2012 Tour de France

I also used it last year and the video quality was indeed sub-par. However, you get to watch entire stages at your lesiure, and repeat the really good stages. I'm gonna sign up for it again just to see the good stages more than once.

Sagan did what he had to do. The kid's on fire, he did not need to help Cancellara.
Really hope to see a full Sagan vs. Cavendish finish.

 

evans is a former mountain biker that would be good to see him win again. good luck to all the racers

 

You know absolutely nothing about bike racing.

 

Stage two should be a burner. Straightaway and wide to the finish. Carnage and some big trains working it. Looks like a Cavendish day.

I dig the Belgian finishes with some nasty climb to the finish. Really pushes the bigger sprinters into trouble. I thought Evans was setting it up for a win but, like Cancellera, nobody is going to be helping him.

Pulling for the Irish guys. Dan Martin and Nicholas Roche are both coming into some good form. Stephen Roche (talking on EuroSport) was riding with his kid a few days ago and said he looks like he can win a stage this year. Continual theme with Stephen when they interview him and the topic comes up about Nick's career - S.Roche thinks he's too concerned about a top ten GC finish. I've heard this from both S.Roche and Sean Kelly the past few seasons - they think most riders should be more concerned with a Stage win than a overall top ten GC finish.


Stephen Roche in 1987: bags two Grand Tours and the Worlds. The Triple Crown.

Tour de France General Classification (1987)3 Stages

Giro d'Italia General Classification (1987)2 Stages

Road Race World Championships (1987)




.

 

Sagan is a mountain bike racer too. In fact, he raced at OTH just last year.

 

BTW, what is the proper etiquette with regards to sharing the pull?

 

That my friend is a complicated question with complicated answers... the only real answer is that it is situational.

Stage 1 ... not a good example...

Example often...early in a break they break away members will work together take turns almost like a "mini/adhoc" team...if they hope to survive...later if the break actually succeeds...starting a Km or two out that breaks down..and they start to figure who is the best sprinter...then they try to keep that guy in front and the others won't pull....BUT they still need to go fast enough to beat the peloton.

Sometimees teams will put people in the break just to slow it down...depending on the race tactics...some of it is just mental but they will do it.

There are all sort of different tactics...listen to Phil and Paul and you will learn.

 

So, in the final 1 km to the finish line, like in Sunday's situation, Sagan let Cancellera (I think that's who it was) stay in front to try to get him tired enough so Sagan could sprint around him? Did Cancellera make a mistake then by picking up the pace even more? Should he have tried to fake out sagan by getting slower? Would that have been a tactic?

 

Well Stage 1 with that Steep finish makes it odd and Cancellera was actually trying to accomplish 2 things a) if he could flat out be the strongest man and win the Stage by riding away from everyone else (difficult but not impossible and he was not successful this day but he is one of the few riders that can do things like that) BUT secondary as he as trying to add to his lead over the other contenders so that he and his team could stay in the Yellow Jersey as long as possible, so he chose to go flat out and put time into his rivals...If he had slowed down then he would not have accomplished that...turns out he did not get any extra time after all as the peleton chased them down and so the top ~100 riders all got the same time for the stage.

Alot of drama, little gain. Sagan is a Star and did exactly what he was supposed to do...this kid is for real. BTW Cancellera did "flick" his elbow a few times to see if Sagan or the other guy would pull...but they did not...I am sure he was not surprised.

 

bvader is right on. Every rider has a different job to do and their strategies vary widely depending on what they (and their team) are trying to accomplish. Cancellera was trying to both win the stage and gain time by finishing ahead of the field (which included his GC competitors). Sagan is a sprinter and doesn't care about time... his only goal is to cross the line first. So... it would have been counter to his 'mission' to help with the work. There is nothing that Cancellera could have done differently to beat Sagan. Sagan is an incredible sprinter. I would love to see Sagan take it to Cav this year.

In the closing kilometers of a race, there are no rules to sharing the work. It's a game of Cat and Mouse basically.

 

How far back does the peleton have to be to cause the peleton riders receive different times from the sprinters?

 

Ahhh more simple questions without simple answers...depends on how the stage is set up an classified.

