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  • #61
    Originally posted by creekster View Post
    Take a look at this link:

    http://www.stickybottle.com/blogs/cy...es-alpe-dhuez/



    The article I linked says that Indurain was never tainted with drug accusations, but that is not strictly true. In fact, he has been spoken of as the first one to use EPO. You may recall that in the early part of his career he was a great ITT guy but not much good in the mountains until, like Armstrong, he suddenly gained an amazing climbing ability, almost like his blood could suddenly carry more oxygen to this muscles than it did before. EPO. but nothing has been proven. Still, Big Mig comes from a good but not great career and suddenly wins five TdFs in a row and then, as suddenly, gets off his bike mid-stage and disappears from the peloton.
    I've always wondered why Indurain gets a free pass, 20 - 40 TDF finisher and then all the sudden he's out climbing guys like Hampsten and Mottet. Maybe everybody thinks he's nice guy unlike Armstrong.

    Originally posted by creekster View Post
    Well, could I have been more wrong about dumoulin? Let me answer that: No. I thought he would be toasted today. Instead, he almost wins the stage. Great ride. What an epic stage. Today was riveting. If you havent seen it, you should watch it. A couple of random thoughts:

    AFterwards he was diagnosed with a cracked vertebrae and he has withdrawn from the Tour. This is a shame as he looked good today and was almost in a podium spot. The real tragedy is that his fall was apparently caused by his collision with a Gendarme motorcycle. Its not clear if it was the cop's fault or what happened, but it took place right where the barriers started and the spectators, motos, cars and racers all bottle-necked. Too bad.

    Rando two: The spectators are out of control. Did you see the guy who punched or slapped at Froome? It took place with about 3.9 miles left in the stage. The guys comes out from the riders' right and jabs his arm at Froome. Not good. it reminded me of the time Merckx was punched by an unhappy Frenchman. Happily, Froome was not really bothered as far as I could tell. I understand the guy was later arrested and given a stern talking to. But, in general, the race was chaotic. flares/smoke bombs (what on earth makes people think that is a good idea?) flags and banners draped across riders faces, and idots running alongside the bike rider. Worse, some of the running idiots do so in speedos. For example at about 3.6 miles to go there is some guy with nothing on but a flesh colored speedo type diaper thing running along. No one, and I mean not even this guy's wife, wants to see that. NO ONE. They should have arrested him too. Later on the stage, with around 2.5 miles to go or so, you can just catch sight of the well-behaved fans revenge, or the jerk's comeuppance. If you watch closely, you can see some yahoo running alongside the riders he runs into a Gendarme, who appears to horse collar the guy and throws him to the ground. I cheered when I saw it and replayed it a couple of times just for good measure. The thing is they need a lot more of that. Not sure why it seems to be getting worse; I blame the Russians.

    Rando three: Froome might be human, after all. He tried to attack in the final kilometers today and he just . didn't . have . it. It was the patented Froome explosion at the end of a high mountain stage, where he turns into a big flying elbow and knee machine and leaves everyone behind. Except this time, he didn't. He pulled out mayb 40 or 50 meters, and then just liek that, he was reeled in. I am not sure that Thomas excepted to win this stage or that he expected to beat Froome today. But it was clear that thomas had the legs and that Froome maybe had a few too many eye-tallion climbs in his legs to keep up. Dinner at the team sky table, after a thorough scrubbing of hands, of course, should be interesting.

    Rando four: Where have all the Sprinters gone? Yesterday Kittle and Cavendish and Renshaw dropped out. Today it was Groenewegen and Graviria and Greipel ands Zabel the Younger, not to mention Uran. A very tough day. There will be no one to race against Sagan in Paris.

    Tomorrow the caravan heads back down the Alpe to start in Bourg d'Oisans.
    If Nibali was a soccer player he would still be lying there. The crowd up Alpe D'Huez was as bad as I've ever seen it. I did enjoy when the cop took the one guy down and when one of the running guys ran into someone else. I wondered how Curry would handle it if fans were two feet away running up and down the court with him and screaming in his ear. Somethings got to be done.

