2012 Tour de France

Yep it is. Been a race fan of the TDF for 25 plus years. I wasn't comparing the race to the XC world cup.. Different racing all together. This years TDF is a real bummer to me. Your view may be different and it's cool if it is.

 

AC has raced against teams isolated throughout his career. Porte woouldn't hang I know Wiggins wouldn't hang only maybe Froome would be able to hang so far. Coming up will be steeper climbs that suits AC much better than the mentioned riders. AC is also a fantastic TT'er. Game over.

 

I am finding them holding the younger riders back to help the so called team leader very frustrating. Let them go I like it when they are out front fighting each other for the yellow. Miss the one on one battles of the past few years.

 

This year's TDF is a bore-fest.

 

Sure is getting that way.

I was expecting a lot more out of Evans, Nibali, Menchov, Kloden and Schleck.

Vino tried to liven things up today with one last moment of glory but even that effort was doomed.

Hope things turn around in the Pyrenees.

 

Hopefully as it gets nearer the end of the tour, someone will take some risks to upset the current situation.

 

This'll do for me on Wednesday:


The view from the Tourmalet

 

Agreed that if the teams maintain their current strategies it'll be dull, unless Wiggo has a crash, mechanical, or major physical meltdown. Of course, he and Team Sky haven't shown a hint of any of that. I haven't ruled out the possibility of Bulldog Cadel rallying or Nibali uncorking a big climb to tighten things up, and if either does, Sky could have a tough situation since Froome actually looks like their strongest man. Or does Cadel admit that he's out of it and let Tejay off the leash for some glory? Either way, it seems obvious that Tejay and Froome could be most teams' lead riders right now. And in a purely sentimental sense I'm rooting for Horner get a moment of glory too - maybe a strong pull on a tough climb - though I'm not holding my breath.

One thing I am loving is how many times Phil and Paul have commented on how strong a given rider is because of his background in mountain biking! :clap:

 

I don't know Evans had a bad day, Tejay has had a few bad days or he would already be in the hunt.

 

Levi is falling off the face of the earth at this rate. Has anyone mentioned anything? Is he baked or has he been dinged up in crashes (again)? EuroSports pretty much ignores him and same for Horner. Chris is doing fairly well now.

 

Maybe, but there have been a couple days where it sure looked like could have easily dropped Cadel and cut a couple minutes off his own time - maybe even made a run at the podium. Much respect to him and the others who know their role and do what the team requires. That's gotta be awfully hard at times.

And yeah, Levi....sad. Not sure if it's the team change, age, crashes, the scandal, or all of them, but it just hasn't seemed like his heart's been in it this year.

 

Seems like a normal Tour for Levi. I think it was last year or the Tour before that were he said, "I don't know what I'm doing here, I just don't have it..."

 

Congrats to Sanchez, nice move to breakaway from the other 4 for the win.



Check Sagan's pockets for tacks.:lol:

 

Gotta wonder if the crash on the descent that resulted in that fellow breaking his collarbone (not sure who it was) was caused by one of the many tacks that just took time to affect the riders...Guess Wiggins must have heard about it while descending and when he flatted that's why he decided to change bikes rather than do a full-tire check for any tacks that may have been embedded.

First the flares, now this...time for the vast majority of the good fans to beat the $?#! out of anyone they see doing this crap.

And I think Pierre Rolland and the EuropCar Team may want to eat only packaged food tonight...and they won't be allowed to get into any breaks after that show of sportsmanship.

 

I am 100% sure it was, if you look you can they had the bike up with front wheel removed waiting for wheel change if he was going to continue.

 

Except for the tack incident this is the most boring Tour in years....

 

Pierre Rolland went from Hero to zero today.

 

I'm to the point of just watching the highlights on the app...

 

Everyday. I tune it see if there are any fireworks. So far the highlights have been tacks, a few crashes, Farrar going after someone in their bus, and beautiful scenery. Pretty boring. The >>>> button on the remote is gettin a lot of us. Its like a 15 day soccer match that is stuck at 1-0

 

Rolland's side of the story...

"I [Pierre Rolland] attacked to try to gain positions in the general classification,” he explained. “I did it to try to rise into the top five and I hadn’t seen what was happening behind me. I asked for time differences from [directuer sportif] Dominique Arnold but he did not reply.

“I was not aware of anything,” he insisted. “A moto rider from France TV told me that I was 1’20” ahead, so I continued. I never knew anything. After the descent, I came to a part with a less favourable wind, and the peloton came back strongly with Liquigas[-Cannondale] and Lotto[-Belisol].”

Having been pulled back, with around 15km to go, Rolland was greeted by some scorn by a number of members of the peloton. At first he still didn’t know why but, as he looked around, the penny began to drop.

“When I got back in the peloton, Fränk Schleck came to me asking me why I had gone. I did not understand at first and then I realised that there weren’t many riders with the same two wheels. I am respectful of the codes and internal rules of the peloton. If someone attacks a puncture or a crash, I'd be the first to moan. Had I been aware of anything, I would have waited.

“Those who know me know that this is not my attitude. This was a silly incident but I think that, inside the peloton, everyone saw that I was in good faith. "

Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...ernal-rules-of-the-peloton.aspx#ixzz20kPO5kfY
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