Tour De France

[Mo-Nercy]

I'm in the habit of making threads about sports no one else likes and this is no exception, I'm sure!

Anyone else following le tour this year? Thoughts about it so far?

I think Andy Schleck is a good bet for the overall win. Heading into the Pyrenees, I think he might get a good break on Contador and stretch out his lead far enough to keep him in the yellow jersey till Paris. I'm pretty disappointed in Cadel Evans too. I thought with guys like Hincapie and Ballan backing him, he'd have a much better chance of winning compared to previous years.

[Bunny]

My girlfriend's father's sister's husband (uncle-in-law?) is obsessed with cycling. I honestly do not see the excitement in it.

[charliepanayi]

I know nothing about cycling but I find the Tour de France oddly fascinating. I think Contador will bag his third victory this year, and I'm kind of glad Cadel Evans blew it again, every time I see him being interviewed etc he seems to come across as one of the rudest sportsmen I've ever seen!

A lot of excitement and drama so far this year which has been good - and I loved the punch-up between two peloton riders after one stage! :)

[Mo-Nercy]

Evans speaks pretty honestly about himself. I don't think he's a very modest person by nature. It comes across as really arrogant, but only a few years ago, the Tour was his. No Contador, Armstrong or Schlecks. And the average climbing ability of the main field was probably a bit slower too. I think this year was his last big chance, and he blew it. There's just too many in the field now that have the combination of time trialing and climbing ability that used to be a pretty rare thing.

Cycling's exciting to me because it's more than just a point-to-point race. The green jersey (for sprinters) fight also serves as good watching in between the more hilly stages. And I really like the teamwork aspect of it. The vast majority of the participants aren't actually in the race to try and win anything for themselves, but to support the one or two guys in the team who have a shot at winning jersey. Breakaways from the peloton are always interesting to watch too. You want them to survive and not get caught because they're the underdogs and working the hardest.

And the Phil Liggett - Paul Sherwen commentary team-up is one the best of any sport, anywhere in the world.

[charliepanayi]

I always feel sorry for the breakaways when they can't keep ahead and are swallowed by the peloton :( - it's fun seeing someone make the break and have their day by claiming the stage.

[Mo-Nercy]

Double stage winner and previous green jersey wearer Alessandro Petacchi is being investigated for substance abuse. This saddens me =[. The culture of performance enhancing drugs in the sport of cycling is the worst part about it. I hope for his sake that the allegations are false because he's been in great form this year.

Contador's nabbed the yellow from Schleck the day before yesterday, but only because Schleck suffered a mechanical failure. Schleck said that Contador should've honoured racing etiquette and not made an attack, but I disagree. If an F1 car suffers from a mechanical problem, the other drivers aren't expected to hang around to wait for it to get fixed. It's your problem and you deal with it. I still think Andy Schleck is a good chance of winning the Tour. There's a few flat stages left where his Saxobank team can build an advantage over Contador's Astana team. Any team with Jens Voight in it is going to be incredibly strong when setting the pace over flat stages.

[Breine]

Every summer Tour De France is all over the media and TV here. If you don't like it, it can be a pain in the ass since one of our major channels doesn't show anything else but Tour De France throughout the day.

I personally don't watch it, but have nothing against it.

[charliepanayi]

Yeah that Contador-Schleck business seemed a bit confusing. You could argue that Schleck's delay was his own fault in the first place so Contador was under no obligation to stop for him (in contrast to say if Schleck had crashed into a spectator by accident or something).

Decisive stage (probably) tomorrow!

[leftay]

I love watching Le Tour de France !^^ One of my favorite things about it is the scenery O_O sunflower fields, those big hay roll things, and the Pyrénées. I also like how they use newspapers for insulation in the mountains xD
I'm placing my bets on Andy Schleck to win first..Contador is good and all but I don't really like him >.<. I'm glad Schleck is only 8 seconds behind Contador in the GC though! hehe I can't wait for him to get his revenge:plotting::radred: However, I don't think Schleck should be angry with him cuz like Contador wants to win too, he's not gonna stop for you if your bike is broke. At least Contador apologized! IMO, it was a team failure for Saxo Bank because no one was with Andy when his chain came out :/ they could've switched bikes or something :sweatdrop
I was really impressed with Lance Armstrong's performance in the latest stage! Too bad he wasn't able to win the stage though :(

[Mo-Nercy]

Looks like Contadors got it well and truly won. The ride into Paris is a procession and usually just a formality, so I say there Tour's over for Schleck. It was a very entertaining Tour though, even though the favourite won. Those first few stages were a particular highlight and the green jersey battle was fantastic.