In short if it is designated a Sprint Stage...after the peleton passes under the 3 KM Sign all riders in the peleton get the same time... sometimes there can be a group farther back that may get a different time if the pass under the 3 KM sign significantly back ... like if the peleton split dues to wind or crash much earlier in the race.

However on an uphill finish...i.e. non..."Bunch" sprint.. riders will finish in the time they came in or time of their group...when there a measurable gap between the riders or groups / clumps of riders .. they will get different times from the previous clump...but the riders within the group get the same time...

Clear as mud right? Just keep watching....

 

this years spreadsheet:

[TABLE="width: 1067"]
[TR]
[TD="colspan: 3"]http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2012/us/overall-route.html
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]#
[/TD]
[TD]Date
[/TD]
[TD]Name
[/TD]
[TD]Segment
[/TD]
[TD]Miles
[/TD]
[TD]Feet
[/TD]
[TD]km
[/TD]
[TD]meters
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]Saturday, June 30, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Liège – Liège (Prologue)
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296446
[/TD]
[TD]4.2
[/TD]
[TD]32.8
[/TD]
[TD]6.7
[/TD]
[TD]10
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]1
[/TD]
[TD]Sunday, July 01, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Liège – Seraing
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296447
[/TD]
[TD]124.3
[/TD]
[TD]7152.2
[/TD]
[TD]200
[/TD]
[TD]2180
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]2
[/TD]
[TD]Monday, July 02, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Visé – Tournai
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296448
[/TD]
[TD]125.3
[/TD]
[TD]3543.3
[/TD]
[TD]201.6
[/TD]
[TD]1080
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]3
[/TD]
[TD]Tuesday, July 03, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Orchies – Boulogne-sur-Mer
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296449
[/TD]
[TD]127.6
[/TD]
[TD]4133.9
[/TD]
[TD]205.3
[/TD]
[TD]1260
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]4
[/TD]
[TD]Wednesday, July 04, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Abbeville – Rouen
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296450
[/TD]
[TD]132.4
[/TD]
[TD]5315.0
[/TD]
[TD]213.1
[/TD]
[TD]1620
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]5
[/TD]
[TD]Thursday, July 05, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Rouen – Saint-Quentin
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296451
[/TD]
[TD]121.2
[/TD]
[TD]3280.8
[/TD]
[TD]195
[/TD]
[TD]1000
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]6
[/TD]
[TD]Friday, July 06, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Épernay – Metz
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296452
[/TD]
[TD]126.6
[/TD]
[TD]3510.5
[/TD]
[TD]203.8
[/TD]
[TD]1070
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]7
[/TD]
[TD]Saturday, July 07, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Tomblaine – La Planche des Belles Filles
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296453
[/TD]
[TD]123.4
[/TD]
[TD]7710.0
[/TD]
[TD]198.6
[/TD]
[TD]2350
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]8
[/TD]
[TD]Sunday, July 08, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Belfort – Porrentruy
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296454
[/TD]
[TD]96.0
[/TD]
[TD]9711.3
[/TD]
[TD]154.5
[/TD]
[TD]2960
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]9
[/TD]
[TD]Monday, July 09, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Arc-et-Senans – Besançon (ITT)
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1296455
[/TD]
[TD]25.0
[/TD]
[TD]1542.0
[/TD]
[TD]40.3
[/TD]
[TD]470
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R
[/TD]
[TD]Tuesday, July 10, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]REST
[/TD]
[TD]============================
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]10
[/TD]
[TD]Wednesday, July 11, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Mâcon – Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297380
[/TD]
[TD]116.4
[/TD]
[TD]9744.1
[/TD]
[TD]187.3
[/TD]
[TD]2970
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]11
[/TD]
[TD]Thursday, July 12, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Albertville La Toussuire – Les Sybelles
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297381
[/TD]
[TD]91.4
[/TD]
[TD]16174.5
[/TD]
[TD]147.1
[/TD]
[TD]4930
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]12
[/TD]
[TD]Friday, July 13, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Jean-de-Maurienne – Annonay Davézieux
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297382
[/TD]
[TD]140.6
[/TD]
[TD]10137.8
[/TD]
[TD]226.3
[/TD]
[TD]3090
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]13
[/TD]
[TD]Saturday, July 14, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Paul-Trois-Châteaux – Le Cap d’Agde
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297383
[/TD]
[TD]136.0
[/TD]
[TD]4724.4
[/TD]
[TD]218.8
[/TD]
[TD]1440
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]14
[/TD]
[TD]Sunday, July 15, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Limoux – Foix
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297384
[/TD]
[TD]120.0
[/TD]
[TD]9744.1
[/TD]
[TD]193.1
[/TD]
[TD]2970
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]15
[/TD]
[TD]Monday, July 16, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Samatan – Pau
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297385
[/TD]
[TD]95.9
[/TD]
[TD]6660.1
[/TD]
[TD]154.4
[/TD]
[TD]2030
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]R
[/TD]
[TD]Tuesday, July 17, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]REST
[/TD]
[TD]============================
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[TD]=====
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]16
[/TD]
[TD]Wednesday, July 18, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Pau – Bagnères-de-Luchon
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297386
[/TD]
[TD]120.2
[/TD]
[TD]17224.4
[/TD]
[TD]193.5
[/TD]
[TD]5250
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]17
[/TD]
[TD]Thursday, July 19, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Bagnères-de-Luchon – Peyragudes
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297387
[/TD]
[TD]92.0
[/TD]
[TD]12992.1
[/TD]
[TD]148.1
[/TD]
[TD]3960
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]18
[/TD]
[TD]Friday, July 20, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Blagnac – Brive-la-Gaillarde
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297388
[/TD]
[TD]141.6
[/TD]
[TD]5938.3
[/TD]
[TD]227.9
[/TD]
[TD]1810
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]19
[/TD]
[TD]Saturday, July 21, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Bonneval – Chartres
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297389
[/TD]
[TD]32.9
[/TD]
[TD]360.9
[/TD]
[TD]53
[/TD]
[TD]110
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]20
[/TD]
[TD]Sunday, July 22, 2012
[/TD]
[TD]Rambouillet – Paris Champs-Élysées
[/TD]
[TD]http://www.bikemap.net/route/1297390
[/TD]
[TD]46.5
[/TD]
[TD]1542.0
[/TD]
[TD]74.8
[/TD]
[TD]470
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]totals =
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]2139.5
[/TD]
[TD]141,175
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]avg/per day
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]107.0
[/TD]
[TD]7,058.7
[/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[TD][/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

