TDF: a shiny new thread for 2012

[Catrin]

Did anyone see this?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUWak...&feature=share

What a character, Peter Sagan!! Ha

hehehe, next year I simply must have cable, at least for July, so I can finally watch the TDF!

[pll]

Next year the thread should allow spoilers. I'm doing my best not to comment on the stage I am watching right now. [need to comment... Argh]

ETA: I do have to comment, though, to say that I find nasty how some cycling Twitter feeds (including @inrgn) refer to Froome as "Froome-dog". So, when there is not really a story, they start insulting and provoking riders to create one?

[jobob]

I'm kind of surprised Tommy V isn't wearing a polkadot helmet today, he tends to go all in on the accessories.

Maybe if he keeps that jersey today, he'll pull out all the stops tomorrow.

My 2 cents about spoilers -- I'm watching on DVR delay, but I figure I'm in this thread at my own risk. If I'm spoiled by looking at this particular thread, that's my own fault. If it really mattered to me, I'd simply stay away from this thread.

[Veronica]

My 2 cents about spoilers -- I'm watching on DVR delay, but I figure I'm in this thread at my own risk. If I'm spoiled by looking at this particular thread, that's my own fault. If it really mattered to me, I'd simply stay away from this thread.

I never look at this thread until I've watched this race, just in case. Also avoid twitter and google news.


I wonder whom Froome will be riding for next year.

Veronica

[Eden]

I wonder whom Froome will be riding for next year.

Veronica

I wonder whom will be riding for Froome he's young, but he's held out admirably. Had he been an opponent rather than a teammate of Wiggins, he would be a substantial threat

(btw - I know that is grammatically incorrect, but couldn't resist the silly rhyme )

[malkin]

Didn't Froome's girlfriend used "Froome-Dog" to refer to him on twitter?

[jobob]

I wonder whom Froome will be riding for next year.

Veronica

Good question.

Thing is, I don't really see Wiggins as a long-term GC contender; this particular tour played very well to his strengths but if there were more mountains and less TT, or if Wiggins couldn't keep up in the mountains as well as he did, I suspect support would have switched to Froome early on. Wiggins might not have Team Sky's wholehearted (CG) support next year.

I wonder whom will be riding for Froome

LOL! Precisely.

[Veronica]

Sky put together a really strong climbing team this year - Froome, Rogers, Port, BoHog , Knees... all to really support Wiggins.

Next year they may give more support to Cav. It's an interesting dilemma they've got.

Veronica

[Veronica]

Oh and I predict no more Radioshack-Nissan next year. What a disaster that merger has become! It's a shame - they have some really good riders.

Veronica

[jobob]

Wiggins might not have Team Sky's wholehearted (CG) support next year.

Following up on my own remark ...

NBCSports showed a graphic of the two second-place finishers who went on to win the Tour the following year: LeMond who initially supported Hinault, and Ullrich who initially supported Riis.

I wonder, if Froome did stay with Sky, it would be another Lemond-Hinaut situation?

From the Wikipedia entry about Greg LeMond:

[In 1985, LeMond] was brought across to La Vie Claire to ride in support of team captain Bernard Hinault who had regained his form and was attempting to win his fifth Tour. Hinault led through the early mountain stages, but suffered a crash and came into difficulty. At this point it was clear that LeMond was an elite rider capable of winning the Tour in his own right. However, the managers of his La Vie Claire team ordered the 24-year-old LeMond to ride in support of Hinault. [...] Hinault won the 1985 Tour, with LeMond finishing second, 1:42 behind. LeMond was clearly frustrated by the events, and later revealed that team management and his own coach Paul Koechli had misled him as to how far back Hinault had dropped during the crucial mountain stage. Regardless, he rode as the dutiful lieutenant, and his aid was crucial to enabling Hinault to gain his fifth Tour victory.

The following year in the 1986 Tour, LeMond was made co-leader of the La Vie Claire team alongside Hinault, with Hinault publicly promising to ride in support of LeMond to repay LeMond for the work he had done in 1985. What he did not say was that the help was contingent upon LeMond demonstrating that he was clearly the better rider. [...]

The rest of the story is here.

So maybe it would be best if Froome changes teams if he wants to fulfill his GC ambitions.

[ny biker]

Next year the thread should allow spoilers. I'm doing my best not to comment on the stage I am watching right now. [need to comment... Argh]

ETA: I do have to comment, though, to say that I find nasty how some cycling Twitter feeds (including @inrgn) refer to Froome as "Froome-dog". So, when there is not really a story, they start insulting and provoking riders to create one?

I assumed it was just a nickname. They all have nicknames for each other.

[Eden]

Next year the thread should allow spoilers. I'm doing my best not to comment on the stage I am watching right now. [need to comment... Argh]

ETA: I do have to comment, though, to say that I find nasty how some cycling Twitter feeds (including @inrgn) refer to Froome as "Froome-dog". So, when there is not really a story, they start insulting and provoking riders to create one?

Are you sure it is an insult? I know a guy who goes by the nickname Z-dog, it's not an insult, he likes it.....

[pll]

Are you sure it is an insult? I know a guy who goes by the nickname Z-dog, it's not an insult, he likes it.....

It might be his nickname but the references to it (as Wiggins' dog) do not exactly read endearing:
"@inrgn: Today's Wiggins' Froome-dog was a loyal Pyrenees shepherd dog."

[ny biker]

Who is @inrgn?

[pll]

Tweeter feed of the Inner Ring cycling blog (http://inrng.com/), which is a good blog.

ETA: just noticed I swapped some letters... the twitter feed is https://twitter.com/inrng