What a FUBAR tour this is turning out to be
07-09-14, 07:12 PM
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What a FUBAR tour this is turning out to be
No further comment is necessary I believe.
07-09-14, 08:24 PM
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07-09-14, 09:17 PM
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I don't even get this comment. To me, this has been one of the most exciting tours in quite sometime. Ffffff time trials.
07-09-14, 09:58 PM
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07-09-14, 10:11 PM
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I think this just made the Tour more interesting than expected. Froome, Cav, Andy are all out within the first week. Contador is over 2 minutes behind. Kittle is the new sprint star (we noticed this last year) and Sagan is 3rd in points in the GC as well as leading in the Points and Young Rider. Today's stage was incredible. Lots of crashes, which is hard on the riders, but this is professional racing. You want to ride le Tour, you have to endure everything from time trials, mountain stages, and cobbles. Suck it up and ride. I was disappointed to see Quintana not even in this year after his 2nd place last year but after his incredible Giro win, I don't think he would have had enough time to recover to perform at his best. You are going to see an interesting race this year with new names and stage winners. I look forward to the next few weeks.
07-09-14, 10:58 PM
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NBCSN must be having a stroke for the two main Anglophiles to be out of the race so early... Cavendish going out was a disappointment as he is the only guy who can even challenge Kittel in a sprint finish.... However, I think the overall could be wide open with Nibali having a good lead and having won the other two grand tours, would be an interesting story to win the TDF. Or it's possible Contador just destroys the field in the mountains and it's over by the end of the 2nd week....
And what has happened to Schleck brothers and Joaquim Rodriguez????
And what has happened to Schleck brothers and Joaquim Rodriguez????
07-10-14, 12:49 AM
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07-10-14, 01:17 AM
#9
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This is interesting. London odds makers now have Nibali a slight favorite over Contador to win the tour now.
Tour de France Betting | 2014 Tour Odds | Oddschecker
Nibali is 13/10, Contador is 7/4, Porte is 12/1
Tour de France Betting | 2014 Tour Odds | Oddschecker
Nibali is 13/10, Contador is 7/4, Porte is 12/1
07-10-14, 02:23 AM
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Yeah, this tour is insane, and lots of fun. Keeping us on our toes, certainly.
So glad that stick.figure Froome is out. What a boring rider he is. Utter utter bastard!
So glad that stick.figure Froome is out. What a boring rider he is. Utter utter bastard!
07-10-14, 02:52 AM
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Andy crashed and was forced to abandon because of a knee injury (he had a surgery yesterday or the day before).
Frank is just scared of the cobbles, I suppose. And bad weather. That's why he lost 8 minutes. Compared to Nibali he's not a very good bike handler, when conditions get dangerous he tends to crash himself out of the race and his brother crashed two days before... he probably didn't have it in him to take the risks.
As for Purito Rodriguez - he prepared for the Giro and he's only here because of the early crash there. So there's no way he's 100%, he's here more in hope of stage hunting and preparing for the Vuelta.
(By the way, imagine how great this Vuelta could be. Contador said many times he'll be there. Froome might decide to take his revenge. Quintana will be there. And Rodriguez too.)
Frank is just scared of the cobbles, I suppose. And bad weather. That's why he lost 8 minutes. Compared to Nibali he's not a very good bike handler, when conditions get dangerous he tends to crash himself out of the race and his brother crashed two days before... he probably didn't have it in him to take the risks.
As for Purito Rodriguez - he prepared for the Giro and he's only here because of the early crash there. So there's no way he's 100%, he's here more in hope of stage hunting and preparing for the Vuelta.
(By the way, imagine how great this Vuelta could be. Contador said many times he'll be there. Froome might decide to take his revenge. Quintana will be there. And Rodriguez too.)
07-10-14, 08:36 AM
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Definitely not beyond all reason; also not beyond all repair.
Arguably it is beyond recognition, at least some people's recognition. It's not the typical boring sprint stages, wait for the mountains and time trials tour.
