Tour de France 2012

From the Millar article, just all of this.. my highlights in bold

Moving on to the other Tommies, Bradley and Chris, and the accusations of it's been an easy/boring Tour. Let me tell you I did a few TdFs and none of them were easy. None. When it's was a flatter course the speed was ridiculous and when you did reach the mountains everyone was frazzled by the tension and the crashes.

If it was a hillier edition you ended up frazzled just the same, worn out by the heat, the climbing and descending, so when you did get to the so called sanctuary of a flatter stage the sprinters teams took their revenge. There are no easy Tours. What Sky has done is control the situation to their strengths. They came with a plan and stuck to it, nobody has been able to challenge because they as team have ridden so fast that you can't attack.

Even hanging on has needed serious pain management.** It might look boring at times but it's not easy to do and remember they didn't make the route, they just used it to their advantage.**

Wiggins’s emergence may look robotic to some people but it takes a serious amount of work to reach that level, not just from him but everyone round about him. The sheer concentration needed to always be in the front, always paying attention is awesome and that's what impressed me the most: no mistakes, no bad moves.** Admittedly Froome has thrown a couple of toy spanners into the machine but he signed up for position and no amount of arm waving and theatrical playing with the earpiece will change that. If anything he'll just come across as stroppy**. So a bit of decorum please, take note of how David Millar conducted himself after his stage win if you need some clues.

So for the grumblers, remember as an outsider you don't see the dreary days in November doing hill repeats on a big gear or the gruelling sessions perfecting that time trial position. If it really was simple then everyone could be a pro bike rider. You are welcome to try.

who was it that got his hand caught in his spokes in yesterdays stage? The commentators on ITV just said how he asked them to do the very minimum so he could finish the Tour then go back to hospital on monday to get a skin graft.

Chris Anker Sorensen.

absolute hard man

These guys make footballers look like right tarts.

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.

big fat +1 to that.

To win Froome would need someone doing the job for him, that he is doing for Wiggins - and there isn't anyone to do that job. Maybe he could have won it, personally I don't think he'd have been able to drop Wiggins enough to make up for the time he lost in the TT and will probably loose in the TT tomorrow. Because of how they have been working together Wiggins has not had to push himself into the red, as he would have if they were competing, so it's impossible to know how much more he could have given, if he'd had to.

All I care about is that it really looks like Wiggins is going to win (which is brilliant) and that the future looks very bright for British Cycling. As Mr Blackfoot said up there^ I'm also really glad that this has happened when I'm at an age to really appreciate it. The last three weeks have been enthralling.

Read a tweet from one of the riders the other day asking anyone to suggest another sporting event that 2/3rds of the way through will already have 8% of the participants sent home with broken bones!

He's lucky, back in the 1990s Mikel Zarrabeitia lost the top of his finger after trying to adjust the magnet on his cycle computer whilst descending.

And look what happened with shoe cleats and back pockets this year.

Robert Millar channelling his inner Corny;

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

Yep. Sums it up well.

^^^^ that is grim, the pain must have been unbelievable.

Read a tweet from one of the riders the other day asking anyone to suggest another sporting event that 2/3rds of the way through will already have 8% of the participants sent home with broken bones!

The Grand National

(where 'sent home' = 'shot')

A dog, actually more bear sized, has run into the peleton and caused a crash. Gilbert and Menchov amongst those to go down. Gilbert has given the family who's dog it is a piece of his mind and made a little girl cry.

His first win of the season, no?

^^^^ that is grim, the pain must have been unbelievable.

Like EEI on the way back from Wests.

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

It's all money and contracts innit. Anyway, ITV1 will actully be showing the last 2 stages live!

A dog, actually more bear sized, has run into the peleton and caused a crash. Gilbert and Menchov amongst those to go down. Gilbert has given the family who's dog it is a piece of his mind and made a little girl cry.

His first win of the season, no?

awesome

The dog/bear hybrid;

https://twitter.com/nyvelocity/status/226291945289424896/photo/1

another great blog from Mr Robert Millar, he really does hit the nail on the head. Then again he"s been there & done it. I wish he was part of the ITV4 team.

Popovych (RNT), Arashiro (EUC), Millar (GRS), Fouchard (COF), Boasson Hagen (SKY), Hansen (LTB), Vanendert (LTB), Boeckmans (VCD), Paolini (KAT), Roy (FDJ), Costa (MOV), Kroon (STB), Nuyens (STB), Vinokourov (AST), Albasini (OGE) and Gretsch (ARG)

Interesting break. If it stays away EBH, Millar, Roy? Albasini?

It may be biased but EBH has the best sprint on him I reckon

My money would be on one of Paolini, Kroon or Nuyens.

The dog/bear hybrid;

https://twitter.com/nyvelocity/status/226291945289424896/photo/1

Fuck me. That's huge.

My money would be on one of Paolini, Kroon or Nuyens.

But the lead isn't that big so a concerted chase by a team or two could bring them back, hence why I've not put any money on one of these three.

Who's going to want to chase that?

AG2R - Roche only has 15mins on Costa? er... Nissan Trek (to keep their optional yellow helmets) maybe. Anyone else looking interested?

You're right, it's going to get sucked up. Quickstep and Rabobank are driving the peloton, gap down to 2 minutes

Fuck me. That's huge.

That's what she said! Waaaaaayyyyyyyyyy!

I'll get my coat.