The Tour de France 2016

whatsgoingon wrote:Jesus, what happened to just racing to see who's the fastest bike rider.

There's plenty of races like that but the Tour is a different beast.

It is like trying to compare a Usain Bolt to Mo Farah - who is the fastest between them for instance?  

Or T20 to test match cricket.

Or Rugby League to Rugby Union.

It is the same sport - but with different objectives and skills required.

You need to understand the sport to appreciate its beauty.

It's a bit like the wife saying football is just a bunch of men kicking a ball about - at its very basic she is correct but we view the same thing very differently because we can see more in it than she.

It's the same with cycling.

If you want to stay at the 'just a bunch of dopers on bikes' level, then fair enough but you simply fail to comprehend what the sport is all about.

Just like the good lady does with football.

Each to their own.

Sluffy wrote:

whatsgoingon wrote:Jesus, what happened to just racing to see who's the fastest bike rider.

There's plenty of races like that but the Tour is a different beast.

It is like trying to compare a Usain Bolt to Mo Farah - who is the fastest between them for instance?  

Or T20 to test match cricket.

Or Rugby League to Rugby Union.

It is the same sport - but with different objectives and skills required.

You need to understand the sport to appreciate its beauty.

It's a bit like the wife saying football is just a bunch of men kicking a ball about - at its very basic she is correct but we view the same thing very differently because we can see more in it than she.

It's the same with cycling.

If you want to stay at the 'just a bunch of dopers on bikes' level, then fair enough but you simply fail to comprehend what the sport is all about.

Just like the good lady does with football.

Each to their own.

Never mentioned doping, that aside I love the Olympic cycling events which is essentially the fasted man wins but I guess you're right that's my level of interest.

Coming from a cycling family I do have an interest in the tour but I know a lot of cyclists who have become equipment-obsessed since the days I used to do the Trough of Bowland as a kid. Lightweight bikes, performance measurement and gel for dinner doesn't feel like cycling to me, but whilst I recognise the sport has moved on, cyclists themselves seem to have changed personality type.
They actually post the data from their rides online to compare ("I did a quick 75 at 19.2 but struggled with the headwind when I turned back from the coast" ) 
We used to talk about the places we'd been and the things we did and saw whilst out on our bikes - not rabbit on about our personal performance data.

Interesting comment from Geraint Thomas just now on the Beeb.

When asked about the future, he said he might "start thinking about himself more."

Possible move to a new team in a bid to become a serious GC contender?

Breadman wrote:Interesting comment from Geraint Thomas just now on the Beeb.

When asked about the future, he said he might "start thinking about himself more."

Possible move to a new team in a bid to become a serious GC contender?

Doubt it as he only signed a new two year contract with Sky in May.

Thomas was given 'protected' rider status by Sky in this years Tour, which basically meant he was the plan B rider if anything happened to Froome.

So for instance if Thomas had a puncture the other riders would have given him their wheel or paced him back to the rest of the riders.

Thomas rode fantastically in the 2015 Tour and dropped weight (so he could climb better) for this years Tour.

However he flopped badly in the warm up race for the Tour and flopped again early in the Tour and basically lost his protected status to someone else on the team.

He's obviously got talent but the clock is ticking and he isn't getting any younger.

He's got two ways to go - he can either go back and target the big one day races in Europe (they are like grand slams in tennis, or the 'opens' in golf) or, which is probably the way he will go, is to become Team leader on the minor Tours such as in Spain - later on this month, or Italy.

Sky signed a great Italian rider to do this job but up to know he has flopped.

My guess is that Thomas will probably be named the Sky team lead rider in the Vuelta. Then decide over the winter with Sky if his future is back in the classics or to race next years Giro.