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I've enjoyed this years Tour immensely. Yes, it was obvious that Froome would win and he stayed in yellow. But all the different stage wins and attacks. I think it was most interesting this year. I will miss sitting on my trainer pedaling along! I am glad Quintana (sp?) won today and will be on the podium. Looking forward to Pro Cycling Challenge (Colorado).
Quintana was definitely my favorite this year, and a great surprise. KOM, Best Young Rider and second place overall. Good for him.
My favorite is Talansky.
Of course, after reading about him, there's so many similarities between him and my son, it felt natural.
It's been a fun race to watch, even knowing that Froome was the winner from the first stages... Two pearls from a great blog, the Inner Ring:
"And if you want to know the difference between the pros and the amateurs, Ramunas Navardauskas was the last finisher on Mont Semnoz was still faster than the winner of the Etape du Tour, the cyclo event held on the same course two weeks ago. Navardauskas has been racing almost every day for the last three weeks."
And something to look at in today's stage:
Rhinestone Froomedog: to add to the nocturnal celebrations, the yellow jersey tomorrow has sequins. No joke. There will also be a laser and firework show centred around the Arc de Triomphe.
Sequins! I wonder how that's going to look. What's next? LED piping in the shorts/legs? Streamers and spoke lights... :rolleyes:
Added later: Well, I spoke to soon -- FDJ has a special kit for today's stage: https://twitter.com/EquipeFDJ/status...199936/photo/1
I don't get it either or why it's allowed. It makes me very nervous watching people wave flags over their heads and faces, the yelling and crowding. I'd be tempted to carry a baton, but as ny biker pointed out most of the real crazies are probably drunk. Oh yeah, and even though I am a touchy-feely-huggy kind of person, those strangers touching the riders while they are undergoing those laborious climbs? That's way out of bounds!
I don't get the crazies along the route, but I don't get the comments about it "not being allowed" either. Just imagine the amount of personnel or the cost of putting up fencing along ~120 miles of the route each day. What should the organizers and towns do?
Anyone catch the full frontal guy a few nights ago? Two guys running after the bikers with their shorts pulled partially down; the one guys were around his ankles. I've been watching for "Borat Thong" guy....haven't seen him yet this year.
It's part of the fun. I can't imagine them fencing it off. We did see how they were sending motorcycles ahead of the leader on the summit climb the other day; presumable to clear the hordes. And ads? DVR is your friend. Watch four hours of coverage in an hour and forty minutes. We are a few days behind bit that's a small price imnsho.
I saw it, Irulan... :eek:
I can't imagine them fencing it off either, but it seems so disrespectful and dangerous to the riders when they impede their progress. Dressing up is one thing, but getting drunk and running in front of the riders, hitting them, etc. is awful. I do like the way they have been using the motorcycles to help wit this, but, come on, people.
No ads with the NBC app and watching it through Apple TV from the I Pad. I guess one of the advantages of not having cable.
It was definitely an entertaining Tour to watch, even knowing Froome had it from early on. I'm also glad Quintana was able to win a stage. He was impressive and I think someone to watch in the years to come.
I am never certain of the outcome in advance; I am always anxious about the possibility of something unthinkable happening.
Why do they entirely skip any mention of Bauke Mollema when reading the standings on NBCSN? The announcers skip right over his name when it's listed right on the screen. This really stuck out when he was in second to fourth place.....
Watching the end of the coverage now.
I like Phil and Paul, really I do. But Peter Sagan won the green jersey. He earned it. It was never in doubt. They should be talking about him, not the fact that Cavendish wanted to win green.
Same with Marcel Kittel and his victories. He was the fastest sprinter in the race. This cannot be argued. So talk about him and what he and his team did so well. And STFU about Cavendish. There is no reason at all to utter the name "Cavendish" during the podium ceremonies for this race.
</rant>
Overall this was a good race. And a new generation has taken over the peloton.
Totally agree - he rode very well and really did not get any coverage at all - he deserved more. I heard today from my Dutch connection that he got sick the day before Alpe d'Huez and that's why he dropped back so far in the standings. He was really iffy to start for both that stage and the Friday stage because he was so ill, but he gutted it out. I think he'll be another one to watch in the years to come.Quote:
Originally Posted by Irulan
Any idea WHY NBCSN is deliberately not mentioning him when he obviously in the standings?Quote:
Originally Posted by BikeDutchess
Don't know why they mostly ignored him. I actually did hear them read his name at the end of several broadcasts (and Paul in particular had a habit of mispronouncing it) but that was about it. They were raving about Jakob Fuglsang who finished after him in the GC, and Valverde who made that huge tactical error when his wheel broke, but nothing about Mollema. :mad:
I think they know some riders better than others and perhaps they talk more about the ones they know better. I was happy to hear them do better saying something more resembling Fuglsang (they used to stick an extra g in it and say Fuglsgang).
They certainly have a longer view of the event and its history than I do!
From Jensie's blog:
http://bicycling.com/blogs/hardlyser...-parting-gift/
I was trying to explain this on Sunday to a friend who knows nothing about cycling other than "Lance Armstrong cancer doper." Some of the cyclists have such great enthusiasm for what they do, and they're able to show it, either through interviews or blogs or twitter or whatever. To me that's one of the big reasons for following the sport.