Tour de France

[ScallyWag II]

Honchar really should learn to climb because he sure as hell can time trial.

Tip for aspiring American cyclists; get a career and possibly life-threatening injury or medical condition and you will be almost guaranteed to win the TdF. LeMond's gun shot wounds, Armstrong's testicular cancer, and now Landis' three-year old dodgy hip. I tip Stephen Hawking to win next year (he's got an American accent).

Ohhh you cynic!! lemond would have probably won le tour if he hadn't been shot before 1989, he almost did it in 86. armstrong...true...his illness changed his physique, and probably his physche (sp?)...state of mind...

anyway i reckon Landis deserves the win overall...most exciting tdf in ages

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

without wishing to take anything away from landis' achievement , the other teams fucked it up. if the CEI and CSC bosses had started the chase earlier, landis wiouldn't have got so much tiome

he's going to win overall but i was rather hoping it would be someone else

Nobody gave Landis a prayer - and lets face it, in terms of precedent what he did on thursday had only been done twice before in 103 years. Riis and co expected him to blow up - plus the top teams were reluctant to work together as each had a vested interest in their protecting their GC man.

I can't think of a more deserving winner than Landis. On Thursday he generated more excitement in one stage the entire combined careers of Indurain and Armstrong. He aint no cycling automaton, he's a proper hilbilly dude with one leg 2cm longer than the other and a seriously weird and cool TT position straight out of the Graeme Obree school.

 

[Fuzzy]

its building up to a cracking finish. i love watching the last stage of the tour.

 

[grimble]

Shame Bradley Wiggins had to chase down the break and couldn't go for it with 2km to go as he'd planned. Still good final stage - poor tactics by McEwan though (costing me Fantasy TdF points)?

Great Tour overall - they should take out the favourites the day before the race EVERY year in future.

Cavaet: still the 3rd fastest TdF in history, so don't start believing this was a "clean" tour!

 

[Fuzzy]

it was a really exciting final stage. i've really enjoyed the tour this year. may not have been the cleanest but still exciting probably because unlike the last 7 the winner has been determined after about stage 9. i'm looking forward to it starting in london next year.

 

[stavros]

Speaking of Graeme Obree, anyone know why he never saught to do a Boardman/Wiggins and transfer from the track to the stage races?

That was a great final stage, with some absolutely wonderful camera shots. Congrats to the French for organising all that. McEwan really missed having most of the other sprinters in front of him, especially Boonen who essentially led him out in the first week. Hushovd really and truly McEwaned McEwan, getting on his biggest rival's wheel and then jumping him. Shame Boonen and Petachi weren't there and it could've been a proper free-for-all.

PS. What the hell is McEwan thinking, naming his son Ewan?

 

[Sigmund Fraud]

Speaking of Graeme Obree, anyone know why he never saught to do a Boardman/Wiggins and transfer from the track to the stage races?

He did. He was signed for the 1995/6 season by French outfit Le Groupment to join Robert Millar in his last year. Millar phoned up Obree and said the team doctor wanted an upfront payment of £12,000 for "medical backup". Obree questioned this which annoyed the team: then Obree's brother died and he understandably never made it to the pre season training camp - and was promptly sacked. Before the season was over Le Groupment went bust and the team owner was imprisoned, so Graeme didn't miss much by staying away....but word had got round that Obree was meticulously clean and so was never again invited to join 'the club' ie dope.

 

[ScallyWag II]

He did. He was signed for the 1995/6 season by French outfit Le Groupment to join Robert Millar in his last year. Millar phoned up Obree and said the team doctor wanted an upfront payment of £12,000 for "medical backup". Obree questioned this which annoyed the team: then Obree's brother died and he understandably never made it to the pre season training camp - and was promptly sacked. Before the season was over Le Groupment went bust and the team owner was imprisoned, so Graeme didn't miss much by staying away....but word had got round that Obree was meticulously clean and so was never again invited to join 'the club' ie dope.

is that why he never turned up? i knew le groupment failed but i didn't know the owner was imprisoned...blimey...more credit to graeme then. the only time i saw him live was in the worlds TT in catania in scilily...he cooked and boardman won, he wasn't using his washing machine bike though, a true maverick!

 

[twistedAM]

Great Tour overall - they should take out the favourites the day before the race EVERY year in future.

Yeah The Delgado and Armstrong years made it dull going. Most exciting tour I can remember since Roche and the Lemond vs Fignon ones.

 

[Flashman]

Yeah The Delgado and Armstrong years made it dull going. Most exciting tour I can remember since Roche and the Lemond vs Fignon ones.

Delgado years? Perico only won in '88. You mean Indurain surely.

I agree in a way, good to see an open Tour for a change, but I do enjoy watching the greats and their eras too.

All my heroes (Pedro, Jan and Marco) have a cloud over their heads; it is my wont to follow or identify with the fallible men, it seems

*shrugs*

 

[twistedAM]

Delgado years? Perico only won in '88. You mean Indurain surely.

I agree in a way, good to see an open Tour for a change, but I do enjoy watching the greats and their eras too.

All my heroes (Pedro, Jan and Marco) have a cloud over their heads; it is my wont to follow or identify with the fallible men, it seems

*shrugs*

doh I did mean Big Mig (it was a late, late post and my brain was obviously clouded)

I think there's a wider point at play here and that is that until Lemond, Armstrong and NIKE started to get into the sport the Tour didn't have quite the significance that it does now.
Twenty years ago it was still the blue riband event and all that but nowadays it seems to be the be all and end all of the sport. For instance say someone won ALL the classics, the Giro, Vuelta and the World Championships at both TT and RR they'd still reap less mainstream media coverage than the guy that won Le Tour that year.
I don't think that's a good thing for the sport that one event is so dominant. It's not like soccer where the rules are always the same in each tournament but 3 week tours are just one discipline of cycling.

Hope you catch the gist of what I'm trying to say (gotta return to work pronto) but it's been worrying me for a while.

 

[stavros]

Graeme Obree and his washing machine bike is one of the great sporting stories.

Sigh, ah well, I now have to wait until July next year until I get to see road cycling again on the telly. It's so sad because I truly love watching it.

 

[Flashman]

We shall have to organise an Urban Le Tour meet-up come next year, what with it starting in that London and all.

Innit.

 

[guinnessdrinker]

We shall have to organise an Urban Le Tour meet-up come next year, what with it starting in that London and all.

Innit.

le tour de bermondsey, yipee!

 

[twistedAM]

We shall have to organise an Urban Le Tour meet-up come next year, what with it starting in that London and all.

Innit.

yep good idea

 

[g force]

Definitely up for that!

 

[The Boy]

Graeme Obree and his washing machine bike is one of the great sporting stories.

The opening film of the Edinburgh Film Festival is a documentary about Obree - and, I believe, his famous bycicle. It's called The Flying Scotsman.