**Official** Tour de France/Lance thread **Official**

[flxnimprtmscl]

I don't get why people trash the Tour de France so bad. I don't watch it because I admit it doesn't interest me that much but how can you not have respect for those guys?

They're doing something that's hands down the most dificult thing in sports. The only thing even close is the strong man competition and even that pales when you consider the endurance needed for cycling. I don't watch much of it but the dude's who compete are freaking men and I can't crack on that.

Some of you guys should really back away from your computer every now and then and go do some sort of physical activity...

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: csaddict
Can I get a

WHO GIVES A CRAP!

you again? you sure like crapping in people's thread... first that drifting thread... then this. :frown:

 

[Crucial]

Originally posted by: boyRacer

Originally posted by: csaddict
Can I get a

WHO GIVES A CRAP!

you again? you sure like crapping in people's thread... first that drifting thread... then this. :frown:

I'll apologize for the remark in this thread. It was really unnecessary and harsh, but I stand by my arguments about drifting.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1
Tonight would be a good night to flip the TV to Outdoor Life Network as they're showing a recap of the first week's events from 8-11pm EST.

Today's a rest day, so no coverage to be had BTW.

what was this thing about arstrong almost being disqualified?

Watch the vid I linked about halfway up the thread. A guy crashed right in front of Lance and he had to cut the corner of a switchback to avoid crashing. Technically against the rules, but the tour director made an exception for "exceptional circumstances". The correct decision IMO.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Buck_Naked
Fausto1,
Nice to see someone with the passion I once had for the sport....

As for watching cycling, its hard to fully appreciate the tactics that are at play without being pretty familar with the sport... Its actually pretty exciting for the most part, but not the easiest to follow for the casual observer....

As for the physical aspects, its really hard to convey the effort and speed that the riders put forth, but its one of the most demanding sports out there... I was a decent regional rider back in the day, but coudn't hang with the national class riders.... and all but a few national class riders can hang with the world class riders you see in the Tour.... The difference is unbelievable, and hard to imagine until you have experienced it in person....

Dave

PS: How did you do on the track the other night? How did you like it?

We got rained out.

Tomorrow is the make-up date....I'll let you all know how things go and post some pics if I can get someone to take a few.

 

[Crucial]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: csaddict
Can I get a

WHO GIVES A CRAP!

Strong words from someone whose nick would indicate he lives and breathes a computer game.

I posted this so those who wanted to catch up on the Tour could do so. You can most kindly go fsck yourself.

As for the nick, I haven't played that game in ages. How does one go about changing their nic around here?

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: csaddict

Originally posted by: boyRacer

Originally posted by: csaddict
Can I get a

WHO GIVES A CRAP!

you again? you sure like crapping in people's thread... first that drifting thread... then this. :frown:

I'll apologize for the remark in this thread. It was really unnecessary and harsh, but I stand by my arguments about drifting.

Thanks. I'll rescind my request that you have intimate relations with yourself.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1
Tonight would be a good night to flip the TV to Outdoor Life Network as they're showing a recap of the first week's events from 8-11pm EST.

Today's a rest day, so no coverage to be had BTW.

what was this thing about arstrong almost being disqualified?

Watch the vid I linked about halfway up the thread. A guy crashed right in front of Lance and he had to cut the corner of a switchback to avoid crashing. Technically against the rules, but the tour director made an exception for "exceptional circumstances". The correct decision IMO.

whats a switchback?

 

[boyRacer]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1
Tonight would be a good night to flip the TV to Outdoor Life Network as they're showing a recap of the first week's events from 8-11pm EST.

Today's a rest day, so no coverage to be had BTW.

what was this thing about arstrong almost being disqualified?

Watch the vid I linked about halfway up the thread. A guy crashed right in front of Lance and he had to cut the corner of a switchback to avoid crashing. Technically against the rules, but the tour director made an exception for "exceptional circumstances". The correct decision IMO.

whats a switchback?

did you watch the video? basically the corner made a huge u-turn around a field and he just cut across that... he went cyclocrossing...

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1
Tonight would be a good night to flip the TV to Outdoor Life Network as they're showing a recap of the first week's events from 8-11pm EST.

Today's a rest day, so no coverage to be had BTW.

what was this thing about arstrong almost being disqualified?

