Tour de France 2009

No water either, they must stop at the horse troughs to refill. I hope no one breaks a carbon fork, that will never get fixed in the local blacksmiths forge.

Drug testing controls will ensure that they all have taken the required amounts of Belgian mix

Will they all have "dined with Virenque" the night before as well...

Jesus Platini.

Er oops, I thought that was jaygee?

Quite like how we got so dependent on mobile phone, before mobile phone were readily available for the public, you'd simply organised almost a day ahead to meet your friends by the post office, or just go home after 10 minutes of waiting.
Now we're so dependent on mobile phone, it reach to the point that we find it hopeless to meet friends and such without a mobile phone, or 'handy' as the german said.

Yes, quite. I still don't understand where the utility of mobiles is supposed to lie--all I have been able to see is people getting progressively more disorganised the more 'tools' become available to offset the increasing lack of organisation. I've been perfectly fine without a mobile and I still don't sense that there's any need for me to get one.

And if there's one word I hate with a vengeance, it's "Handy", or, rather, as the Germans tend to pronounce it, "Hendy", which makes it sound even more stupid (no offence intended to London's Transport Commissioner, as I'm talking about how the word comes across in German--one of the worst loan words ever).

Fingers crossed it'll be like something out of Stars and Watercarriers. I'm hoping to see at least one rider roll a cigarette with no hands on the handlebars.

What isn't mentioned is that all riders will still have access to the neutral TDF channel for important race/road conditions reports.

Will they have the neutral guys on the back of motorbikes writing down the times on chalk boards?

Yes, quite. I still don't understand where the utility of mobiles is supposed to lie--all I have been able to see is people getting progressively more disorganised the more 'tools' become available to offset the increasing lack of organisation. I've been perfectly fine without a mobile and I still don't sense that there's any need for me to get one.

And if there's one word I hate with a vengeance, it's "Handy", or, rather, as the Germans tend to pronounce it, "Hendy", which makes it sound even more stupid (no offence intended to London's Transport Commissioner, as I'm talking about how the word comes across in German--one of the worst loan words ever).

I'm really not sure this is the place to discuss this but... It could very easily be said that the forum is a form of contact that could replace the mobile phone for certain things. Rhetorical question - Could you manage without a mobile AND without the forum?

It could also very easily be said that the forum is like a colouring book without the crayons.

^ Deep.

Balki, I think you need to stop having whiskey for breakfast!

Balki, I think you need to stop having whiskey for breakfast!

A shot of baileys (as well as the milk) with coco pops ftw

Is that what they do on the Tour these days?!

Only on days with no radio

i think one or two of the mountain stages this year radios were/are not allowed? or restrictions on communication?

live eurosport covereage about to start

Any predictions? Another stage for cav?

I'd say that Cav is a relatively safe bet for the stage win.

It's Bastille Day so the French riders will be extra motivated to go for the win. However, it's a stage that suits the sprinters so if the Columbia riders are rested then I'd expect them to try and close it down for a sprint. As we've seen already, if no other teams are prepared to contribute to this effort and help Columbia then there is a chance the break will stay away.

I found this twitter and it amused me:

http://twitter.com/Cathwiggins

The most amusing pro cycling related twitter I've seen this week is this;

*

*Koos Mourenhout, a Rabobank pro, won this in the Tour of Austria. This is his son holding it, clearly unhappy with the present dad bought back for him!

I'm really not sure this is the place to discuss this but... It could very easily be said that the forum is a form of contact that could replace the mobile phone for certain things. Rhetorical question - Could you manage without a mobile AND without the forum?

we're talking about how radio can make a huge difference, mobile phone is a perfect example that we can observe at how dependent people become on it, like how dependent the cyclists are on radios to the point that they trust it with their life.

there's a lots of cyclists whom never been without a radio in their life thought, so this is going to be awkward to them, it's like removing a mobile from a chav and watch him imploded with utter confusion.

Ha ha ha. Food items that are as large as small children are rubbish prizes.

What isn't mentioned is that all riders will still have access to the neutral TDF channel for important race/road conditions reports.

And to call for neutral service / medical from what I gather.

TVs are also banned in the Team cars....

This is a nice twitter.

http://twitter.com/wegelius