Le Tour de France

Anyone here following the Tour de France?
I've never seen a more interesting one, and I swear: if I hear one more American "reporter" say that "Lance is the best cyclist ever... bar none", I'm going to have to fire up a spreadsheet and make some comparisons...

Anyways: if team Discovery keeps performing like it did the last couple of days, Lance is going to have to do it all by himself, and he doesn't like that... a weak team with a great leader, versus an extremely strong team with a leader who hasn't shown it yet (T-Mobile with Ulrich). Ahhh... how much better can it get? :D

Tour is indeed doing great this year. Rabo(bank) team is doing very nice this year and well yesterday a dutch guy grabbed the ettape so YAY.

I've been watching it on and off. Some spectacular crashes. I am looking forward to next year's since Lance won't be in it and we might actually have a race where no one has a clue who will win, thus making it rather exciting for a change. If Lance actually has to work this time and really earn his yellow, then it might be a more challenging race...

Hi Neg,

Well you asked...

http://www.torelli.com/raceinfo/tdf/tdfindex.shtml
Tour de France

link above :D

seems Belguim has won a few times...your Eddy Merckx came close with five...but I think Lance ( at six times ) has the most and the most in a row.

Eg ;)

No Canadians....pity! :p We generally do better at colder weather sports...summers too short a training season...now..if we were talking snowmobiles...or, better yet, a Tour de Canada in February on the Trans Canada Highway...Lance wouldn't stand a chance...those bone-chilling prairie winds would have him begging for mercy!

Eg > Eddy Merckx spent 96 days in the yellow jersey and has won 35 stages in the Tour, far more than Armstrong ever will... if that French spectator wouldn't have assaulted him, fracturing his ribs and breaking his jaw in '75, Merckx would still be winning the Tour every year :p

On top of that, he won 445 professional races in less than a decade. Lance rarely wins more than 10 a year... 'nuff said :D

Quote:

---

seems Belguim has won a few times

---

Yes ..Tom Boonen won 2 etappes and came 2nd in a 3rd ..if it wasn't for that big crash at the end of his 4th etappe I think he would have done it again maybe not first but close...he hurt is back in that crash or was it the second one ...can't remember really :rolleyes:

The race today was als very nice to watch... If Lance indeed needs to work this time it could provide a very interesting race ... YAY :D

C.

Hi Neg,

Well..the BBC tends to agree with you...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/othe...ng/3925265.stm
BBC SPORT | Other Sport | Cycling | Great, but there are greater

and no doubt he has a better website...

http://www.eddymerckx.be/
EDDY MERCKX

Lance is the popular choice in the US because of his battle with cancer...if he wins this time he will be enshrined as a sports hero...

still say I could beat them both on a snowmobile :D

Eg ;)

Quote:

---

If Lance indeed needs to work this time it could provide a very interesting race

---

Now there's a concept. When you look at today's Tour de France, I find it doesn't have the same "awe inspiring" view compared to when they did it around the turn of the century. Given that back then it was just mano-a-mano rather than team-a-team (and the teams were centered around a specific rider rather than it being the "best of the best"). I was rather shocked to hear that teams have up to 10 support cars (only two allowed on the course at any time). These cars carry doctors, coaches, specialists, etc.

It just seems that it's no longer a battle of the best but rather who trains specifically for the event (that's what Lance does and he's overpowered his competition repeated as a result but has limited himself to a few select races).

You have to remember, no American has seen those people in sports drink commercials.

Listen to Amerika by Rammstein, you'll get it heh.

Quote:

---

Originally posted here by Egaladeist
if he wins this time he will be enshrined as a sports hero...

---

A hero? Lance was in band with me when I was in school. I still see him as the goofy class clown who played trumpet. :D

Quote:

---

if I hear one more American "reporter" say that "Lance is the best cyclist ever... bar none", I'm going to have to fire up a spreadsheet and make some comparisons...

---

Great point Neg, I’m all for real comparisons. Seems folks get wrapped up in the moment and the joy of victory for an individual, and bam, they are said to be the best ever.

