brownie Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 The Tour 2012 started yesterday with a prologue in the Belgian city of Liège, the city that was the birthplace of Bobby Jaspar and René Thomas. As expected Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara won the four-mile race through the city. It was his fifth Tour prologue victory. No real favorite in this year's Tour. Last year's winner, Australia's Cadel Evans, has a strong chance. So has Britain's Bradley Wiggins. Will watch the race on TV for the competition between the riders but mostly to enjoy the beautiful sceneries of La Belle France! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghost of miles Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 My girlfriend and her father are big fans and will be pulling me into watching the race along with them this year. Thanks for the Liege jazz factoids, Brownie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 I'll be cheering on Bradley. I'm a touch worried by the amount of hype here surrounding his chances. I can't qute see how anyone can such a favourite in such a gruelling event - British optimism methinks. Sure he's a strong contender and has ahd a very good year so far whether he wins or not I'll enjoy the spectacle and the sheer hardiness of the contestants Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed S Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 (edited) I'm looking forward to this year's tour. As mentioned above, there's no clear favorite. I follow several different cyclists and teams, so it will certainly keep my interest. Wiggins, Cadel, Schleck, Horner, Levi, Hejedal, van Garderen will be some of the GC guys I'll be keeping an eye on. Lots of really strong teams - BMC, Garmin, Radio Shack, Omega. I also like to keep an eye on some of the smaller underdog teams like Euskatel Euskadi, FDJ, Saur-Sojasun - it's nice to see some upsets. I'll be interested to see how Orica Greenedge doe in their first tour. I find this stuff compelling! I was happy to see Cancellara take the prologue. Maybe the win will allow Radio Shack Nissan to focus on racing. I'd like to see him hold the yellow for a few stages. The first week will be interesting. I wonder how Cavendish will do without his long time lead-out guys. Sagan's been having a great year. Some of Cav's former lead-out guys are top sprinters on their own teams. Farrar's somewhat of a wild card who might come into play if Cavendish falters. Like I said - very compelling. Looking forward to 3 weeks of fun and the biggest reason I started watching and continue to do so - the fantastic scenery. Edited July 1, 2012 by Ed Swinnich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 I'm looking forward to this year's tour. As mentioned above, there's no clear favorite. I follow several different cyclists and teams, so it will certainly keep my interest. Wiggins, Cadel, Schleck, Horner, Levi, Hejedal, van Garderen will be some of the GC guys I'll be keeping an eye on. Lots of really strong teams - BMC, Garmin, Radio Shack, Omega. I also like to keep an eye on some of the smaller underdog teams like Euskatel Euskadi, FDJ, Saur-Sojasun - it's nice to see some upsets. I'll be interested to see how Orica Greenedge doe in their first tour. I find this stuff compelling! I was happy to see Cancellara take the prologue. Maybe the win will allow Radio Shack Nissan to focus on racing. I'd like to see him hold the yellow for a few stages. The first week will be interesting. I wonder how Cavendish will do without his long time lead-out guys. Sagan's been having a great year. Some of Cav's former lead-out guys are top sprinters on their own teams. Farrar's somewhat of a wild card who might come into play if Cavendish falters. Like I said - very compelling. Looking forward to 3 weeks of fun and the biggest reason I started watching and continue to do so - the fantastic scenery. Interesting interview with Cavendish on TV yesterday where he said he wasn't expecting to dominate the sprints this year and would be happy just winning one of the sprint finishes because his and the team's emphasis was on the yellow jersey for Wiggins. Be interesting to see how this pans out as Cav's alwayse seemd so single-minded in pursuit of the green jersey but he must've known what the deal was when he joined Sky. Also, it appears generally accepted that he's focussing on Olympic glory later in the month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 I enjoyed this year's first stage. Glad to see it back. That last accident was quite avoIdable. The commentary is first rate as usual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 An great start, looks like it will be an exciting tour. I wouldn't be surprised to see Evans win again after his ride last year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 50 years ago: the 1962 Tour as seen by Louis Malle (and a crew of excellent cameramen): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVAknjyZW0g Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I'll be watching the tour on a TV in Paris for the next 8 days. Me, my wife & our two daughters leave today. I am hoping that the tour will keep a lot of the tourists out of Paris. I may catch John Scofield Thursday night. He's playing with his "Hollowbody Band". