Hellooooo? Anyone watching the Tour?

[elk]

no cable.... so i check in online...
i've watched previous tours on DVD (netflix)...love it.

the Astana cut tix me off too....

plus i miss the excitement of knowing Lance is somewhere on that road....


Basso..Mayo..Ulrich....are personal faves....not even sure they;re in this year..

[DDH]

Tired of all the drugs and disappointment. They're all cheaters - even Lance. Not watching it any more.

I don't remember ever hearing anything about Lance cheating. Of course that's not saying much, cause I didn't pay much attention to it all when he was riding.

I can't believe that they are ALL cheaters, I have to keep some hope.
I'm sure there are some that want to make the sport honest and without so much contraversy, and that don't dope.

I'm just watching, not rooting for anyone, cause I don't know who to cheer on. They sure do have some nice bottoms and legs, I can say that about them. I can say this much for them, the most of them, have some really nice bottoms and legs. LOL

[Hot_Flash]

As some others have posted here, I too am rooting for Columbia(High Road) and Garmin Chipotle(Slippies). And, yes, as you can probably tell, I'm an American.

Elk, I don't have cable either this year, but I've found there are a lot of options for watching races live online. Durring the Giro I discovered a website that has all sorts of online coverage... live audio and video feeds, tickers, etc. for whatever the current race is. Through them I didn't miss a stage durring the Giro, and I'm watching one of their streams right now of the Tour Stage 2. Anyway, here is their link...

http://cyclingfans.com/

I hope that helps and you can watch now too.

[Velobambina]

Thor!!!!

[tulip]

Thor is awesome!

I'm rooting for a French win this year. I love the sport and I love the country, so I watch this year as I have since 1986. I'm so glad there are three days in Brittany, as it's my favorite part of France, and little known to folks in the U.S. (hint--go there and ride!). I was just there in May (again) with my bike and it's some of the best riding I've ever done.

Valverde has a good shot at the whole shebang, but he is moving out awfully early. But he has an amazing team so I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled it out at the end.

[dex]

Thor SMASH!

I <3 the Tour, though I'm disappointed my fave (Boonen) did something idiotic and got himself barred from the race.

Basso..Mayo..Ulrich....are personal faves....not even sure they;re in this year..

Retired (Ullrich), without a team (Mayo), or serving suspensions (Basso) on various levels of doping violations/allegations.

[VeloVT]

Thor SMASH!

I <3 the Tour, though I'm disappointed my fave (Boonen) did something idiotic and got himself barred from the race.

I'm mad at Boonen.

The last 5K or so of today's stage was SO exciting. I was on the edge of my seat.

[KnottedYet]

I love Schmalz's "man-crush" on Thor. Can't wait to read Tour Day Schmalz stage 2!!!

[elk]

Thor SMASH!

I <3 the Tour, though I'm disappointed my fave (Boonen) did something idiotic and got himself barred from the race.



Retired (Ullrich), without a team (Mayo), or serving suspensions (Basso) on various levels of doping violations/allegations.

well..I better get on the stick!!! (maybe if I quit obsessing about my h'bars, I'd pay attention to something else...)

thanks, Hot Flash, for the link!

[Aggie_Ama]

We are watching thanks to the magic of DVR. I am rooting for any underdog or anyone wearing Argyle! I would love to see someone off the radar win and since they are off the radar I don't know who that would be.

Sorry Aussies, I don't like Cadel he just seems so arrogant. Of course it could be editing but they always have him talking about his rivals weaknesses instead of strengths. I did like when he had the side glancing mugshot last year.

[Kalidurga]

I love Schmalz's "man-crush" on Thor. Can't wait to read Tour Day Schmalz stage 2!!!

Between Thor's SMASH and Moreau in a break, Schmalz will have a field day with today's stage

[Veronica]

I don't remember ever hearing anything about Lance cheating.

Lance's answer always seemed to be that he never failed a drug test.

I'd like to think that he didn't cheat, but the way he was SO MUCH better than his competition, will always make me wonder.

V.

[redrhodie]

This is a fantastic tour. I'm loving the no time bonus stages. I hate time trial stages (except for team time trials, which are awesome, and I miss) so less of them is a big plus. It's going to be fun to see what happens when everyone's fried in about a week. I bet this ends up being the fastest tour, with the fewest finishers. It's an open field. It's going to take a lot of heart to win this one.

Lance was so much better than everyone else because he knew how to use his team the best. He did not expend any unnecessary energy, he let George do all the work. He was a great time trialist, and a great climber. He was not Eddy Merckx, who could ride solo for an entire race and never see a teammate, or the peleton, for that matter, and win again the next day.

Lance also was big into gear improvements. He spent more time with mechanics and designers, improving everything he could to wear yellow, than any other racer. I'm not saying he didn't dope, but I'm saying, put him on a steel frame with down-tube shifters and toeclips, and he would be looking at Eddy's back like the rest of them did.

Anyone who isn't watching this tour because some riders doped is really missing an opportunity to see the most beautiful sport in the world. And, it's your sport. But if it really bothers you that much, then you shouldn't watch the Olympics (track and field, swimming, gymnastics) either, because I hear some of them doped, too. And baseball. Football. The stuff some basketball players do to dogs is ungodly, so that should be out, too. Maybe bowling is safe, but I wouldn't bet on it .

[elk]

This is a fantastic tour. I'm loving the no time bonus stages. I hate time trial stages (except for team time trials, which are awesome, and I miss) so less of them is a big plus. It's going to be fun to see what happens when everyone's fried in about a week. I bet this ends up being the fastest tour, with the fewest finishers. It's an open field. It's going to take a lot of heart to win this one.

Lance was so much better than everyone else because he knew how to use his team the best. He did not expend any unnecessary energy, he let George do all the work. He was a great time trialist, and a great climber. He was not Eddy Merckx, who could ride solo for an entire race and never see a teammate, or the peleton, for that matter, and win again the next day.

Lance also was big into gear improvements. He spent more time with mechanics and designers, improving everything he could to wear yellow, than any other racer. I'm not saying he didn't dope, but I'm saying, put him on a steel frame with down-tube shifters and toeclips, and he would be looking at Eddy's back like the rest of them did.

Anyone who isn't watching this tour because some riders doped is really missing an opportunity to see the most beautiful sport in the world. And, it's your sport. But if it really bothers you that much, then you shouldn't watch the Olympics (track and field, swimming, gymnastics) either, because I hear some of them doped, too. And baseball. Football. The stuff some basketball players do to dogs is ungodly, so that should be out, too. Maybe bowling is safe, but I wouldn't bet on it .

Amen, sister....
( if they're all doping then it's an even playing field...)

[smurfalicious]

I'm not saying he didn't dope, but I'm saying, put him on a steel frame with down-tube shifters and toeclips, and he would be looking at Eddy's back like the rest of them did.

Seeeee! This is why I upgraded from down tube shifters! I could never be the next Lance with those! Wait, are you dissing my beloved steel? The steel I love so much I plan to sleep with it at night?

Maybe bowling is safe, but I wouldn't bet on it .

OMG have you seen The Big Lebowski? Those dudes are downing White Russians left and right! And I know it's true because a movie says so!

Here's a lovely, potty-mouthed rant about the current state of affairs: http://drunkcyclist.com/wordpress/2008/07/06/la-verde/

I understand about half of it, but love a good rant.