2011 Tour de France/Tour Tracker (threads merged)

Check This One Out!!

LES ESSARTS, France (VN) ─ Well, the UCI has done it once again.

On Saturday commissaires controlling bikes before Sunday’s team time trial decided to check whether or not saddles were level (UCI rule 1.3.012 states that “the saddle support shall be horizontal”). This caught out almost every one of the 22 teams at this year’s Tour de France.

In fact, more than half of Saxo Bank-Sungard’s riders had to change their saddle positions minutes before the start. Team boss Bjarne Riis was livid.

“This is bullshit,” he said. “I’ve never seen something like this before. Bullshit.”

Quite frankly, he was right.

Officials gave no warning that they would be enforcing the largely ignored rule. And it’s ignored with good reason. There is no consistent way to measure the hundreds of different saddles that pros use. It’s especially difficult to tell whether a saddle is level if it has a cutout or valley in the tail.

Team Radioshack’s Johan Bruyneel echoed Riis, directing his comments to the UCI WorldTour manager, Philippe Chevallier.

“The whole season you’ve ruled like this (with last-minute decisions and poor communication with the teams),” Bruyneel complained. “We spend thousands each year in the wind tunnel and today in front of the world’s press, at the most important race of the year, you do this!”

Chevallier replied curtly, “I won’t discuss this here.”

But even though Chevallier wasn’t in the mood to talk, team managers from several of the world’s biggest teams insisted on stepping behind the bike-check tent and airing their grievances in private to Chevallier and the other UCI commissaires in attendance.

The test jig that the commissaires had was actually one of the best I’ve seen, but it still had its shortcomings. While it did effectively measure saddle setback and aero-bar extensions, when commissaires put a level on top of riders’ saddles the officials assumed that the measuring jig was sitting level. Several savvy mechanics brought their own levels and pointed out that the jig was not.

Carsten Jeppesen, Team Sky head of operations, pointed out that while the jig wasn’t level it actually helped the teams get away with slightly nose-down saddles and he didn’t bring that to the attention of the commissaires (or other teams).

All this leads me to ask: Does the UCI flip through its rulebook, searching for poorly written rules, and decide to enforce them randomly at events? It does seem to be a case of bullying, asserting authority simply because it can.

I think that everyone involved in the sport on the technical side agrees that we need regulations. But we need them to be clearly written and universally enforced. Last-minute escapades like Sunday’s make everyone look bad, from mechanics and directors who lose their cool and UCI commissaires who stand back and sulk after their rulings are questioned.

This is not the way forward for cycling.

 

Happy July 4th! Thank you Tyler for your gift to America in France today!!

 

Now, can a Frenchman win on Bastille Day?

 

What a ride by Thor today and THAT is how the owner of the yellow should ride like! Great stage again!

 

That was an intense ending to stage 4 and hilarious if you're a hater of a certain rider from Spain! ;-)

 

They usually try and succeed; however, considering this year it finishes at the top of Luz-Ardiden, it's doubtful, even for Voeckler and Chavanel.

Great finish today. Great tactics by BMC and an incredible ride for Thor.

 

ManInAShed (whose post has now mysteriously disappeared)- Nice! I remember watching the end of the tour in '86 as Hinault did a breakaway in the mountains (when he was supposed to be helping Lemond), and the announcer said "Bernard Hinault- man or machine? We'll soon find out!" Well, he was just a man, but it made for incredible drama and got a lot of Americans (like me) watching the sport for the first time.

 

Try using SBS's tour tracker: http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/

They also have a free Iphone app too!!

 

Those were some brawls... Hinault, Fignon, Kelley, attacking like crazy, pushing that Yellow out in front. I think Hinault may have been in 86, yea. Fignon felt obligated to ride like an animal under the yellow jersey, which was really cool. ...none of this risk-assessment strategy garbage that made a few of Lances wins snoozers. As much as I think Contador is an annoying twit, and a lucky doper, I kinda also like that he's a loose cannon. Unpredictability keeps things from becoming stale.

The bit on leveling saddles cracks me up. Man I hate the UCI's tech reqs. They're necessary, reasonably-intentioned, excessive, and they suck all the fun out of designing for the road. They really need to keep that crap out of cross.

 

Love the TDF.. I watch it all day long!!! GO all 4 usa teams! Soo good!

 

So much road rash today. I can actually feel it when watching on TV. Makes me shiver every time. A lot of good guys went down today. It's a shame to see young talent like Brajkovic have to leave in an ambulance and to see Tom Boonen take such a bad fall. It takes a hard man to ride 60 km looking like he did. I know you can do it on adrenaline for the first few minutes, but it has to be painful to continue. Hopefully he makes the start tomorrow.

 

I bought "Slaying the Badger" on Amazon.UK -- about the '86 Tour. It's a story we all know and remember unfolding, but the book is still a good read. Interesting detail on Hinault's psyche. What an incredible era in cycling. They don't make many like them any more.

 

I'm waiting for Slaying the Badger to come out here - 7-25 I think.

 

Guess the long-time domestique extraordinaire. . .

 

G. Hincapie

 

Winner. 15 years of punishment can be a bitch.

Others have said it too but I am not into following the tour this year. I watch what I can but I am not DVRing and catching up on what I missed. Nor am I reading through all the analysis and recaps. This year my word for the tour is, "ehhh."

 

No tv here but, I don't really care this year anyways. Contador b.s. put me over the limit on tolerating the pro circus.

But, Hinault....love the stories. Ligget usually tells that one about him on a flat, cross-winded day when he passed "The Russian National Team" (in a echelon formation) riding with no hands on the bars...IIRC. That guy was in a class by himself.

 

I read once that someone didn't know what those were on George's legs and someone else responded that it was his brains that had slipped down his legs!

 

I don't know if others saw the punching and banging of the bars as the sprint was taking off, but that was entertaining to me. Rojas got stripped of points for blocking Cav but Cav's guys do it all the time to other riders. Still another remarkable sprint from Cav.

 

Andrea Peron

The second pic is Andrea Peron. I've ridden with him on a few occasions. He used to frequent LA in the off-season. He's a really nice guy.