Tour de France 2017

[Blobfish]

The Worlds most Famous cycle race begins today. The 2017 Tour de France. And runs for 23 days.

And while Americans might associate the Tour with the drug tainted Lance Armstrong. This years Tour is being shown Live on NBC
and has three American cycling racing teams : BMC RACING TEAM, CANNONDALE DRAPAC PROFESSIONAL CYCLING TEAM & Trek-Segafredo

A list of teams & riders in on this link. http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2017/us/teams.html

Australians will be cheering on the American BMC Racing team & Richard Porte , who is one of the lead riders in BMC.

However, the Cannondale Drapac Professional Cycling team from Boulder CO, is the one with most USA Riders in it.
http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2017/us/teams/cdt.html

Aside from Soccer (Football), Cycling is the second most popular sport in Europe.

And as you watch the race snake thru picturesque France, you will notice some fans getting really up & personal with the riders.
Which in my opinion is dangerous. But it is allowed.

Some fans watching from home incl Australia, jump on their exercycle (stationary bike) and cycle along while watching the race on their TV.

The Race starts in Dusseldorf Germany today (in 2 hours time).

Here is the official website http://www.letour.com/us/

[InfamousMMA]

Sounds awesome, although I believe people have mostly forgotten about the Lance Armstrong thing tbh..

[Othraerir]

poor velverde

durbridge also retired

[Blobfish]

poor velverde

durbridge also retired

Jezz that crash yesterday on stage 2 would have hurt.

1 falls down , then the Domino effect happens.. Richard Porte & Chris Froome both caught up in the crash..

BMC not in top 4 yet.. still a long way to go.

[Deleted]

To win you don't just have to be the best at cycling, you also have to be the best at acting and pretending you aren't on drugs.

[Blobfish]

To win you don't just have to be the best at cycling, you also have to be the best at acting and pretending you aren't on drugs.

Every cyclist these days has so many drug tests , that they would be caught out if they where now doing anything that gave them
any performance booster.

Some cyclists even used to do blood transfusions using their own blood because it contains more oxygen carrying haemoglobin.
But I believe they have stamped down on that trick now.

What wins the Tour de France for a cyclist is a good supportive team. Each team member has their own job to do.
And the rider that they nominate to be their tour winner is the cyclist the other team members protect.
Some team members will purposely bust their gut, to drag their nominated team member up thru the field
Others will drop back & grab water & food for their nominated team member.

Richard Porte (Aust) is the nominated Team member for BMC Racing. Chris Froome (Great Britain) is the nominated rider for Team Sky.

Team Sky is currently the number 1 placed team.

[Othraerir]

a mechanical can completely fuck you as well, no matter how good your form is, or a nasty crash like yesterday

[Djuntas]

We'll RIP Sagan, what a fucking joke...A sprint is deadly, just ask Cavendish, he's been there doing bad situations himself.

I lost a lot of interest in it now....

[Fonduset]

I think a disqualification is pretty harsh. Someone as popular as Sagan should have just been given a massive time penalty. Keeps him in the race and his fan base still engaging with the Tour. It is good news for Froome, bad news for cycling

[Deleted]

I think a disqualification is pretty harsh. Someone as popular as Sagan should have just been given a massive time penalty. Keeps him in the race and his fan base still engaging with the Tour. It is good news for Froome, bad news for cycling

Sagan isn't a contender for the GC, not sure how it's good news for Froome.

[Ranaas]

Every cyclist these days has so many drug tests , that they would be caught out if they where now doing anything that gave them
any performance booster.

Let me remind you, even armstrong himself is not caugth via anti-doping tests.

I still think the reason everybody think cyclists are doping is that it looks very in-humane to ride those mountains and long roads for 3 weeks, let alone a day when a normal man himself cant make 1 hour non-stop cycling.

Most of every other sport looks doable to me but cycling is like a self-inducted pain ride. This is also why I love it too much to have my yearly holiday into le-tour time!

