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2017 Le Grand Boucle Rides again

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  • 2017 Le Grand Boucle Rides again

    It's time for the Tour de France! This Saturday the french start it up all over again. This time they apparently wanted to do a proper demonstration of real french speed and so they are starting in germany surrounded by Germans and running away as fast as possible. This route will also give them the chance to showcase Belgium's role in most European land wars: sit still and watch the foreigners roll across you at will.

    Any thoughts about the race this year? ANy interest in a contest at all? I am happy to cede it to someone with more energy than me, or I could do a simplified version, or we could just comment once in a while here. Drop your thoughts (or not) and we can let the market place of bad jokes and semi-informed comments decide.
    PLesa excuse the tpyos.

  • #2
    Candidly, I'm indifferent to having a contest, although I suppose it would be good to recirculate the highly coveted Creekster Trophy. Is bluegoose sitting on that at the moment? If a contest is held, I will participate, if only to make the more knowledgeable feel even better about themselves.

    Regardless, I am definitely not indifferent to your running commentary on the various stages, and hope trust you'll continue to provide those.

    Comment


    • #3
      I don't really care if their is a contest. I'd participate if there is one, though.

      I do love overall predictions. Froome has to be the favorite again, but he didn't look spectacular in the Dauphine. With shorter and less flat time trials, maybe a climber (nairo) can win. It certainly hurts people like Dumoulin, who's not even riding. Porte looks to be in good shape after his narrow defeat in the Dauphine. Contador is too old to threaten the overall. Same with Nibali (he might not even ride). Maybe Aru or fuglsang or Yates can challenge.




      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
      "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

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      • #4
        because creek loves the french riders:



        Man, these guys are dorks.

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        • #5
          Originally posted by BigPiney View Post
          because creek loves the french riders:



          Man, these guys are dorks.
          That was sort of amusing. They really are dorks and not all of them are even French. Ha.
          PLesa excuse the tpyos.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by BigPiney View Post
            because creek loves the french riders:



            Man, these guys are dorks.
            I've seen dorkier. Nice share.
            "Guitar groups are on their way out, Mr Epstein."

            Upon rejecting the Beatles, Dick Rowe told Brian Epstein of the January 1, 1962 audition for Decca, which signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Moliere View Post
              I don't really care if their is a contest. I'd participate if there is one, though.

              I do love overall predictions. Froome has to be the favorite again, but he didn't look spectacular in the Dauphine. With shorter and less flat time trials, maybe a climber (nairo) can win. It certainly hurts people like Dumoulin, who's not even riding. Porte looks to be in good shape after his narrow defeat in the Dauphine. Contador is too old to threaten the overall. Same with Nibali (he might not even ride). Maybe Aru or fuglsang or Yates can challenge.
              I'm also indifferent toward a contest. Probably because there just hasn't been all that much coverage of races the last few years. Froome does seeme a little more vulnerable, but I don't see Quintana winning. The Giro has to have taken too much out of him. I don't think riders can double up on the grand tours anymore. I don't think Porte has what it takes; he always has a really bad day or two, and you just can't win a tour and have any really bad days. Maybe this is a year that a nobody steps up and stuns everyone. (What am I saying? It's not an individual race anymore; you have to have a full team working together to win.)

              So... how about the proposal to limit grand tours to only 8 riders per team instead of 9? How might that affect the outcomes?

              Comment


              • #8
                The first four days have been quite interesting. Froome has gone down twice in crashes but hasn't really been injured. Thomas has gone down twice as well while wearing the yellow jersey. The rain on the first day caused numerous crashes on the time trial, most notably Valverde, who was taken to the hospital and was out of the TdF almost 10 minutes into the first stage.

                Today, the organizers thought it would be fun to have a final sprint that requires two very sharp right turns right before the final straightaway. I remember a similar finale a couple years ago when the race came through London right down the Thames and then up Strand Street. There was a big crash back then and I figured there would be one today. jI even told my kids it would happen. They think I'm a prophet since there was not one but two crashes. The second crash was caused by Sagan, who basically pushed Cavendish into the barriers with his elbow. Looks like the race organizers are kicking Sagan out of the TdF this year for the elbow. I saw it live and they showed a couple replays and I wondered if they'd do anything to Sagan becasue the push was fairly blatant. Sure enough, he's out and won't be able to defend the green jersey.

