Tour de France discussion thread
nerdieprofessor
Posts: 512 Member
This is for you, TDSeest, and for you, SteveCro, and anyone else who is interested in discussion the Grandest of the Grand Tours. What is a Grand Tour? It's a bicycle race that has 21 days of bike racing spread over 23 calendar days. Only three exist, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and the Vuelta Espana.
The Tour de France starts on June 30th. A list of the stages (each day raced is a STAGE, each day not raced is a REST DAY) is here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stages
Stage racing (in fact any sort of road bicycle racing) is a TEAM SPORT with an individual winner. An individual, no matter how fast or how strong, cannot win a stage race without a strong team.
Yes, there is one winner, but he doesn't get there on his own. The team makes it happen for him. When the winner wins, the team gets the money (all the guys share) traditionally. The winner doesn't keep it (he can get rich with commercial endorsements later).
The way to win a single day bike race, other than being fast, which is pretty much required, and having a ridiculous amount of both endurance and luck, is to have a team who helps you (by giving you the draft, or chasing down breakaway riders from other teams, or going really fast and tiring out the other teams and racers, etc.). The way to win a three week long bike race is to do all those things for 21 days (over 23 calendar) days, and the ultimate winner has to not only be a good climber in the mountains but also has to be a good time trialist on the time trial days (three in this year's tour de France). But, most importantly, he must have a very good and dedicated team. That means eight other guys whose sole mission in life is to get the team captain to Paris with the shortest amount of time on the road.
So... comments? Questions? Arguments?
Let the fun begin!
nerdieprofessor (cycling official and professional bike racing fan)
The Tour de France starts on June 30th. A list of the stages (each day raced is a STAGE, each day not raced is a REST DAY) is here: http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stages
Stage racing (in fact any sort of road bicycle racing) is a TEAM SPORT with an individual winner. An individual, no matter how fast or how strong, cannot win a stage race without a strong team.
Yes, there is one winner, but he doesn't get there on his own. The team makes it happen for him. When the winner wins, the team gets the money (all the guys share) traditionally. The winner doesn't keep it (he can get rich with commercial endorsements later).
The way to win a single day bike race, other than being fast, which is pretty much required, and having a ridiculous amount of both endurance and luck, is to have a team who helps you (by giving you the draft, or chasing down breakaway riders from other teams, or going really fast and tiring out the other teams and racers, etc.). The way to win a three week long bike race is to do all those things for 21 days (over 23 calendar) days, and the ultimate winner has to not only be a good climber in the mountains but also has to be a good time trialist on the time trial days (three in this year's tour de France). But, most importantly, he must have a very good and dedicated team. That means eight other guys whose sole mission in life is to get the team captain to Paris with the shortest amount of time on the road.
So... comments? Questions? Arguments?
Let the fun begin!
nerdieprofessor (cycling official and professional bike racing fan)
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Replies
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No argument, nicely stated.
Trying to explain the intricacies of cycling is like trying to explain the rules of cricket.0 -
Pretty much.0
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This pretty much sums up what i've figured out over the last few years on my own...so I'm happy to learn I was right in my assumptions.
I do try to watch every stage...but I have no idea who I want to win. I always root for the underdog...and I don't know who that would be this year.
Did they change any rules regarding support vehicles? Was it last year when the rider was ran off the road into the barbed wire by a support car? That was a fantastic crash...0 -
Did they change any rules regarding support vehicles? Was it last year when the rider was ran off the road into the barbed wire by a support car? That was a fantastic crash...
It was NOT a support car. It was a media car (Euro Media is the company to be exact). I have NO idea why they allowed it in there. The one and only time I was in charge of a caravan in a stage race I would have strangled anyone extra getting into my caravan with my bare toes. Of course, that car had permission to be in there from the race leadership, supposedly, but it was driven by an idiot.
Johnny Hoogerland (the most damaged rider in the incident) recently filed a lawsuit because Euro Media wouldn't come to an agreement about compensation for the incident (and wasn't showing up to meetings, etc.).
The roads on that day were so narrow, it was scary enough with the motorcycle cameras and what not, nevermind the guy driving that car not paying attention to who was around him.
I suspect the race organizers will be more strict this year on media cars, but who knows?0 -
Since we don't have active TV, I may not be able to watch it at all. I'll have to look for coverage online, where I might be able to follow some of it. I know I'm the odd duck here, but I've never had an interest in racing. I've always had an interest in touring; even from an early age. Because of this lack of interest, I've always remained very ignorant of the subject. I'm attempting to gain knowledge, and maybe the challenge will help some.
