Tour de France 2009

[Redbacks]

Sean Kelly annoyingly starts every sentence "Well, yes, certainly..." very irritating. The main bloke is gun, but Kelly is dire.

It all gets a bit annoying with their constant talking up of the breakaways etc. even when it seems pretty obvoius they will get caught and it means zilch to the overall picture most of the time. After a few hours I guess it would be hard not to dribble **** or just repeat the same things again and again. Nothing more annoying than all the French riders that go in breakaways to get on TV and then disappear for the rest of the tour.

 

[biased indian]

in yesterdays round even if you dont finish do you get your team mates time ???

 

[Magrat Garlick]

in yesterdays round even if you dont finish do you get your team mates time ???

No.

The first group gets the time of the fifth rider to cross the line; the rest of the team get the time they finished in. If you don't finish, you can't start tomorrow.

 

[biased indian]

oh ic

 

[Craig]

As much as the course was technical, Cadel Evans and his team should of done what Astana, Saxo Vank, Garmin, and Columbia did and went out and did a recce of the course a few times last week. Same for Rabobank.

I guess it shows Cadel won't ever win the Tour.

 

[Jamee999]

Can't quite look past Contador for the time being, though I reckon Leipheimer has a pretty good outside chance. Can't wait till the Ventoux stage, should be an absolute ripper.

Anyone else think that Shaun Kelly is deadset the worst commentator going? You can barely understand his extremely boring voice and I seriously can't remember the last time that he said something insightful or interesting, espeically considering he has ridden the tour several times. Reckon the rest of them are awesome though.

I have been attempting to watch on German Eurosport. The commentator speaking over an Armstrong\Cavendish interview in very loud German is very frustrating. I can only understand when they STFU:

 

[Chubb]

Well done Voeckler. When he was in yellow a few years back L'Equipe called him "le nouveau (Jacky) Durand", on which a Guardian journalist wrote "that's a bit like saying Tim Henman is the new Jeremy Bates".

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Well done Voeckler. When he was in yellow a few years back L'Equipe called him "le nouveau (Jacky) Durand", on which a Guardian journalist wrote "that's a bit like saying Tim Henman is the new Jeremy Bates".

I assume that Guardian journalist had never watched anything but Le Tour?

That said, it's a bit tiresome how the French hype their no-hopers every year.

 

[Matt79]

As much as the course was technical, Cadel Evans and his team should of done what Astana, Saxo Vank, Garmin, and Columbia did and went out and did a recce of the course a few times last week. Same for Rabobank.

I guess it shows Cadel won't ever win the Tour.

Is it him or his team? They never seem to have their **** together for him.

 

[Craig]

It was face palm worthy watching Ignatiev attack so many times with 6km to go. He basically put all his cards on the table and everybody was marking him. That is basic cycling racing tatics 101. Congratulations to Voeckler though, he was the smartest of the lot of them.

BTW Gesink is out with a fractured wrist.

 

[Craig]

Is it him or his team? They never seem to have their **** together for him.

I think a lot of it is his team's management. They sign the wrong guys, let go the guys they were meant to keep and make some baffling selections. I guess the good thing now is that if he wants to win, he will have to go on the attack in Andorra.

 

[Craig]

First year pro Brice Feillu of Agritubel takes the win in Andorra. Probably saved his team's arse as they need a new sponsor for next year. Italian Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2r takes the yellow jersey. Britian's Bradley Wiggins has a strong ride and keeps his spot in the top 10.

 

[Jono]

Alberto Contador

 

[Chubb]

I watched the highlights without knowing what had happened last night- a refreshing change- and when the breakaway hit the final slope I saw Brice Feillu at the back and thought he would be the first to drop back- he just didn't look good. The other major surprise was how well Bradley Wiggins rode the climb, though he himself seems unsure whether he can do the same in the Alps. If he could achieve his goal and finish in the top 20 it would be really exciting. It goes to show the work put in behind the scenes that people without satellite tv never get to see develop in other races.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

You have to admire Evans. Tries hard. In a break again, with Hushovd, Zabriskie and Wiggins.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Forget Contador, Wiggo was on fire yesterday, had the ride of his life. Fair play to Feillu though, took some series climbing to win that stage.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Stunned by Wiggins' ride yesterday. Every other cyclist in that group he finished with is a man who I would expect to be top-10 or thereabouts...

Evans, two Schlecks, Leipheimer, Armstrong, Martin, Menchov, Sastre, Karpets, Vandevelde - all quality. Stayed with the pace comfortably today, as well.

 

[PhoenixFire]

Obviously he is going to win the whole thing, would be shocked if he didn't. Reckon he should win the polka-dot jersey as well.

Gutted that Cavo is out of the Green, hopefully he can get back to owning everyone when we get out of the mountains.

 

[Craig]

I'm glad Hushovd has taken the green jersey, he seems like a lot more humble and modest then Cavendish who has grown a big mouth and a rather inflated ego. That and Hushovd is a lot more versitile then Cavendish is.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Obviously he is going to win the whole thing, would be shocked if he didn't. Reckon he should win the polka-dot jersey as well.

Gutted that Cavo is out of the Green, hopefully he can get back to owning everyone when we get out of the mountains.

Sooo...Manxmen are favourites, Welshmen scum of the earth?

Consistent.