2009 Tour de France

[polsongrizz]

Tom Boonen's tour is sucking.

Thursday's race is going to be a war between Astana team mates for the Maillot jaune.

[ChetSteadman]

Tom Boonen's tour is sucking.

Thursday's race is going to be a war between Astana team mates for the Maillot jaune.

Tom says he was sick at the beginning of the week. I guess his dealer was out of town.

In all actuality, I like TB. However, he needs to get off the coke.

[polsongrizz]

Tom Boonen's tour is sucking.

Thursday's race is going to be a war between Astana team mates for the Maillot jaune.

Tom says he was sick at the beginning of the week. I guess his dealer was out of town.

In all actuality, I like TB. However, he needs to get off the coke.

He wrecked today.

[ChetSteadman]

I saw that on the cyclingnews coverage but didn't see where he finished. He's not on top form, that's for sure.

[grizzaholic]

Not from the Tour de France, but I thought some might find this funny.

http://www.break.com/index/scary-cyclin ... drail.html

[polsongrizz]

Not from the Tour de France, but I thought some might find this funny.

http://www.break.com/index/scary-cyclin ... drail.html

One of the Schleck brothers who have high hopes this year. That happened yesterday also. can't remember who, but someone went over the guardrail.

[SeattleGriz]

Spent a little time explaining why some riders are wearing different colored jerseys earlier in the thread. Now to go over the 4 jerseys that the riders fight over everyday in the tour. Somewhat of a race within the race event.

Below you see three of the four jerseys awarded daily amongst the riders. On the left, you have the yellow jersey worn by the man with the lowest overall time in the General Classification - also referred to as GC. Everyday, the stage winner gets a yellow jersey, but unless you also have the lowest cumulative time, you don't get to wear it during the race.

In the middle, is the polka dot jersey worn by the leader of the Mountains Classification. I will talk more about this before the course profile picture below.

On the right, is the green sprinters jersey worn by the leader of the Sprints Classification. More about this below.



Hard to get a real good look at the guy in the middle, wearing the White Jersey, but he is the leader of the Young Rider Classification. He has the lowest cumulative time for the riders under the age of 25. You are considered a good amount from your prime in cycling at the age of 25.



Below is the course profile for stage 7. The first real mountain challenge and the stage I believe that will put Lance in yellow, but I digress. Notice the red circles with numbers on them designating spots on the profile? Those are where the guys fighting for the polka dot jersey get their points. First one across that spot, wins points towards their total. The lower the number, the more points it is worth. You will hear the announcers refer to the climb as a category 4, or 3, or 2, etc.

The French are cool in one sense. They actually have a category of climb labeled HC, meaning it is above classification it is so hard. Just like the amp that goes to 11. Harder climbs give greater points.

The green circles are where those competing in the Sprinters Classification compete for the green jersey. The finish is worth a boatload of points in comparison to the intermediate sprints. For example, the winner of the race yesterday got 35 points towards his total, whereas the intermediate sprints only garnered 6 points for winning.

On a side note, the blue circle with the utensils is an official feed zone. This is where the team reloads with drink and food. Amazing to watch the domestiques (french for servant) pick up all the musettes (bag with handles) and then distribute them out to the team leaders so they don't have to leave the front of the pack. Of course you will see riders get food and drink anytime from the team vehicles, so I have always wondered why they needed an official feed zone.

[polsongrizz]

Cancellara falls big time and Lance speaks subtlety of Team not following plan i.e. Contador.

“Like I’ve said all along, my first obligation is to the team,”

[SeattleGriz]

Cancellara falls big time and Lance speaks subtlety of Team not following plan i.e. Contador.

“Like I’ve said all along, my first obligation is to the team,”

I hope this doesn't turn out like Hinault vs Lemond years ago. Bernard Hinault was the team captain and told Lemond that if he helped him win the tour, he would return the favor the next year. Well the next year came and Hinault went back on his promise. Lemond had enough firepower to overtake Hinault and win it all, but was he ever pissed.

[dbackjon]

Overall tour route

[BlueHen86]

Cancellara falls big time and Lance speaks subtlety of Team not following plan i.e. Contador.

“Like I’ve said all along, my first obligation is to the team,”

I expect Contador to win the Tour, but pissing Lance off is not a good idea, especially this early in the race. Contador's job will be that much harder if the team is divided and Lance isn't supporting him.

[polsongrizz]

Cancellara falls big time and Lance speaks subtlety of Team not following plan i.e. Contador.

“Like I’ve said all along, my first obligation is to the team,”

I expect Contador to win the Tour, but pissing Lance off is not a good idea, especially this early in the race. Contador's job will be that much harder if the team is divided and Lance isn't supporting him.

I agree, it also doesn't help his cause if he wants to have a team built around him in the future.

