At the risk of boring the pants off those who are not sport orientated, has anyone else been following the Tour de France this year, either literally or from the comfort of a nice sofa? :)
These guys are superb athletes and, if nothing else, I was astonished at the weather in France when it was so hot here. Pouring rain and cobbled roads do not a happy cyclist make.
Sadly the main British interest has fallen foul of nasty accidents, but the other teams and their tactics more than make up for that. It's also a great way to see the sights of France along the route. So far, I believe the crowds in the UK for the first 3 days of the Tour were far more enthusiastic than the French have been :hmmm:
Being retired and single, it's easy for me to spend the entire afternoon watching ITV4's coverage and I find Phil Liggett/Paul Sherwin very knowledgeable commentators but the post race summary is marred by Gary Imlach (he was no good on the American football either). I'm not sure how Chris Boardman puts up with him ::)
Pleased to hear that you are enjoying the Tour Mick. I'm not a great fan but my son in law is a fanatic where cycling is concerned. Indeed he did the Lands's End to John O'Groats run last year in 8 days. I did my bit by dropping him off at Land's End for the start.
I agree the cyclists are superb athletes and supremely fit. I think they put our footballers to shame who are tired if they have to play more than once a week !
Real shame the British interest in the Tour has diminished though.
I'm not interested in bike racing , but I quite like watching the Tour going through France.
There used to be a spectator dressed as the Devil with a giant bike a few years ago,
Don't know if he still appears as I haven't seen so much of this year's event.
Quote from: newportnobby on July 17, 2014, 12:03:16 PM
At the risk of boring the pants off those who are not sport orientated, has anyone else been following the Tour de France this year, either literally or from the comfort of a nice sofa? :)
Ahem! ;)
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=22426.0 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=22426.0)
Thread merge anyone? :P
Paul
Ah, Didi the devil - very famous and brilliant! >:D
He's been ill recently, but he has been seen at this year's Tour IIRC.
Here's a typical photo: http://www.sandgrounder.net/WP/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Didi-Senft-Tour-de-France-2011.jpg (http://www.sandgrounder.net/WP/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Didi-Senft-Tour-de-France-2011.jpg)
Cheers, Mike
I enjoyed the Tour de Yorkshire. Oh, eek.... did it go to France? :-[
What are they gonna do next year.. kick off from here ? ;D
Quote from: Sprintex on July 17, 2014, 12:52:34 PM
Ahem! ;)
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=22426.0 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=22426.0)
Thread merge anyone? :P
Paul
Nah - that was a very brief Tour d'Angleterre :P
Didi the Devil has indeed been seen at the roadside during this years Tour :thumbsup:
:laughabovepost: :laughabovepost: :laughabovepost:
Ne parlez pas de la guerre!
QuoteBeing retired and single, it's easy for me to spend the entire afternoon watching ITV4's coverage and I find Phil Liggett/Paul Sherwin very knowledgeable commentators but the post race summary is marred by Gary Imlach (he was no good on the American football either). I'm not sure how Chris Boardman puts up with him
Disagree with that, I really like Imlach's dry style. Whilst Sherwen and Liggett are part of the furniture as far as Tour coverage goes, their infernal catchphrases are ridiculous, and mostly wholly inaccurate! If I had £5 each time for:
- he's doing a job of work
- digging deep into his suitcase of courage
- they're using every inch of the road
- if you touch the brakes here you'll lose 20 places instantly
- this is why you have to ride in the first 10-15 places in the bunch
- of course he'll be a good descender, he used to be a mountain biker
- prefixing everyone's name with "little...": "little Tommy Voeckler" etc
But yes, great race this year, and whilst it's a shame so many of the favourites have crashed out/aren't racing it does leave it wide open. Nibali's not really put a foot wrong, can't see him giving away 2 minutes to Porte, or anyone else. Sagan deserves a stage win too, poor chap!