Last year's Tour was one of the best in many years. Memorable: Gilbert taking stage 1, Voeckler in yellow for sooo long raising French spirits, Hoogerland's now famous crash, Thor the God of Thunder, Cav the unbeatable sprinter, Andy Schleck's breakaway on the Tourmalet, And Evans taking it all in the end.

So far so good with this year's action: I'd say 3 for 3 (including the prologue). Cav opening his account in the first real sprint stage, proving he is still the man to beat by winning with his arch rival Griepel leading him out. Sagan reconfirming his youthful supremacy and of course the Master showing all who is the King: Cancellara is a class act like no other.

 

+1

I'm hoping for a repeat of his '09 blast off the front for the stage win in yellow. Watching the entire field panic as he just rode them off his wheel is one of my favorite Tour moments.

 

Looks like a little pay back was in the works today. Peter couldn't find a way around or out of the group, not sure he could of caught the missle any ways. I do think he will get help tomorrow and show some folks he can beat Mark. One thing age has taught me is that age always wins. Although Mark isn't old I think Peter is the stronger faster sprinter. Next couple of stages are going to be real fun to watch.

I'm also thinking Teejaymight get a nod to go for a stage or two later on and that could really make things interesting.

 

Anybody notice how nice and smooth those roads were? Can we recruit some of those engineers for our streets?

 

It's got nothing to do with engineers. Ya gotta pay taxes to have smooth roads. No one in the US wants to pay, so our roads suck. Ask any trucker.

 

Not quite agree Tedroy.

My car registration in California is very high compared to other states. That's all $$ that is supposed to go to roads.
Every time I fill up my car, there are huge state and federal taxes that are for roads. It's the liberal politicians in Sacramento and our wonderful congress in D.C. that use these road taxes for other social programs.

If all the money collected from gas and diesel sales and vehicle registrations went towards streets and roads, they'd be almost perfect.

Jeff

 

Love the tour! Cavendish was awesome today