Official TdF thread

[John McClain]

So I guess I'll get this started. Cancellara just killed it today. 10 second lead in a race that short is pure dominance. Good to see Millar back in form. LA rode possessed. I really think he is going to surprise in this Tour. Not to say he will win; Contador still has to be the odds on favorite. But this race may be closer than we are thinking. Looking forward to the cobblestones.

[mtnbiker]

I agree. Armstrong did a little better than I expected, and Contador did a little worse. But it was such a short course that it's hard to assume too much from it.

[John McClain]

Enjoyed watching the Tour today. The finish was very close to my old mission home (the old France Belgium mission) so it made me somewhat nostaligic. Boy, the peleton was nervous at the end. One might have expected major collisions on the 180 degree turn about 3 clicks from the end, but the wreck that caused the logjam at the end was unforeseeable. It looks like Lance and crew rode pretty smart today. Still looking forward to the cobbles. The finish of that stage is just outside a town I served in for 7 months on my mission.

[John McClain]

Today's stage was a microcosm of my mission tour. The race started just outside of Huy, Belgium and rode to the north of Charleroi where I spent 3 months of my mission. The helicopter flew over the Belloie chateau, which is just north of Charleroi. We made a trip to Belloie one P-Day just to see the castle, which is quite the jewel in a rather mundane section of Belgium. The route continued over to the outskirts of Tournai, which was in the zone where I was a zone leader. The race finished in Arenberg, which is a "suburb" of Valenciennes, where I spent over 7 months of my mission. I have ridden the cobblestones of Arenberg; they are brutal. We took the primary kids from our branch to the Arenberg forest for a picnic one day. The forest still has pillboxes from World War II scattered about.. The coal mine in the background of the TV announcers set is just outside Arenberg / Denain where a very faithful family of the branch lived. It is a flood of memories from 36 years ago.

[Babs]

Wow! Looks like creek's got commentator competition this year. Careful, McClain, the monkey takes his tour very seriously, and rumor has it he's never had his rabies shots.

I liked your reflections on the stage three route. Adds a real and personal element to what the sports world turned into a rather impersonal celebration of road rash carnage.

[SteelBlue]

Today's stage was a microcosm of my mission tour. The race started just outside of Huy, Belgium and rode to the north of Charleroi where I spent 3 months of my mission. The helicopter flew over the Belloie chateau, which is just north of Charleroi. We made a trip to Belloie one P-Day just to see the castle, which is quite the jewel in a rather mundane section of Belgium. The route continued over to the outskirts of Tournai, which was in the zone where I was a zone leader. The race finished in Arenberg, which is a "suburb" of Valenciennes, where I spent over 7 months of my mission. I have ridden the cobblestones of Arenberg; they are brutal. We took the primary kids from our branch to the Arenberg forest for a picnic one day. The forest still has pillboxes from World War II scattered about.. The coal mine in the background of the TV announcers set is just outside Arenberg / Denain where a very faithful family of the branch lived. It is a flood of memories from 36 years ago.

The Tour in general does this for me each year. I served in Flanders and have ridden many a cobbled street myself. Even when the Tour is in France, those country scenes bring me right back to Belgium and the little pee wee Herman bikes we rode.

[bluegoose]

Looks like Frank Schleck is ready to roll again. I'm glad that he pulled through surgery okay.

[creekster]

Looks like Frank Schleck is ready to roll again. I'm glad that he pulled through surgery okay.

I liked the article in cyclingnews or velonews abdout Frank and why their are so many collarbone breaks in cycling. they claim it is beacsue people put thier hands out when they fall. which is true, but he negelcts to mention that these guys all look like starving children from aAfrica from the nipples up, giving them very little strngth in their arms and shoulders.

[Scott R Nelson]

I was thinking of starting a "Tour de France Questions" thread, but since there are already about a dozen different TdF threads, I'll just keep asking them here.

