Tour de France 2012

Live feed normally starts whenever the French TV crew get out of bed. 1pm sounds about right.

This win without providing artistry is at odds with your demand of artistrt in winning football teams.

^^ Eurosport's been showing it since 11.30 though.

I think the brits who go out to support british cyclist on the continent will be viewed as the scottish or irish are when they go out for the rugby/football, a rambunctious, but good natured drunken rabble.

Got to say also this constant drip drip of dismay, disgust, cynicism, at what Sky have accomplished feels like super accelerated tall poppy syndrome, before the tour there was this fear that bradley wouldn't live upto expectation, even though the course suited him, and Sky had been smashing all and sundry in the shorter stage races. And now before he's even won the thing, we're pissing on his chips, and saying the achievement isn't as great as it "could" be.

Sky have no contract with the public to put on a spectacle, or provide drama, their aim is to win the tour. End of story. Win ugly, or lose dramatically, just so the audience, the fans can say what a smashing tour it was. It will be a historic tour, just like it was last year, Wiggins first briton to win it, two britons (plastic or not) in the top two positions, and a professional team that looks like it could win more grand tours in the coming years, and be a launchpad for a whole generation of good/great british riders to compete in professional road racing.

How is that boring?

I'm so fucking happy that this is happening whilst I'm of an age to enjoy it, and to see what may happen in the future...

I don't think the tour has been boring at all. Between Sagan and Voekler alone there's been a lot of attacking, then Sanchez, Pinot, and especially Millar's wins were awesome, and Cadel's mountain performances have been a bit of a sad spectacle even without the carpet tacks to add some pathos if the crashes hadn't already.

Sky have figured out a winning formula and bossed it quite clinically. It's not been much of a spectacle though, and despite the hard work and effort and resulting kudos the Twiggy One deserves, people are mardy little slags for drama and seeing passion spunked all over the place like a drunken sailor in a brothel after 6 months at sea. Brailsford with some micro-scales and a rectal thermometer combined with Sky's PR management doesn't do this so the natives get restless.

I'm happy for Wiggo as he's deserved the win, but indifferent to the whole British aspect of it, and incredibly jealous of the generation of UK youngsters that will have seen this tour and will grow up enchanted by it from a very young age and enjoying their cycling.

But again, incase this be misinterpreted, bravo the multinational Sky team for their collective efforts, well done Cav for shelving his personal ambitions in aid of the overall win, well done Froome for tanking it up every hill like a beast, and well done Wiggins for translating such a mammoth amount of hard work and practice into such a comprehensive performance.

Sky have no contract with the public to put on a spectacle, or provide drama, their aim is to win the tour.

This. Froome will get his chance. Could be next year dependent on form and course. And if that does happen I hope, and expect, to see Wiggins turning himself inside out for Froome.

The reason Wiggins is leader this year is because he gave Sky the highest chance of success before the race started. I wonder how much even Froome knew of the form he has taken into the TdF. I bet he wouldn't have put much on him getting that first TT result.

Wiggo's palmares for this year looks fucking incredible:

First, Paris Nice + 1st ITT + points jersey

First Tour of Romandie + 1st stage 1 + 1st ITT

First, Criterium De Dauphine + 1st ITT

First, (hopefully!) Tour de France + 1st ITT

What a year!

#allezwiggo

has wiggins crashed out yet ?

If she'd been mine, Pisti would have yentzes her.

Ftfy

Twice.

This win without providing artistry is at odds with your demand of artistrt in winning football teams.

If Sp*ds ever threatened to win anything, his position would be the same. It is only because they will never threaten that he can and must take the artistic line. Tottenham are a bit like a French team. An occasional break, won a stage a few years back and then nothing.

Luci, my post wasn't directed specifically at you, just the general sense I get from this thread about how Wiggins and Sky's dominance of this years tour is being perceived.

Cycling is one of the few things in which I feel British, this is usually overridden by the fact I'm a Londoner and feel more of an affinity to Continental Europe. So personally after years/decades of waiting for a Brit to be there or there abouts, one is actually pretty nailed on to win the damn thing. This brings me joy.

I don't understand the negativity, grumble if/when Sky have dominated/and or throttled the competitive life out of the tour for years in a row a'la Discovery... They haven't even won the first one yet.

Watching John Herety on Eurosport's live show, and he made the point that just because Sky have one of the biggest budgets in the peloton, they still had to use it wisely. Which they have done, and now it is upto the other teams to take on board their methods, and ways of using the money at their disposal to catch up..

Interesting years ahead, fingers crossed...

CliveO & Chalfie, I talk football in the football thread, and The Tour in The Tour thread..

