2015 Tour de France Thread

Oh my G-d! It's one thing when the riders neutralize the race when the leader "not a f-ing early stage jersey warmer" goes down. This is horse shit!

I like Spartacus, but no one thinks for a second that he's a GC contender.
No Points for the first climb!!!!


The first rule of stage racing..... Stay In the Front of the peloton! Nothing they say will ever make this stoppage ok (to me).

They didn't do this when the official car with the French TV Exec ran the break away off the road and into the barbed wire. They didn't do it when Vino broke his Femor and they didn't do it when LTD face planted and bashed his face in..... Aaaaaahhhhh!!!!!!

I've been soooooo careful not to see anything about the race so I could watch these climbs.... Son of a b*%#$!

Going to finish the recording now... Don't tell me nut'n. 🙂
 
FYI, this thread is a sure to be a spoiler at some point so don't read unless you watched. Watching after 5 is like 6 internets late.

Besides, they stopped the race because of insufficient medical staff, which apparently is the norm in some other sports. The issue is that they have not done this before, so it was new to everyone.
 
Spoiler alert
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Fabs is out. He broke a coupla ribs. Chapeau for the effort.
As for the delay, looks like the initial reaction, which I was party to as well, was incorrect. It wasn't about Fabs. They were out of ambulances. If anyone had gone down, they'd've just lain there being thin and bleedy for a while before someone covered them with a blanket. There are two judges in the cars on the route and they made the call after the doctors and ambulance attendants informed them that all four were fully engaged in detangling the bikes from the collarbones.
And as much of a bummer as it was, it seems like the right decision. For clarification, note the unmarked green bollards protruding into the road as the the peleton was neutral'd behind Prudhomme's car. That's exactly what took out Peter Stetina at Pais Vasco earlier this year. If Sky'd been allowed to push, someone might've nailed one of those things, and with no doctors around...
 
They don't have helicopters in Belgium? How about sending an ambulance ten miles down the road and fall in after the leaders pass. Literally dozens of things could have been done to not screw the whole tone of the race. They nutralize lap races because the carnage is a active hazard to the racers, not point to point races. No sale on the official explanation.

Mur de Huy did not disappoint! Congrats to JR on a great stage win.

Unfortunately, because of the time bonus, Martin gets screwed again. Oh joy! "Jack, Jack the pumpkin king"
A.K.A "Skeletor" gets the Yellow!

Contador doesn't have the power this year to take Froome on the steap... I think he'll fair better on a longer more gradual climb. No matter, cobbles tomorrow.

Two man race now tomorrow, Boome and Sagan. I like Sagan, but my gut says Boome, he's had too much experience, he'll ride smarter. Not going to look too good for the UCI and the MPCC if Boome wins.... But what's another black eye at this point? 😉

Unless.... Boome went down in the pile up. Does anyone know? They never did show the second crash.
 
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Hmm... Now that I'm thinking 'bout it, Degenkolb for the day. He's just so damned good! And Gaudin'll be up there too, if he and Van Summeren aren't on Peraud duty.
 
seanrunnette said:
Remember when Cancellara neutralized a stage with the power of his mind in 2010? The tour has always been prone to weirdness. Protesting farmers, tacks on the road, Passage du Gois, busses getting stuck under finishing lines... Cance doesn't rate a stop and the TDF ain't a crit. This was a weird but well-intentioned call. C'est Le Tour.

Stybar for tomorrow, and Quintana makes up the minute he lost in the wind. (Remember, he did E3 and Dwars.)
Click to expand...


Stybar!?!?! Isn't he still looking for his teeth? Would be cool if he could pull it off. Quintana on the other hand hasn't shown me anything yet this tour.
 
Movistar's a mess. Quintana's got a mini Contador/Armstrong thing on his hands. Valverde still thinks he can win this thing. Also, Quintana's not quite the tactical racer the other three of the four horsemen are. I'm writing yesterday's time loss off to nerves, the fact that half his guys didn't know they were riding the TDF til last week, and Quintana's thing about training away from the team, making it tough to motivate the domestiques to greatness. Or even giving a crap.
Stybar, Sep Van Mark, Boom (although he's got low cortisol, poor guy)... It's gonna be a hero stage.
Or there'll be another Uber protest and the stage'll be decided by a bike toss. In that case Millar for the win.
 
stb222 said:
Why Quintana for tomorrow? Did you watch any of the classics?
Click to expand...

He doesn't look physically right. I expect his woes to compound on this stage despite dabling in classics.


But that's what makes the tour great. You never know who on any given day will have the ride of a lifetime.
 
Juggernaut said:
He doesn't look physically right. I expect his woes to compound on this stage despite dabling in classics.


But that's what makes the tour great. You never know who on any given day will have the ride of a lifetime.
Click to expand...
I would be shocked if it was him. From what we have seen, he can't handle a bike for shit.
 
seanrunnette said:
Spoiler alert
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-
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Fabs is out. He broke a coupla ribs. Chapeau for the effort.
As for the delay, looks like the initial reaction, which I was party to as well, was incorrect. It wasn't about Fabs. They were out of ambulances. If anyone had gone down, they'd've just lain there being thin and bleedy for a while before someone covered them with a blanket. There are two judges in the cars on the route and they made the call after the doctors and ambulance attendants informed them that all four were fully engaged in detangling the bikes from the collarbones.
And as much of a bummer as it was, it seems like the right decision. For clarification, note the unmarked green bollards protruding into the road as the the peleton was neutral'd behind Prudhomme's car. That's exactly what took out Peter Stetina at Pais Vasco earlier this year. If Sky'd been allowed to push, someone might've nailed one of those things, and with no doctors around...
Click to expand...

Damn...thanks for the updates.
 
Kristoff's a good choice, too. I think Quintana's gonna surprise. Not win surprise, but ride really well surprise. He can't handle a TT bike, no, but he wasn't a tourist in those two smaller classics, and remember last year's Giro downhill in the snow? (Another "neutralized" stage.) He ripped it in half. Sticking with Degs for the win tomorrow.
BTW, did you read JR's interview following his win?
 
In an alternate universe, Etixx will get it together for Tony Martin and put him into yellow.
In the real world, they will screw this up, Degs will win and LeFevre will have another post race meltdown. At least THAT is consistent.
So stoked for tomorrow!
 
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