Le Tour de France

Turtle84

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And the winner has been disqualified for doping!
 
How about a link to the doping nonsense ? Why start a TDF thread and pollute it in the 2nd post
 
Idk but I watch this thing almost every year. I think they've got the doping reduced down to a certain point like baseball now.

I expect Sagan to win many more stages and green jersey like usual. Thomas looked unbeatable last year in the overall for yellow.

Always the early wrecks that stage 1 crash looked bad, what the heck was the security guard doing on the inside of the fencing?

 
Team Jumbo FTW

Not sure what Mike's climbing capabilities are, but looks like the Dutchman will be a player for Yellow.
 
How about a link to the doping nonsense ? Why start a TDF thread and pollute it in the 2nd post
LMAO. I love the irony of this post so much. Why pollute any thread?
 
Why make up something that didn't happen in the second post ? The tour is a 21 day event, how can the winner be disqualified on the first day o_O:confused:
The post you are complaining about is satirical commentary on the dirty dirty history of the Tour de France. I wouldn't call it thread pollution at all... just commentary on the sport.

But the irony I mentioned is... look at *who* is complaining about thread pollution... LMAO.

Just for the record: I am opposed to all posts that are for the single purpose of thread pollution.
 
The post you are complaining about is satirical commentary on the dirty dirty history of the Tour de France. I wouldn't call it thread pollution at all... just commentary on the sport.

But the irony I mentioned is... look at *who* is complaining about thread pollution... LMAO.

Just for the record: I am opposed to all posts that are for the single purpose of thread pollution.




There is no 2019 winner of the TDF o_O:confused: Nobody forces you to read any of my posts, use the ignore button if you have an issue ... better yet, why not point out something in one of my posts that isn't accurate and discuss it ? There is so much more to bike racing than a handful of dirty riders.
 
Dang unfortunate he is possibly going out that way. His in the saddle climbing technique was unique.

Such a dangerous sport cycling is.


Froome is so much more than a climber, he is also a strong time trial rider and one of the best descenders in the business.
 
The post you are complaining about is satirical commentary on the dirty dirty history of the Tour de France. I wouldn't call it thread pollution at all... just commentary on the sport.

But the irony I mentioned is... look at *who* is complaining about thread pollution... LMAO.

Just for the record: I am opposed to all posts that are for the single purpose of thread pollution.

I agree. However, the "Tour" has a long way to go to overcome their reputation for doping. Are there "any" riders in the Tour that are not on something.
 
Froome is so much more than a climber, he is also a strong time trial rider and one of the best descenders in the business.

Yep, part of why he was strong in yellow. I was just noting his climbing style because it was different than most.
 
Article from last year on current state of doping and testing compared to year's past.

https://fansided.com/2018/07/07/tour-de-france-2018-big-problem-doping-cycling/

Froome had an investigation for his asthma medication levels back in 2017 that he was eventually cleared of.

Overall though, my thoughts are that I think it is less prevalent than it once was with more stringent testing and consequences known. I could be naive here, and there's new undetectable methods or alternatives, but I think they're making as much effort as possible to keep their sport clean at this point. As much as any other sport imo.
 
Article from last year on current state of doping and testing compared to year's past.

https://fansided.com/2018/07/07/tour-de-france-2018-big-problem-doping-cycling/

Froome had an investigation for his asthma medication levels back in 2017 that he was eventually cleared of.

Overall though, my thoughts are that I think it is less prevalent than it once was with more stringent testing and consequences known. I could be naive here, and there's new undetectable methods or alternatives, but I think they're making as much effort as possible to keep their sport clean at this point. As much as any other sport imo.



Froome's TDF stand in the books, unlike the POS Lance Armstrong. The riders are randomly tested now, even in the off season.
 
I agree. However, the "Tour" has a long way to go to overcome their reputation for doping. Are there "any" riders in the Tour that are not on something.


According to the strict governing body, yes there are 176 riders that started the tour this year. A McDonald's hamburger can blow a test and the riders get tested all year. Froome was subjected to a random and surprise test while on vacation in a hotel. Professional cycling as a whole has already came a long way. Lance Armstrong and I have the same number of TDF wins in the record book ......... NONE
 
I may have jumped the gun a tad on Teinussen and Team Jumbo lol. Kruicijsk looks like best chance for the Dutch and Jumbo.

