Tour talk -- Spoiler alert

[ny biker]

Dam.


Haven't seen the results yet...
But, geez, Levi is my Man of Perpetual Frustration.

Yeah. I think he's better suited to 1-week stage races than 3-week races.

Also -- from the sponsor's point of view, Lance in a break/Lance winning a stage is worth more than anyone else on the team finishing top ten in the GC. Like it or not, Lance gets the TV time and press photos that makes the sponsorship pay off.

[buffybike]

All those crazies in neon g-strings were cracking me up. Too funny.

I was so excited in the last 30 minutes, I felt like I could throw up. Good thing I was alone in the house so no one could hear me yelling, "Go Andeeeeeee!!! You can do it!!!!!!! Come on! Go! Go! Go!!!!!" All the while waving my arms, of course.

[Zen]

Who is that guy sitting next to Andy at the press conference?
The team director?
He would make a good bouncer.

[redrhodie]

Who is that guy sitting next to Andy at the press conference?
The team director?
He would make a good bouncer.

Yeah, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Riis and he won the tour, once upon a time.

[MM_QFC!]

Yeah, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bjarne_Riis and he won the tour, once upon a time.

yeah, but it was years later that he admitted he wasn't a clean rider:

"...on May 25, 2007 Riis issued a press release that he also had made "mistakes" in the past,and in the following press conference confessed to taking EPO, growth hormone and cortisone for 5 years, from 1993 to 1998, including during his victory in the 1996 Tour de France. Riis said that he bought and injected the EPO himself, and team coach Walter Godefroot turned a blind eye to the drug use on the team. Riis was removed from the official record books of Tour de France,but in July 2008 he was written back into the books, along with additional notes about his use of doping."

[malkin]

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz...What's up with that?

[carinapir]

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz...What's up with that?

I know, right? Is the movie really that bad that they have to pimp it at the TdF? Hollywood needs to give it a rest.

[redrhodie]

yeah, but it was years later that he admitted he wasn't a clean rider:

Yeah, I read that, but since it was Jan Ullrich who came in second, I figure the playing field was level.

Good on Cav today! And, he was sick.

I wonder what's up with Andy at the doc's car. That's doesn't look good.

[channlluv]

Do you think Contador pulled up at the end there, though? Paul or Phil one kept saying that he would never have taken that win from Andy or the crowd would have turned on him (again), as if he could have taken the win if he'd wanted to. Their comments just left me wondering. It kind of tempered my joy for Andy, although I'm really pleased for him.

And has anyone ever done a study on the effect that the fans have on the riders climbing steep inclines like that? I didn't see anyone slapping Andy, but Contador got several slaps in the arm and on the butt as he rode through. All that noise, people jumping in your path, and then the motorcycles blaring their horns right behind you...how in the world do they concentrate enough to climb that mountain?

Roxy

[Zen]

My best guess is that Berto wanted to attack but really didn't have it in him. Andy would have given him a run for his money.
He let Andy win for the goodwill.

It will come down to the time trial.

[berkeley]

He let Andy win for the goodwill.

This.

I think AC could have taken Andy if he wanted to.

[Aggie_Ama]

The fans on mountain stages are always nuts, especially when the Basque get out in the Pyrennes. They take their cycling spectating to extremes! The guys dressed the Borat style Unitards weren't nearly as bad as the guys with their butts just hanging out because they dropped their drawers! The sheep were funny, they looked like "WHAT DID WE JUST RUN INTO????"

[Zen]

Those weren't sheep. Those were fans in sheep suits.