TdF - Fat Cyclist article

[maillotpois]

This guy is as funny as the Schmaltz guy - he has a blog, which is great reading. Anyway, he's now reporting on the call for a "do over" of the Tour:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/tour06/?id=/features/2006/july17fatcyclistnews

Great reading!

[SadieKate]

I wonder if The Onion knows about him. He could steal their thunder.

And, I agree, this Tour is a zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. When I realized we'll be travelling during the last days I didn't even flinch. Perhaps the organizers will realize that a few real mountains and a TTT would be in order next year?

[maillotpois]

Well, I will say the next 3 days are going to be AMAZING. (I hope).

[Googlie Wooglie]

That was hilarious.

But I have to say, I am thoroughly enjoying this years TdF. So many unknowns and odd mishaps ... it's been so bizarre. Sure, not the best cycling I 've ever seen (GEORGE, what happened?) but that has in no way detracted from the entertainment factor.

[Cassandra_Cain]

That was pretty funny, especially the Hincapie and Mayo parts.

I've enjoyed this year's TDF - it is nice to see more than one or two riders with a chance to win and the race be wide open. It sure is more enjoyable, for me anyway, when it is still a race and not just a parade to Paris...

I'm soooo looking forward to tomorrow's Alpe D'huez stage - the alarm clock is set for 6:30 and I can't wait.

[SadieKate]

I'm just so tired of the flat stages. As a spectator the mountains are much more fun to watch.

[Tri Girl]

Hee hee. That made me laugh. A cycling mulligan. Classic.

Call me crazy, but I've enjoyed the jockeying for leader this year. It's kinda been a known fact who would win the last few years, and this year it's interesting to see that maillot jaune turn hands over and over. It's all up in the air. I like to see the broadcasters srambling each day to predict who'll win a stage, and trying to guess who will be on top at the end of the day.
I agree- where did George go? They barely even mention his name anymore (it's like Team Discovery is lost without a clear leader). Sad. I gotta love Floyd tho- but you never know who's going to ride into Paris in yellow on Sunday. I love all the unknowns this year. :)

[maillotpois]

I love this tour.

I got into an argument with a friend (at a mediation, no less!). He was disappointed because he feels like this tour is somehow Amateur hour and that we aren't seeing "the best cyclists in the world". I totally disagree.

If this is the first closer to clean tour we have had in a while, I love it. I would rather see suffering, slower riders who don't dominate the field. I know how much it hurts, and no matter how bad these guys are riding or suffering, they're going faster than any of us could dream of going. I want to see teams and riders make mistakes, have bad days. I am sick to death of the tour being controlled by Postal/Discovery and knowing at the end of the day what the result was going to be.

I have no idea what is going to happen in this tour. I love this tour!!!

[spazzdog]

Get used to it ladies... this is a tour with no Dope.

I like it.

It makes every day an adventure (though the flats are snoozers, but they always were for me).

None of these guys could risk their usual weekly dosages, plus the supplier and his wares got arrested in Spain.

This, my lovely TE-ers, is what a "clean" TdF looks like. May we have many more..

spazz

p.s. case in point: the TE competition. Check Susan's results emails as to how low the percentage of correct answers there have been. No dope - no guarantees... no predictablity.

[SadieKate]

Get used to it ladies... this is a tour with no Dope.
Yes, it is. He's named Al. ;) OK, he's getting a little better each year. Maybe he's getting some kind of injection.

[jobob]

Yes, it is. He's named Al. ;)

Oh crud, you beat me to it !


OK, he's getting a little better each year. Very true. But every now and then he reverts to his nitwit of old.

And Lee cringes as I look for something to throw at the TV.

[Cassandra_Cain]

Strangely enough, I've really enjoy some (not all) of the flatter stages. I thought the one where Calzati won was excellent, what a bold ride by him, riding solo for 30km....before that, the stage 2 & 3 where Kessler first lost it by 50m but then won the next day was fun - exciting, fast, and lots of jockeying. Plus I enjoy the big build-up to the sprints and watching the fastest man in the tour, McEwen, rocket to the front.

