Tour De France 2011

Oh, and dynamite win for Cav.

I hate being blasé about a Brit stage win - it shows a terrible lack of memory. I was glad to see a sinlge Brit in the peleton a few years back, so to take wins for granted is shoddy.

It was worth the win just for Greipel's face!
'I want a go! I want a go! Fuck Gilbert, Me, me, me!!!' followed by:
'I failed.'

the more I think about it the more I think Bruyneel is a first class asshole for letting him continue on and finish the stage in that state

Apparently he was accompanied by the race doctor

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/pro-cycling-plagued-by-head-injuries

It's pretty dismal how badly prepared teams are for dealing with head injuries.

This year has been terrible for injuries - I can't recall a season where so many big name riders have been wiped out of the peloton like this.

Have the speeds gone up? Or disturbingly, might one of the factors be that without doping in the peloton, the stresses of racing and the resulting lack of concentration means that more accidents occur?

Just a thought.

@Hatbeard. If you could pop your beard in the post with some sourcream dip I'd be grateful.

brad? pfft at least the sky team can focus on the riders in with a chance now.

Fair point. Gutted to see Wiggo go though.

But EBH wont get anything like this level of support next year. Could be a lucky break (no pun intended) for him.

This year has been terrible for injuries - I can't recall a season where so many big name riders have been wiped out of the peloton like this.

Have the speeds gone up? Or disturbingly, might one of the factors be that without doping in the peloton, the stresses of racing and the resulting lack of concentration means that more accidents occur?

Just a thought.

They were all talking on their mobiles just before Brad's big crash. Make of that what you will.
The panic for everyone to "get to the front and stay out of trouble" is never going to work with 200 odd riders and a narrow road is it? Much as Ligett would like to protest that you "must not ride at the back of the peloton" for it to be a peloton in the first place then logic dictates at least some riders must be at the back.

This year has been terrible for injuries - I can't recall a season where so many big name riders have been wiped out of the peloton like this.

Have the speeds gone up? Or disturbingly, might one of the factors be that without doping in the peloton, the stresses of racing and the resulting lack of concentration means that more accidents occur?

Just a thought.

It's occurred to me that these intermediary sprints may in large be the cause of all these crashes..

Stage rolls out for a while then all hell breaks loose as the speed ups for the mid sprint and no one wants to get left out/dropped??? result being crash ban wallop???

My theory.

Seems like a normal first week to me. There are always crashes, it's just chance whether or not they result in serious injuries and if it is one of the big names that get injured.

First week is always a bit of a crash-fest, but the injuries seem worse this year. Like you mentioned earlier, Will, head trauma is horribly frequent this year and not just in the Tour.

It does raise the question that there might be a common factor in these incidents - maybe the sprints, bike design, style of racing, race radios, etc etc..

I don't have any answers but it should be studied before another rider dies.

I don't deny his achievements. It's more the dullness of his racing - he never seems to attack or make any significant moves.

That's all.

Er, you missed stage 4 then?...

Geraint Thomas fined for exposing His PENIS To schoolchilderen !!!!
one more cock touching episiode and he gets thrown of the tour and arrested by the gendarmes*

*maybe

• 200CHF fines for following sport directors for driving infractions during the race (Article 12.1.040.25): Didier Rous (Cofidis); Alexandr Sheffer (Astana); Dimitry Konyshev (Katusha); Bingen Fernandez (Garmin-Cervelo)
  
• 100CHF fines for the following riders for public urination (Article 12.1.040.29): Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard-Trek); Thomas Geraint (Sky)
  
• 30CHF fines for “sticky water bottle,” bidon collé (Article 12.1.040.37): Sergio Paulinho (RadioShack); Alessandro Vanotti (Liquigas); Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad)
  
• 50CHF fines for following sport directors for above infraction: Dirk Demol (RadioShack); Dario Mariuzzo (Liquigas); Brian Holm (HTC-Highroad)
  

hippys new avatar

lol
http://nyvelocity.com/files/imagecache/toto/toto/tturns234.jpg

Is Contador and other GC favourites will start to shine today?

Is it not ok to like Cavendish? I don't understand. Granted, I'm judging him against football players, but he's not that bad.

Seems most people like him to me. I'm a pretty vocal Cav detractor because a) I don't like his public personality (the only personality I know), b) I have that inborn Canadian quality of hating on winners and rooting for the underdogs, and c) I find his wins boring most of the time, and him a pretty one-dimensional rider (someone said yesterday that Thor is the only rider who has finished top 10 in every stage so far this year. That's pretty impressive stuff, even if it is likely to change today [although they said that for Stage 4 as well]).

I also don't really get the "yeah, he's a bit of a cock, but he's out cock!" thing. It's hard to not let petty nationalism get you (Go Ryder!), but being British can't be enough of a reason to support some one.

#notanexpert

Seems most people like him to me. I'm a pretty vocal Cav detractor because a) I don't like his public personality (the only personality I know), b) I have that inborn Canadian quality of hating on winners and rooting for the underdogs, and c) I find his wins boring most of the time, and him a pretty one-dimensional rider (someone said yesterday that Thor is the only rider who has finished top 10 in every stage so far this year. That's pretty impressive stuff, even if it is likely to change today [although they said that for Stage 4 as well]).

I also don't really get the "yeah, he's a bit of a cock, but he's out cock!" thing. It's hard to not let petty nationalism get you (Go Ryder!), but being MANX can't be enough of a reason to support some one.

#notanexpert

.

English, Welsh, Scottish, Manx - all the fecking same, bar different styles of smoked haddock.

mmmmmm smoked haddock

Anyone else noticing their cycling around town becoming alot more technical after watching le tour?

Anyone else noticing their cycling around town becoming alot more technical after watching le tour?

No. noticed a lot more cretins thinking commuting is the tour de France though.

Well I go out on a bender for a couple of days, come back and half the peloton is gone. Fun times. Poor buggers.

Thor, please be handing over your jersey today, thanks.

Well I go out on a bender for a couple of days, come back and half the peloton is gone. Fun times. Poor buggers.

Thor, please be handing over your jersey today, thanks.

Vino..

Question: Why would HTC let Van Garderen push like that at the front? Won't it just push the pace up for everyone, and make it harder on Cav in the end? Are they just confident enough that Cav is strong enough that it's not an issue on this stage?

Vino..

yeah, hallmark move.

thank fuck we are finally in some mountains

horatio, this is not a stage for the sprinters dude