Watch the vid I linked about halfway up the thread. A guy crashed right in front of Lance and he had to cut the corner of a switchback to avoid crashing. Technically against the rules, but the tour director made an exception for "exceptional circumstances". The correct decision IMO.

whats a switchback?

Basically a big U-shaped turn in the road. The mountains they go over are so steep that you have to go back and forth rather than straight up in order to maintain a gradient that cars and other vehicles can handle.


Pic of a switchback.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: boyRacer

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Fausto1
Tonight would be a good night to flip the TV to Outdoor Life Network as they're showing a recap of the first week's events from 8-11pm EST.

Today's a rest day, so no coverage to be had BTW.

what was this thing about arstrong almost being disqualified?

Watch the vid I linked about halfway up the thread. A guy crashed right in front of Lance and he had to cut the corner of a switchback to avoid crashing. Technically against the rules, but the tour director made an exception for "exceptional circumstances". The correct decision IMO.

whats a switchback?

did you watch the video? basically the corner made a huge u-turn around a field and he just cut across that... he went cyclocrossing...

I'm pretty damn impressed he stayed on two wheels. 22mm tires suck offroad.

 

[boyRacer]

i thought his tires were gonna pop too when he went off... :Q

i'm waiting for the TT on friday... those bikes own...

 

[Aquaman]

I've not followed the tour de france for a long time............. I remember "the Glondong" though and I have the John Tesh "Tour De France" music CD

Cheers,
Aquaman

 

[LandRover]

Tour de France?

I simply refer to it as the: Tour de Lance...

 

[Feldenak]

It's not something I can watch but the mental and physical toughness expressed by the riders is truely incredible.

 

[JEDI]

What ever happened to Tour de Trump???

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: JEDI
What ever happened to Tour de Trump???

Long gone. They are talking about bringing back the Red Zinger stage race out west though.

 

[freegeeks]

Fausto1

Nice to see that someone else is passionated about cycling.
I'm leaving saturday for the Pyrenees (sp?). I'm going to watch the sunday and monday stages

I'm going to the Tour de France every year to see some stages. I also go to the classic one day races every year (Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Flanders, Liege-Bastogne-Liege).

I'm Flemish, passion for cycling is in our genes


edit: Lance rocks but is nowhere as strong as previous years.

 

[Izzo]

I've been keeping track of the Tour standings for the past few years. But I've never been able to figure out the details of the race. So if you could be so kind....

How/why are the time trials so important? How are they different than a typical stage? For example, someone mentioned that Lance will gain more distance between 2nd place at the time trial. This makes no sense considering on the stage that he crashed, the lead pack was extremely far ahead of him. I realize they were back in the standings, but it doesn't seem possible to be that far behind after relatively flat stages.

Also, how the heck did Lance remain 1 second behind his teammate after 3 stages in a row? Are they saying that they cross the finish line at exactly the same time? At first I thought they awarded all of the riders in a pack the same time. But that doesn't make sense considering how there is always a dangerous mad dash to the finish line the end of a stage.

 

[Lash444]

This is my first year of watching the Tour, because I figured it wouldnt interest me either. However, its been very interesting...races are decided almost every single time by a a nose with 50 people barreling down on the finish line all at once. Plus, people are actually breaking legs and arms and have died on the tour.
I will defend cycling although I am no cyclist or long time fan. These guys do something that you all know any sane person would never do. Yeah, I like to watch basketball or football occasionally, but it sickens me everytime I hear about them complaining they dont get paid enough. Then get busted for drugs, rape, or whatever only to be let off because of there status. Personally, I like to see the guys who do things out of passion for the sport, sure some of them get sponsorships, and I am sure some are rich...but its nothing compared to the overpaid "athletes" we have across the pond.
For that I give kudos to these guys. It surely isn't for the weak, and a lot of them get hurt on the tour. I wouldnt say it was the best thing I have ever watched, but I think its a good change of pace for once and has plenty of entertainment value.
Besides, where else do fans get to be so annoyingly in your face and free to interrupt the show? Some of those guys are so blatantly stupid its comical. Get out of the way idiot!

