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Tdf 2017

calamity

calamity

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Anyone care about the bike race anymore? I figure interest is low or non-existent now that Lance De France is long gone and Americans no longer stand a snowball's chance. But, ya never know. Maybe some people out there give a damn.

Here's the latest prognostication. It looks like only four guys stand a real chance of winning: the Aussie, the Brit, the Colombian and, of course, the Spaniard, whose name rhymes with Matador.

Only four riders have a legitimate shot at winning the Tour de France - Business Insider

Indeed, very few riders can win the Tour. You need to train hard, pick the right parents, have a super-strong team with a massive budget, and be able to do everything well or excellent, including climbing, time trialing, and racing on the windy flat roads.

Of the four riders Talansky mentioned, three have already won multiple grand tours.
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My the best doper win.

I'm for the Aussie.
 
I watch it all the time. Love the time trials.
 
Can't stand Contador. He's a dick.
 
TobyOne said:
Can't stand Contador. He's a dick.
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Cocky bastard he is indeed. I never liked him either. That's why I'm for the Aussie first, and the Colombian second. I hate Froome too.
 
I stopped watching years ago when it was revealed as a dope fest.
 
PoS said:
I stopped watching years ago when it was revealed as a dope fest.
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It was always a dope fest. You can't do what they do without doping. Think about it. They basically run a marathon everyday for a month. No human body can recover that quickly without help.

I read once that they need 10,000 calories a day just to maintain body mass. Not sure how accurate that was...but, it's probably close.
 
Which is why Lance is still the best. It was mostly a level playing field - at least among the elites.


calamity said:
It was always a dope fest. You can't do what they do without doping. Think about it. They basically run a marathon everyday for a month. No human body can recover that quickly without help.

I read once that they need 10,000 calories a day just to maintain body mass. Not sure how accurate that was...but, it's probably close.
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I don't give a crap about the doping. As far as I'm concerned athletes in all sports can dope as much as they want to.
 
Pretty good finish here...if you're into the whole peloton racing strategy thing.

 
Pretty good stage race again today, as the victor, Slovakian Peter Sagan--a regular stage winner these days--burst out of the peloton with about 500 M remaining to lead the pack across the finish line.

Highlight in today's race, if you are interested in knowing what may or may not be considered a highlight in a bike race, was watching the rabbits pull out to a huge, roughly 2-minute lead that began to seriously evaporate with less than 30 KM (18 miles) to go. The point there is two-fold. One, rabbits run out of gas for several reasons. But, more importantly, was seeing first hand the advantage riding under the protection of the peloton affords the racing contenders.

Basically what happens is that the key racers, the ones with a real chance to win, are sheltered from having to do any real work for about 95% of the race. They ride in the main pack (the peloton), primarily behind teammates who serve as a windscreen. The teammates are the work-horses (Domestique), who break trail for them among other things. At one point the peleton was moving at 65 k/hr while the rabbits, who were trying to break trail all on their own in a small team or four riders, were traveling somewhere in the upper 30's. That's amazing, IMO.
 
Woke up this morning to see another rabbit trying to pull a stage victory out of his hat, this time by riding solo. He was about 15 minutes ahead of the Peloton at one point earlier in the 200 K stage. Now, with less than 50 to go, he is still ahead, but by only about 3 minutes. I doubt he hangs on.
 
5K Cavendish is lurking for a stage win? The yellow jersey Thomas is looking trapped in the peleton...
 
calamity said:
It was always a dope fest. You can't do what they do without doping. Think about it. They basically run a marathon everyday for a month. No human body can recover that quickly without help.

I read once that they need 10,000 calories a day just to maintain body mass. Not sure how accurate that was...but, it's probably close.
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Well, it only cost Lance Armstrong one nut, so there is that.
 
OUch! Big crash with yellow jersey, then Cavendish taken out in the final sprint, elbowed into the barrier by Sagan!
 
Manc Skipper said:
OUch! Big crash with yellow jersey, then Cavendish taken out in the final sprint, elbowed into the barrier by Sagan!
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Shame too because Cavendish was making one hell of a move.
 
chuckiechan said:
Well, it only cost Lance Armstrong one nut, so there is that.
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lol...Betsy Andreu, wife of Lance's long time friend and riding partner Fankie A, made an observation. To paraphrase: I always wondered how a young healthy guy like Lance could get cancer. Then I heard about all the hormones and drugs they were taking. "That's how he got cancer!"
 
calamity said:
May the best doper win.
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Which is why I'm not much interested, even though Brits rule the cycling world these days. I think that reflects glory more onto our pharmaceutical industry than our sport.
 
Andalublue said:
Which is why I'm not much interested, even though Brits rule the cycling world these days. I think that reflects glory more onto our pharmaceutical industry than our sport.
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I like the sport itself: the strategies, the team work, the effort, the endurance, the rivalries--truly the best moment in cycling for me was when my man Marco Pantani was racing Armstrong up that French Mountain. Unfortunately it also involved the two biggest names in the doping scandal.
 
lol...I just peeked into Twitter to see what they were saying about the crash. But, before I searched #TDF, I glanced at the trending topics. Nathans and Joey Chestnut were both top trends. TDF crash? Nowhere to be seen.

Explains a lot about why we are beyond 60% overweight as a nation.
 
calamity said:
Nathans and Joey Chestnut were both top trends. TDF crash? Nowhere to be seen.
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I have absolutely no idea who those two are. Should I Google them, or would that be a terrible waste of 30 perfectly good seconds?
 
Andalublue said:
I have absolutely no idea who those two are. Should I Google them, or would that be a terrible waste of 30 perfectly good seconds?
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hotdog eating contest
 
Wow! I just saw the report. Peter Sagan, current world champion, was DQ'd for his elbow smash on Cavenidish. TDF is over for the Slovakian....pending appeal.

It is true from first look it appears that he gets his elbow up and 'whack, have some of that, Cavendish'. It made it look worse than it was.

Initially we heard that they had relegated Sagan to the back of the peloton and a 30-second penalty. I thought that was fair. Something had to be done and they needed to make a decision.

An hour later they disqualified him. It is bad for Sagan and really bad for the race - the world champion with a potential green jersey going home. It is a brave decision by the commissaires.

Tour de France 2017: Peter Sagan appeals against disqualification over Mark Cavendish crash - BBC Sport
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Looks like two teams broke from the pack today. Curious to see how this ends.

72.3km to go: BMC continue to put in the hard yards at the front of the peloton, with the riders of Sky just behind them. The gap to the eight-man breakaway is 2min 14sec, the riders have completed almost 90 kilometres and we’re getting towards the business end of the stage. The intermediate sprint is at the 103km mark and precedes the first climb of the day: the Cat 3 La Planche Des Belles Filles (1,035m/5.9km/8.5%).

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2017/jul/05/tour-de-france-2017-stage-five-live
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Sucks. I'm at work. So, I'll have to read about it and maybe watch some video tonight.
 
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