Tour de France 2014

He's ready...

http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/galleria_600/images/News/David%20Millar%20MSR%202012%20©%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg

... but not going

I'm looking forward to being able to see a bit of the TdF from my seat at work. I've made sure I don't have any meetings that afternoon.

I feel a bit sad that David Millar won't be in it. He always said he wanted his kids to remember seeing him riding and his eldest is perhaps just reaching the stage for forming lasting memories.

In a similar sentimental vein, I'd love Cav to wear yellow, but he never wins early stages of the Tour, does he?

weird how so many Brits are missing the Tour that starts in the UK - Wiggins, Millar, Dowsett and Adam Yates who has had an excellent season so far (probably knackered now though). At least his brother Simon Yates is getting to start after returning from injury.

stoked for the july madness

Who I want to win: anyone but Froome. I could even live with Contador winning.

yates' selection appears to have been due to darryl impey going pos for masking agent. whoops!

I wish Froome had a bit more personality. Or a personality. I don't really have a favourite in mind this year for the GC, I'd just like to see some gutsy performances from relative newcomers I guess.

Peter Kennaugh, British champ, also left at home.

Not only has chris froomegot no personality but his girlfriend has deleted her twitter account , she at least brought some frisson. I wouldn't mind a Contador win but team Tinkoff wasn't looking all that strong in the dauphine, mind you sky haven't looked as strong as in previous years. Should be an exciting race, much more open than previous years.

I'm really hoping that valverde is nowhere near the podium but he's looking strong. Horner can sod off as well. Really excited to see how the next generation is going to go, Talansky looks good and garmin are clearly serious, Tejay Vangarderen needs to start delivering on his promise. It's a shame though that the Colombian invasion is staying at home and Wilco Kelderman is a bit young but it would have been good to see him there.

kennaugh decision is a bit odd, i thought he was good last year.

didn't realise michelle cound was froome's manager as well as his partner until recently!

madchen you should get on board the roman bardet bandwagon with me.

sweet endo from p. sagan esq here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhDODmoIF94

there was a longer vid with the entire descent but it got blocked on copyright grounds. really good stuff on the cycling podcast last week from david millar on sagan's bikehandling skills, just nobody else among the current PROs can match him.

sagan better handler, but i'll bet phinney is faster near-straightline descender. his position is just faster, mass/cross-section greater.

madchen you should get on board the roman bardet bandwagon with me.

Can I bring myself to join a brown shorts bandwagon?

the eternal question we must all face at some point.

TOUR DE FRANCE!!!!

Getting really excited about this one. Stage 3 comes within 2 miles of my house and goes down roads I ride every week - there have been signs up all over the place for the last few weeks warning people that they can't park or drive virtually anywhere on 7th July.

This will be my first chance to see it in Britain as an actual active racing cyclist. When it came in 94 I'd already stopped my brief teenage racing career three years previously, and the timing was exactly wrong for me: they were racing down south while I was at my graduation ceremony in Yorkshire, I moved back down south just days after they'd returned to France. This year it's the reverse - I'm down south while the race starts in Yorkshire. In 2007 I went and watched the prologue in Hyde Park, but I didn't get properly back into cycling until the following year, so I had no idea who I was looking at as they whizzed past.

Guys? Guys? Team presentations...

I wish I could go and see it but with a five-month-old baby it'd be hard work. However, cycling makes for great maternity leave telly so I mustn't grumble.

Embrace and Kimberley Walsh at the team presentations, eh? The cream of Yorkshire.

nibs' italian champion jersey is absolutely risible.

also tinkoff-saxo have gone a bit yellow fluo. should've gone pink inna ONCE style.

xp - yep, it's awful

Entirely inappropriate and tmi for this thread, surely, but I've been popping by the ILE TdF threads for years now and don't intend to miss out on this occasion. Cycling being one of my biggest passions, this year's TdF start to me is cruelly bittersweet: I was supposed to see and experience the whole circus in Haworth or Hebden Bridge and thereabouts in two days (stage 2: the route from, roughly, Keighley-Haworth-Hebden-through Cragg Vale-Ripponden is such an amazingly wonderful scenery and unique TdF route), where my former gf lives. But well, hence 'former'...