[SadieKate]

I like the doofas he hangs out with. Only reason I ever watch the Double D evening version.

Sometimes P and P are a bit too straightlaced for me, though I'd like to see Paul and the Doofas as a pairing sometime.

[Cassandra_Cain]

OMG - Trautwig. I'm sure books, or at least long, angry, frustrated threads on the internet have been written about him.

I half-wonder if he is getting slightly less annoying, or if it is simply him not having Postal/Disco to lavish with every superlative. Oftentimes in the previews I could almost swear I see Paul and Phil wince when he makes some of his more trademark (dumb) remarks.

[emily_in_nc]

I've been enjoying this tour thoroughly and do not think it's a snoozefest at all. I love the unpredictability of it. Every day I enter the Team Estrogen contest and generally have a terrible "correct answer" rate. It really is unpredictable, and I love that.

Though I am awfully sorry about George...what happened hun? :confused:

Emily

[laughlaugh18]

Trautwig does seem better each year to me, too. I'm starting to think that he's instructed by OLN to keep asking the same question over and over, on OLN's assumption that OLN viewers are cycling neophytes, and can't remember the answers they heard the first 500 times Trautwig asked the question. He can't really be that dense . . .

If you want an alternative to the OLN audio, log onto eurosport.com and listen to their audio with the OLN pictures. They don't always quite match, but the eurosport commentary is really interesting (assuming you can manage to understand Sean Kelly's thick Irish accent).

[SadieKate]

I loved watching today's stage. The entire househould was on the edge of their seats. Poor Izaak the Wonder Poodle didn't know what to make of all the hoopla.

[maillotpois]

Yeah today was fantastic!! I can't wait to get up early tomorrow and do it all over again!! Today they rode through the valley where we stayed the first year we went for the Tour (Serre Chevalier - it was their feed zone). I could pick out our hotel and the fantastic place that sold the great sausages which I smuggled back into the country... :rolleyes:

Mike was able to pick out the tunnel in which he almost got run over by an RV and the area on the early part of the Izoard where a car almost T-boned him. The only two close calls we had riding there - and actually even those drivers, well, except the RV, were more aware than our drivers.

Good times.... I gotta figure out how to get back there and ride more!

[SadieKate]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2006/tour06/index.php?id=/photos/2006/tour06/tour061/IMG_0873

[maillotpois]

Um.. eeewww. And the rest of him is so purty! Well, I suppose I should empathize as he is obviously a kindered messed-up vein spirit. Though my problems run deeper...

[Dogmama]

I was hoping that he would win the mountain stage yesterday - after pulling somebody else up the mountain for the last seven years - I know - long shot.

I wonder if George had chemical help? (Say it isn't so!) :eek: But you have to admit - his performance has really declined...

[jeannierides]

I was hoping that he would win the mountain stage yesterday - after pulling somebody else up the mountain for the last seven years - I know - long shot.

I wonder if George had chemical help? (Say it isn't so!) :eek: But you have to admit - his performance has really declined...


IMHO Team Discovery doesn't *seem* to have the cohesiveness that they have in years past. For seven years, their goal was to get Lance to Paris in yellow, now they don't appear to know who they want to be in yellow. It's going to take more than one Tour to see the greatness come through in that team. I'm still holding out hope...:)

[crazycanuck]

The only reason i'm interested in watching some of the coverage is because of the Australians doing well.

It's nice to see lesser known folks win and know that we don't have to hear lance's name all the freakin time....

c

[Dogmama]

IMHO Team Discovery doesn't *seem* to have the cohesiveness that they have in years past. For seven years, their goal was to get Lance to Paris in yellow, now they don't appear to know who they want to be in yellow. It's going to take more than one Tour to see the greatness come through in that team. I'm still holding out hope...:)

So, why didn't somebody define the goal before the tour? It's all very strange.

To be fair to Disco, it seems like a lot of the teams are disorganized. People on other boards are saying this is the first "clean" TdF in a long time.

I'm still watching. These guys are amazing. I never realized the extent of their fitness because Lance made it look so easy.