The Official 2014 Tour de France Thread [SPOILERS!]
Sorry that we're a few days late starting this thread but..
What do you think?!
Park all Tour Talk here and this thread is sure to contain spoilers, so open at your own risk!
Me:
- Fookin' HUGE crowds on the UK stages! Unlike anything I've ever seen.
- Seems like every single spectator on the UK courses had a smartphone and was more interested in taking pics and video vs watching the race.
- I'd love to see Jens and Voekler in a breakaway together.
- Today's stage in the cobblestones will be epic! DVR is humming and I'm saving it for tonight.
Must. Avoid. All. Social. Media
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Today, I'd like to see Sagan and Cancallara fight it out for the stage.
It made Roubaix look like a walk in the park.
Just finished watching while processing some videos, etc.
Ho
Lee
SHIT!
Crazy stuff
Epic, tragic (for one guy, anyway), and, most amazing, in those conditions, over those roads, they went 98 miles in THREE HOURS 18 MINUTES!!! That's 29 mph. How is that even possible? I hope my boys the Shark and Pedro still have matches left for the next two weeks.
Rider of the day IMO was Liewe Westra. I have the mobile app which shows the race from the initial depart. While sitting on his bike airing for the start, he had a deer in the headlights look. He must have know exactly what he was expected to do (Go out on the breakaway, and then, in the last hour, pull his leader home over cobbles and in the rain ahead of all the other contenders) , and darned if he didn't do it. He gets today's "Jensie" award.
happy for Nibali.
happy for Boom. I just joined the Belkin fan club and got my jersey in the mail yesterday. Belkin is leaving but hopefully the Dutch team will continue.
Observations:
How about Contador? Looking much better than last year. Losing Froome I think will actually make this Tour soooo much more interesting. I am sorry that he is out though. And, how about Richie Port? Imagine if he won and Sky now has Wiggo, Froomie and Richie? Wow.
The highlight for me was when Horner sat down with Bob and Christian in the booth. It was really interesting when he was talking about his power files. He said that even though his standings weren't good, his power numbers were. 400 watts and not being able to hang with the leaders. That's crazy! The other interesting thing was the weather. He said you don't sweat in the cold, so they actually gaining weight on stages!
Tomorrow should be good!
Viva Le Tour!
If you haven't already, I recommended downloading the Tour CyclingNews app. It shows you the TrainingPeaks power file for a different rider every day. Unbelievable what these guys do with their legs.
Also, I am eager to see if Nibali is back in yellow anytime soon.....
This didn't just happen with Contador!!! whats going on this year with the favorites??
His leg was tore up though, just gushing blood.
A frame snapped to make him crash?!? that's insane!
Later in today's coverage, PnP said that Contador said that he hit something in the road, then crashed, then frame broke. IOW, wasn't frame explosion then crash
Turns out, it was FOOD that was AC's undoing!
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nutritional-bar-proved-contadors-undoing-114818482--spt.html
Nibali has looked like a winner since day 1. He's has had a great progression over the past four years through the grand tours, learning from each one, and now knows how to use his team, pace himself day to day, and when to spend his matches. He is a complete bike rider - classics like San Remo, his great day on the cobbles, amazing downhill skills, has taught himself to be a world class time trialist, and always a great climber. Class of the field, with or without Froome/Contador.
Tejay seems to be on the same trajectory. Today, he took another step forward in his grand tour education. He has learned the day-to-day pacing thing, and when to step on the gas at the end of an uphill finish. He has Bardet on the ropes - Romain looked depleted at the end of the stage, and that was after struggling to stay on Van Garderen's wheel the last 15 minutes. I doubt he will will recover for the bigger day tomorrow. Now, just Pinot stands in the way of the podium in Paris, and if he loses no more time to him, Tejay should make it back in the final TT.
I'll be tuning in early tomorrow morning to see if I'm right.
Yup. I didn't watch the post-race jazz today. What place is he in now?
IIRC, he had a similar post-rest day issue last year. Maybe he needs a better plan for that day off? And a better team - Woulda been nice if he had the kind of help that Movistar, Ag2R, and FDJ were able to provide to Valverde and the French guys. OTOH, having no one around doesn't seem to phase Nibali, does it?
Tejay is beginning to look like the second coming of Levi Leipheimer - great at the one week US stage races, not up to the Premier League in Europe.
Like seeing Tommy Voekler in the breakaway with his histrionics (tongue out, shaking his head as if to tell the audience watching from the camera behind him that he couldn't close down to Rogers) and enjoyed seeing Rogers outsmart the Europcar guys. Oh, and...the youger Europcar guy, #154, was doing a lil tongue action too, like he's picking up the TV Tell. :-)