Tdf 2008

[sdyeti]

Le Tour de France thread moved from General Discussion and merged with existing post

[Pho'dUp]

Originally Posted by sdyeti

Le Tour de France thread moved from General Discussion and merged with existing post

What? Are you the new STR mod? Or do you just play one on TV?

[sdyeti]

^^Yes.

I mean, no, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night

[Pho'dUp]

Hey, that's great news for the forum. Sorry to out you Steph. Have fun with those PM's about inappropiate pictures, inappropriate content, reactionary pm's about censorship, then the Stephen Jackson PMs.

One of these days we'll have to organize a beer ride to Thank the moderators. Hope George shows, I owe that guy some suds too.

Now you can go ahead and delete this post, b/c it's off topic.

[roach]

Every Tour de France contains more subtle drama than any other sport. If you think this year's tour is boring, you haven't been paying attention. Lance spoiled you. The peloton is huge. Dreams are being fulfilled and crushed in the blink of an eye. Everyday has been great and tomorrow is the final time trial that will decide the race. Cadel vs Carlos. I think (and hope) Cadel can take the overall..

Cadel taking it to victory, 8yrs ago.

[dirtmistress]

Watching Sylvan win today was great! About time that boy got one. As for the race itself, I'm watching the TT live tomorrow and riding afterwards.
I'm torn between Sastre and Evans. They have both been trying for sooo long. A pity one has to lose. I'm not a fan of either. I find their personalities to be bland but I like Sastre's attacking style and I like Evans tenacity!

I think I'm for Carlos because he seems more personable. Plus, he really suffered and persevered in the movie ‘Overcoming’.
As for subtle drama, if I could work the Tour and read every blog and L'Equipe article on it then perhaps I could touch the surface and experience some of the drama these people go through. For most viewers it's pretty superficial. Race, cheer, turn the TV off!
Lance's drama was headlines around the world. He was riddled with cancer, has one nut and won one of the hardest sporting events out there.
People love human interest stories. Aren't we all seeing that on the news with the Olympics coming up? Human interest stories of our athletes? We see it before the marathons and even at this years superbowl.
Lance was a very exciting racer and he did make the races spectacular on many occasions! Some of it was same ol' same ol' but some of it was out of this world. I'm not ashamed at all to say I really liked Lance as a racer and I miss him but I also really liked Ullrich and Cipo and Zabel and a whole gang of others. Don't forget, some people say the Indurain years were beyond dull! I miss Vino too! I hate them and I love them. What can I say. Go ahead and say they were all dopers. It doesn't change how I feel.
Two of my favorite racers are David Moncoutie
and Juan Antonio Flecha. Supposedly well known non-dopers. Levi makes me want to gag and I wish Chris Horner was in this race.
I think this race has been rather dull but there have been some great stages. I look forward to tomorrow but I wish the race had been a bit more visually exciting as opposed to cerebral.

[dirtmistress]

Bravo to the man in yellow!!!!

[SDstumpy]

Really bummed Vandevelde had that crash on one of the Alp decents. He might have been able to podium if it was for that one bad day.

[dirtmistress]

I can't believe it's over. For me it was like a movie that took awhile to process but now that it's over, I actually really did like this Tour and Damnitall!! I'm really going to miss Phil and Paul!! I watched the entire finishing stage and loved the shots of Paris! Can't wait till next year!!

[DBD]

Originally Posted by dirtmistress

...I watched the entire finishing stage and loved the shots of Paris! Can't wait till next year!!

They always toss together some great footage for the last stage, some of the shots are breathtaking to say the least.

Who was the rider that had the seat break off when they got to the Champes Elysees? The Mrs was watching with me and when they showed the post but no seat that carbon post looked deadly. Was kinda funny watching him sit on the top tube to ride.

I had no favorite this year as most of the riders I wanted to win either got busted or their team was not allowed to race but it was still a good race. Just once though I would like to see one of the top GC teams break from tradition and make a run on the yellow going into Paris, maybe if RockRacing ever gets a chance they could give it a go.

[scottay]

The stage is too flat to keep away ........and , jeez, you had three weeks to win it, why be a jerk and spoil the tradition?