1. What is up with the Footon uniforms? When shown from the front, the tan and black color makes it look like they aren't wearing clothes, but have some black tatoos on their arms and chests.

2. Are there ever circumstances when it is okay for a rider to smack one of those idiots who always run alongside them in the mountains? What is the penalty for doing that if it's not okay?


I've recorded all of the stages and the Prolog on my DVR and have gotten through all of them so far, only skipping tiny bits. I think that Phil Liggett is a great announcer and the others are pretty good too. It probably helps that he seems to have very good French.

I would have completely ignored the TdF if my son-in-law hadn't gotten me interested in it. Maybe it has something to do with being on two wheels, because he wasn't able to interest me in World Cup Soccer.

[creekster]

[quote]

I was thinking of starting a "Tour de France Questions" thread, but since there are already about a dozen different TdF threads, I'll just keep asking them here.

1. What is up with the Footon uniforms? When shown from the front, the tan and black color makes it look like they aren't wearing clothes, but have some black tatoos on their arms and chests.

The answer to this comment is that those are perhaps the ugliest kits I have ever seen. Several if us agreed on this fact here:

http://www.cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=26946

2. Are there ever circumstances when it is okay for a rider to smack one of those idiots who always run alongside them in the mountains? What is the penalty for doing that if it's not okay?

The penalty is that they might hit you back or you might slow down to do it. If it was undeserved or egregious you might get fined by the sanctioning body, but it probably wouldn't affect your standing in the race. It does happen, but not often and it is very rarely a serious blow. One of the more famous incidents of fan/rider contact was in about 1975 or 1976, thereabouts, when a deranged french fan (redundancy?) punched Eddy Merckx on a mountain stage and ended up costing him the tour victory.

I've recorded all of the stages and the Prolog on my DVR and have gotten through all of them so far, only skipping tiny bits. I think that Phil Liggett is a great announcer and the others are pretty good too. It probably helps that he seems to have very good French.

Paul and Phil are the best. I am not a buig fan of the American guys (except for bobke who is just so weird that you have to like him) although the guys they are using now are immeasurably superior to the days of Al Trautwig.

Go ahead and ask your questions anywhere.

[John McClain]

2. Are there ever circumstances when it is okay for a rider to smack one of those idiots who always run alongside them in the mountains? What is the penalty for doing that if it's not okay?

All sorts of fans do this, but only Didi Senft does it with panache. If Didi picks you to run alongside, you are blessed with great karma. There is no penalty.

[Scott R Nelson]

Okay, more questions:

3. Twice so far (at least), I've seen the peleton slow down to let riders that had crashed catch up. What do they do if a rider or group doesn't want to slow down? How do they get everyone to go along with them?

4. How many different bikes do the top riders use during the tour? I don't mean spare bikes that would be identical, but how many different designs? I know that time trial bikes are different from climbing bikes, for example.

[myboynoah]

It's looking like LA should have stayed retired.

[creekster]

Okay, more questions:

3. Twice so far (at least), I've seen the peleton slow down to let riders that had crashed catch up. What do they do if a rider or group doesn't want to slow down? How do they get everyone to go along with them?

4. How many different bikes do the top riders use during the tour? I don't mean spare bikes that would be identical, but how many different designs? I know that time trial bikes are different from climbing bikes, for example.

3. This is a complicated question. IN general, there is a protocol riders usually follow. If you don't follow the protocol you can develop a reputation and can be sort of ostracized. These guys all live together and switch teams a lot and it is a team sport so so they all tend to guard their reputations carefully.

4. The top riders might use three different types of frames. A TT frame, a regular road frame and a climbing frame. But a lot of them dont really have climbing frames anymore. They will switch gears and other components depending on the stage profile and terrain.

[Scott R Nelson]

Another question:

5. Is it normal for people to crash in the middle of flat straight roads? I've seen quite a few this year and Lance Armstrong seems to have been the victim of at least two during stage 8 this year.