Quote from: newportnobby on July 17, 2014, 03:30:10 PM
Quote from: Sprintex on July 17, 2014, 12:52:34 PM
Ahem! ;)
http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=22426.0 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=22426.0)
Thread merge anyone? :P
Paul
Nah - that was a very brief Tour d'Angleterre :P
Didi the Devil has indeed been seen at the roadside during this years Tour :thumbsup:
Didi was ill and did not attend the 2012 Tour. He was around for some of the stages of last years' tour. Probably was not spotted as much as he was wearing a yellow version of his devil suit to celebrate the 100th edition of the Tour...
Quote from: newportnobby on July 17, 2014, 12:03:16 PM
At the risk of boring the pants off those who are not sport orientated, has anyone else been following the Tour de France this year, either literally or from the comfort of a nice sofa? :)
These guys are superb athletes and, if nothing else, I was astonished at the weather in France when it was so hot here. Pouring rain and cobbled roads do not a happy cyclist make.
Sadly the main British interest has fallen foul of nasty accidents, but the other teams and their tactics more than make up for that. It's also a great way to see the sights of France along the route. So far, I believe the crowds in the UK for the first 3 days of the Tour were far more enthusiastic than the French have been :hmmm:
Being retired and single, it's easy for me to spend the entire afternoon watching ITV4's coverage and I find Phil Liggett/Paul Sherwin very knowledgeable commentators but the post race summary is marred by Gary Imlach (he was no good on the American football either). I'm not sure how Chris Boardman puts up with him ::)
I'm retired, but assist the SWMBO with her job in the AMs. The TDF has been compulsive viewing for myself for the past several years, and ITV4's coverage I like. Ligett and Sherwin can be a little repetitive, but come up with some real nuggets of Tour history and many's the time I say to myself 'I remember that too'. [NB: This is Phil Liggett's
42nd Tour as a TV commentator...] Imlach and Boardman are good as anchor men, but some of Imlach's facial expressions are a bit strange, and I've noticed Boardman pulling the same expressions too, this year.
The inclusion of the rejected David Millar gave some interesting angles to the conversation from a current cycist's point of view, but sometimes his height made him look like a bit of a spare part when the camera was on the anchor team.
As I was on holiday for the first two stages and my daughter (who has become a fixture on the sofa when the TDF is on) is now on holiday, all of the live programmes and highlights shows are being recorded onto the 1TB recorder so I can catch up (I'm still two days behind) and she can watch when she gets back...
Into the mountains tomorrow - there'll be some sorting out, methinks :hmmm:
I'd like to see it, but I reckon we won't see too much shaking up right at the top, Nibali will just mark all the attacks, Porte isn't strong enough to pull back over 2 minutes. We'll see a few 'do or die' attacks by someone seeking the overall KoM competition - I wonder if Van Garderen may have a go as he's still a way back on GC.
I can't wait!
Quote from: njee20 on July 17, 2014, 04:49:08 PM
QuoteBeing retired and single, it's easy for me to spend the entire afternoon watching ITV4's coverage and I find Phil Liggett/Paul Sherwin very knowledgeable commentators but the post race summary is marred by Gary Imlach (he was no good on the American football either). I'm not sure how Chris Boardman puts up with him
Disagree with that, I really like Imlach's dry style. Whilst Sherwen and Liggett are part of the furniture as far as Tour coverage goes, their infernal catchphrases are ridiculous, and mostly wholly inaccurate! If I had £5 each time for:
- he's doing a job of work
- digging deep into his suitcase of courage
- they're using every inch of the road
- if you touch the brakes here you'll lose 20 places instantly
- this is why you have to ride in the first 10-15 places in the bunch
- of course he'll be a good descender, he used to be a mountain biker
- prefixing everyone's name with "little...": "little Tommy Voeckler" etc
But yes, great race this year, and whilst it's a shame so many of the favourites have crashed out/aren't racing it does leave it wide open. Nibali's not really put a foot wrong, can't see him giving away 2 minutes to Porte, or anyone else. Sagan deserves a stage win too, poor chap!
