Tour de France 2011 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Matty81 · 07-19-2011, 02:53 PM

Anybody watching the Tour de France? I have never watched cycling but somebody introduced me to it this year and I've been following it a little bit, find it pretty interesting. Still working out a lot of the nuances of the sport, surprising how much teamwork and strategy there is.

Nice to see the Canadian Hesjedal have a great ride today (came in 3rd basically not trying in the sprint between the 3 top riders to let his teammate win).

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-19-2011, 06:13 PM

I've been watching Le Tour for many years. Always one of the sporting highlights of my summer.

Hoping one of the Schleks or Evans takes it over Contador.

Matty81 · 07-19-2011, 08:27 PM

Evans looks great so far. Really cool that going into the alps here that there are 7 or 8 guys who could still take it. I am kinda indifferent about who wins the yellow jersey but I like how hard Voeckler has been fighting for it and admire his scrappiness.

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-19-2011, 08:50 PM

Voeckler should be commended and applauded for his efforts. Part of me would love to see him wear yellow in Paris.
Andy Schlek cracked today, Frank looks like he still has his legs. At this point just heading into the Alps I would say it is Cadel Evans' race to lose.

kdogg · 07-20-2011, 08:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by M*A*S*H 4077

I've been watching Le Tour for many years. Always one of the sporting highlights of my summer.

Hoping one of the Schleks or Evans takes it over Contador.

Anyone but that cheater Contador.

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-20-2011, 09:04 AM

Contador tried to gain time on the rest of the favourites but was caught with less than 50m to go. Voeckler lost some time today but stays in yellow.

Can't wait for tomorrow's stage. Going to be an exciting ride to Paris!

Matty81 · 07-20-2011, 01:45 PM

I can't believe that Norwegian kid had the legs to go again today after hammering out a 2nd place yesterday. Hesjedal and Hushvold didn't look like they had anything in the tank today but he had the legs to break away and then on the climb destroy the 14 man breakaway.

I don't really think today had any major consequence for Voeckler in the long run. If he breaks over the next couple days, twenty something seconds will mean nothing because the gaps are going to be huge with 3 HC climbs tomorrow. Hopefully he can stick with the leaders tomorrow or even attack himself though.

kdogg · 07-21-2011, 09:57 AM

Looks like Contador can't keep up when he isn't on drugs.

habernac · 07-21-2011, 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdogg

Looks like Contador can't keep up when he isn't on drugs.

Contador blew his wad in the Giro. Tough to win two Grand Tours in a season, especially the Giro/Tour. Last one to do that was Pantani.

Matty81 · 07-21-2011, 02:00 PM

Wow I take back what I said about a couple of seconds, can't believe Voeckler held on to the lead again. Amazing efforts on that last climb by Schleck and the pursuit. That was an awesome stage today and I bet tomorrow is going to be great too, with the HC climb so early in the day it should space out pretty fast. Also Cavendish missed the cut and should have got the boot from the tour but since so many other guys missed it with him in "the bus" they just docked him 20 green jersey points.

troutman · 07-21-2011, 02:03 PM

What % of riders are clean now? At one time it may have been close to 0% - is it close to 100% now? I hope so. This great event deserves no less.

Matty81 · 07-21-2011, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troutman

What % of riders are clean now? At one time it may have been close to 0% - is it close to 100% now? I hope so. This great event deserves no less.

From what they say on the telecasts because of the stuff they've been through they now have the most rigorous testing of any sporting event, ever. They go so far as to take a baseline blood sample and compare samples during the tour to it and will turn up positive test results even if no drugs turn up but the blood shows significant deviation from the baseline as I understand it.

No doubt they are still looking for any advantage and it seems like a constant battle where they try to stay ahead of the drug testers - cycling for sure seems like the front line in that battle.

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-21-2011, 02:59 PM

That was a highly entertaining stage! The stage was a kilometer too long for Andy Schleck, he just couldn't go any harder. Contador is done, there is no way he is making that time up. Well done to Voeckler again! Stays in yellow. If he can somehow hold off the rest tomorrow I can see him racing the time trial of his life and wearing yellow in Paris. In fact I'm cheering him on to do so!

