I know sport does not appeal to some folks and maybe cycling even less but please stand and raise a glass to Chris Froome this afternoon as he celebrates his 3rd win of the Tour de France, having blown away all his contemporary opposition. I love watching cycling owing to the tactics and strategies used by the teams and have great admiration for their fitness, regardless whether it is track or road racing and I believe we'll get a shedload of medals in Rio's Olympics such is the overall quality of British riders.

Even if you don't like cycling you have to admire the guy.

He started small-time in Africa, overcame a tropical disease he picked up there, and managed to ride for a top team against all the odds.

Although he is not very popular in France he has made the effort to learn to speak French fluently.

As we say in France, "chapeau" !

Best regards,


Joe

Yep, totally cool. 

Yep. A totally dedicated sportsman.
Congratulations to him and thoroughly deserved.

Yes indeed, great team tactics from the Sky team also.....the punch on stage 8 was quite entertaining though, but I guess after last year having urine thrown in his face I cant blame him! 

P.S Not forgetting also that he stacked it on Friday as well.....Sky support rider = another bike.....So well done to Chris and of course: Sergio Henao, Vasil Kiryienka, Mikel Landa, Mikel Nieve, Wout Poels, Luke Rowe, Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas.
who supported and assisted Chris's win!

WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU! 

Quote from: Mr Sprue on July 24, 2016, 08:21:19 PM
Yes indeed, great team tactics from the Sky team also.....the punch on stage 8 was quite entertaining though, but I guess after last year having urine thrown in his face I cant blame him! 

For the first time today I saw some overhead footage of the thrown punch but the guy had his hands on Chris's handlebars so I'd have done a lot worse to the idiot. It does scare me the way the spectators behave on some of the very narrow mountain sections.

I don't mind spectators, I don't mind them getting excited, but I get really irritated by idiots who insist on waving flags anywhere near the riders, and anyone who runs alongside entirely oblivious to other riders. In fact although I am largely a peaceful chap, it fills my heart with joy when I see another spectator grab some edjit as he's running past and flatten him...

Great win for Froome and the Sky team. The guy is amazing not only as an athlete but also as a quietly spoken ambassador for cycling. The only downside is that the Tour has come to an end for this year.

It gave me great pleasure to see one spectator pick up another spectator in the penultimate mountain stage and throw him off the side of the course.

Webbo

It´s been a pleasure the way Chris Froome has gone for it, the mastery attack in the descent of Peyresourde, the win in the time trial the other day, the punch  ... never giving up, dismantling the oponents.... very much like Eddy Merckx, I see a great future for Froome!  WELL DONE

The next major road race will be La Vuelta (Spain) which begins in August. I'm not sure what teams are booked to run and it won't be as long as the TdF but the scenery and racing are pretty spectacular.
ITV4 will be showing highlights in the UK.

The Vuelta is another 3 week Grand Tour (like the Tour and Giro), but you don't often see too many people do well in the Tour and Vuelta. Perhaps even less so with the Olympics in a few weeks.

I wonder if Froomey will ride the Olympic TT...

Cheers, Mike

Two GTs a season is not unusual, three is pretty good going. You would expect Froome to have a crack at one (or both) of the others at some point. As the Tour has grown in to the behemoth that it now is, and focussing solely on winning it has become a 'normal' strategy the other two have increasingly become less important. That's why La Vuelta was moved from April-May to August-September as the big names were giving it a miss. Remember Froome broke his foot in the Vuelta last year, so we don't know how well he would have gone. It's really a toss up whether the Tour-Vuelta double, where you are on a high post Tour an possible unfocussed, or the Giro-Tour double where you have to put the energy into the Giro first without wanting to risk your Tour preparation are more likely. For Froome I would say the Tour-Vuelta double would be more likely so as not to affect the Tour prep, whereas your Italian rider like Nibali has the home turf incentive that would make the Giro-Tour double more likely.

Although I am very proud, I must admit that every sport I watch I ask my self the question, Doping ? hidden equipment  ?. lost a bit of faith to be honest

Chris Froome would probably say the Critérium du Dauphiné has been his best run up to the TdF the last 2 years. I think it's a shame ITV4 don't really get into road racing until that one comes along but their coverage is damned good and I do like the commentary team (my condolences go out to Chris Boardman and his family on the death of his wife part way through the TdF)
I guess some major players will be missing from La Vuelta due to the clash with the Olympics.

Quote from: Maurits71 on July 25, 2016, 12:26:31 PM
Although I am very proud, I must admit that every sport I watch I ask my self the question, Doping ? hidden equipment  ?. lost a bit of faith to be honest

I'm sure you're not alone, Maurits, especially given the history of some cycling 'heroes' such as Lance Armstrong and the farcical accusations flung at Chris Froome last year by someone who had been accused of being a drug user and never refuted it. There seemed to be plenty of checks made this year to see if any 'motors' had been fitted to the bikes.