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Tour de France 2012 (Spoilers)

eternlgladiator

eternlgladiator

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 20, 2010
1,766
108
Twin Cities
Anybody watching? Thoughts on the race? I never expected to see Cancellara in yellow after the first two days but he had one hell of a time trial and killer kick to finish second yesterday. Now the expectation is that he'll keep it all week since its a relatively flat week.
 
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Yeah I'm watching. :) It's broadcast late at night here in my country, so it's very tough to watch it and go to work the next morning! (where's the coffee emoticon!).

And the missile did it again last night.
 
eternlgladiator said:
I never expected to see Cancellara in yellow after the first two days but he had one hell of a time trial and killer kick to finish second yesterday.
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Agreed, but, wow, what a performance after that horrible wreck earlier this year. Spartacus indeed.....
 
eternlgladiator said:
Yeah he's pretty much a beast. Too bad he doesn't do mountains very well or he could keep it all month.
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Yeah, it is too bad. He seems to be faring pretty well on the hills, though. He's still in yellow and finished 4th in today's hilly stage. Maybe having the yellow will give him the extra incentive he needs to stay in it.
 
dejo said:
Yeah, it is too bad. He seems to be faring pretty well on the hills, though. He's still in yellow and finished 4th in today's hilly stage. Maybe having the yellow will give him the extra incentive he needs to stay in it.
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argggg, I should have know I'd see a spoiler if I visited too early. I missed the morning viewing and the lunch one was blocked due to olympic qualifying. I'll visit later after I watch it. looking forward. I'm going to edit the title to say that the thread has spoilers too.
 
I really think Peter sagan is going to get himself hurt if he keeps riding the way he is. Both the sprint point and stage win were handled pretty poorly. He could ride with a little class.
 
eternlgladiator said:
I really think Peter sagan is going to get himself hurt if he keeps riding the way he is. Both the sprint point and stage win were handled pretty poorly. He could ride with a little class.
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Care to elaborate? Are you talking about his "excessive celebration" (which I don't think is excessive at all)?
 
dejo said:
Care to elaborate? Are you talking about his "excessive celebration" (which I don't think is excessive at all)?
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His running in place victory in stage three, his refusal to help fabian cancellara stay ahead in stage one, him helping cut off cavendish on the sprint point (stage two I think) which still led to cav taking the points. He's a great rider but I'm embarrassed he's American. He could win with a little class and act a tad more humbly. If I were riding along side him he'd get more than a gentle tap to stay the f away from me.
 
Help me out where can I live stream the TDF I can only see the updates on the TDF site.
 
AppleDApp said:
Help me out where can I live stream the TDF I can only see the updates on the TDF site.
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I've searched high and low, it plays about three or four times a day on nbc sports, formerly versus, or you can pay for an online pass for $30 and watch on their site. If you find a place, please share.
 
eternlgladiator said:
He's a great rider but I'm embarrassed he's American. He could win with a little class and act a tad more humbly.
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Peter Sagan isn't American. He's from Slovakia. And his stage winning celebrations don't bother me; it's not like he's thumbing his nose at those behind him. Let him have a little fun. And he's certainly not the first stage winner to celebrate as he crosses the line. As for being humble, that's the last thing I expect from a sprinter.
 
eternlgladiator said:
... his refusal to help fabian cancellara stay ahead in stage one..... If I were riding along side him he'd get more than a gentle tap to stay the f away from me.
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Sorry but he had no obligation what so ever to help fab - and your little tap quote leads me to believe you are just a cav fan who just happens to be one of the more arrogant sprinters of late (which seems to be the norm for sprinters). Sagan's finishes are just the exuberance of a kid winning a stage in the tdf. No worse then any of the others (the binky, bow an arrow, gun slinger, etc.) have done.
 