Evans and Frank still have great legs from what I saw today. Alp d'Huez tomorrow, can't wait! Always my favourite stage when they go there.

habernac · 07-21-2011, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty81

From what they say on the telecasts because of the stuff they've been through they now have the most rigorous testing of any sporting event, ever. They go so far as to take a baseline blood sample and compare samples during the tour to it and will turn up positive test results even if no drugs turn up but the blood shows significant deviation from the baseline as I understand it.

No doubt they are still looking for any advantage and it seems like a constant battle where they try to stay ahead of the drug testers - cycling for sure seems like the front line in that battle.

They've had better testing than other sports for years. The ones for the big four in North America are a joke in comparison.

Matty81 · 07-21-2011, 09:52 PM

I've never even watched a time trial and I'm starting to wonder how that will effect things. They say Evans has an advantage there but how much time will that mean?

The time trial is only 42 kms long but I expect the Schlecks will try to pick up another couple minutes tomorrow if they expect to lose time in the next stage, I can see them doing the exact opposite that they did today, sending Frank out early to take a big risk and having Andy just shadow Evans all day. Deadly 1-2 there on the mountains.

I have been eating up the entire coverage, from the cheezy prop humor based predictions through to the finish.

oldschoolcalgary · 07-21-2011, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty81

I've never even watched a time trial and I'm starting to wonder how that will effect things. They say Evans has an advantage there but how much time will that mean?

The time trial is only 42 kms long but I expect the Schlecks will try to pick up another couple minutes tomorrow if they expect to lose time in the next stage, I can see them doing the exact opposite that they did today, sending Frank out early to take a big risk and having Andy just shadow Evans all day. Deadly 1-2 there on the mountains.

I have been eating up the entire coverage, from the cheezy prop humor based predictions through to the finish.

you're in for a treat then...

Depends on the time gaps...Evans looks to be in good form though

Seriously though, I've been a cycling fan since the days of Greg LeMond and CBS's weekly coverage - and the incomparable Canadian, Steve Bauer of course.

I love the sport, but honestly, I am really wondering if Voeckler is riding clean...Look at the last 8 tour finishes - 119, 18, 124, 89, 66, 97, 67 and 76th...those finishes don't add up to a rider that sticks it out with the climbers on 3 HC climbs!

again, I hate to be cynical...but doping is killing the sport. I was a huge, huge Armstrong fan until he won his 6th. When he won 7 I had no doubt in my mind he was doping...

that said, I still love watching the mountain stages - back in the day, those swelling crowds went virtually all the way to the finish, and seeing the crowds part as the riders push through the cols is one of the indelible images of the Tour (not including the dummies in their speedos mind you...but hey, its France

)

L'Alpe de Huez tomorrow...one of the most legendary of all the cols in the Tour...up to 500k will line the roads to the mountaintop finish tomorrow.

GirlySports · 07-22-2011, 08:29 AM

I don't think Voeckler is doping. You can't just look at the times, you have to look at the team as well. I don't believe he was the team leader those past years.

Also being in yellow he and the team are working much harder to keep him in yellow. It's french pride. His body did more than he thought it could yesterday and at the finish line he looked dead. He's trying again today but has nothing left and has fallen off the pace more than 2 minutes behind Andy Schlek now.

They'll be heading up Alpe De Huez in about an hour.

GirlySports · 07-22-2011, 09:18 AM

The race is on now!

You ever notice that commentators never know any Canadians by name?

It's always "THE CANADIAN!"

RatherDashing · 07-22-2011, 09:27 AM

This finish looks pretty intense, I wish I could be watching instead of just following online.

Girly, do you think that Rolland guy is going to drop back to help Voeckler?

habernac · 07-22-2011, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GirlySports

The race is on now!

You ever notice that commentators never know any Canadians by name?

It's always "THE CANADIAN!"

They know Ryder very well. Phil is the best in the business.

I really need to go watch this thing live some day.