brownie Posted July 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Today's stage takes the riders through beautiful countryside including a very quick visit to Marciac, site of the annual jazz festival (it starts on July 27). Not sure the camera will zoom in on the statue of Wynton Marsalis outside the local city hall! Marciac is some 60 kilometers from the finish line (for those who watch the Tour live!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soulstation1 Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Saw that some guy threw tacks on the course and ~25 riders got flat tires Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clunky Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 (edited) I've been watching the Tour with greater than usual interest year. Having fallen off my bike last year on the Aubisque with serious consequences that I'm still living with, I take my hat off to the skill of the Tour riders. The day after my fall I managed the Tourmalet, Aspin and Peyresourde despite having lost some power in my left hand. The tortuous descent of the Peyresourde in the mist and rain was nearly the end of me. I hope none of the riders fall off on Wednesday. Edited July 21, 2012 by Clunky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Bresnahan Posted July 16, 2012 Report Share Posted July 16, 2012 Today's stage takes the riders through beautiful countryside including a very quick visit to Marciac, site of the annual jazz festival (it starts on July 27). Not sure the camera will zoom in on the statue of Wynton Marsalis outside the local city hall! Marciac is some 60 kilometers from the finish line (for those who watch the Tour live!). If I never see the town of Marciac again, it will be too soon. What a crappy Jazz festival (the year I went). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted July 17, 2012 Report Share Posted July 17, 2012 Today's Tour ended in Pau, a wonderful little town that I visited on business a couple of times. Hope to get back there someday. It's not that far from Spain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 18, 2012 Report Share Posted July 18, 2012 Another good day for Wiggins. Still looking comfortable and dealing with the challenges from Nibali so far. One more mountain stage to get through unscathed and he'll be looking set for the time trial. Evans looks nearly beaten now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Two more days to go... This Tour has turned out to be a boring experience. Wiggins will win - the first British rider ever to win the race - because he probably is the best with the best team but what a cautious leader he became after securing the yellow jersey. Never took a chance. Remained carefully in the close vicinity of his top rivals. Too bad his teammate Chris Froome was not allowed to take his chance. He looked in even better shape than Wiggins in the mountain stages. In any case, Wiggins is bound to win tomorrow's timetrial (one of his specialties) before riding to Paris for the final stage on Sunday. Doubt that he will become a hero outside Britain! Hopefully next year's Tour (maybe with Froome in the lead of the Sky team!) will be livelier! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Congratulations to Wiggins and Sky, which was the dominant team. Froome had an untimely puncture late in Stage 1 (!) and lost 1:25, without which the Tour could have gotten really interesting. I'd like to see him get a chance as leader. Too bad about the doping controversies (Di Gregorio and Schleck), but I guess that's part of the sport... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKE BBB Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 Most boring edition in decades! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T.D. Posted July 20, 2012 Report Share Posted July 20, 2012 At least since the Indurain years. Disclosure: I'm a big fan of Indurain, but he won in the same style (slaughter 'em in the ITT and keep pace in the mountains), and it got boring after a while. Surprised not to see more bold mountain attacks, but the USPS->Sky team strategy of setting such a killing pace that the "pure climbers" have no energy left to attack seems to have taken over. Granted, that takes a super-strong team (Sky) and perhaps heavy medico-chemical assistance (USPS )... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) Wiggins will win - the first British rider ever to win the race And 'Amen' to that - we've waited long enough. Barring a catastrophe tomorrow, this will be one of the very best UK sporting achievements, bar none. It's been nearly 50 years since Tom Simpson (I vaguely remember his tragic death being big news all those years ago) and some ghosts are being put well and truly to rest this year. Edited July 21, 2012 by sidewinder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ayers Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 Armstrong used to be criticised for his boring, bureaucratic wins, though eventually it got more interesting. Maybe Wiggo will get more into the role? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjazzg Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Marvellous day for British cycling. First, second in GC and Cavendish winning again on the Champs Elysee. great to see the yellow jersey leading cavendish out for the sprint - no sitting back and enjoying the ride for Wiggins. What a team effort that's supported Wiggins, who is a great cyclist without doubt (boring or not), all the way. Next year...Chris Froome's turn, maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed S Posted July 23, 2012 Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 The fact that Wiggins' win was a foregone conclusion did make it somewhat boring from the GC standpoint. As much as I dislike Contador - not having him and Andy Schleck there made the mountains far less interesting. Evans and Nibali were neutralized by the Sky riders and Wiggins top challenger was his own teammate. It would have been interesting if both Froome and van Garderen were allowed to allowed the freedom to ride to their abilities in the mountains - but that was not allowed. The green jersey competition was also a total bore. More than in any previous year, I focused less on the GC and more on the individual stages and found enough to keep me interested. I enjoyed Voeckler's quest for the polka dot jersey and his 2 stage wins. That was quite an accomplishment after a bad first week and an injured knee. I liked what I saw from Thibaud Pinot and Pierre Rolland - despite the latter's attempt to attack during the tack incident. I thought Chris Anker Sorensen had a great tour - lots of fun to watch. I developed a lot of admiration for Jens Voigt as well as Ritche Porte and Michael Rogers for their work every day. I always follow the US riders - not because they are Americans per se, but lke FDJ, Europcar, Vacansoleil and Euskatel Euskadi - I consider them underdogs. I thought van Garderen had a great tour as did Horner. I got a thrill seeing the tribute to Hincapie today as he was allowed to lead the peloton onto the Champs Elysees. Farrar was a disappointment, though. Too bad Danielson had to drop out. I enjoyed seeing Cancellara in yellow for the first week - he's one of my favorites. Also thought that Cavendish's wins today and Stage 18 were special. It was really something to see Wiggins as part of the lead out train - especially today when he personally had nothing to ride for. The win in stage 18 was phenomenal, in my opinion. Today's was almost equally impressive. When the cycling let me down, there was always the scenery. As usual, it was the star of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownie Posted July 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 Wiggins IS King of France! And a superb champion, even if he lacked a flamboyant side to his talent in this Tour. Mark Cavendish impressed once more with his final stage win on the Champs-Elysees avenue (with usual great help from Wiggins)! Those two will surely hoard gold at the Olympics in a few days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sidewinder Posted July 23, 2012 Report Share Posted July 23, 2012 I'm not normally one to watch cycle races on the telly but the final couple of kilometres with Wiggins setting up Cavendish were pretty classic. Expect to see millions of wannabees out there on busy roads with their bikes and causing traffic mayhem over the next 6 months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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