I really think the Yorkshire stages will give a huge boost to the area, for it's such a beautiful and surprisingly steep area, and knowing how beautiful it will be filmed, I've no doubt it will be a huge succes and attract heaps of cycling enthusiastics. Especially stage 2: one for the puncheurs, something you rarely see that early in a TdF.

It truly is a unique area to start off the TdF, in terms of landscape, sudden steep elevation and scenery. Not sure yet if I'll be able to bear watching it even on telly... But Prud'homme et al couldn't have been bought into a more perfect starting three stages.

I hope Froome and Sky tank it this TdF, not because I dislike him - which I don't - but their train is just too strong, bordering the unjust. Crossing fingers for a major upset (Talansky, Fugelsang, Mollema, Contador).

The sky train looks a lot weaker this year. Much less predictable race I think.

Nibali's italian champs jersey is a joke, I'm surprised the Italian federation signed off on it, but also not surprised.

Team presentation, what a load of guff. Tony martin os looking very lean, outside chance for a stage 1 win if cav can't get over the climbs? All the sprinters looking leaner for the TdF so should be interesting.

Velogames fantasy cycling mini league

http://www.velogames.com/
League Name: ILX
League Code: 04024625

Why does Sky seem weaker to you? I want to believe, no doubt, but they are pushing the highest wattages in the peloton, consistently.

Surely not because of the absence of Wiggins? For Froome he was just a burden.

Ps. Nibali's champ jersey wish awesome! Ridic jerseys are part of this whole sport!

They looked weak and disorganised at the dauphine, it wasn't the dominating performance we've come to expect. Porte especially seems a lot weaker than last year? Froome doesn't seem to do as well as say, Contador, without a train. I also think the rest of the peloton is getting better at not giving the sky train full reign. Look at how Talansky won the Dauphine that last stage was orchestrated chaos and both. Froome and Contador were left reeling.

Ps. Nibali's champ jersey wish awesome! Ridic jerseys are part of this whole sport!

^^ Truth. I'm kind of disappointed Lampre have toned it down a bit this year, but am also delighted with the Trek pinstripe.

I'm all for ridic jerseys, but the Italian jersey has pretty much always been a big fucking flag. Marc Madiot at FDJ won't even put the sponsors names on the French one. Heritage matters too.

2014 Italian National Jerseys

Wrong way

http://i59.tinypic.com/2j17us4.jpg

Right Way

http://i57.tinypic.com/9qa4g2.jpg

Also anyone else excited for La Course? Should make for some racing worth watching on the last day.

In the meantime there is 10 days of the Giro Rosa for the women to get through.

The BBC news has just shown a map with a straight dotted line from Leeds to Essex, and another from Essex to London.

They also interviewed people live in Leeds under a caption saying 'Central London'.

excited, as usual. know what lbi means about the sky team, but holding together against the assaults of fate (see this year's weak giro performance - not same team I know) can be tough. I've got a feeling contador will do it this year. the dauphiné was interesting in Froome and sky not being able to defend their lead.

I *do* like Froome too, prefer hím tó Wiggins, think he's a more exciting rider. here's hoping for an attacking race!

unfortunately I've got a friend visiting today who isn't a cycling fan so not sure how much of le depart I'll be able to watch.

Oh jeez, as the reporter tells us the race starts in Leeds and finishes in Paris, we are given a map of all of England and the northern third of France.

millar on itv team is f'ing great.

Yes! He's looking all of his 6'4" next to those two.

can't tell whether he's actually swallowing back disappointment after the sign-in interviews or whether it's just his usual awkward and intense mien.

I have both ITV and SBS on and Phil Liggett is talking about dry stone walls.

