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Tour de France 2014 |OT| Riding Around 101

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B

bobnowhere

Member
Lach said:
Yep, looks like it from the slomo. Way too aggressive
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I was kind of being polite in my last post, Cav's move was absolutely-fucking ridiculous and the sort of move that can get you chucked in many races. He got himself caught in the pack as Gerrans went past decided to bash his way out.

Hope Gerrans is alright.
 
I

Incognito

Troll
Cav did the same thing last year at the TDF, leaning into a rider during a sprint and causing a crash.

and by 'lean', i mean basically thrusting his body into another rider.
 
I

Incognito

Troll
and OQPS basically brought its sprint team built around Cav, excepting Kwiatkwoski who has been quite good this season and has a legit shot at a top 10 or higher. now they're truly boned if Cav is done for.
 
S

someday

Banned
Ah, the one tour that NBCSports actually does well. They actually showed the entire stage today for the first time ever, which was great. Unfortunately it was 3AM for me but I did what I could.

I wanted a Cav win today but looks like he caused his own bad luck. It looks like he didn't break anything though so I wonder if he'll be back tomorrow.

Add me to #TeamContador. Hell, add me to #TeamAnybodyButFroome. He's an amazing cyclist but I am very tired of the Sky train.
 
W

Wax Free Vanilla

Member
ITV ‏@ITV 12m

Cavendish update #TDF RT @itvcycling: Cav has dislocated right shoulder: http://www.itv.com/tourdefrance/tour-medical-report-cavendish-has-dislocated-shoulder …


That Buttertubs climb crowd was nuts:

gwrdkp.gif


I hope it's sunny tomorrow and the Holme Moss climb is the same and totally jam packed because I'll be on there

holme-moss.jpg
 
S

someday

Banned
Statement from Cavendish taking responsibility for the crash:
"I'm gutted about the crash today" Cavendish said. "It was my fault. I'll personally apologise to Simon Gerrans as soon as I get the chance. In reality, I tried to find a gap that wasn't really there .I wanted to win today, I felt really strong and in a great position to contest the sprint thanks to the unbelievable efforts of my team. Sorry to all the fans that came out to support - it was truly incredible."
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I got this from cyclingnews.com.
 
W

Wes

venison crêpe
Crowds were amazing yesterday. 240,000 on the streets of Leeds! Just seemed so deep all around the course.

Hope for more of the same today. Like the lots of little climbs today. Might break it up a little - hopefully!
 
L

Linkinito

Member
Cavendish withdraws from the race. His shoulder causes him too much pain.

Anyway, here's the terrifying stage 2, considered by many as one of the best opening weekend stages in any Grand Tour:
Tour-de-France-Stage-2-1400751066.png

Nine categorized climbs (and that's not counting the five or six uncategorized ones!), including the northernmost 2nd category climb of all time, Holme Moss. This stage as a whole is like a shorter Liège-Bastogne-Liège. 3200 meters of elevation gain. The equivalent of a medium mountain stage.

By the way british people are laughing at all the "Côtes" names

To compare, here's the profile of Liège-Bastogne-Liège :
liegebastogneliegeprofile.png
 
Tieno

Tieno

Member
Linkinito said:
Cavendish withdraws from the race. His shoulder causes him too much pain.

Anyway, here's the terrifying stage 2, considered by many as one of the best opening weekend stages in any Grand Tour:
Tour-de-France-Stage-2-1400751066.png

Nine categorized climbs (and that's not counting the five or six uncategorized ones!), including the northernmost 2nd category climb of all time, Holme Moss. This stage as a whole is like a shorter Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

By the way british people are laughing at all the "Côtes" names
Click to expand...

WOW
 
O

ozfunghi

Member
Incognito said:
and OQPS basically brought its sprint team built around Cav, excepting Kwiatkwoski who has been quite good this season and has a legit shot at a top 10 or higher. now they're truly boned if Cav is done for.
Click to expand...

This is always the problem with these dumbass Belgian teams. They have a GC contender for top 5, but not good enough to win, so they basically leave those guys to figure it out on their own, and put everything on a sprinter (Cavendish, Greipel, before that, Boonen, McEwen etc...). Meaning guys like Kwiatkowski or Van Den Broeck (who finished 4th the last two times he got to Paris) only get maybe one 3rd tier helper. While other guys who are also fighting for third place and down, get entire squad at their disposal.
 
J

Joni

Member
ozfunghi said:
This is always the problem with these dumbass Belgian teams. They have a GC contender for top 5, but not good enough to win, so they basically leave those guys to figure it out on their own, and put everything on a sprinter (Cavendish, Greipel, before that, Boonen, McEwen etc...). Meaning guys like Kwiatkowski or Van Den Broeck (who finished 4th the last two times he got to Paris) only get maybe one 3rd tier helper. While other guys who are also fighting for third place and down, get entire squad at their disposal.
Click to expand...