    Thanks Creek for the reports.

    Comment


    • #62
      Originally posted by RC Vikings View Post
      I've always wondered why Indurain gets a free pass, 20 - 40 TDF finisher and then all the sudden he's out climbing guys like Hampsten and Mottet. Maybe everybody thinks he's nice guy unlike Armstrong.



      If Nibali was a soccer player he would still be lying there. The crowd up Alpe D'Huez was as bad as I've ever seen it. I did enjoy when the cop took the one guy down and when one of the running guys ran into someone else. I wondered how Curry would handle it if fans were two feet away running up and down the court with him and screaming in his ear. Somethings got to be done.

      Thanks Creek for the reports.
      We were talking about the same thing last night, and then the conversation degenerated into talking about allowing golf spectators to behave the same way, resulting in some amusing if disturbing mental images. It really needs to stop, but might not without some kind of criminal or civil penalty for these idiots.

      Oh, and one more accolade for creek: As our kids were growing up, I was often working late but usually got home in time to participate in the bedtime rituals. Among my fondest memories are those of kids calling out, "Dad, come in and read [insert book title, typically something from William Steig, C.S. Lewis, Dr. Seuss, E.B. White, whatever...]!" Well, I've missed those days but last night after rolling in late, Mrs. PAC called out, "Read me creekster's report on today's stage!", and I was instantly transported to those awesome earlier days, and as I read your report to her, mused that creekster has taken his place among revered authors for PAC Family nighttime reading.

      Comment


      • #63
        You guys are all too nice. Thank you for the compliments. I have this vague sense that Mrs. PAC might be laughing at me and not with me, if you know what I mean, but I will have to trust PAC to translate my hackneyed prose into something elegant, without typos.

        Depos today and so I did not have a chance to watch the stage yet. as a result I may not get out a report. But today as my mind wandered (as sometimes happens when in depos of not primary, not secondary and not even tertiary witnesses noticed because, well, because my co-defendant can, I guess) I kept thinking about the guy in the flesh colored thong. Where did he buy that? DId his wife come across it on Amazon on Prime Day and thing "This is just the thing for Hubert's jog alongside the riders!" Or did the guy go to his wife and ask her to make it? "Honey, can you put together a little something, very little, to just barely cover orifices and saggy front bits so I can make an impression as I trot alongside the bike racers?" I know it is silly, but a lot of these are guys in their 50s and 60s. I like to think at that age, in particular, you should know better.
        PLesa excuse the tpyos.

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        • #64
          When we were over a few years ago, I told my wife that if she bought a Speedo for me I would wear it at one of the stages. She declined.

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          • #65
            I'm working on my costume for when I go over someday, I'll run it by this board first to see if I need to adjust it or not.

            Comment


            • #66
              Originally posted by RC Vikings View Post
              I'm working on my costume for when I go over someday, I'll run it by this board first to see if I need to adjust it or not.
              Less is more!

              Comment


              • #67
                I’m feeling old today watching Jean-Francis Bernard’s son race today.

                Comment


                • #68
                  An interesting couple of days. Astana can now claim a successful tour. Two stages in a row. Gianni Moscon takes a swing at another rider (ostensibly; I never did see a photo. It's hard to imagine he got much leverage). As a result, he is now disqualified from the tour. He may end up being fired by Team Sky, as this is not his first incident. It will be interesting to see what happens. This leads, however, to what I think is one of the most interesting issues for the next week: Froome or Thomas? With the DQ, there is now one less domestique to work for those two. It will pressure the team to choose one of the two to support, Team Sky has been very consistent in saying that Froome will not attack Thomas and they will support the yellow jersey. And yet Froome has tried to attack a couple of times in the mountains. Is it realistic to expect Froome to roll over and not try to win a fifth TdF? I read an interview with Cyril Guimard about this issue. Guimard, as you may recall, was the team DS who ordered Lemond to fall back and help Hinault up the mountain, making a deal with Lemond to later have his chance, which promise was broken, so he has some experience trying to manage this situation. Guimard says there is no way Froome is going to be passive about letting Thomas roll to victory without trying to win himself. (As an aside, many years ago Guimard used to write a column called "From the barstool" or some such. I learned more about bike racing from him than I have from any other source. He is grouchy, highly opinionated and as likely to be wrong as right in his predictions, but he knows the sport.)

