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Running Tour de France Thread

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by bagelchick, Jul 4, 2009.

  1. John

    John Well-Known Member

    I think this year for Astana is setting up a lot like the Greg Lemond-Bernard Hinault battle in the mid 80s, when Lemond helped Hinault win his fifth title and the following year Hinault was supposed to help Lemond win his first.

    Lemond won, but not without plenty of tense moments.
     
  2. MartinEnigmatica

    MartinEnigmatica Active Member

    Your first sentence is almost exactly why I rarely buy cycling apparel. You shell out money, and then they go and change the name.

    But yes, Cav is pretty untouchable in the sprints. I love watching the overhead views because it shows the accelerations you can never understand with a head-on shot. In Stage 2 he just pulled away from everyone (though Boonen/Hushovd weren't there). Haven't seen Stage 3 yet.
     
  3. PeteyPirate

    PeteyPirate Guest

    I don't follow cycling much at all. I thought it was interesting to hear that Lance was not a favorite and in fact would take on a support role to Contador. I was even more interested to read this today after he surged to third place overall, ahead of his favored teammate:

    http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/cycling/news/story?id=4308930

     
  4. MartinEnigmatica

    MartinEnigmatica Active Member

    The time differences now really don't matter that much, unless you completely blow up and fall behind several minutes. Lance, Contador, Kloden, Levi, Evans are separated by no more than 31 seconds...some of the other hopefuls are about a minute back. So much can happen in the mountains, on the TTT, even in a weird stage like today's, that can change the current situation.

    Still, like John said a couple posts up, this is shaping up to be a Lemond-Hinault situation. There's a lot of pride in that group of Astana riders, who are pretty much waiting to see who is the strongest. That'll happen in the coming week. I almost want to fast-forward to Friday, just to see how it goes down.
     
  5. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    Where does Brunyeel fit into this? He was the architect for Armstrong's dominance and is the director of Astana.

    With the cycling team going belly up (or, at least, close to it), is he more liable to revert to backing Armstrong? I'd have to think if the team was solid for the next few years, the smart move would be backing Contador.
     
  6. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    Bruyneel is Lance's guy; no doubt Contador knows this.
     
  7. Inky_Wretch

    Inky_Wretch Well-Known Member

    BTW, it's time for my annual "Liggett/Sherwen are the best broadcasting duo working today" post ...

    Liggett/Sherwen are the best broadcasting duo working today. In any sport.
     
  8. TigerVols

    TigerVols Well-Known Member

    No argument from me. They really make the broadcasts a joy to listen to.
     
  9. ServeItUp

    ServeItUp Active Member

    +2. "He'll have to reach into his suitcase full of courage..."

    "He's wearing the mask of pain on this climb..."

    "And so the first pedal has been turned in anger..."

    "They're dancing on the pedals..."

    "To wear the yellow jersey is to mingle with the gods of cycling."

    http://www.liggettfan.com/
     
  10. bumpy mcgee

    bumpy mcgee Well-Known Member

    Hard for me to get into the tour until the mountains, but the inner drama of astana should make the flats and sprints exciting.
    Also, glad to see the team time trial back, always a favorite of mine.
    Oh, and you forgot --
    "the elastic has snapped"
     
  11. Shoeless Joe

    Shoeless Joe Active Member

    I'm surprised Armstrong does the interviews with Andreu the way he does. You know he'd like to strangle that guy. I'd like to see him do something like this, "We need a good day on the bike today. The wind is going to be a factor, but I've got good legs. The guys are riding really well. I think we can go for a win this afternoon. By the way, tell your wife to go fuck herself."
     
  12. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    There's a good chance Lance is wearing the yellow jersey after today. That headwind yesterday shuffled the deck and Lance was in the right echelon. A little unexpected drama long before the mountains.
     
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