[Djuntas]

I just hope Greiple gets his yearly win then now...Kittel will score 3 wins calling it here. Maybe the crybaby will win on champ de elysees

PS: Sagan will now never beat Zabels green jersey record because of this. Its over Im afraid...Okay this guy was on all the drugs 100%, but yea...still...bye record.

[Fonduset]

Sagan isn't a contender for the GC, not sure how it's good news for Froome.

I'm quite new to the sport and actually trying to follow it. I just heard commentators saying how good a cyclist he is and compared it to Froome. The knowlege will eventially come

[Deleted]

I'm quite new to the sport and actually trying to follow it. I just heard commentators saying how good a cyclist he is and compared it to Froome. The knowlege will eventially come

Sagan is a very good cyclist, but his style is very different. He can win sprints, and does a fantastic job of collecting points, he's single-handedly taken what was traditionally the sprinter's green jersey into his own, because nobody can really match his skillset. However he's not got enough to win in the mountains or time trials, which is where the GC is really won.

[Gorsameth]

I think a disqualification is pretty harsh. Someone as popular as Sagan should have just been given a massive time penalty. Keeps him in the race and his fan base still engaging with the Tour. It is good news for Froome, bad news for cycling

Popularity should have no influence at all in whether or not he is disqualified.

We'll RIP Sagan, what a fucking joke...A sprint is deadly, just ask Cavendish, he's been there doing bad situations himself.
.

Correct, but then I also think Cavendish should have been DQ'ed multiple times in previous tours.

[Deleted]

Cav has withdrawn. Massively disappointing. 33 next time around, I'll be gutted if he doesn't break Merckx' record.

[Blobfish]

You can see the Elbow that Sagan gives to Cavendish in the final sprint here.
Pretty nasty stuff.. Also bought down German rider John Degenkolb


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-0...endish/8679374


Slovakian Sagan elbowed Cavendish off balance as the Briton was trying to force his way between him and the safety barrier, and Cavendish was sent crashing heavily.

His Dimension Data team said the Briton was going to the hospital to have checks on his wrist and collarbone.

"Peter Sagan is disqualified from the 2017 Tour de France after today's tumultuous sprint in Vittel," race jury president Philippe Marien told reporters.

He cited Article 12 of the International Cycling Union (UCI) rules, which states that any rider making a wilful obstruction "against one of the first 10 riders placed" faces elimination.

In 2010, Cavendish's then lead-out man Mark Renshaw of Australia was kicked out of the race for headbutting New Zealand's Julian Dean in a sprint.

Cavendish, wearing a sling, said: "I get on with Peter well … if he came across it's one thing, but the elbow …

"I'm not a fan of him putting his elbow in me like that. A crash is a crash. I'd just like to know about the elbow, really. I'd just like to speak to him about it."

Sagan, who later went to Cavendish's team bus to apologise, added: "He was coming from behind, I did not have time to react and go left."

[RH92]

Am I retarded or blind? I see no elbow knocking him down.

Cavendish went for risky overtake, lost balance and leaned on Sagan. Sagan sticks out elbow to regain his own balance AFTER Cavendish starts to fall.

Watch different angle:

[Blobfish]

Am I retarded or blind? I see no elbow knocking him down.

Cavendish went for risky overtake, lost balance and leaned on Sagan. Sagan sticks out elbow to regain his own balance AFTER Cavendish starts to fall.

Watch different angle:

WOW you are right.. Looks totally different from the head on shot
And it does look like Cavendish was trying for a sneaky run up the inside.

[Othraerir]

cavendish is a piece of shit, cuts people off all the time.

he could have slowed down slightly, there wasn't any room there.

the reason sagan wins the green all the time is because he can climb mountains better than any of the other sprinters, and there's some intermediate sprint points now on offer which he collects without competition.

he has also won the tour of california, although it isn't anything like the 3 grand tours