Tour de France

[gkatl]

Any cycling fans out there? The Tour is starting on July 2nd. I've been a fan since 2004 and watched every year since then - should be a really good one this year! Levi Leipheimer just won the Tour of Switzerland (http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=6678057) - so hopefully he does well in the Tour this year! There are a couple of other interesting guys form the USA out there as well.

Just curious if anyone else is in to this . . .

 

[xGAxBlueChip]

I appreciate the training, prep and hard work that goes in to being successful at endurance cycling races but I just don't get it as a form of entertainment. I think it's one of those sports that even If i did it I wouldn't care how anyone else was doing. Kinda like Golf I enjoy doing it but I couldn't careless how Phil or Tiger is doing. Maybe there is more to it than I know but hey different strokes right?

 

[gkatl]

but hey different strokes right?

Absolutely! All my friends think I'm strange for watching it, so I'm not surprised at all. I don't expect many people to be in to it. To be honest, I can't even really put my finger on what it is about the sport that interests me, other than to say these guys are truly elite athletes and I admire them.

One of the things that is really interesting to me that most people probably don't know about the sport is that there are several different "goals" within even a single day's stage in a tour. Also - cycling is a team sport, not an individual endeavor, even though there are individual goals within each tour and even within each stage of the tours.

Anyways - I'm probably talking to myself. . .

 

[AFTON]

I just want to say that when ever i heard about the Tour de France then it makes me so sad because it is my big wish to participate in that race.I wish i could ever in my life.

 

[gkatl]

OK . . . ??

 

[scandmx5]

being Norwegian, I'm a huge Thor Hushovd fan ftw!

 

[gkatl]

Bad luck for Thor yesterday! (all the crashes - the peloton not able to catch the lead group) I was very impressed with him over the past few stages.

Good on Voeckler, though - good for him. Almost exactly the same story as a few years back when he was in the lead by 12 minutes and wore yellow for around 10 days, I think?

The Radioshack team has been dealt some really awful luck so far - Brajkovic and Horner both out and Levi has crashed twice losing chunks of time. . . Kloden abandoning yesterday after that crash was sad, also - he was looking like he was on good form this year.

I think the race will be really good this year once we get up to the Pyrenees - Cadel is looking good and Contador is looking a bit shaky (IMO). Of course the Schleck brothers are looking good and the fact that both are healthy probably scary for the other teams.