[BlueHen86]

I expect Contador to win the Tour, but pissing Lance off is not a good idea, especially this early in the race. Contador's job will be that much harder if the team is divided and Lance isn't supporting him.

I agree, it also doesn't help his cause if he wants to have a team built around him in the future.

I wonder if we are misinterpreting Lance's remarks. Some of the reporters were questioning Lance as if it was a bad day for him. When Contador broke away Lance didn't respond. As a good teammate he did the right thing, if Lance tries to keep up with Contador he might also help Cadel Evans. I think Lance was trying to say that the reason he didn't take off after Contador was because he was being a good teammate.

[Grizo406]

Being a mountain bike rider and fan, I can't help but think from seeing this pic, that these guys look to be way too big for the bikes that they are riding...

[dbackjon]

Rest Day today.

Lance is in 3rd, 8 seconds off the lead
Levi Leipheimer is 4th, 39 seconds back.


3 Americans total in top 10

[ChetSteadman]

A Spanish newspaper reported today that there is speculation that Contador will jump ship next season and ride for a team to be started by F1's Fernando Alonso. He's been looking to leave Astana anyway, especially with the money troubles they had just before the TdF. With the Vino-Johan issue ahead, Astana will implode by the Vuelta. It wouldn't surprise me to see a another American team on the Pro Tour next season - called Livestrong. Lance, Levi, and bring up Tyler Phinney from the U23 squad, all run by Bruyneel.

[AZGrizFan]

Guy in the middle looks like he's wearing a Wonder Bread bag.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

[quote="SeattleGriz"]Spent a little time explaining why some riders are wearing different colored jerseys earlier in the thread. Now to go over the 4 jerseys that the riders fight over everyday in the tour. Somewhat of a race within the race event.

Below you see three of the four jerseys awarded daily amongst the riders. On the left, you have the yellow jersey worn by the man with the lowest overall time in the General Classification - also referred to as GC. Everyday, the stage winner gets a yellow jersey, but unless you also have the lowest cumulative time, you don't get to wear it during the race.

In the middle, is the polka dot jersey worn by the leader of the Mountains Classification. I will talk more about this before the course profile picture below.

On the right, is the green sprinters jersey worn by the leader of the Sprints Classification. More about this below.



Thanks for the explanation. Now, can you tell me why the bike riding tools that are backing up traffic on the roads dress like these guys?

[AZGrizFan]

Thanks for the explanation. Now, can you tell me why the bike riding tools that are backing up traffic on the roads dress like these guys?

Because they all dream of getting teabagged by Lance.

[SeattleGriz]

Thanks for the explanation. Now, can you tell me why the bike riding tools that are backing up traffic on the roads dress like these guys?

Too bad you can't run their azzes over. The rule of the road says a bicycle must ride as far to the right unless they are doing the speed limit. I have seen guys ride two and three abreast and then act like aholes when a driver gives them crap.

Hell, the other day I was riding at 28 (slight downhill) and hugging the white line in a 35 and saw the driver behind me would not pass. He was being polite, but I still pulled off in a driveway and let him pass because he was holding up three other cars. That is the last thing I need, is some PO'ed guy in a car driving me off the road because I held up traffic. Never does any good to be a dick to cars. I wish some cyclists would stop doing stupid crap.

As for emulating the pros by wearing replica jerseys, I personally like the guys who wear the mountain climber jersey and can't climb for sh!t.

[SeattleGriz]

Guy in the middle looks like he's wearing a Wonder Bread bag.

I actually had a loaf of bread thrown at me once while riding in Montana. It was wheat.

[SeattleGriz]

A Spanish newspaper reported today that there is speculation that Contador will jump ship next season and ride for a team to be started by F1's Fernando Alonso. He's been looking to leave Astana anyway, especially with the money troubles they had just before the TdF. With the Vino-Johan issue ahead, Astana will implode by the Vuelta. It wouldn't surprise me to see a another American team on the Pro Tour next season - called Livestrong. Lance, Levi, and bring up Tyler Phinney from the U23 squad, all run by Bruyneel.

Could well be. I heard during the Tour of Italy that Astana was not paying the riders back then and Lance was interested in buying the team.

Hell, a professional cycling team would be a great write off for the Livestrong foundation.

On a side note, my son Davis is named after Phinneys father.

[T-Dog]

I just saw this guy on TV. His horns are freaking huge

[SeattleGriz]

I just saw this guy on TV. His horns are freaking huge

He will usually change outfits for the different American riders. So far I have only seen him wear one Texas' colors for Lance and Montanas for Levi.

[T-Dog]

I like how Versus just doesn't give a damn about the flat stages. The race started at 6:55 and their pre-show doesn't start until 8:30 and the race coverage at 9:00, when the race is more than halfway over. But for the Alps stages, their coverage begins at 6:30, right around when the race starts (except for Stage 20, when it begins at 7:00 because the only major climb is Mount Ventoux, which is the final 22 km)