JENS IS ATTACKING :):):):)

my brother and I gave a yelp of delight when he jumped off the front.

relying on ilx for updates from about 13:10 on...

JENS <3 <3 <3

Pro-tip: the Cycling News Tour Tracker app is an amazing app to follow the tour live. And it's free!

Just gonna leave this here. Because I want to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=243BJu0zB50

^nostalgia bomb, always loved the way it turns into Frere Jacques right at the end
my friends are at the top of the next climb, exciting!

cheers lbi! dl-ing now.

Incredible crowds today - it looked amazing when they went up Buttertubs

Cavendish you absolute plonker! Headbutts Gerands and falls himself. He head butted Veelers last year. What a tool.

Didn't see the replay yet, but pretty sure he's out of the Tour.

Disgracefully stupid maneuver.

Froome in 6th for a good car position.

Did Cavendish really need the room on his left? Looks like he had more room to his right than Gehrens had on his left.

Gary Fisher ‏@Gary_Fisher 2m
@Cycletart @PunkassCG Cocquard HOOKED Gerro's handlebar! Down goes Gerro, taking out the Aggressor CAV.

Bit depressing from a British perspective that the two biggest names are probably out already: Wiggins not even selected (again) and I'd be amazed if Cavendish hasn't broken his collarbone.

The way I saw it, nobody would have gone down if it wasn't for the guy on Gerrans' left (Europcar?) and if nobody had gone down Cav would have been in trouble for use of head, but nobody was going to catch Kittel anyway.

dislocated shoulder apparently

some suggestion that coquard hooked gerro's bars, otherwise they all might've got through unscathed

daniel friebe hilariously bitchy about cofidis' useless turn at the front during the finale on the cycling podcast: "milram-esque"!

Cavendish:headbutting::Suarez:Biting ?

millar was very good on the itv cycling podcast, have heard the friebe one yet

some suggestion that coquard hooked gerro's bars, otherwise they all might've got through unscathed

That may well be true, but the root cause was that Cav was boxed in and was trying to force his way out with his head

So, another breakaway for Jensie today to defend his polka dots?

oh I agree NBS, just saying. I mean the road was curving to the right, coquard was right to be following that line.

so they planned that route so Cav could win the yellow in Harrogate and then

JENSIE: KING OF THE MOORS

how good is the tinkoff-saxo bottle carrying vest!!

hostilities have OPENED

wow Nibali, didn't think he'd hang on there

that was an astonishing stage. felt like a one-day classic at times, or a world championship. astonishing to see the top gc racers attacking each other.

Yeah, that was ace.

Frickin' amazing finish, the whole stage was a treat.

Happy for Nibali

Think Nibali hated his jersey so much he had to win this so he can swap it for the yellow.

you'd have to say he's picked a good time to break that winless streak!

good to see kwiatkowski there, he looked like the form had deserted him at the dauphine. might get some extra resources at his disposal now cav's gone home.

Aw, Kennaugh won today in the tour of Austria.

Keep watching this over and over and over. https://vine.co/v/MPzJP5OEijY

Watched as far as Holme Moss, can't wait to watch the finale later. Looked in incredible again.

Tour of Yorkshire is coming next year, I hope they feature something like that stage.

I was pretty amused by Mike Tomolaris standing in front of a Ward's pub in turn in front of a steel mill somewhere in Attercliff. Two great defunct Sheffield institutions.

that nibs vine is killing me. reeeeejected!

Finally saw the end of the stage. Burngreave looks a lot like the the end of Amstel Gold.

I hadn't realised that Nibali got away so late, I guess I'd assumed he'd got away on the descent.
Truly great finish, I don't think I've seen so much GC action on a stage 2 before.

That bit where all the GC guys were out of their seats up the Cote de Jenkin Road must have been amazing to see.

Rode on part of the route this morning, up to the intermediate sprint in Epping:
http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r299/crunchydog_2006/sprintsmall_zps57d5e563.jpg

Hanging out near the 1k arch. Got whacked by some caravan tat. Excited! Saw the prologue in 2007 but have never been at a proper stage.

