Le Tour 2012 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

GirlySports · 06-30-2012, 09:27 AM

Today was the 3.2km prologue.

Ryder Hesjedal finished 15th today. Good position to be in.

M*A*S*H 4077 · 06-30-2012, 09:28 AM

Hesjedal did better than I thought he would today. Thought he'd take a few days to get the legs under him after the Giro.

Looking forward to a good 3 weeks of racing. Le Tour is always among my favorite sportimg spectacles od the year

puffnstuff · 06-30-2012, 06:19 PM

6.4 km actually...

Good rides by all the contenders in the GC

Northendzone · 07-01-2012, 08:35 AM

Hopefully none of the leaders eat tainted meat and fall victim to a positive drug test so liar to mr. Contador.

Matty81 · 07-01-2012, 12:33 PM

Another strong ride for Hesjedal.

I find all the focus on Bradley Wiggins a bit much - he's got a shot sure but I find the focus on the brits a bit excessive - Cavendish deserves it at least even if he is a total dbag... Wiggins has done nothing in Grand Tours (I think his one good year in the TDF he was 6 minutes off the pace) and he's been around for quite a while.

Not that he couldn't win, but every break it's like 'where is Bradley Wiggins' and Ryder doesn't even get mentioned.

GirlySports · 07-01-2012, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty81

Another strong ride for Hesjedal.

I find all the focus on Bradley Wiggins a bit much - he's got a shot sure but I find the focus on the brits a bit excessive - Cavendish deserves it at least even if he is a total dbag... Wiggins has done nothing in Grand Tours (I think his one good year in the TDF he was 6 minutes off the pace) and he's been around for quite a while.

Not that he couldn't win, but every break it's like 'where is Bradley Wiggins' and Ryder doesn't even get mentioned.

The tv guys are Brits, they can't help it.

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-05-2012, 09:40 AM

That was a wild finish today! Another crash in the last few kilometers, the breakaway finally caught within the last hundred meters and Andre Greipel with the stage win

troutman · 07-05-2012, 09:57 AM

Epernay! The heart of the Champagne region.

Matty81 · 07-05-2012, 08:57 PM

Will be happy for the weekend, feels like neverending flat/sprint stages so far, pretty boring IMO, am looking forward to the hills and mountains. Other than the bad crashes and about 15 seconds at the end I've been ffwding most of it.

Good to see ryder avoiding the crashes, hoping tommy d can preservere and help him out when it counts, he would be a hell of a domestique. Should be a real good battle once the terrain starts varying.

GirlySports · 07-06-2012, 09:46 AM

.
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Hesjedal's tour is over. Garmin-Split's team got decimated in a crash 25km from the finish and he lost over 13 minutes to the leaders. Many contenders lost time except the two favorites Evans and Wiggins. So it looks like it'll be a two-horse race to Paris.

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-06-2012, 09:53 AM

That was really unfortunate. I thought that maybe this was going to be a magical year for him. None the less, he should win Canadian male athlete of the year with ease.

J epworth · 07-06-2012, 10:12 AM

I just hope he isn't too injured. You have to think that he's going to put it in cruise control now and just stay healthy for the olympics. Really a shame, I was really pulling for him this year. Why couldn't have stupid Evans and Wiggins been in the crash as well???

puffnstuff · 07-06-2012, 02:03 PM

Going to catch tonight's broadcast...crappy news.

Who or what caused the crash?

#22 · 07-06-2012, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J epworth kendal

I just hope he isn't too injured. You have to think that he's going to put it in cruise control now and just stay healthy for the olympics. Really a shame, I was really pulling for him this year. Why couldn't have stupid Evans and Wiggins been in the crash as well???

Evans and Wiggins were riding right at the front of the peloton surrounded by their teammates, which is the best place to be to stay out of trouble. Ryder has been riding near the back all week, which, especially considering the carnage we have seen so far, is not where a contender for the GC should be.

Due to the fact that he raced (and Won!) the Giro, he is at quite a disadvantage compared to the other contenders whose sole focus for the whole year is the Tour, and obviously he was trying to conserve some energy, but those are the risks you run.

What surprised me was that Frank Schleck got caught up back there too. With his brother being out, I figured he would be the natural GC guy for Radio Shack, but he seems rather hesitant and unsure in that role.

At least he only lost around two minutes so he's not totally out of it, but with his poor time trialling abilities he is in tough now and is going to have to do something really special in the mountains.

Tomorrow, La Planche Des Belles Filles.....Should be exciting!

Matty81 · 07-06-2012, 10:04 PM

That's terrible news... had been looking forward to watching a couple weeks of Ryder contending. Guess I'll move back to the Jays or MLS.

All of the idiots jockeying for the sprinters is just ridiculous, not only is it dangerous, other than the nascar watch a crash factor it's boring to boot.

Garmin really has had a terrible run but frankly, they shouldn't have been riding so deep in the peloton every day, they were pretty much inviting disaster on wet roads with all the idiotic decisions being made.

I was watching pileup after pileup, and when I saw the last one and all the blue helmets I was holding my breath that Ryder wasn't one of the ones who went down. Really terrible day as a fan of cycling in Canada.

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-07-2012, 08:49 AM

Hesjedal did not start today

really, really too bad. I've really enjoyed having a Canadian to cheer for. Hopefully this won't impact his olympic participation

With the mountains the tour officially got started today. Unfortunately it is already a two horse race. But what a ride by Chris Froome. Cracked the field and still had the legs to out sprint Evans on that last, steep climb

Matty81 · 07-07-2012, 09:38 AM

The tour is a bit of a joke this year. No Contador or Schleck and now the giro champ Hesjedal gone, it's basically Cadel vs. Wiggins this year unless Liquigas pulls off some sort of miracle. If Cadel crashes you may as well default it to Wiggins.

Am cheering for anyone but sky at this point but the odds are not in my favor... come on Cadel!

M*A*S*H 4077 · 07-07-2012, 03:04 PM

Mark Cavendish ‏@MarkCavendish
"Aside from results, my highlight today was a guy dressed as a giant prawn enthusiastically screaming "Allez" in the Frenchest accent ever."

GirlySports · 07-09-2012, 11:05 AM

Froome, a climber buy trade, blows Cancellara out of the water on a time trial? Yeah, that's eyebrow lifting for sure.

afc wimbledon · 07-10-2012, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matty81

The tour is a bit of a joke this year. No Contador or Schleck and now the giro champ Hesjedal gone, it's basically Cadel vs. Wiggins this year unless Liquigas pulls off some sort of miracle. If Cadel crashes you may as well default it to Wiggins.

Am cheering for anyone but sky at this point but the odds are not in my favor... come on Cadel!

Have to cheer for the brit but I have to admit to not really caring much this year, I miss PED cycling.