2010 (and now 2014) Tour de France

• Jughead

  

  Am I really the only person watching this thing? Personally, I just can't get enough. I searched the forum, and found 4 posts referring to those 3 words, all of which had very little to do with the current race.
  
  Sure Lance Armstrong is not having the kind of year that he wanted, yet there are all kinds of interesting stories and the scenery sure is fantastic.
  
  http://www.versus.com/cycling/
  
  [video=youtubeHE3YhqM3Xc][/video]
  
  Headbutting near the finish line? Now I've seen it all!
• wildcats20

  

  I don't like what Lance said the other day. When he publicly announced that he basically "had no chance". I mean yeah anyone who follows cycling knew he was out of it, but just don't come out and say it to the world IMO.
  
  But other than that, the only thing I ever see is the brief highlight ESPN gives each day.
• Jughead

  

  Former overall leader Andy Schleck of Luxembourg vows revenge against last year's winner Alberto Contador after taking advantage of a mechanical issue.
  
  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704084004575377210132122650.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
  
  To be honest, I can't stand Contador. But what he did was perfectly alright in my eyes. He needed 31 seconds and he took advantage of it. This grudge could make for an interesting finish tomorrow.
  
  By the way, 15 days of racing and only 8 seconds separates the first and second place rider. How often does that happen?
• ts1227

  

  I usually watch some of it, but I just haven't been able to get into it this year, for whatever reason. The headbutting near the finish line was hilarious, but I prefer the fight where the one dude comes out swinging a tire.
  
  It was the same way in JJ too. Bruce Monnin or whoever it was would start bike race threads, and he was literally just talking to himself for everything except the tour de France. Of course, when you try to start threads about shit like the tour de Meigs County, not many people are going to give a shit.
• NilesPacMan

  I'm usually a fan of the race, but since I don't get Versus anymore, I really don't watch much of it. I'm not too big in online streaming feeds, so I try to follow it when I can, but most of this year's race, I've just read the recaps.
  
  I liked Contador when he was on Discovery the first year he won because it was an American based team, but since then, I'm not a big fan...
• Jughead

  

  ts1227;427329 wrote:Of course, when you try to start threads about shit like the tour de Meigs County, not many people are going to give a shit.

  
  I heard that Meigs County has some interesting....locations.
  
  I will not have my first thread turn out to be a dud, thus I will post updates on this everyday from here on out.
• gut

  I've enjoyed the TdF again this year, even if Lance is not in contention. The cobbles early on made things interesting.
  
  Been disappointing that the great attacks between Contador and Schleck in the mountains have not really materialized. I was not pleased with Contador attacking Schleck over a mechanical issue the other day, but I have mixed feelings as to whether it constitutes unfair play. It should set-up a great day the final mountain stage on Thursday.
  
  And Armstrong put in a nice, if disappointing, farewell ride today. Would have been great to see a stage win, but at least he showed he still belongs here. Who knows, maybe he'll surprise us in the final TT.
  
  The loss of Frank Schleck really hurt Andy. The mountain stages just aren't as exciting as they could be, which is part of why there is so much vitriol for Armstrong - he basically re-wrote the book on how to win the TdF and most of the GC contenders now come with teams that largely neutralize the mountains save for relatively short cases (30 seconds here, 30 seconds there, etc...). Now it's just some billy goats setting a pace just high enough to deter attacks and it gets boring.
• Sonofanump

  Froome out with injuries.
• gut

  LOL, that took some effort to bump a thread from 2010, rather than start a new one!
  
  Disappointed to see Froome out, and with Cavendish also out this has taken a lot of excitement out. However it will be interesting to watch Contador attack, attack, attack Nibali in the mountains. Nibali is expected to TT a bit better, so Contador probably has to gain at least 3 minutes on him. And AC's team doesn't look real strong, so we could be seeing some serious mano-a-mano in the mountains we haven't seen much of in a long time.
  
  But American Andrew Talansky is well positioned to make a run at the podium, possibly more. He and Valverde are right there just above Contador.
• Sonofanump

  I don't see Contador being quite fit this year
• salto

  

  This mornings stage on the cobble stones was insane.
• -Society-

  

  Shut the fuck up like you know anything...lol
• -Society-

  

  That's towards you fagofanump
• -Society-

  

  Sorry. Autospell did that.
• Sonofanump

  -Society-;1634472 wrote:Sorry. Autospell did that.

  clever
• Jughead

  

  Sonofanump;1634432 wrote:I don't see Contador being quite fit this year

  Contador out after fracturing his tibia today. The fact that he continued up a Catagory 1 climb after such an injury is admirable. Still can't stand the guy, but he appeared to be the only one that could challenge Niboli.
• gut

  Jughead;1636100 wrote:Contador out after fracturing his tibia today. The fact that he continued up a Catagory 1 climb after such an injury is admirable. Still can't stand the guy, but he appeared to be the only one that could challenge Niboli.

  Crazy. I can't remember this many top riders (GC and sprinters) crashing out in a long time. Not even to the first rest day and most of the drama is gone. Of course, I enjoy the racing as much for the scenery as anything, and the tv coverage/photos is practically cinematic.
  
  That's racing. Just excpetional bad luck for a lot of great riders this year.
• salto

  

  This years tour has been great. I much prefer these mountain stages as for difficulty. Past tours being in the Alps they had many steep inclines and descents throughout the stage. Seems like this years hills are much longer but not as steep.
  Seemed like yesterday they were climbing non-stop for 15 minutes. Not necessarily really steep but a really long hill.
  imo- this year is much more difficult. You don't get the short rest periods like in the Alps.
  
  This morning looked fun with the long down hills and flying around the bends.
  
  e/-Don't want to post results in case anyone is watching later.