It gets them a lot more exposure though compared to those other teams. OPQS also has always been a sprinter team in the big rounds, so it makes sense for them to focus there instead of going all-out for a third place which has a very low ROI.
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
Just turned on today's stage. Did I miss anything besides Cavendish pulling out?


US announcers: oh look, everyone is gearing up for something on this climb. Heys let's go to commercial. :(
 
K

kottila

Member
Small lead group now after garmin set up the tempo earlier. Two hills left, one in 5km and the last 5km from the finish. Real steep climbs, looks like this can be a great stage
 
K

kottila

Member
Nibali's "fast as a shark". Good for him that he dosen't have to ride around in that awful italian champs jersey any longer
 
J

JonathanEx

Member
Went to see this today, just outside Meadowhall. So not as crowded as the finish itself - and only two or three people deep on the road so you got a good look, but the crowds went on for a really good amount.

ctsz4LB.jpg


Also good as it was when everyone started to get spread out you got a good number going by making it well worth hanging round for, not just one quick flash of colour.


outunderthestars said:
God. Sheffield is a dreary looking town. So many abandoned lots, burnt out buildings, etc.
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It's one of those places where you can really tell where the money's gone. And they've done a good job there. And then you can tell where it hasn't.
 
B

BriareosGAF

Member
Always see these a day late due to 'Murika and time zones. Eesh, the build up they made for that sprint for Cav: the local boy, the Royals, the first stage sprinter getting the maillot jaune for once, etc. And then that finish, oy. I saw Gerrans in the post race interview and he looked barely touched. That attack by Cancellara at the end was super fun too. Exciting start! Death to Froome!
 
I

Incognito

Troll
Rode 4 hrs today and came home to catch up the recording of stage 2 and what a stage! Talk about a thinning of the herd, practically anyone worth their salt and hoping to podium finished seconds behind Nibali. Was surprised at first that no one seemed eager to bring back Nibali although Froome seemed insistent, but I guess the main GC guys were not gonna be caught out with Sagan and having the pressure and responsibility of the yellow after day 2. Astana gonna be doing a lot of work the next few days... stage 5 is going to be epic.

Also, re: OPQQ and Kwiatkowski, I was definitely surprised to see him in that main group with the other GC guys, but I guess I shouldn't have been. This stage seem perfectely tailored for them given their success in the classics, so it'll be interesting to see how they hold up when the real hills make their appearance.

And the crowds continue to amaze.
 
A

Atrophis

Member
I was at the stage yesteday. Spent a few hours in the fan park near Don Valley so I got to watch most of the racing. Then went down to the finish line (was at the 25m marker) but it was packed so I didn't really get a good view. Saw Nibali's back as he flashed past. After the leaders came in the crowd thinned and I got a better view of the rest of the field slowly making it home. All of my photos are shit though :(

Such an awesome atmosphere at the finish. Also saw a couple of the podium presentations, saw Boardman and Miller presenting for ITV and all the team cars and buses behind the finish line.

Journey home was pretty damn tiring even though I only had to make it back to Nottingham. Was worth it though. With the size of these crowds I'm sure it won't be long before it the tour returns to the UK.
 
K

kottila

Member
Atrophis said:
After the leaders came in the crowd thinned and I got a better view of the rest of the field slowly making it home. All of my photos are shit though :.
Click to expand...

People should really spend more time watching the event and less time trying to photograph it. There will be hundreds of pictures, much better than yours, online within minutes,
I did the same thing when I saw the tour
 
S

Shanks D Zoro

Banned
Can't believe I missed by boy Nibali's victory. I feel this is gonna be his year. Peaking just at the right moment. I am very surprised that he went for the race lead on only day 2. Will be interesting to see if Astana try and keep the lead or let someone else control the race for the first half.
 
S

speedpop

Has problems recognising girls
Christ I forgot it started. The in-laws are staying for 2 weeks so the shit is hitting the fan regarding a clean house and everything else. I've been out in the yard landscaping the shit out of it for the past two days so I've completely forgotten about the tour.

Was going to have a hard time staying awake and switching channels in bed between this and Wimbledon. Thank fuck the WC semi-finals start at 6am - I couldn't handle the 2am matches.
 
R

RickD

Member
Went to see this in Skipton on Saturday. Fantastic atmosphere, especially all the interaction with all the Police and Gendarmerie. They definitely did a really good job organising it all, the "Tour Makers" were great and the crowd was fantastic. Even Northern rail did a good job putting on extra trains (yes, really!)

We had to shut our site and Invoke DR on the Sunday as they closed most of the roads in Huddersfield, but it was worth it just for the experience and atmosphere.
 
G

GamePnoy74

Member
Dang...Marcel Kittel looks like the Ivan Drago of cycling, yo. Lol. Congrats to him on the first and third stages.

Nice to see my boy Peter Sagan keeping it close even though he doesn't have the yellow jersey or won a stage (yet).
 
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