                  So what should we look forward to this week? Watch for the stage on Wednesday, it is only 65km long, which is very short, but the course is very hard, including three huge climbs at 14.9 km at 6.7%, 7.4km at 8.3% and closing with an HC climb of 16km at 8.7%. So of the 65km, more than 37km are on steep climbs with a summit finish. This should be a fast, hard day. Friday will also be a monumental day with many climbs, including the Tourmalet and the Aubisque, but the finish comes after a long-ish descent. I expect to see the climbers try very hard on Wednesday. If Thomas falters at all, Froome will pounce. Wed and Friday are the last two days for the climbers to shine. If Quintana does'nt show anything on Wed, then he never will. Nibali is gone. Froome rode the Giro. Thomas has been very strong, but he has also burned some matches. So if Nairo is ever going to fulfill his early promise, this is the day.

                  Dumoulin might be the dark horse, here. He is THAT close to the yellow and recall he had a flat and received a time penalty of 20 seconds and lost a total of 1:17 on stage 6. Now he sits in third and would be in second without the flat and ensuing penalty for pacing back to the bunch behind a team car. He has looked very strong and seems to be getting stronger. he might be targeting Wed also.

                  Finally, the last GC contested stage will be the ITT on Saturday. It is a 31km course and Froome will be all out for the win here. This is a stage where Roglic might pull back a lot of time. If he can do well in the mountains, Roglic might grab a podium spot and even Yellow in the ITT. Plus, you can play a drinking game (orange juice or other breakfast drinks only, please) with the number of times that Paul, or Phil, or anyone else, mentions that Roglic used to be a ski jumper. It's like how Hundley used to always say that Matt Harpring was a former football player? Ski jumper you say? I somehow missed that bit of info the first three hundred times you said it! But if Roglic podiums, they will forget the ski jumping stuff.

                  So mark your calendars and set your alarms. Wed, Friday and Saturday.
                  Last edited by creekster; 07-23-2018, 11:23 AM.
                  PLesa excuse the tpyos.

                  Comment


                  • #69
                    It would be great to have froome, dumoulin, and roglic neck and neck going into the itt since all three are great to exceptional time trialists. Sometimes I wish they’d make stage 21 an itt like they have in the past.
                    "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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                    • #70
                      Good article about Nibali/Bahrain-Merida considering legal action against the Tour. Talks about some of the issues that set up the crash.

                      https://www.velonews.com/2018/07/tou...st-tour_472946


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

                      Comment


                      • #71
                        Video discussing and showing Moscon's weak flail that got him expelled.

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                        • #72
                          Originally posted by mtnbiker View Post
                          Video discussing and showing Moscon's weak flail that got him expelled.
                          Good find. thats about what I expected it to look like. I know it doesn't matter, ultimately, but I bet some words passed just prior to the flailing swing. I wonder what they were?
                          PLesa excuse the tpyos.

                          Comment


                          • #73
                            Thomas wipes the tears from his eyes as he’s forced to pull out of the race today in the maillot jaune. Or something. I don’t really read.




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

                            Comment


                            • #74
                              Originally posted by Dwight Schr-ute View Post
                              Thomas wipes the tears from his eyes as he’s forced to pull out of the race today in the maillot jaune. Or something. I don’t really read.




                              Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
                              I think the police used tear gas on protesters and didn't check the wind direction. Oops.

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                              • #75
                                Originally posted by BigPiney View Post
                                I think the police used tear gas on protesters and didn't check the wind direction. Oops.
                                Silly liberals and their protests! Probably just jealous of all the American farmers getting a $12 billion handout.

                                On another note, they don’t call him Phillipe “Oh Shit” Gilbert for nothing!

                                [twitter]1021751654348193792[/twitter]


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

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