Live feed normally starts whenever the French TV crew get out of bed. 1pm sounds about right.

You're quite right, they just said on ITV4 the cameramen haven't got out of bed yet*.

*basically

I might have to go and show Brad how to ride with a bit of 'panache' on this.

http://www.bradleywigginsfoundation.org/site/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41&Itemid=28

I never thought I'd see a British rider win the Tour.

I've been a fan of Wiggo for a while. I like his manner, and his integrity, and he is a stylish fucker off the bike. I also believe him to be a clean rider, which counts for a lot.
I have loved seeing him absolutely slay the TT competition.
I have loved seeing him get and then retain the yellow.
I have loved seeing the sky juggernaut tear the arse out of their competition up the mountains, especially when early on the experts were saying that they would be vulnerable in the mountain stages. Seeing Cadel Evans dropping out of the back was a proper moment of pure delight for me.
I don't care that Froome is stronger up the mountains. I don't think he could have won the tour this year because he probably does not have enough maturity and experience to hold it together. Wiggo has and even he let the monumental nature of his achievement get the better of him yesterday. This tour will give Froome the mental strength to win the tour next year and maybe many more years.
I totally respect and appreciate Froome's loyalty and commitment to his team. That kind of character is worth any number of stage wins.

I am enjoying this year so much, and as I rejoiced in Cav's green jersey win last year, so shall I rejoice at Wiggo's yellow jersey win this year (barring any disasters). It is fucking marvellous.

Luci, my post wasn't directed specifically at you, just the general sense I get from this thread about how Wiggins and Sky's dominance of this years tour is being perceived.

Cycling is one of the few things in which I feel British, this is usually overridden by the fact I'm a Londoner and feel more of an affinity to Continental Europe. So personally after years/decades of waiting for a Brit to be there or there abouts, one is actually pretty nailed on to win the damn thing. This brings me joy.

I don't understand the negativity, grumble if/when Sky have dominated/and or throttled the competitive life out of the tour for years in a row a'la Discovery... They haven't even won the first one yet.

Watching John Herety on Eurosport's live show, and he made the point that just because Sky have one of the biggest budgets in the peloton, they still had to use it wisely. Which they have done, and now it is upto the other teams to take on board their methods, and ways of using the money at their disposal to catch up..

Interesting years ahead, fingers crossed...

^ I know, no worries! I'm actually trying to look at it objectively, especially after having just watched an interview with Wiggo on telly. He said that his head was all over the shop once he'd dropped his rivals, and he just couldn't get his head round going for the win.

I'm quite glad we can be a bit more critical as a nation, rather than giving a big American WOOHOO to everything that happens. Wiggo has almost got it in the bag, but we're not blinded by the victory, we're looking at* how* it was won, not just the fact that it has been won, which is what the Sky team will be doing directly after the dust has settled. How can they win again, how can they improve, what would they have done differently.

Saying that, it still has been one of the best Tours I've watched, three weeks of total immersion!

CliveO & Chalfie, I talk football in the football thread, and The Tour in The Tour thread..

And talk shit all the time?

I never thought I'd see a British rider win the Tour.

I've been a fan of Wiggo for a while. I like his manner, and his integrity, and he is a stylish fucker off the bike. I also believe him to be a clean rider, which counts for a lot.
I have loved seeing him absolutely slay the TT competition.
I have loved seeing him get and then retain the yellow.
I have loved seeing the sky juggernaut tear the arse out of their competition up the mountains, especially when early on the experts were saying that they would be vulnerable in the mountain stages. Seeing Cadel Evans dropping out of the back was a proper moment of pure delight for me.
I don't care that Froome is stronger up the mountains. I don't think he could have won the tour this year because he probably does not have enough maturity and experience to hold it together. Wiggo has and even he let the monumental nature of his achievement get the better of him yesterday. This tour will give Froome the mental strength to win the tour next year and maybe many more years.
I totally respect and appreciate Froome's loyalty and commitment to his team. That kind of character is worth any number of stage wins.

I am enjoying this year so much, and as I rejoiced in Cav's green jersey win last year, so shall I rejoice at Wiggo's yellow jersey win this year (barring any disasters). It is fucking marvellous.

Afucking-Men to that.

Where have you been Ronnie?

A dog has caused a crash in the peloton. Cound trying to make Wiggo crash?

What breed is she?

Welsh/South African

Michelle Hound

Robert Millar channelling his inner Corny;

http://www.cyclingnews.com/blogs/robert-millar/robert-millar-tommy-guns-of-the-tour-de-france

I love that article, tells you what's what.