Alaphilippe really strong climber and gutsy effort today, but can he maintain day to day? Thomas lurking in prime position with Bernal.

Sagan going green already.

 
The Tour de France is the only time during the year I actually watch cycling.
Jakob Fuglsang is my favorite for the overall win this year.
Sagan will win the green jersey again if he finishes the tour. No one was ever really close to him in the last 7 years.
I'd love to see André Greipel win another stage (his last stage win was in 2016) but he's already 35 and most of the sprinters are past their prime at that age.
 
The Tour de France is the only time during the year I actually watch cycling.
Jakob Fuglsang is my favorite for the overall win this year.
Sagan will win the green jersey again if he finishes the tour. No one was ever really close to him in the last 7 years.
I'd love to see André Greipel win another stage (his last stage win was in 2016) but he's already 35 and most of the sprinters are past their prime at that age.

Same. I may watch a tiny bit of the AMGEN Tour of California, but that's about it.
Fuglsang went down hard stage 1 in that crash, but seems okay. That was Lance's podcast pick for yellow.
Sagan is probably my favorite rider on the tour. His overall skills combined with his sprint ability is off the charts. Already a legend.
Haven't seen Greipel around yet, he was fast. Don't know the story on Cavendish either.

An Italian sprinter took stage 4 today...Sagan is human.
 
Same. I may watch a tiny bit of the AMGEN Tour of California, but that's about it.
Fuglsang went down hard stage 1 in that crash, but seems okay. That was Lance's podcast pick for yellow.
Sagan is probably my favorite rider on the tour. His overall skills combined with his sprint ability is off the charts. Already a legend.
Haven't seen Greipel around yet, he was fast. Don't know the story on Cavendish either.

An Italian sprinter took stage 4 today...Sagan is human.




Sagan is one of the most popular bike racers in the world, probably is the most popular actually.
Cavendish isn't racing this year in the tour
 
SAGAN! With the Hulk smash celebration. Gets swarmed by media right after, death stares the guy shoving a go-pro in his face then chuggs a drink. Love it.
 
Thomas answered the bell today. Alaphillipe looks absolutely spent, the effort he's put out the last hill stages have been a lot.
 
The Tour hs been quite good so far, especially yesterday's and today's stages were fun to watch.
Looks like we're gonna get a couple of sprint finishes tomorrow and on Wednesday before the Tour heads to the Pyrenees on Thursday.
Sagan didn't look that strong on the flat sprints, Colbrelli, Viviani and Groenewegen seem to have the advantage there.

Looking at the favorites for the yellow, Nibali is the only one who has struggled big time. I don't see Alaphilippe or Ciccone getting through.
Thomas has the advantage of having by far the best team around him. Ineos has no sprinters and I don't think they ever had a rider in a breakaway, they just focus on the yellow.
I still haven't given up on Fuglsang, though. Pinot looked really strong as well.
 
Darn it, I called it. Pinot, Fuglsang and several others lose almost two minutes on a flat stage.
Alaphilippe still over a minute out front, but Thomas and Bernal already in 2nd and 3rd.

Emanuel Buchmann is currently in 5th, but I don't think he can compete with Thomas and Bernal. If he ends up on the podium it would still be a sensation.
 
Darn it, I called it. Pinot, Fuglsang and several others lose almost two minutes on a flat stage.
Alaphilippe still over a minute out front, but Thomas and Bernal already in 2nd and 3rd.

Emanuel Buchmann is currently in 5th, but I don't think he can compete with Thomas and Bernal. If he ends up on the podium it would still be a sensation.



The mountains change everything, massive amounts of time can be gained or lost. The individual time trials can cause some problems as well.
 
WOW ALAPHILLIPE! Huge efforts by Julian, I thought for sure he would lose time today, but nope WINS THE TIME TRIAL. WOW. Gutsy gutsy performances by him this tour. I am stoked Team Ineos (Sky) is in a chase position heading into the big mountain stages. Alaphillipe should be very tough to crack on the climbs. This is gonna be fun..
 
