Tour de France

Starts on Saturday.

Froome probably the man to beat but he's not shown any real form going into the race. Porte is the man who has but something always seems to go wrong for him. Quintana is the man to fear but he has already ridden the gruelling Tour of Italy this season.

I'll be watching it as usual.

Anybody else from Nuts interested?

Only Breadman.

Agree Froome may not be fit enough for the gruel, this year, and somehow think it could be the year for Quintana.

Definitely be watching, again, tis year.  Only decent thing on this summer.

Fantastic opening stage of the Tour with Welshman Geraint Thomas winning and taking the 'yellow jersey', Chris Froome coming in sixth and taking half a minute off his nearest rivals and (sadly) one of the major favourites (Spain's Valverde) crashing out with a broken knee cap - ouch!

Only day one and three more weeks to come so loads will change but a good start for 'us' all the same.

Wow Peter Sagan (the best cyclist in the world - people like Froome should probably be considered the best 'all-around' cyclists in the world) has just be disqualified from the Tour for sticking his elbow out and bringing down Cavendish in todays sprint finish.





A very brief video of it here -

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/tour-de-france/five-talking-points-from-stage-four-of-the-tour-de-france-2-339508


Out of character for Sagan and I guess he must have had his reasons for doing it.


Sagan is an wonderful rider and only yesterday won a sprint finish even though he pulled his foot out of the binding to the pedal and had to re-clip' himself, during the actual sprint itself! Amazing stuff.

Brief clip of him doing it here -

http://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/tour-de-france/peter-sagan-lucky-find-pedals-tour-win-339370


Wonder if we've heard the last of this?

Hope Cavendish is ok?

Cavendish got a bit of his own medicine there.

Cavendish out with broken shoulder.

It's bloody brutal is this race. It's virtually impossible to come out of it unscathed no matter how good you are.

boltonbonce wrote:Cavendish out with broken shoulder.

Shame, I thought he was doing enough to possibly pick up a stage or two on this Tour.

It didn't look good with the crash being on his 'bad' shoulder.

Seems time is now running out to beat Merckx Tour win record.

Tough record to beat though.

Reebok Trotter wrote:It's bloody brutal is this race. It's virtually impossible to come out of it unscathed no matter how good you are.

That's part of the theatre about it for me.

It's so random, anything and everything can happen - and sometimes does!

I say it every year but those who can't be arsed about the Tour really do miss out on one of the greatest annual sports events. The Tour has so many plots and sub plots, that change day by day and every now and again an unexpected spanner gets thrown in to the middle of things.

It's great fun really.

I see Sagan has been disqualified. Serves the bugger right!

Reebok Trotter wrote:I see Sagan has been disqualified. Serves the bugger right!

Live by the sword,die by the sword.

Cavendish isn't behind the door when it comes to this sort of stuff.

boltonbonce wrote:

Reebok Trotter wrote:I see Sagan has been disqualified. Serves the bugger right!

Live by the sword,die by the sword.

Cavendish isn't behind the door when it comes to this sort of stuff.

He doesn't have to be with team mates like this!

It's bloody boring until the last 30 seconds when everyone puts a shift in.

boltonbonce wrote:

Another example of the 'black arts' is also cleverly demonstrated on this video.

If you watch the head-butting cyclist (Mark Renshaw) AFTER he's put his nut in, watch how he cleverly 'stops' the cyclist who ended up finishing third, by deliberately swerving to his left to and thus forcing the rider to step off the gas at a crucial time in his attempt to catch Cavendish.

The slow motion overhead shot shows this beautifully.

The Tour really is pure theatre.

Natasha Whittam wrote:It's bloody boring until the last 30 seconds when everyone puts a shift in.

Not always.

A key stage in the Tour today, it is the first mountain top finish (one of only three this year) and will force the riders who seriously want to win the Tour to get their finger out long before the last 30 seconds.

Should be a cracker of a day's racing.

Natasha Whittam wrote:It's bloody boring until the last 30 seconds when everyone puts a shift in.

As Sluffy has told you, it is team strategy as well as a variety of tortuous venues... including grade 5 climbs that separate the elite from the others... downhills off those climbs that are not for the faint hearted... and thousands of people pushing you as you head up the mountains. There are time trials when it is you against the clock... and there are twists and turns as the weather elements change from day-to-day. The scenic beauty of the countryside always makes for wonderful pictures... and yes, it can come down to the final sprint of most stages, but for those who are in the know, there are many other things to watch... and beautiful scenics for those who are not in the know. It's unfortunate that doping has clouded the sport... but if you spend one day traveling up Alpe D'Huez, you will understand the mania that sweeps France during this event.

I don't doubt it's exciting if you're competing in the sport, but I'd put it "up" there with snooker and bowls as TV entertainment.