not be able to start tomorrow. Vinokourov has hamburger ass, but evidently also banged both knees badly during his crash - looks to be a sleepless night for both riders even if they can go tomorrow. Vino's crash happened so quickly that apparently one of the France 2 motorcyclists had to put his bike down to keep from running Vino over.
COCCYX is probably the coolest word out there....
damn... crashing in stage races is the WORST... but if he can pull through the next few days he's still my fave.... loving those retro coloured oakleys!!
Gerdemann had a hell of a ride today - Phil Liggett deemed labeled him as potentially rabid due to copious frothing around his mouth as he was escorted into the soigneur's van. Wow.
Great to see Kloden and Vino were both able to keep it together.
He's dancing on his pedals in a most immodest way! -Phil Liggett
haha, you guys are awesome.....I do have this insatiable thirst for the tour every year. I began my love for the tour back during one of the last years Lemond did his thing. I dropped off for some time, and became rejuvenated when Lance appeared on the scene. I have been fortunate enough to also see him win 2 of his seven (I stood on the cobblestones of the Champs-Élysées) and shouted him on.
As for the tour this year...I am too glad to see that Vino has survived this far. Part of me still wants an american up front, but will settle for Contador of Team Discover (a spaniard) to move up in the GC and be the wild card/surprise this year.
I generally detest Christophe Moreau, but yesterday it was great watching him try and pull the chase up to Tignes all by his lonesome. In the post-race press conference, he pretty much called out Valverde for being a weakling.
It was also interesting to see T-Mobile melt down just one day after Gerdemann's epic ride - Rogers goes over the guardrail and Sinkewitz obliterates some old man on the ride back to the hotel. I used to think that it was bizarre that the TdF was on Versus since it is all bull-riding and ultimate fighting. Now not so much.
Gearheads might like this story on Rasmussen's ride:
http://www.velonews.com/tour2007/tech/articles/12784.0.html
what a diva!
Surprising time trial today - what are you guys guessing as they enter the Pyrennes for three decisive stages? Rasmussen will hold despite the doping allegations? Vino will attack and take the yellow? Cadel defies the critics who say that he hasn't got the competitive guts to pull it off? Contador? Looks like without a suspicious Landis-like assault, Moreau and Valverde are done.
Did anyone else have problems finding a FREE live stream of the Tour in the past? I found this on cyclingfans via a google search. Which seems so obvious, but I swear I couldn't find anything in 2006...
NOS
The commentary is in dutch so supplement with one of the many audio stream.
Depends on where you are - I think a lot of the internet video feed have licensing deals that limit them to certain regions. France 2's website has it for francophone countries, but I don't think there is one on Versus.
Kloden wasn't looking very happy today, but since he can time trial I don't think he's lost all hope. Vino is done... he hadn't even crossed the line before the tv coverage broke away.
contador!! that is how you pedal a bike what a gorgeous bike rider
I am hoping that Kloden can break and get his team to focus on a better result for his sake, with so few really in the running I would the battle could be a little more focused and less random, don't get me wrong its been very exciting with all the wild cards and favourites falling out the back. But if some one wants to win they'll have to pull some big time into Rassmussen otherwise he'll still be in Yellow by Paris if he rides like he did the other day.
I am fully expecting Kaos the next couple stages and would be disappointed if the various favourites ( even those out of contention , for their own pride ) dont' try and put on a big hurt for the field in the coming stages. ie Vino could be back with revenge (a la a certain stage 17 like Floyd ) he's certainly crazing enough to try it at least.
Man, Contador is a pest. He was relentless at harassing Rasmussen today - can't wait till Wednesday!
i get the feeling kloden and evans are just trying to keep in contact with rasmussen and contador, and hoping they can make up the difference on the longer time trial, which is possible. but a little risky.
yep kaos....gotta love, Vino I used to find him a total ass, but i have to give him a ton of credit for digging deep today.
Imagine being in his shoes at the end yesterday. Alone in the lead on the decent with the view, the crowd and your thoughts. That stage win will be the one the stick with him forever.
Okay. I'm now officially inconsolable:
Vinokourov Tests Positive
Vino and Astana are toast. Forget what I had said about him digging deep he just religated himself back to being an ass.
That's it. I say its time to split the tour into two sections. One juiced and one not. The simple fact is that they are NEVER going to stop juicing. Its all about supply and demand. If someone wants to win, they will find a way to cheat the system.
Its like baseball. Its not about who's juicing and who's not. its about who has the money to pay for cutting edge drugs that A)haven't been discovered by testing facilities yet, or B)are virtually undetectable.
I'm not sure about the entire team thing and I will ahve to watch tonight to get more info but it COULD be a sponsorship thing. I could imagine a sponsor wanting to be mentioned with the problem and trying to limit its exposure that way.
As for the juice... the REALLY scary thing about the tour is that there are a relatively large number of available substances that are meant to be topically applied. I'm talking about legal substances that could be say.... put in a water bottle and sprayed onto riders as they pass. With some of these as little as a few cc's absorbed into the system would result in a failed test so it is completely possible. I'm not saying that it is or has happened, I'm just saying its a scary thought.
ASO (tour's organizers) asked the team to stop. It's basically a PR move by the Tour to try to distance itself from the doping.
BORAT WILL NOT BE PLEASED!
Having thought about it some more, I'm okay with cycling again. Failed tests might mean that cycling is on the mend. People are doing the right things: the doping laboratories didn't leak the results to a journalist, the Tour asked Astana to retire from the competition, the commentators are universally pissed, and the last stage in the Pyrenees will begin tomorrow morning.
What I'm wondering: will everyone attack Rasmussen tomorrow to strip the Tour of another dubious winner? Maybe some inter-team tactics?
I take it back: Vinokourov's test results were leaked to L'Equipe.
Rasmussen pulled from the race! So Leipheimer's into 3rd and Contador takes the top spot. Leipheimer could conceivably make a shot at the lead, unless he decides to ride for Contador.
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