Tour de France 2010

the sprint as breakaway

Gary Imlach busts out a Scientology gag on the highlights show. He's on the list....

and apparently Cannondale's are American.

are they not, then, durex-favourer?

Course they are but I can't imagine anyone watching either the live show or highlights not knowing that.

really? it doesn't seem so far-fetched. it's not just bike-geeks that watch it, you know.

Possibly not I''ll concede being a bike geek and a Cannondale owner. I would imagine that cycling has one of the lowest 'armchair sportsman' levels though.

i dunno. i think quite a lot of people that don't really cycle or follow cycling generally enjoy a bit of TDF. the scenery, the lycra, the strange helmets, it's all good stuff.

i think it gained a bit of a following on channel 4 years ago ( i used to enjoy it then despite not being into cycling then )

American like what exactly? Like Specialized used to be American?

If you didn't hear about it Cannondale no longer manufacture frames in USA.

yeah, few boys in work who don't cycle have been talking about it. Dunno how much that is to do with the resurgence of cycling in uk lately though with the sky publicity, cavendish etc. I just think the commentary could be a bit more involving. There's no doubt they are very knowledgeable about cycling but a bit of entertainment value wouldn't go amiss. I'm thinking along the lines of what say Colin Murray brings to football or poker. Bound to be a keen cyclist with a bit of audience appeal out there??

I know, nominally American. The whole made in Taiwan is a whole other thread.

Shut up, the commentary is awesome... Like the cricket, but more rubbish...

Bike Snob just posted this on his Twitter, made me laugh

YouTube- es mi quien estás buscando?

Dunno about cricket because I don't follow it but I'll at least give them that they ain't as biased as some rugby commentators.

Shut up, the commentary is awesome... Like the cricket, but more rubbish...

Exactly. I like what Eurosport do with the interaction, emails, twitter, forum etc.

I even got a namecheck the other day. It was very exciting.

Exactly. I like what Eurosport do with the interaction, emails, twitter, forum etc.

I even got a namecheck the other day. It was very exciting.

Haven't seen Eurosport was talking about ITV4.

Haven't seen Eurosport was talking about ITV4.

I like Liggett and Sherwen on ITV when they're talking about the racing but when there's not much going on they do my head in a bit.

And although they have a massive wealth of experience behind them they seem to come out with some complete bobbins sometimes.

Totally, liked the bit today where one said to the other about buying him a bottle of champagne for soldiering on after falling off after 1km and the bit about the doctor on the tour at the minute helping him out 30 odd years ago - thats priceless. But what about a third man perhaps to fill in instead rather than read the wiki page for the wine region or the local chateau?.

it's all about Harmon and kelly. Harmons not afraid to take the piss a bit and send himself, and cycling, up. contrasted with Kellys semi-coherent ( but knowledgeable) bog-irish ramblings it's the perfect babbling ambient soundtrack.

He benefitted today from Petacchi going early, so he got a perfect lead out from him. Petacchi went early on purpose, he wanted points for the green jersey and didn't want to get boxed in so second or third was fine for him.

He's pure class - obviously unwell because he spluttered though his interview. Begs the question though WTF happened in the early stages. I also think he's got a lot more media savvy.

Cool of Cav to acknowledge the Leaky-Gas rider wrecked his leadout by making them chase longer and faster than they wanted to.

He benefitted today from Petacchi going early, so he got a perfect lead out from him. Petacchi went early on purpose, he wanted points for the green jersey and didn't want to get boxed in so second or third was fine for him.

agreed, but you'd have to also say that Cav seemed to read it all very well, his instincts seem to serve him pretty well, plus he had the confidence to sit back a little until petacchi went. Harmon & Kelly seemed to think it was a very 'emphatic' and important victory for him because he did it alone and won by a hugely comfortable margin.

Stapleton can return Renshaw to the convict colony now, i guess.

He won the last one on his own too.

I wasn't criticising him, just pointing out what happened. His sprint today was amazing, he was 10 metres clear after his initial jump and had time to ease up and enjoy it.