Tour de France 2011 talk

[Susan126]

July is one of my favorite months of the year because of:

1. My son's birthday on the 6th
2. My husband's birthday on the 13th
3. the Fourth
4. and THE TOUR de FRANCE!!!!!

I watch it religiously every July from day one until the final laps around the Champs-Élysées!!!! I started following/watching the Tour in 1999 when Lance won his first one that year.

July just isn't July without the above four events!

Oh and I am off during the summer months too. Bonus for being a library secretary in a middle school!

And did you see today's finish?! Wow Tyler Farrar was awesome. I sort of felt bad for Cavendish but oh well. And Tyler dedicated his win to his friend, Wouter Weylandt. Did you see him flash the "W" with his hands?! How great was that?! So Thor Hushovd maintains the yellow jersey.

[KnottedYet]

So Thor Hushovd maintains the yellow jersey.

Thor SMASH!

[MuddyTrails]

@pll Glad you liked the link!

Today's finish was absolutely brilliant! I'm not a big Hushovd fan, but he was quite a team player, helping Farrar win the stage. I was surprised to see JJ Rojas (Movistar) fighting it to the end. However, it was scary to see the endo by one of the riders, about 2 kms. from the finish line. Does anyone know who it was that crashed, and is he OK?

MuddyTrails

[pll]

@MuddyTrails: It seems it was Samuel Dumoulin from Cofidis (I infer based on the red uniform and the fact that Phil said "Samuel something" in the recap).

I liked that Hushovd led and celebrated the win. Here's a blurry shot of Thor smiling and raising his fist as Tyler wins:

[pll]

Confirmation... it was Dumoulin. He says so in Twitter: "Fall into the last corner. I am very disappointed because the team had done a great job. Fortunately no wounds but an opportunity missed."

[Jo-n-NY]

Read on twitter about Cav & Thor being DQ'd in a sprint today. Anyone know why.

Also Johan was fined because of an unprofessional comment. USI just decided for this tour to change the seat position. A brand new rule. Didn't apply to other races and all the wind tunnel testing and training with the original seat position is thrown out the window. What gives with the UCI. Are they trying to be disliked?

~ JoAnn

[Catrin]

I can't get any of the free video feeds to work...sniff. I did, however, get the audio daily podcast working so that is better than nothing. NEXT year I am going to get cable, even if it is only for the month of July so I can watch the TDF!

[Trek420]

What gives with the UCI. Are they trying to be disliked?

~ JoAnn

They were "liked" before?

[pll]

Read on twitter about Cav & Thor being DQ'd in a sprint today. Anyone know why.

Also Johan was fined because of an unprofessional comment. USI just decided for this tour to change the seat position. A brand new rule. Didn't apply to other races and all the wind tunnel testing and training with the original seat position is thrown out the window. What gives with the UCI. Are they trying to be disliked?

~ JoAnn

I'd be surprised if Johan was the only one fined. It seems many of the teams were very upset and rightly so. The rule about the seats appears to be a bit vague, it had not been interpreted in that fashion the entire season... and then you force last minute adjustments that cold even injure a cyclist. Not logical.