2012 Tour de France

The guy is at his limits and racing for the biggest prize. Cut him a little slack If the team had no radios, what would have happen? Sad that he gets paid to race and he's the bad guy. Rolland and Vroome are the 2 best riders right now. Add AC and this would be good tour.

 

Hero to zero

I totally believe the first part about his motive to move up in the GC. The rest of his story makes me yawn.
I've seen the stage 3 times today. MAYBE there was a language issue, but Rolland is clearly seen being part of the "discussion" and he still attacked and didn't seem to find it odd that nobody was chasing.

His excuse for not listening to the yellow jersey is "I didn't know"?:lol:

 

I believe his story. We all know the French's first instinct is to surrender.

 

I'm hoping Rolland becomes the rabbit on the track, & riles the dogs up. He's out front, but everyone wants to take him down, knows they stand a fair chance of being able to do it, but will have to work to make it happen. Rollands surprise attack could add some much-needed excitement.

It's been a while since the tour had any decent "villains" to root for.

 

Can't wait to see what Sky's play is on Wednesday. The '07 game CSC played with Evans doesn't apply here, I'm guessing, because Froome looks the stronger of the climbers, and Wiggins is still the main man. No mystery there.

So, if Nibali goes and gaps Wiggins (like more than a minute) , does Froome cover that to protect his GC chances or try to get Wiggins back up to him?

Long shots for the stage anyone? Cobo has said he's just training to defend his Vuelta title but might he have a go to test his legs? He's been content to sit off the back and just work thru the previous stages.

Cobo, Froome & Wiggins hammering each other in Vuelta last year:

 

I used to be a huge Tour fan. This year though, holy crap---dulllll! I have it recorded but usually look to see who's won on Velonews or something. It just isn't doing it for me right now. Last year was great. Unless it gets exciting in the Pyrenee's, it'll be a flop for me.

 

Awesome pics. Thx.

My '86 Peugeot 'Aubisque' model. Sweet little rider.

 

It's all too calculated these days. Each day seems to be the same scenario, the Team Directors let a break get away early and let them stay away for the entire stage. If the break has the right mix in it, a certain level of order is maintained which helps keep everything controlled. The times/gaps are carefully calculated and orders are dictated by the team directors via race radios so that the break is caught just in time before the finish. I'd be curious as to what a stage would look like without radios.

 

Bullseye, I agree. I would love to see racing without radios.

 

Actually not: Ask Rudyard Kipling, who once famously said about the French: "Their business is war, and they do their business." And boy howdy, a quick glance at France's history shows business is booming:

​

Since 387 BC, France has fought 168 major wars against such badasses as the Roman Empire, the British Army and the Turkish forces. Their track record isn't too shabby, either: They've won 109, lost 49 and drawn (or as close as you can "draw" a war) 10 times. Professional boxers have been crowned world champions on shittier records than that.
And while it is true that France surrendered to Germany relatively early in WWII, that was only because they hadn't picked themselves up after WWI yet. And WWI (despite being an entire "I" lower) wasn't exactly an anemic playground chickenfight--the French suffered about 5.7 million casualties (the war killed or wounded an incredible 37 million people worldwide).
So yes, the next time around they let the Germans take over officially, but they never actually stopped fighting: the French resistance was one of the most enduring symbols of Nazi opposition in Europe. The resistance was the originator of the archetypal trench coat wearing merchants of bloody death you see in countless action movies and video games today. They blew up bridges, staged daring night raids, slit German throats while generally looking fantastic (if a little ennui-stricken) while doing it.

​

And not a damn thing's changed since then: France is the most underestimated military force in the world, with the third highest military spending on the planet and an estimated 300 nuclear warheads at their disposal. So basically... we might want to knock off the "coward" talk now, lest we find the impeccably-styled death squads smoking their thin cigarettes on our doorstep.

Read more: The 5 Most Statistically Full of Shit National Stereotypes | Cracked.com http://www.cracked.com/article_18409_the-5-most-statistically-full-shit-national-stereotypes.html#ixzz20qgs8DfL

Allez! Allez!

And, from personal experience, they're far from rude to tourists!
​

 

Why you gotta ruin a great stereotype by gittin all smart 'n sh!t?

I'll make you a good deal on this assault rifle. It's never been fired and only dropped once.

 

Stereotypes save time! LOL!!!

 

Well, here's a bit more of interest: Frank Schleck has been asked to drop out after testing positive for a banned diuretic, which can be used as a masking agent for PED's

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/1...ic-UCI-wants-him-to-leave-Tour-de-France.aspx

If he were French, he'd probably give up immediately, but as Belgian he'll probably wait until the UCI overruns him.

 

Ha, not even sure if that's it, or ' a Luxembourgo'...or 'Luxobourgundian'.

 

My bad. Damn those facts getting in the way of a joke.

And apparently he would be described as "Luxembourgish" or as a "Luxembourger." One makes me think he's only a semi-citizen, and the other just makes me hungry. Or maybe that's because of the diuretics I take before my rides.

 

Sagan makes a move on the rest day

[youtube]oUWakT8eu7I&yr[/youtube]

 

Haha...great.

 

Something is fishy here..... Radio Shack Nissan comes out with a letter shortly afterwards completely absolving themselves and stating they had no knowledge and will fully cooperate with the authorities. Also read that this substance is fairly easy to detect and hasn't been used by dopers actively because of that. Frank Schleck is experienced and has been around the block. I think that if he really wanted to dope he would have been more careful. Also, he came into the Tour with low expectations knowing its not that important to him.

On the other had, his and Andy's dispute with RSN and Bruneel is big and public. He also today complained about not getting paid. They are also already shopping for another team. I would not at all be amazed if somebody in the follow car slipped something into Frank's bottle in order to get him busted.

The Schlecks have been at the forefront of clean cycling and the battle with RSN and Bruneel is big. I wouldn't be amazed if someone slipped him something without his knowledge.

 

Let me adjust my tinfoil hat... and make some popcorn. Love conspiracies!

 

If any of the teams are going to try to make this a race, now is the time. If there's no attack on SKY in the next two stages the race is over, because BW has already shown what he can do in a TT.