Also folks tend to forget research and development, the advances in technology, better training, filming each and every training day for improvement, ADVERTISING, and money, etc. This is definitely not limited to Cycling, if we look at Golf, I hear many people saying Tiger Woods is the greatest ever. His place in history he has gained, however that generalized statement is the purest form of guano that ever flowed out of the bowels of a critter. While he learned on forgiving Cavity Backs and Graphite Shafts, the earlier legends were forced to use Straight Blades and Wooden Sticks! So who is better? Same with all sports.

They can laud the existing champs and that is appropriate. However give credit where it is due! The current winners would not be there with out the contributions of the past.

~cheers~

Hi mathgirl32,

And he's still tootin' his own horn :D

Eg ;)

Hey, Dries...your Tom Boonen is out. Het is jammer. :(

So, who do you guys want to win....not who do you think will win...but who would you love to see win the Tour?

Yes :(

But on the bright side:

Stage 2 was won by Tom, and he got the green jersey
Stage 3 was won by Tom, and he got the green jersey
Stage 4 was won by Armstrong's Discovery, and their team leader is Belgian
Stage 5 was won by McEwen, who rides for a Belgian team and has been living in Belgium for most of his adult life
Stage 7 was again won by McEwen
Stage 13 was again won by McEwen and he's got the green jersey

I'd say that the Belgians are the clear winners of this Tour :D

GO CANADA GO !!! Errrrrrrrrrr.....do we even have a team? :D

Nope... not one single Canadian in the Tour afaik :D

Hi Neg,

NO CANADIANS ! Sheeeeeeeeesh ! What's this world coming to ?! :D

an update...

http://www.startribune.com/stories/503/5510520.html
Tour de France: Armstrong boosts his lead

Eg ;)

You have to admit Lance has Ball.

:D

Quote:

---

NO CANADIANS ! Sheeeeeeeeesh ! What's this world coming to ?!

---

It's finally starting to come around is what it is ;) haha j/k, eg.

Quote:

---

You have to admit Lance has Ball.

---

LMAO! That's cold man, but yeah.. hahaha.. that completed THIS day. :D

Hi Spyder32,

They should have a Tour de Canada in the middle of January :D ...we'd win every year! :D

Eg ;)

Quote:

---

They should have a Tour de Canada in the middle of January ...we'd win every year!

---

Blah, I'd hafta disagree.. you guys don't seem to fair very well in your own sport of hockey, even during that time of year. What makes you think cycling will be different? :D

EDIT: I take that back.. [kissing ass] there's such person out there called MsMittens that would own ass.. [/kissing ass] :D

Hi Spyder32,

Ahem :D...we do just fine at hockey :p

And we would win at cycling because our bikes would be pulled by snowmobiles ( no rule against it ) :D

Eg ( insert fourth smiley here )

LOL. You'd have to have the race using single speeds since the colder weather would do a number on the brakes and gears. There is a competition that's done through the Rockies (BC to Alberta) and is quite the challenge (very muddy from what I hear). You need mountain bikes and camping gear since you camp each night (none of this fancy hotel stuff).

Best moment thus far in the tour -- dumbass getting schmucked by the camera guy. I swear how the riders tolerate these fans getting so close is beyond me. I'd be bringing one of my old goalie sticks and teaching them the concept of personal space:

http://www.velonews.com/view_full.ph...27.12006.f.jpg

http://www.velonews.com/view_full.ph...27.12005.f.jpg

Quote:

---

I'd be bringing one of my old goalie sticks and teaching them the concept of personal space:

---

That's gotta be a sight I'd pay to see. MsMittens in a riding competition clobbering the crap out of someone in her way with a goalie stick. :D

Quote:

---

Originally posted here by Spyder32
That's gotta be a sight I'd pay to see. MsMittens in a riding competition clobbering the crap out of someone in her way with a goalie stick. :D

---

ROFLMAO

Dude I would pay almost any price to see that in person.


:D

Now that's funny!

And in that Second Picture he's got his lower leg up against that engine! OUCH, bet that's gonna leave a mark!


:)