Tour de France 2011 talk

[pll]

I just read on Cycling News in an article about Johnny Hoogerland that "Race director Jean-Francois Pescheux apologized and said it was a scandalous thing that happened." Is something getting exaggerated in the translation or is this suggesting the car rammed the cyclists on purpose? With all of the politics in TDF I'd wondered if it could have been deliberate, but surely a French TV car wouldn't nearly take out Voekler. On the other hand, the car rammed right into Flecha. Hoogerland was being very nice about it and said he doesn't think it was done on purpose.--

It is hard to exaggerate about what happened, hyperbole is nearly impossible. It was scandalous, intolerable, disgraceful, etc. It was an officially accredited car that hit the riders (which implies some sort of vetting -- of course, they do not vet based on driving skills, but they might reconsider that). The riders could have been severely hurt or worse.

The notion that it hitting the riders was on purpose is ludicrous in my view. Hopefully, the police is involved and that the driver was stopped that day and checked for traces of alcohol. I'm with Tulip -- I enjoy hearing a little of the history and factoids of each region.

[pll]

Here's a cute picture, from an ITV (UK) photo gallery:

[blue_angel]

Every time I see Tommy Voeckler I just want to pinch his cheeks!