2013 Tour De France Thread

[bluegoose]

Just over a month to go until the start of the next Tour. Its time to get talking about it. Hopefully creekster is able to carve out some time from his busy schedule to give us his daily stage wrap-ups that we've all grown to enjoy over the years (Seriously, when the man is on his game, his reports are as good as anything that you will come across on velonews or cyclingnews.).

It looks like the field is wide open for the GC this year as Bradley Wiggins has now been officially ruled out for the tour due to an ongoing lung infection and some chronic knee pain. Based on last year's results I have got to think that Froome is now the front runner, with a few other nipping at his heels, including Evans, Van Garderen and several other Italian and Spanish guys who's names all sound the same to me.

The Green jersey should be very entertaining this year, with cavendish's continued dominance and the ongoing rise of Sagan. Tyler Farrer looks to be done already as a serious threat, and Boonen appears to be in the twilight of his career as a sprint points threat.

Looking forward to another good run this season.

[Pheidippides]

Just over a month to go until the start of the next Tour. Its time to get talking about it. Hopefully creekster is able to carve out some time from his busy schedule to give us his daily stage wrap-ups that we've all grown to enjoy over the years (Seriously, when the man is on his game, his reports are as good as anything that you will come across on velonews or cyclingnews.).

It looks like the field is wide open for the GC this year as Bradley Wiggins has now been officially ruled out for the tour due to an ongoing lung infection and some chronic knee pain. Based on last year's results I have got to think that Froome is now the front runner, with a few other nipping at his heels, including Evans, Van Garderen and several other Italian and Spanish guys who's names all sound the same to me.

The Green jersey should be very entertaining this year, with cavendish's continued dominance and the ongoing rise of Sagan. Tyler Farrer looks to be done already as a serious threat, and Boonen appears to be in the twilight of his career as a sprint points threat.

Looking forward to another good run this season.

I was just thinking about this this morning and spent some time looking up the route. They have to climb Alp D'Huez twice back to back. Wow.

[RC Vikings]

I'm curious to see how Contador does. Climbing Alp D'Huez twice should make for an interesting day. I had no idea Alp D'Huez had a back side and now I wonder why they have never climbed it.

[bluegoose]

Andy Schleck to captain team Radio Shack at this year's tour. He really is their best shot at a podium imo, but I can't imagine that he is a serious threat to the top spot this season. He hasn't seemed to be able to bounce back yet from that bad pelvis fracture last year.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Andy Schleck to captain team Radio Shack at this year's tour. He really is their best shot at a podium imo, but I can't imagine that he is a serious threat to the top spot this season. He hasn't seemed to be able to bounce back yet from that bad pelvis fracture last year.

It will be interesting to see how Andy will race without Frank. It seemed like, even in peak form, the devotion that they brothers had for each other was their biggest handicap. I haven't been following Andy's recovery too closely but I would be surprised if he's anywhere close to the podium. I kind of hope that he isn't, so that it will provide Voigt more opportunities to take off on some of his epic fliers.

As for climbing D'Heuz twice, I'm not going to get my hopes up. These sorts of stages, like climbing the Col du Tourmalet twice a few years back, hold lots of promise and up talk, but the riders tend to just sit back and try and save everything for the last 5k of the race. A sound strategy, but not the best tv.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

This video of Peter Sagan showed up on the internets earlier today. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. At first I was convinced that it was photographic witchery. Because why wouldn't you film such a stunt from outside the car? But the biggest reason I assumed it was a fake why sheer reason. Why would you be pulling stunts like this weeks before the TdF? If I were his team manager or any of the sponsors and I saw this, I'd be pretty pissed. I mean the guy looks to be totally clipped in. There's no way in Hell I'd trust bike cleats for traction or stability on top of a car.

If this thing is truth, Peter Sagan is crazier than I ever gave him credit for.

[RC Vikings]

NBCSports has a show running right now talking about the 100 years of the TDF. Great old film of some of the early riders and what they went through. It also talks about all the greats and their triumphs and tragedy.

[Coach McGuirk]

NBCSports has a show running right now talking about the 100 years of the TDF. Great old film of some of the early riders and what they went through. It also talks about all the greats and their triumphs and tragedy.

I've watched it twice now, and the early days were quite incredible. Some of the "roads" they were climbing were pretty bad and the shot with them almost getting taken out by the train was just crazy. Good stuff.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

I've watched it twice now, and the early days were quite incredible. Some of the "roads" they were climbing were pretty bad and the shot with them almost getting taken out by the train was just crazy. Good stuff.

Reminds me of this story:

The high mountains first featured in the 1910 edition of the Tour de France, with the introduction of the Pyrenees. But far from providing the spectacle they do today, back then they simply added to the brutality of what was already an extremely tough race.

The unmade roads forced most riders to push their bikes up the climbs, and prompted eventual 1910 winner Octave Lapize to crest the Col d’Aubisque on foot while famously shouting, “You’re all murderers!” at the race organizers.

The Alps were introduced in 1911, but their green, magisterial beauty seemed to enchant, rather than anger the riders. The two mountain ranges have remained key battlegrounds at the Tour ever since.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Stage 1: a mess every year, but may have outdone itself this year.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Stage 1: a mess every year, but may have outdone itself this year.

That was such a strange stage. For nearly all of it, it was very uneventful, and then the bus gets stuck under the finish line and, though unrelated, crashes ensue. It's an odd feature of pro cycling that, although some finished long after the winner, everyone who finished ended up with the same time.

I love watching the TdF, btw. The camera work is truly outstanding.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

Thoughts from Stage 2:
What a tough day 2. Sometimes you see breaks in the early stages due to cross winds that catch riders off guard, but you don't typically see such big hills so early, much less ones that inflict so much damage. The yellow jersey 17 minutes down? Unheard of.

Froome is going to throw his Tour away trying to prove how capable he is to win it. Really stupid move towards the end there.

For reasons I can't explain, I've always really liked Sylvain Chavanel. I'm always pulling for him every time he goes on a flier. Wish he had more success outside the French National Championship.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

I love watching the TdF, btw. The camera work is truly outstanding.

Couldn't agree more. In fact, it's so incredible that I woul probably hesitate before seriously considering traveling around France just out of worry that reality wouldn't live up to the pictures.

[BigPiney]

The first 2 stages have been great.

There were shouts of approval in my house when the guy finished 1 second ahead to take the yellow. Love it when someone eeks it out like that.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Today's finish sounds like it was very exciting, but I won't be able to watch until tonight. Yesterday Froome made a move early (the timing seemed weird to me) and then fell back into the pack. The announcers said he was sending a message to the rest of the group. I don't know much about racing tactics, but what message did he send? It seems like pretty much everyone in the race could have done what he did (sprint out, and then fall back).