What he said... not forgetting those slobbering lip licking sprinters...
They've never explained how 190 people are all meant to occupy places 10-15 in the bunch... :hmmm:
Let's not forget Rasmussen, he was an ex mountain biker and had that spectacular display of terrible descending in that tour time trial...
And every year they always seem to find one French rider who's name they mention at every opportunity and pronounce in an spectacularly French fashion (Voeckler, Feillu, other Feillu, Pinot). Although this year there seem to have been far too many French riders involved for them to focus on one...
Right, enough of the Phil n' Paul bingo.
People will moan about the high mountains and so on but it's about more than the mountains, and Nibali took control in Sheffield, did his homework and attacked the cobbled stage and took more time there. And since then it's been up to everyone else to have a go...
Vincenzo Nibali showed today that nobody else was capable of having a go.
He could have just sat back and waited for someone to do so, but instead took the initiative and blasted his way to the finish :claphappy:
Richie Porte and others couldn't hack it, resulting in Nibali not only retaining the yellow jersey but also topping out the KoM with the extra points.
Barring a bad accident can he be beaten? :hmmm:
Certainly a good show of strength. Surprised to see Porte struggle so much. He's clearly well out of contention.
Nibali's to lose for sure.
Yeah, seeing Porte break so early was a bit of a shocker. Still some serious mountains to come and anything could happen, but he's got a pretty good grip on it at the moment. Think by the time we get to the TT it'll be moot...
Nibali's not the greatest TTer, but not are any of the guys around him, so shouldn't be much of an issue anyway!
I guess we'll have to see what happens come the TT but what struck me yesterday was the way the major teams seemed to implode. Poor Nibali had to do what he did with virtually no help from the rest of the Astana squad, and Sky were just nowhere on the pace either :unimpressed:
He's good enough in the TT that it probably won't make a difference.
The Astana squad did their job throughout the day I would say, creating the platform for him.
Exciting days racing in the mountains yesterday, with some stunning Alpine scenery thrown in free :thumbsup:
As some of the teams have lost their prime riders through accidents, some have taken the attitude of "To hell with it, I might as well go for it", but yesterdays climb to 2300mtrs above sea level certainly sorted a few out :hmmm:
A gentle day today - just ( :D) 227kms of fairly flat/downhill riding to Nimes.
I'm looking forward to the sections in the Pyrenees
It suggests a much cleaner race than in the past all the yoyo performances! Utter carnage, and great to watch!
I'm surpised Porte has struggled so much - clearly not in the greatest form.
I've really enjoyed watching Pinot and Bardet go against each other.
Nibbles looks to have it all under control barring a catastrophe. He's a good enough TTer to get by. The only person who might be able to challenge him is possibly Tejay Van Garderen, but he probably needs to get some time back in the Pyrenees to stand a chance and I don't realistically see him taking time out of Nibbles on a mountain stage.
I loved the fact Sagan pulled a wheelie one-handed and saluted with the other hand at the end of one of the mtn stages!
Longest day of the Tour today in the Pyrenees and it really sorted a few out in the General Classification (just over 6 hrs in the saddle) :goggleeyes:
Shortest but probably hardest day tomorrow.
I'll say no more in case some will be watching the highlights later on tonight :zippedmouth:
Viva Vincenzo :claphappy:
He just blew everyone else away today and that surely means he has won the TdF this year.
Majke managed to do enough to retain the King of the Mountains polka dot shirt, and the French were just fighting amongst themselves for position.
Epic day :thumbsup:
..and the winner is.....the man from Sicily.. :claphappy:
Smashing finale to the TdF with Vincenzo Nibali taking the overall honours after some 80 hours in the saddle covering some 3600kms.
A super victory :claphappy:
...le Tour de France.......the hardest and stronger ride in the world....honours and claps to all the winners in the past, the present and the future..
:claphappy:
Looking forward to La Vuelta now - 23rd August :thumbsup: