[OT] Any Tour de France Fans out there?

[EOL]

As anyone who knows me can attest to, my tastes are very refined. Sophisticated, urbane, cosmopolitan, intellectual and labyrinthine are the adjectives most often used to describe me. So when it comes to sports only one has the sophistication, the elegance and the beauty to match my exacting aesthetics, cycling. On saturday the most popular yearly sporting event will begin anew, the Tour De France!!

Okay the above was mostly hot air. I like cycling because it's one of the few sports that a 5'7" skinny guy has an outside chance of being any good at. Based on what I know of the demographics of this board I can't be the only pale, uncoordinated, skinny short guy out there so I posted this thread to see if there were any other Tour fans out there and maybe get a discussion going.

As the result of a hubristic moment of weakness I made a bet which now requires me to name the podium finishers for the upcoming tour. (I don't have to get them in order.) I'm leaning towards Armstrong, Beloki and Hamilton. Anybody out there want to hazard their own guesses? Or try and talk me out of mine?

 

[EOL]

Wow five whole views!! I guess the answer to the question posed by the thread is a resounding no, and to think I was even considering starting a contest... In any event maybe the European crowd coming on line now will show more interest.

 

[johnsemlak]

Yes

I'll be watching a good bit of it live.

I figure with Jan Ulrich out Beloki is the only serious competition, and in the end Armstrong will run away with it unless he has real problems.

The Green jersey should be much more interesting, I suppose. I hope Stewart O'Grady wins it.

 

[DerianCypher]

isn't it the tour de freedom?

okay.. okay... *whips out flame retardent shield and hides*

DC

 

[Malicene]

Yep ! a French guy ! : Me
problem : don't care about Tour de France
another problem : Really don't care about Cycling !

IMO Fausto Coppi should win this year

Tour de France even come to Marseille this year.....

 

[Mark]

I like cycling because it's one of the few sports that a 5'7" skinny guy has an outside chance of being any good at.

You could take up golf, I suppose.

Good luck with your bet!

 

[GamerMan12]

Hi,
Yes I am also a keen Tour fan. I like cycling, but I am an ex-sprinter and cycling or spinning are the best aerobic exercises that do not put excessive shock/strain on knee and ankle joints.

I am an Australian and this year there are at 6 maybe 7 Aussies on the Tour - a record.

I agree with you that Armstrong should finish on the podium, but not sure about the other 2.
I haven't studied the whole field yet.

I am looking forward to reading the 3.5 manuals whilst the tour is on.

GamerMan12

 

[Zarrock God of Evil]

Yeah, I find myself watching it (not with the same gusto as soccer but still), even though I usually only watch the time trials and the mountain etapes where the big boys start doing their thing.

It's quite popular in Denmark, though....

-Zarrock

 

[EOL]

That's a little better.

I figure with Jan Ulrich out Beloki is the only serious competition, and in the end Armstrong will run away with it unless he has real problems.

Well Ullrich isn't exactly out, but he is coming off a suspension, the first team he signed with went bankrupt and had to be reformed as another team, and his girlfriend had a baby yesterday (though that could be a positive thing). I'd still be inclined to give him the nod (he's never finished lower than second) but he has said himself that he doesn't think he has the form to be a GC contender, and is just looking for stage wins.

The Green jersey should be much more interesting, I suppose. I hope Stewart O'Grady wins it.

I agree Zabel still can't be counted out, and O'Grady has said this is his year, but if Robbie McEwen looks anything like he did at the Giro I think he'll probably repeat.

IMO Fausto Coppi should win this year

Okay since he died in 1960, I'm guessing he's not going to rise from the dead and compete, though that would be just the kind of thing to get a D&D player interested.

Originally posted by Mark
You could take up golf, I suppose.

Except for the fact that it requires hand-eye-coordination another talent I seem to have missed out on. BTW I was sorry to hear that you're not going to be at GenCon, I was looking forward to meeting you.

Originally posted by GamerMan12
I am an Australian and this year there are at 6 maybe 7 Aussies on the Tour - a record.

I had heard there was a record number of Australians. Interesting that there are so many Australians and so few Brits (only one I think, David Millar)

Originally posted by Zarrock, God of Evil
Yeah, I find myself watching it (not with the same gusto as soccer but still), even though I usually only watch the time trials and the mountain etapes where the big boys start doing their thing.

Yeah I agree the flat stages are not as interesting as the TTs or the mountain stages.

So do most Danish root for CSC?

 

[GamerMan12]

<snip>


I had heard there was a record number of Australians. Interesting that there are so many Australians and so few Brits (only one I think, David Millar)

After living in the UK for a few years, I think I can understand why there is only 1 Brit in the Tour.

First, is the low profile of all sports, except soccer (or football as they call it here) and the poor state of sports clubs and low priority of sport at school.

Then there is the high volume of road traffic, such that any cyclist is taking their life in their hands everytime they go on the road.
Around 10 people a day die on British roads, the majority being non-car users, that is, pedestrians and cyclists!

GamerMan12
An Aussie in the UK