2015 Tour de France Thread

clarkenstein said:
after watching clean spirit i am bummed that kittel is out. and i might be rooting against cavendish even though the guy is an animal. i think i could pull for quintana, but i think i'm just gonna have to watch and hopefully a natural favorite will pop out. but i can't get behind contador. its like being a fan of A-Rod to me.
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Cavendish deserved what he got last year.
 
clarkenstein said:
after watching clean spirit i am bummed that kittel is out. and i might be rooting against cavendish even though the guy is an animal. i think i could pull for quintana, but i think i'm just gonna have to watch and hopefully a natural favorite will pop out. but i can't get behind contador. its like being a fan of A-Rod to me.
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This is how I feel about Cavendish. Why do I not feel this way about Contador? I don't know. I think it's because Contador left by himself is still a GD animal. Cav has always relied on a lot of really damn fine lead-out men. Not that this should take away from his talent, because for sure he has talent. It is a bummer to see Kittel out, same reason you cite. Movie was good and he's easy to like. Cav is kinda easy to dislike when you hear him speak.

Having said that, Greippel (sp) is less likable to me. I guess I can root for Carl Sagan to win the sprints.

I miss Thor.
 
I was flipping through channels this morning and the Lance Armstrong movie was on hbo or one of those. They were showing clips from the 1999 TdF - I was surprised to see these guys riding without helmets! He wore a weird aero one for that first stage (TT?) but after that just a cap. When did they go to helmets all the time?
 
Norm said:
This is how I feel about Cavendish. Why do I not feel this way about Contador? I don't know. I think it's because Contador left by himself is still a GD animal. Cav has always relied on a lot of really damn fine lead-out men. Not that this should take away from his talent, because for sure he has talent. It is a bummer to see Kittel out, same reason you cite. Movie was good and he's easy to like. Cav is kinda easy to dislike when you hear him speak.

Having said that, Greippel (sp) is less likable to me. I guess I can root for Carl Sagan to win the sprints.

I miss Thor.
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Sagan isn't a pure sprinter but is always there, hence why he has won the green jersey the last 3 years. The point system has changed to try and make Sagan not win it again as it favors the winner of sprint stages more than 2 and 3 place. Sagan is hard to be in super technical finishes though.

Cavendish had much success due to a well oiled sprint train at High Road. But he is also a excellent surfer of other lead outs, probably the best in the business in terms of that and is why he won when he had no sprint train when he was on Team Sky. Also consider that he has no formal training plan or a coach, it makes it even more amazing.
 
rick81721 said:
I was flipping through channels this morning and the Lance Armstrong movie was on hbo or one of those. They were showing clips from the 1999 TdF - I was surprised to see these guys riding without helmets! He wore a weird aero one for that first stage (TT?) but after that just a cap. When did they go to helmets all the time?
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mid 90's. First started with helmets on everything but climbing stages.
 
stb222 said:
mid 90's. First started with helmets on everything but climbing stages.
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Yeah it was the climbing stages they were showing with no helmets. Interesting how they were saying Armstrong was going up the mountains without even showing any pain and attributed to doping - does it really make that much of a difference?
 
Norm said:
But while we're here, drop the helmet and bring back cigarettes. And the booze hand-ups.
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They look too relaxed.
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rick81721 said:
Yeah it was the climbing stages they were showing with no helmets. Interesting how they were saying Armstrong was going up the mountains without even showing any pain and attributed to doping - does it really make that much of a difference?
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Extra oxygen in your blood. Says something when you climb mountains with your mouth closed the whole time. I am not sure he wasn't in pain, he just hid it better than others.
 
Is that Bard in the second row all the way over on the right?

I like Sagan's voice/accent, so I'm rooting for him in the sprints. Sounds like a robot with a dying battery pack.
 
Norm said:
Did you watch Clean Spirit? The reality would seem to be that the riders understand almost nothing told to them. Also the fact that a team can have 7 different native languages makes it a moot point.

But while we're here, drop the helmet and bring back cigarettes. And the booze hand-ups.
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They don't know anything anymore because now they always have the team director in their ear telling them what to do and what the gaps are. Back in the day, outside of the director driving up beside the riders and yelling at them, the riders had to be able to read the race to figure out what was going on.
 
Roadie said:
They don't know anything anymore because now they always have the team director in their ear telling them what to do and what the gaps are. Back in the day, outside of the director driving up beside the riders and yelling at them, the riders had to be able to read the race to figure out what was going on.
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I meant specifically in the stage 2 years ago when that bus got stuck at the finish line. The director was yelling at them that it had moved up 3km. Then it moved back. At the end the riders were all like, "Huh? What are you talking about the finish moved?"

I think they ignore everything they hear maybe.
 
Norm said:
I meant specifically in the stage 2 years ago when that bus got stuck at the finish line. The director was yelling at them that it had moved up 3km. Then it moved back. At the end the riders were all like, "Huh? What are you talking about the finish moved?"

I think they ignore everything they hear maybe.
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I was thinking more of race tactics. Now all the riders know when someone is attacking or who is trying to bridge to the break, etc. I think it takes away a lot of excitement from the race.

I think my favorite Tour rider over the past few years has been Thomas Voeckler. Nothing better than watching him mashing a huge gear up the climbs trying to steal a stage win.
 
Quintana for me!!! I missed home last year. I'm not too informed of his team or the people around him . I hope they can get home there
 
Roadie said:
I think my favorite Tour rider over the past few years has been Thomas Voeckler. Nothing better than watching him mashing a huge gear up the climbs trying to steal a stage win.
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I fucking love that guy!!!! His out of the saddle work is one of inspiration!!!
 
The Kalmyk said:
Quintana for me!!! I missed home last year. I'm not too informed of his team or the people around him . I hope they can get home there
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Valverde is still on Movistar, so it could cause issues for Quintana if Valverde tries to pull a froome. Thomas V is a joke, sure he attacks and is animated, but stop with the stupid faces already.
 
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