While different from many recent tours, its a heck of a lot more interesting.
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07-10-14, 08:51 AM
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The only really interesting stages I can remember in the last 2 or 3 tours before this one was Hushovd's performances in 2011.
07-10-14, 09:10 AM
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Funny how road improvements (modern paving surfaces, roundabouts, paint stripes, etc.) can influence the outcome as much as the short cobble sections. My take on yesterday's stage was that surface looked damned fresh smooth and with the rain it was slick. Then contrasted with the relatively short cobbles also glass smooth on top. Not surprising that a cyclocross expert won the stage. Today's stage winner Greipel's quote regarding roundabouts "...hard to stay together". Then Jens Voigt's comments about the tour being "rougher" because riders are taking more (individual) risks and taking advantage of others misinformation but leaping ahead of others slowed after a major crash.
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Last edited by Jseis; 07-10-14 at 09:50 AM.
07-10-14, 03:16 PM
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France needs more cobbles and more rain. Hoping for heavy snow and some hail in the mountains to weed out the girlie-men. Can we get a tornado, too? 
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07-10-14, 04:59 PM
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07-10-14, 06:55 PM
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No way Talldog, this is turning out to be one heck of a Tour!
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07-10-14, 07:15 PM
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I agree this is an awesome tour so far. If it's not held in trust for sunny day climbers, so much the better as far as I am concerned.
07-10-14, 10:56 PM
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I'm usually the first one to criticize sissy athletes but I will have to admit, along with the guys from IOM TT, these guys don't get paid enough. If really sissy athletes, like soccer players, get paid 40 mil a year to kick a ball and complain about the grass I think cyclist should get paid better than what they do. If anybody here has raced before they know it's hard enough to race on a dry sunny day on a flat course with barely any obstacles let alone rain, then cobbles, then snow then 60mph descents. On top of that you need to work 10 times harder than most... Give em a break. For me it's entertaining enough to watch them race on a clean slate, no need to throw in bears, sharks and assassins to the mix.
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07-11-14, 12:36 AM
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I'm usually the first one to criticize sissy athletes but I will have to admit, along with the guys from IOM TT, these guys don't get paid enough. If really sissy athletes, like soccer players, get paid 40 mil a year to kick a ball and complain about the grass I think cyclist should get paid better than what they do. If anybody here has raced before they know it's hard enough to race on a dry sunny day on a flat course with barely any obstacles let alone rain, then cobbles, then snow then 60mph descents. On top of that you need to work 10 times harder than most... Give em a break. For me it's entertaining enough to watch them race on a clean slate, no need to throw in bears, sharks and assassins to the mix.
07-11-14, 09:35 AM
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I'm usually the first one to criticize sissy athletes but I will have to admit, along with the guys from IOM TT, these guys don't get paid enough. If really sissy athletes, like soccer players, get paid 40 mil a year to kick a ball and complain about the grass I think cyclist should get paid better than what they do. If anybody here has raced before they know it's hard enough to race on a dry sunny day on a flat course with barely any obstacles let alone rain, then cobbles, then snow then 60mph descents. On top of that you need to work 10 times harder than most... Give em a break. For me it's entertaining enough to watch them race on a clean slate, no need to throw in bears, sharks and assassins to the mix.
If the Tour is about the best professional road cyclist over a three week period under the overall toughest test, then of course it should include cobbles. Cobbles are part of professional cycling. And they are an especially important part of its toughest tests. If, however, the Tour is about the highest power-to-weight ratio over sustained inclines, then take the cobbles out. But in that case, don't pretend that it's about finding the best cyclist overall. It's about finding the best ratio who can also time trial.
Last edited by WEK; 07-11-14 at 09:41 AM.
07-11-14, 09:41 AM
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Alas, what they "should" be paid based on the danger of the sport is entirely irrelevant. Economics of profitability dictates pay, as it should. If they wanted to make more money, they should have done something else. It's not like cycling's been highly lucrative for anyone other than the top .01% of riders historically. It's an unfortunate state of affairs, but it's true.
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