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djjclark said:
Sorry but he had no obligation what so ever to help fab - and your little tap quote leads me to believe you are just a cad fan who just happens to be one of the more arrogant sprinters of late (which seems to be the norm for sprinters). Sagan's finishes are just the exuberance of a kid winning a stage in the tdf. No worse then any of the others (the binky, bow an arrow, gun slinger, etc.) have done.
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Sucking wheel to win a stage when you know the guy helping you only wants time is a poor move from a sportsmanship standpoint. They could have obliterated the field by working together and Fabian would have happily given him the victory in exchange for ten or fifteen seconds added to his advantage. The fact that he didn't see or understand this speaks volumes about his selfishness and lack sportsmanship.

I'm far from a Cav fan, which I'm guessing spell check fixed in your post, but at least he wins respectfully and with dignity. Though this year it appears he traded a paycheck from team sky for the wins. He's not going to get them like he used to on HTC, which lost its sponsor, but he may get another one or two.
 
eternlgladiator said:
Sucking wheel to win a stage when you know the guy helping you only wants time is a poor move from a sportsmanship standpoint. They could have obliterated the field by working together and Fabian would have happily given him the victory in exchange for ten or fifteen seconds added to his advantage. The fact that he didn't see or understand this speaks volumes about his selfishness and lack sportsmanship.

I'm far from a Cav fan, which I'm guessing spell check fixed in your post, but at least he wins respectfully and with dignity. Though this year it appears he traded a paycheck from team sky for the wins. He's not going to get them like he used to on HTC, which lost its sponsor, but he may get another one or two.
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I've watched to many stage finishes to think that you can count on anyone giving up the win.

Cavendish has used his shoulders many a time to get a free line and was not all that concerned about using Renshaws head butt to clear him a path in 2010 to win a stage. This years sprints are all going to be about the individual as only one or two teams have any kind of train, which is going to make for some exciting finishes. Haven't heard much that Cav went for the money versus his former team mates thinking they deserved a shot at the sprint finish combined with the sponsorship folding. But the only way cav, sagan, renshaw are going to get a sprint win is by sucking on some other teams wheel so if it is ok on the sprints it is okay on the other finishes.
 
djjclark said:
I've watched to many stage finishes to think that you can count on anyone giving up the win.

Cavendish has used his shoulders many a time to get a free line and was not all that concerned about using Renshaws head butt to clear him a path in 2010 to win a stage. This years sprints are all going to be about the individual as only one or two teams have any kind of train, which is going to make for some exciting finishes. Haven't heard much that Cav went for the money versus his former team mates thinking they deserved a shot at the sprint finish combined with the sponsorship folding. But the only way cav, sagan, renshaw are going to get a sprint win is by sucking on some other teams wheel so if it is ok on the sprints it is okay on the other finishes.
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If Sagan had sucked onto Cav, Gilbert, Renshaw, Goss, Greipel, Etc on day two it would have been no big deal but he knew Fabian was only after time.

Cav could have easily gone to a team that was put together like HTC was in the past that's only focus was the green jersey and stage wins but instead he went to a team that he had to know was going to be after yellow, the team yellow, and not setting him up for his speciality. He took a paycheck to ride on a better funded team with arguably better "team" riders in Bradley Wiggins, Edvald Boasson Hagen, Bernhard Eisel, Chris Froome, Christian Knees, Richie Porte, Michael Rogers and Kanstantsin Siutsou.
 
i have become disillusioned with cycling, which used to be one of my favorites sports, because of the rampant doping.
since the times of indurain (who i like to pretend to myself was not doping) in the early 90s, every single tour winner was a doper, except (maybe) Sastre in 2008 and Evans last year: Riis, ullrich, pantani, armstrong, floyd, contador
 