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 You won't be the only one in the city. Paris is already crowded by tourists who seem to outnumber the previous summers attendance records. They're everywhere! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 The Tour has been very dull so far The first stages have been for sprinters only. Several riders are allowed to 'show off the jersey' and run ahead of the pack until the last few kilometers where the sprinters take over to the finish line. Today's stage (from Rouen to Saint-Quentin) through more flat grounds should be another one of those. TV viewers can still enjoy the countryside! And the Tour still attracts crowds along the stages. Really impressive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Another crash-fest today: Fabian Cancellara (RadioShack-Nissan) made it through the crash unscathed and retained his overall lead. Ryder Hesjedal (Garmin-Sharp), Fränk Schleck (RadioShack), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) each lost between two and 15 minutes after being caught in the crash. Mountains start tomorrow, looking more and more like an Evans-Wiggins duel. I give the nod to Evans - despite Wiggins's great form of late, I'm just not comfortable rating him as the favorite. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeBop Posted July 7, 2012 Report Share Posted July 7, 2012 I'm not following the Tour this year (this century), but I learned through a mutual friend that Bradley Wiggins is in Yellow. This is nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 Exciting finish today I thought as with the first mountain finish. Let's see how Csdel Evans responds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 All it took was the mountain climb in the last 6 kilometers of the 7th stage to clear things with Bradley Wiggins taking overall charges of the Tour in the beautifully named ski station of La Planche des Belles Filles. Wonder if the Tour is already over. Wiggins will surely make good use of his Sky team to ride all the way with his yellow jersey to the final stage in Paris. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 You might be right. Can Evans attack Wiggins? On this evidence, probably not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 Great finish today by the young French rider. Great elation in France I'm sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 22-year old Thibaut Pinot is the kind of young rider France has been hoping for for years. Hope he will mature into a fine all-around cycling champion. He was great to watch! Yesterday's stage turned out to be the best one so far. Today's timelap will surely see Wiggins accentuate his lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Nice riide by Brad Wiggins today. Bet he's pleased with the gap he's got over Evans. Enjoyed his press conference performance from yesterday too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Bradley Wiggins and the Sky team continue to lead the Tour de France. Much talk nowadays about one of their 'secret' weapons, the French-designed flattened chainrings Osymetric It looks like proper use of brain science (not the chemical type) boosts the riders' capacities! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 Interesting discussion of the chainrings on UK TV coverage the other day. Chris Boardman highlighting pros and cons and asking if Schleck's chain problems last year were caused by these. Yesterday was a fascinating watch and I think Sky's 'secret' weapon was Chris Froome - he looked like he could have left everyone standing if he hadn't had to nurse Bradley. Not looking good for Evans now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted July 13, 2012 Report Share Posted July 13, 2012 (edited) Interesting discussion of the chainrings on UK TV coverage the other day. Chris Boardman highlighting pros and cons and asking if Schleck's chain problems last year were caused by these. Yesterday was a fascinating watch and I think Sky's 'secret' weapon was Chris Froome - he looked like he could have left everyone standing if he hadn't had to nurse Bradley. Not looking good for Evans now Yeah, Froome (born in Nairobi!) looks incredibly strong. The journalists (and others, e.g. Bjarne Riis) will now go crazy trying to create controversy à la Hinault-LeMond '85-86. Might be something to it, going from last year's Vuelta. Edited July 13, 2012 by T.D. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Interesting interview with Bradley Wiggins in yesterday's The Guardian Wiggins interview Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Interesting interview with Bradley Wiggins in yesterday's The Guardian Wiggins interview Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 14, 2012 Report Share Posted July 14, 2012 Interesting interview with Bradley Wiggins in yesterday's The Guardian Wiggins interview not quite as entertaining as the recent press conference but probably gets the message across better... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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