CSC is the Yankees of Pro Cycling, right? They have triple Silences budget and can buy all the best riders. Do they have 3 or 4 National champions? They mentioned how Sastre wouldnt have won if he had Cadels team......
My .02$.

[elab]

Originally Posted by DBD

Who was the rider that had the seat break off when they got to the Champes Elysees? The Mrs was watching with me and when they showed the post but no seat that carbon post looked deadly. Was kinda funny watching him sit on the top tube to ride.

I think it was Jens Voight.

I was glad to see Vandevelde do well. Really enjoyed watching Andy Shleck race.

[sdyeti]

It kind of feels like the day after Christmas...

[emfc]

I am having TDF withdrawls, I went it to a mini panic when I didn't see the record icon on my DVR this morning. On the plus side, I may actually get something accomplished now that I don't spend 4 hours out of my day watching bike racing.

Originally Posted by scottay

They mentioned how Sastre wouldnt have won if he had Cadels team......

Cadel couln't win on Cadels team.

[shudder]

Originally Posted by emfc

I went it to a mini panic when I didn't see the record icon on my DVR this morning...

Olympics are just around the corner. Jeez, I won't get anything done this summer.

shud

P.S. Congrats to Carlos!

[Pickettt]

Originally Posted by scottay

The stage is too flat to keep away ........and , jeez, you had three weeks to win it, why be a jerk and spoil the tradition?

CSC is the Yankees of Pro Cycling, right? They have triple Silences budget and can buy all the best riders. Do they have 3 or 4 National champions? They mentioned how Sastre wouldnt have won if he had Cadels team......
My .02$.

Lance Armstrong wouldn't won with Cadel Evans' team

[DBD]

Originally Posted by scottay

The stage is too flat to keep away ........and , jeez, you had three weeks to win it, why be a jerk and spoil the tradition?...

... All in the name of, all in the name of rock!!! (not sure why but that sounded fitting )


I for one like seeing sporting events come down to the wire such as in football/hockey having the games go into sudden death ot.

Although it is nice to see a clear cut winner I would prefer it come down to "the first person in the top 5 to cross the line a second or two ahead of any of the top GC riders will win. No clear cut winner until the final finish line is crossed.

The worst for me was watching Riis win in '96, yeah I wanted him (or Ulrich) to win but the only reason Ullrich came close was he is a much better ITT rider other wise Riis would have been 5min ahead when they came into Paris. Same with watching Armstrong, great to see him win but he just smoked the field so I end up watching the race for second and third.

I have always felt that if no one was going to race for the yellow on the final day then they should cut out the ride into Paris (or at least shorten it a significant amount) and just have them "parade" around the Champes Elysees while the sprinters get their time out front.

[dirtmistress]

I'm with you. There have been some attacks on the final day and I would have to look in my books to get the details but for the most part, it's a celebration. *ho-hum*
There was a guy that attacked Armstrong on the final day a few years ago to piss him off. His team was forced to chase him down.
It was the same guy Lance chased down when he had gotten off in a break in a different stage. When Lance caught the break, they all had a cow because now the break would not succeed so they told the guy to leave the break and drop back with Armstrong.
Lance hated him because he was vocal about doping in the peloton. Anyone remember his name?
There were a couple stages where it would have been nice to see some attacks go off but they were saving themselves for the TT.

[Pickettt]

Originally Posted by dirtmistress

I'm with you. There have been some attacks on the final day and I would have to look in my books to get the details but for the most part, it's a celebration. *ho-hum*
There was a guy that attacked Armstrong on the final day a few years ago to piss him off. His team was forced to chase him down.
It was the same guy Lance chased down when he had gotten off in a break in a different stage. When Lance caught the break, they all had a cow because now the break would not succeed so they told the guy to leave the break and drop back with Armstrong.
Lance hated him because he was vocal about doping in the peloton. Anyone remember his name?
There were a couple stages where it would have been nice to see some attacks go off but they were saving themselves for the TT.

Fillipo Simeoni, not to be confused with Gilberto Simoni.