[OT] Any Tour de France Fans out there?

[EOL]

The race has been pretty exciting so far but certainly the majority of the decisive stages are yet to come. In some sense it's an effect of the last four years when it seemed like the tour was decided on the first mountain stage. We still have both time trials two of the three mountain top finishes and four of the seven mountain stages. There's a lot of racing left, hopefully it will be as exciting as what's gone before.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

TdF newbie here:


I just started watching with stage 6. Today's stage was less exciting than the past several, but man, I am hooked ! This is very exciting stuff, full of strategy I would never have imagined.

Day off then time trials, right? Anyone care to explain how those work? I'm guessing they stagger the start times so that you cannot act as a unit or utilize the "team" strategy...

I'll need some help understanding "bonus time" too. Is this just a reward for placing in a stage?

TIA

 

[d20Dwarf]

I guess the big reason I can't get into the race is that all the big news over the last couple of days has been Lance's "harrowing trial" when he had to veer into a meadow to avoid someone that wiped out in front of him.

WOOHOO!!!!!! SLAM DUNK!

 

[Christian Walker]

TdF newbie here:

Day off then time trials, right? Anyone care to explain how those work? I'm guessing they stagger the start times so that you cannot act as a unit or utilize the "team" strategy...

I'll need some help understanding "bonus time" too. Is this just a reward for placing in a stage?

TIA

Hiya!

For the time trial, the order of start will be based upon current place in the Tour. So, last place goes first, then they work backwards all the way to first place. Each rider is staggered by a few minutes and no drafting is allowed in the event that a rider catches another.

Going last is a great advantage because the rider (lance) will know exactly how fast he needs to go to win.

Bonus time is awarded at the finish, as an extra incentive to ride real freaking hard. There are also time bonuses at the various points along the stage to encourage the riders to mix it up a bit.

Enjoy the tour!

 

[Zarrock God of Evil]

Woohoo! First Danish victory on an etape since the Golden year of 1996 (with Danish etapé winners as well as the overall victory to Bjarne Riis). Good work Piil and it places Team CSC at number 1 in the Team Competition.

-Zarrock

 

[Christian Walker]

I guess the big reason I can't get into the race is that all the big news over the last couple of days has been Lance's "harrowing trial" when he had to veer into a meadow to avoid someone that wiped out in front of him.

WOOHOO!!!!!! SLAM DUNK!

I think there are some great stories in this tour, all of which make for compelling television.

Tyler Hamilton is riding (well) with a double fracture of the right clavicle. It's amazing how well he is doing, despite the intense pain.

Beloki's crash was devastating. The man had staked everything on this tour and to go out with such punishing injuries is a tragedy, and a blow to the Once squad.

Lance, for the first time, is vulnerable, so it's exciting to see all those who have ridden in his shadow for the past 4 years come out on the attack.

Ulrich is on a road to redemption and it's interesting to watch this big, silent man, wondering what he has in store.

The USPS is riding, as a whole, better than any american team (motorola, 7 11). It's awesome to see them with 9 guys intact, controlling each stage.

So I would have to disagree and say that it's been a great tour and I'm thinking it's going to get better.

 

[johnsemlak]

Agreed, it does look like this tour has a few surprises left. Certainly, it seems the podium could be a little different than in past years. Beloki's out, and I'm guessing Ullrich won't be on it.

Anyone want to revise their podium picks?

I'm thinking...

1. Lance
2. Vinokourov
3. Hamilton

Mayo should loos a lot on the time trial. I'm not convinced Ullrich will get stronger, with the problems he's had in the past year. I should be saying the same thing about Hamilton, that fracture has got to be killing him, but he's proven everyone wrong so far so I'll stick with him.

 

[johnsemlak]

Speaking of excitement, the green jersey should still provide lots. At least six people are in the running, though several of the chief competitors will have to struggle to remain in the race at all. I've heard the commentators say McEwan might be in danger of not making the cuttoff time.

 

[EOL]

I guess the big reason I can't get into the race is that all the big news over the last couple of days has been Lance's "harrowing trial" when he had to veer into a meadow to avoid someone that wiped out in front of him.

WOOHOO!!!!!! SLAM DUNK!

I'm not sure I've heard it characterized as a "harrowing trial" anywhere in the news, and I definitely read more TdF news than is healthy. I think mostly what everone is talking about is his amazing luck. It's not everyday that you see the yellow jersey riding across a field, most people who have gone off the road have not ridden out the other side, and not puncturing is equally, insanely lucky.

But most of all if he hadn't avoided the crash he could have been right next to Beloki with his own broken femur and that would have been a "harrowing trial".

And in any event aren't you from Texas? Aren't you required by law to like Lance?

But yeah as Christian said there are all sorts of stories other than Lance. I'm particularly interested in Hamilton's finish in Paris.

As far as new podium picks I'm going:

1. Armstrong
2. Ullrich
3. Hamilton

I think Vino is a good time trialer, but not a fantastic one. Tyler on the other hand is well known for being a great time trialer, but Ullrich claims he was sick with a fever on Alpe d'Huez, and it's tough to not give a podium spot who's never started a Tour without ending up on the podium. Also he's a monster time trialer.

 

[johnsemlak]

OK, I've got a question on the scoring of points for the green jersey...

On Thursday Baden Cook started in the lead with 140 pts. He didn't receive any points in either the intermediate sprints,a nd he finished 10th on the stage.

He somehow ended up with 156 points after the stage. How?