 

[DrPizza]

I don't remember which mountain stage it was; the stage with two riders about 20 minutes ahead of the main pack at the finish...
Watching that stage with my son allowed me to explain a lot about the strategies involved to him. (or rather, just watching the two leaders allowed me to explain the strategies on the simplest level.) That showed a lot of class when they shook hands with 1 kilometer to go and it became a race to the finish.

To the person who suggested they'd just ride fast, a group of riders can ride much faster over a longer distance than any individual in the group would be able to maintain by himself.

 

[freegeeks]

I've been keeping track of the Tour standings for the past few years. But I've never been able to figure out the details of the race. So if you could be so kind....

How/why are the time trials so important? How are they different than a typical stage? For example, someone mentioned that Lance will gain more distance between 2nd place at the time trial. This makes no sense considering on the stage that he crashed, the lead pack was extremely far ahead of him. I realize they were back in the standings, but it doesn't seem possible to be that far behind after relatively flat stages.

Also, how the heck did Lance remain 1 second behind his teammate after 3 stages in a row? Are they saying that they cross the finish line at exactly the same time? At first I thought they awarded all of the riders in a pack the same time. But that doesn't make sense considering how there is always a dangerous mad dash to the finish line the end of a stage.

Time trial. You don't have the support of your team members. Most people don't realize how important the support of the teammates is. They keep you out of the wind, bring you food etc... Lance performs really well in the time trials. When he's on his best he can outrun the others by 2 minutes. That was also one of the strong points of Indurain. He won the tour 5 times because he was a great time trial rider.

Everyone in the pack gets the same time. Even when there is a sprint and the winner ends 8 seconds before the pack all the riders have the same time. The winner gets a bonus (x seconds) for winning the stage.

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: Izzo
I've been keeping track of the Tour standings for the past few years. But I've never been able to figure out the details of the race. So if you could be so kind....

How/why are the time trials so important? How are they different than a typical stage? For example, someone mentioned that Lance will gain more distance between 2nd place at the time trial. This makes no sense considering on the stage that he crashed, the lead pack was extremely far ahead of him. I realize they were back in the standings, but it doesn't seem possible to be that far behind after relatively flat stages.

The thing about time trials is that they start the riders a few minutes apart and they have to each ride the stage by themselves (no drafting allowed). The time it take each person to finish the course is added onto their overall time. Since you can't draft and most time trials are fairly flat, the riders with more horsepower will gain time over their rivals. Guys like Mayo are great climbers (he only weighs like 125 so has a good power to weight ratio) but are too small and light to go fast on flat ground. Lance is a very good climber, but is also a powerful rider so should do a good time in the time trials.

Also, how the heck did Lance remain 1 second behind his teammate after 3 stages in a row? Are they saying that they cross the finish line at exactly the same time? At first I thought they awarded all of the riders in a pack the same time. But that doesn't make sense considering how there is always a dangerous mad dash to the finish line the end of a stage.

They award all the riders in the main pack the same time as they cross the line. They'll give you or the group you're in a separate time if you are clearly separate from the main pack (either ahead or behind).

 

[Fausto]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
I don't remember which mountain stage it was; the stage with two riders about 20 minutes ahead of the main pack at the finish...
Watching that stage with my son allowed me to explain a lot about the strategies involved to him. (or rather, just watching the two leaders allowed me to explain the strategies on the simplest level.) That showed a lot of class when they shook hands with 1 kilometer to go and it became a race to the finish.

Yeah, that was really cool. Cycling is one of the few sports where you'll see stuff like that. All the guys that were 20+ minutes ahead that day were well over an hour down on general classification so the pack just let them go. Fairly common on middle flat stages like that as the pack gets a rest and the little guys get to duke it out for a stage win.

To the person who suggested they'd just ride fast, a group of riders can ride much faster over a longer distance than any individual in the group would be able to maintain by himself.

 

[freegeeks]

I don't remember which mountain stage it was; the stage with two riders about 20 minutes ahead of the main pack at the finish...
Watching that stage with my son allowed me to explain a lot about the strategies involved to him. (or rather, just watching the two leaders allowed me to explain the strategies on the simplest level.) That showed a lot of class when they shook hands with 1 kilometer to go and it became a race to the finish.

To the person who suggested they'd just ride fast, a group of riders can ride much faster over a longer distance than any individual in the group would be able to maintain by himself.

The stage you mention is the one with Ullrich. Most professional cyclists have a lot of respect for each other