This year, I'll try to watch it, and maybe that will peak my interest.0 -
thing is Tom, the footage of the bike race is also probably the finest Travel Documentary you could produce for a country, if you were trying to sell it to a Cyclist. Every time I watch LeTour or the Giro, I feel a deep, deep yearning to be out there in those mountains, watching the odd stage, and riding bits of the route the day before if I felt up to it. One of the best places I've found in terms of finding streaming footage of cycling is www.steephil.tv - if you bookmark http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/#tv-schedule it'll show a up to date "what's available" series of links - some of them are "territory specific", I think the ASO's feed is international, but of course, it will be "en francais"...0
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I agree; I think I'll find the whole thing fascinating. I'm looking forward to going through the footage online.
Thanks for the links.0 -
The roster is bittersweet
Alejandro Valverde is back (rowr)
Julian Dean is not on the Garmin roster (sadsies)
As in years past, I will be rooting for Garmin all the way. I hope to see Tyler win a sprint against that punk Cassaroledish this Tour.0 -
Secret footage from the Radioshleck Secret Bunker earlier...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KSmE2u3rKo 0 -
Tom,
Usually there's a thing from Versus channel (no idea what their new name is since NBC bought them) where you can pay a flat fee for live online streaming.thats what we usually do. We don't ave cable anymore either. The commentary by Phil and Paul is worth the $15 or $30!The roster is bittersweet
Alejandro Valverde is back (rowr)
Julian Dean is not on the Garmin roster (sadsies)
As in years past, I will be rooting for Garmin all the way. I hope to see Tyler win a sprint against that punk Cassaroledish this Tour.
I miss the argyle! So much team kit this year is BORING!0 -
If you think that Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen are worth listening to, you really should try the Eurosport coverage - David Harmon and the legend that is Sean Kelly! I find Ligget un-listenable after that combo... though I still miss David Duffield - he was brilliant - a bit like a slightly senile rambling old Great-Uncle, but brilliant non-the-less.0
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TheBigYin,
You have to realize that the network that used to show cycling here in the USA (Versus) was bought by one of the big national networks (NBC) which is trying to make cycling more accessible to folks who know nothing about it. To that end, they hire commentators who also know nothing about it and talk constant nonsense. I cannot watch the evening "Americanized" coverage without screaming at the TV. So much so that we have given up our cable and watch the Tour live online where we can get UK commentators who do have a clue! HOORAY!
Tom,
I got the live streaming app on the iPad for $14.95 from here (also has iphone, android, and webbased versions): http://tourdefrance.nbcsports.com/
nerdie0 -
there are times when I happily watch the french/italian coverage of races like the spring classics over t'internet - in fact the french eurosport coverage of LeTour has Jackie Durande iirc, and he's even better than Sean Kelly in some ways...0
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We usually watch the Giro in Italian. We do not speak Italian, but it is pleasant to listen to it!
Is,Sagan a machine????0 -
I recorded Stage 1 on my Sky+ box to watch later (as I was travelling at the time.) Sat down to watch it yesterday afternoon & with 2km to go, the coverage stopped :mad:
I could've thrown the Sky box out of the window :mad: :mad: :mad:0 -
I recorded Stage 1 on my Sky+ box to watch later (as I was travelling at the time.) Sat down to watch it yesterday afternoon & with 2km to go, the coverage stopped :mad:
I could've thrown the Sky box out of the window :mad: :mad: :mad:
There's always the ITV4 catch up application if you missed it
... http://www.itv.com/itvplayer/video/?Filter=320084 0 -
We usually watch the Giro in Italian. We do not speak Italian, but it is pleasant to listen to it!
Is,Sagan a machine????
I spent a couple of years over in Italy working (the joys of writing software that's related to the Icecream industry!) so I really enjoy listening to the Italian coverage of the Giro - the commentators definitely have a certain "brio" that Msr's Ligget and Sherwen don't quite manage to convey :laugh:
And Yes, I think Sagan is built on the v2.0 JenVoigt Chassis... if you look carefully there's times where you can see the red glow in his eyes, and dogs bark when he walks into the room :laugh:0 -
The $14.95 ipad app with live streaming is good. But, if you want to watch a replay later, it takes you out of the app and to a browser. Apparently, the replay doesn't play on an iPad. FAIL.
I think Sagan needs to work on his celebration dance... he looks a bit too silly. Of course, he is 22, so he's allowed to look silly.0 -
Have to say I preferred the "running man" to the "chicken dance"...
I DO like the custom paintjob on the bike though...
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Unfortunately, I can't watch this live. Because of the intense heat, the live times are during my morning rides. Oh well, I guess it will have to be replays for me.0