Epping looking lovely there - were there lots of ordinary cyclists about?

What's the tat like over here, any random stuff from French agricultural insurance companies and whatnot? I saw a picture of some Yorkshire Thé bags...

Not a *huge* amount of tat here. Haribo, thé, polka dot carrefour hats, TFL reflective safety bands (that's what got me), didn't see a lot of the rest.

Saw them fly past on the Lea Bridge Road about 15 mins ago, will upload a video later

Here it is. A real 'blink and you'll miss it' experience after hours of waiting:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtube_gdata_player&v=IhjNPZJHh3M

Disappointed you made no effort to get hit by a cyclist. Couldn't you at least have unleashed a dog or something?

I tried spreading a rumour that the Tour organisers were giving out a prize to the person who could get the most loose animals in a selfie, but nobody seemed to believe me

Try harder next time oh wait. That was fun to see today, that area from Cambridge through Epping I've never been to so it was nice to get a view of the place.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BsBYdgJCMAABSP8.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/jCTkR5u.jpg

i wonder if I could do the kittel hair

Finally getting a chance to see some more live coverage here. That's...crappy weather.

they've removed two sections of cobbles from the race due to the weather, hope no one gets seriously hurt today :/

oh man this is gonna be some crazy shit

oof Froome down already

Not looking good. Will have to check in on the replay later tonight.

If anyone gets to the end of this without at least one fall I'll be surprised.

Is there really a cobbled section 50m before the finish? Oof.

FROOME OUT?

SHIIIIIIIIIIIT

FROOME ABANDON

Looks like it. Oh dear.

Yep, he's in the car.

looks like he broke his wrist

wow

no wai

Glad Sky at lest brought Wiggins as another contender... Oh wait...

RICHIE PORTE, guys.

Porte's only 2" down in the GC.

Just like a bunch of others. Porte's had a terrible season tbh.

it was a "virus", y'know

This is nuts!

this is really a hell of a ride from nibali, touch wood.

Up for the taking for Boom!

Contador has lost time on almost everyone of an consequence. I think two favourites lost the tour today.

Nibali, Westra and Fuglsang have been absolutely extraordinary today.

^^^ they were brilliant. fuglsang is so underrated.

Have to say Nibali has got a wonderful bunch of riders around him. But Nibali himself being so strong on the cobbles is equally amazing.

Glad Sky at least brought Wiggins as another contender... Oh wait...

Exactly

Wiggins who did so terribly in Paris-Roubaix too. I don't actually think they should have brought Wiggins, but I do wish Kennaugh was there.

Naive question: why not bring Wiggins, as long as he's content to help Froome?

Because he's not, really.

Last year, he definitely wasn't. This year, it's arguable that he would have been. He certainly said all the right things and made it clear that he knew Froome was the better bet for GC and that it would be a team riding for Froome. But we'll never know.

I think it's partly that the two of them hate each other and this is bad for team morale, it makes the other riders feel stressed, like they're walking on eggshells. It's probably also partly because Froome knows what he did in the 2012 Tour and doesn't trust Wiggins not to try to do the same to him. And also partly because Froome wants Porte to be his number two, but that wouldn't make so much sense if Wiggins was in the team as he is the stronger rider.

not sure it's naive, as plenty of people were asking the same thing.

one answer is the official surface answer - wiggins and Froome hadn't trained together/raced together for 18 months aiui, wiggins hadn't been part of the TdF "1st team" if you like for a while.

he knew this as well - wiggins's PR positioning this year, culminating in rumours of going to another team (always likely now inevitable) were widespread well before team was announced.