I thought Alaphilippe would start losing his advantage over Thomas today, yet he increased it again. We have five mountain stages left that will decide everything. Alaphilippe is 86 seconds ahead, a gap which he can easily lose during one stage.
Porte, Pinot ,Kruijswijk and Uran all had a really good showing today. Buchmann and Fuglsang didn't lose too much either.
Was hoping they would've let time trial specialists like Tony Martin and Michal Kwaitkowski go at it today, but they were told not to got too fast by their tems...

Wout van Aert was on course to a Top 5 today but had a scary crash with 1 km to go and had to be hospitalized. Hope he's not injured too badly.
 
I thought Alaphilippe would start losing his advantage over Thomas today, yet he increased it again. We have five mountain stages left that will decide everything. Alaphilippe is 86 seconds ahead, a gap which he can easily lose during one stage.
Porte, Pinot ,Kruijswijk and Uran all had a really good showing today. Buchmann and Fuglsang didn't lose too much either.
Was hoping they would've let time trial specialists like Tony Martin and Michal Kwaitkowski go at it today, but they were told not to got too fast by their tems...

Wout van Aert was on course to a Top 5 today but had a scary crash with 1 km to go and had to be hospitalized. Hope he's not injured too badly.


Van Aert's tour is finished, he had to undergo surgery after his crash. It looks like he will probably recover nicely. Did you follow his Cyclo-Cross career ?
 
Alaphillipe looking very strong in the mountains after his time trial effort yesterday. Pulled even more time away from Thomas today. Did not think Thomas would be the one cracking in the mountains, very surprising. Still only 2/3rd's through but it's going to take something drastic to happen where Alaphillipe doesn't wind up winning yellow imo. He's too good of a climber, and won the polka-dot jersey last year.
 
Alaphillipe looking very strong in the mountains after his time trial effort yesterday. Pulled even more time away from Thomas today. Did not think Thomas would be the one cracking in the mountains, very surprising. Still only 2/3rd's through but it's going to take something drastic to happen where Alaphillipe doesn't wind up winning yellow imo. He's too good of a climber, and won the polka-dot jersey last year.
This Tour keeps surprising me. Thomas would've been the last one I expected to lose over half a minute today. Quintana is out of the hunt after losing more than 3 minutes.
Alaphilippe is two minutes ahead of Thomas, but a single bad day can ruin everything.
Buchmann, Kruijswijk, Pinot and Bernal are still looking strong. Bernal could go for the overall win if Thomas keeps losing time.
Valverde is more than 5 minutes back, Landa more than 6 minutes. I don't think Movistar can do anything for the overall ranking.

I'd love to see Alaphilippe winning it. The last time a Frenchman won the TdF was Bernard Hinault in 1985.

Van Aert's tour is finished, he had to undergo surgery after his crash. It looks like he will probably recover nicely. Did you follow his Cyclo-Cross career ?
No, I don't follow cyclo-cross and I barely watch cycling apart from the Tour and (sometimes) the Vuelta.
I didn't know van Aert's name before the Tour started.
 
This Tour keeps surprising me. Thomas would've been the last one I expected to lose over half a minute today. Quintana is out of the hunt after losing more than 3 minutes.
Alaphilippe is two minutes ahead of Thomas, but a single bad day can ruin everything.
Buchmann, Kruijswijk, Pinot and Bernal are still looking strong. Bernal could go for the overall win if Thomas keeps losing time.
Valverde is more than 5 minutes back, Landa more than 6 minutes. I don't think Movistar can do anything for the overall ranking.

I'd love to see Alaphilippe winning it. The last time a Frenchman won the TdF was Bernard Hinault in 1985.


No, I don't follow cyclo-cross and I barely watch cycling apart from the Tour and (sometimes) the Vuelta.
I didn't know van Aert's name before the Tour started.


If you get a chance to watch Cyclo-Cross when the season starts, it is very entertaining. the races only last about an hour, and the women's elite class is a fan favorite.
 
Another interesting stage today, Pinot finishes second to Simon Yates and seems to emerge as the new favorite for the overall win now.
Alaphilippe lost about half a minute to Thomas and Kruijswijk and almost a minute to Buchmann and Bernal but remains in the yellow. As Jean-Claude Leclercq said,he was hit by the hammerman today.
 
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