                All the big names are still within a minute of each other, but of course Froome is in second place and has a good 30 seconds on his closest rivals. They hit the alps later this week and I don't expect too much to happen, but Col du Chat will be interesting this weekend. It's odd they won't finish at the top, but will instead have to descend and then have a couple kilometers of flat road before finishing. I wonder how much of a risk some of the riders will take on that descent. It could get ugly.
                "Discipleship is not a spectator sport. We cannot expect to experience the blessing of faith by standing inactive on the sidelines any more than we can experience the benefits of health by sitting on a sofa watching sporting events on television and giving advice to the athletes. And yet for some, “spectator discipleship” is a preferred if not primary way of worshipping." -Pres. Uchtdorf

                Comment


                • #9
                  I almost started a thread yesterday. A lot going on so far. One of the great things though was Taylor Phinney's big day one Stage 2 off the front. Love seeing him back in the peloton.



                  Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                  I told him he was a goddamn Nazi Stormtrooper.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Moliere View Post
                    The second crash was caused by Sagan, who basically pushed Cavendish into the barriers with his elbow. Looks like the race organizers are kicking Sagan out of the TdF this year for the elbow. I saw it live and they showed a couple replays and I wondered if they'd do anything to Sagan becasue the push was fairly blatant. Sure enough, he's out and won't be able to defend the green jersey.
                    I disagree with that assessment, and with Sagan's DQ. Sagan drifted a bit to the right toward the barriers, but that was partly due to Demare's drifting across his path from right to left, as well as another rider to Sagan's left squeezing toward him. Cav ducked his head and shoulder into Sagan before Sagan's elbow came out. Cav was even unclipping from his pedal by the time you can see the elbow extend. It was just too tight for Cavendish to come up the outside like that, although riders try it all the time, all too frequently with similar results. I've seen a lot worse from both Cavendish and Sagan, without them being disqualified. I know the organizers are trying to crack down, but this is ridiculous. It's partly their own fault for having sprint finishes on such narrow roads in the first place.

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                    • #11
                      2017 Le Grand Boucle Rides again

                      Originally posted by mtnbiker View Post
                      I disagree with that assessment, and with Sagan's DQ. Sagan drifted a bit to the right toward the barriers, but that was partly due to Demare's drifting across his path from right to left, as well as another rider to Sagan's left squeezing toward him. Cav ducked his head and shoulder into Sagan before Sagan's elbow came out. Cav was even unclipping from his pedal by the time you can see the elbow extend. It was just too tight for Cavendish to come up the outside like that, although riders try it all the time, all too frequently with similar results. I've seen a lot worse from both Cavendish and Sagan, without them being disqualified. I know the organizers are trying to crack down, but this is ridiculous. It's partly their own fault for having sprint finishes on such narrow roads in the first place.
                      I think mtnbiker has it right. Cav pushed into Sagans hip and that's why Sagan pushed out his elbow. The DQ is a joke. Cav has done a LOT worse before.

                      This article agrees. http://www.velonews.com/2017/07/comm...dsq_442744/amp

                      First Sagan is D Q d and then Hayward goes to Boston. Worst sports 4th of July ever.
                      PLesa excuse the tpyos.

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                      • #12
                        Cavendish got in a bad spot and tried to squeeze into a hole that wasn't there. Ochowicz was laying blame on Sagan by saying he's a pro and knows he should be holding his line there but to me it just looked like there wasn't room. Cavendish didn't have a problem with Sagan coming over, just the elbow.

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                        • #13
                          Watching today's stage (11) was bittersweet. It ran through the Dordogne River Valley where we've vacationed a couple of times, including riding bikes along a good portion of today's route. The length and climb aren't remarkable, but I don't think there's a more beautiful area on the planet. Seeing them ride past places where we've stayed, dined and visited was awesome, but it made me more than a little sad that I'll very likely never ride there again.

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by PaloAltoCougar View Post
                            Watching today's stage (11) was bittersweet. It ran through the Dordogne River Valley where we've vacationed a couple of times, including riding bikes along a good portion of today's route. The length and climb aren't remarkable, but I don't think there's a more beautiful area on the planet. Seeing them ride past places where we've stayed, dined and visited was awesome, but it made me more than a little sad that I'll very likely never ride there again.
                            Did you visit Notre Dame des Cyclistes?

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                            • #15
                              Sky is looking like Postal back in the day, a 1st lieutenant leading the way up the mountain looking like he could win given the chance. Thomas goes out of the race and they've got a couple of other guys to take their place.

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