Don't panic said:
i have become disillusioned with cycling, which used to be one of my favorites sports, because of the rampant doping.
since the times of indurain (who i like to pretend to myself was not doping) in the early 90s, every single tour winner was a doper, except (maybe) Sastre in 2008 and Evans last year: Riis, ullrich, pantani, armstrong, floyd, contador
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I like to pretend I'm a bit naive on this topic. While I think its gone down significantly in the post Lance years I still believe there are guys doing it and while I don't know specifically who it seems like there's no way they've completely gotten rid of it. I think things are better than they were in the mid 90's to early 2000's. I doubt it'll ever go away entirely since theoretically the drugs/tech for enhancement are ahead of the development of the drugs/tech designed to detect them. Let's face it though. These guys are doing things on their bicycles that most, and when I say most I mean 95% plus, of the worlds population could ever hope to accomplish. While I don't doubt that doping or other enhancements can have dramatic effects we're still talking about small differences. Even clean these guys could ride circles around almost anybody. IMO the drugs are like going from riding a road bike to time trial bike in an individual effort. The road bike isn't going to hold you back but the time trial bike will give you that mental, aerodynamic, and possibly mechanical advantage that the road bike didn't.
 
eternlgladiator said:
These guys are doing things on their bicycles that most, and when I say most I mean 95% plus, of the worlds population could ever hope to accomplish.
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I'd wager it's closer to 99.99999999%.

Anyways, in regards to today's stage, specifically the big crash with 25km to go, I am really quite disappointed that the peleton kept racing and did not slow down to give those involved in the crash an opportunity to catch up. Where's the respect?
 
dejo said:
I'd wager it's closer to 99.99999999%.

Anyways, in regards to today's stage, specifically the big crash with 25km to go, I am really quite disappointed that the peleton kept racing and did not slow down to give those involved in the crash an opportunity to catch up. Where's the respect?
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I haven't seen it yet so I'll have to withhold my comment on it for now but you're right. It probably is 99.9999999%
 
Don't panic said:
i have become disillusioned with cycling, which used to be one of my favorites sports, because of the rampant doping.
since the times of indurain (who i like to pretend to myself was not doping) in the early 90s, every single tour winner was a doper, except (maybe) Sastre in 2008 and Evans last year: Riis, ullrich, pantani, armstrong, floyd, contador
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Unless you are actually racing yourself, why do you need to be disillusioned with it as a sport? Just ignore the pro-teams and what they are doing and enjoy it yourself - jumping on the bike is lots of fun and a great stress release.

What some pro-rider does at the professional level won't change that.

I must admit, I'm loving the Tour coverage we get in Australia on TV, even though it is late at night.
 
oh i still enjoy cycling myself, i just don't like to follow and watch the tour and other professional events anymore. I used to love that and now I don't care that much anymore.
And i totally agree in how impressive these athletes are (drugs or not), having been lucky enough to test on my legs some of the classic climbs in the french and italian alps (including the Mortirolo climb), i can confirm that what they do is nothing short of amazing (and the downhill insane).
 
dejo said:
I'd wager it's closer to 99.99999999%.

Anyways, in regards to today's stage, specifically the big crash with 25km to go, I am really quite disappointed that the peleton kept racing and did not slow down to give those involved in the crash an opportunity to catch up. Where's the respect?
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Well I watched the race yesterday and saw the crash you're talking about it. It's amazing that for as many cameras as they use we don't see every crash take place. My thinking for them not waiting is two reasons. First, I can't be sure but usually when these happen they neutralize for a short bit but given the size of the crash they could only do so for so long and I'm sure team managers got on the radio and said no more. Second, they were on pace to pull the peloton back on to the cp breakaway and no crash will stop them from trying to catch the breakaway.

As for todays stage. I was very impressed with how well Fabian did. If Wiggins and Cadel hadn't ridden such awesome TT's in the Dauphine I'd say that he has a real shot at taking it back. We'll see how he fares tomorrow first though. If there's anything predictable about the tour its that nothing is predictable. Props to Froome for winning today ahead of Cadel and Wiggins. Heck of an effort over great riders.
 
That was a great stage going into Switzerland. :)

Well done to the FdJ for the stage win.

Cadel Evans is looking ominous - seems to be floating around the front of the field and staying there...
 
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