I also think Froome is the better bike rider and has shown the better form.

that said I think wiggins gets in if they were able to work with each other, but they clearly can't stand each other and I wdnt be surprised if Froome had said he couldn't ride with him.

wiggins wd have to be a No 2, and a rift in that relationship is hard to bear as he'd have to bury himself on days where Froome was sub par. (we saw how that worked in reverse in 2012).

media scrutiny in an already intensely scrutinised race that thrives on internal narratives wd be an unwelcome extra burden. add in tweeting wives and your focus is seriously pulled out of whack.

also don't think brailsford is a plan b sort of guy. he looks to control everything about a race, "this is our best team, with the greatest likelihood of winning. if we control what we can control we've a good chance of winning, and we can't make serious contingency speculative plans for the rest without weakening our chances"

Sorry if you're just a casual fan but if you actually follow the sport for more than just this time of year but Wiggins' last performance was at the Tour de Suisse, basically a one week tune-up race for the Tour de France. It was an extremely lackluster performance, one that would not inspire confidence esp as each day he suffered more and his corresponding daily GC freefall was pretty evident he had "checked out". His descending skills in particular were rather embarrassing. Eventually he crashed and abandoned the race which was almost a relief as it made the decision not to be included on the TdF squad pretty easy.

Another thing that bothers me about the Sky-fanatics POV is that just because Wiggins got a top 10 in one of the fastest/driest Paris-Roubaix's on record does not mean he would have had a relevant result today either. Look at Van Marke, Terpstra and others. Knowing Brailsford, Wiggins would probably have had no chance of having free rein to race his own race either.

That said, Porte is a fine plan B, a much more well rounded athlete than Wiggins and is sitting in a decent GC position ahead of Contador, Talansky and many others.

I love watching the TdF but I don't follow the sport year round. What are some good blogs to read outside of mainstream coverage?

One could argue that his suisse performance was after he'd been told he wasn't going to the TdF, although if that were the case then Wiggins should have been a lot more professional if he wanted to get picked. Wiggins is not exactly that hot in the wet (see last year's Giro). Sky are really not know for their plan B and we saw it again today, they sent Thomas back for Porte rather than have him battle it out for position. Sure he's the best cobbles guy in the squad but he can climb OK as well. they could have had more cards to play if Geraint was left up with Cancellara and Sagan.

best blog is probably http://www.inrng.com/
Podium cafe and cycling tips have some good coverage as well

Podcasts check out the Velocast Daily news, and its sister subscription podcast and the Telegraph Cycling Podcast.

Just caught up with everything. Man Nibali's been playing his cards right, hasn't he. But agreed on Westra and Fuglsang.

(xp) Yep, he was just making up the numbers at the Tour de Suisse. He'd already been told he wasn't going to the Tour, he'd already started training for the track (the pursuit at the Commonwealth Games), he knew his performance would make no difference to his chances of selection - the only way he would be going to the Tour was if Froome crashed out of the Dauphine and was too injured to take part himself. The last race he did where he still thought he was in with a shot of selection was the Tour of California (which he won, though not exactly against top opposition).

I'm kind of impressed with Mark Renshaw's placings in the sprints since Cavendish crashed out. I know he hasn't actually looked like winning one, but he is right up there for a change - I don't remember him doing anything when he was at Rabobank (?) as sprinter instead of Cavendish's lead out.

Well done Toul, dying your fountain the colour of pish. Good effort.

Talansky: don't look behind you during a sprint, wtf

Froome update: fractures in left wrist + right hand

http://twitter.com/chrisfroome/status/487640860281290752

strong group of riders in the break, really interested to see how Yates handles it

Indeed, turning out more interesting than I might have thought.

"Alberto Contador plays a very, very game of cards"

Anyway, quality stage, awesome ride by Kadri for the win.

Bah, had to miss the last 20K and the summary sounds amazing. Might be able to catch a rebroadcast tonight, we'll have to see.

yep, that was an amazing display by kadri. he had that dogged rhythm at the end - tired, in pain, but knowing he was going to win the stage. a perfect example of the mixture of tactical instinct, strength and cycling ability that will, on their day, get a cyclist a stage win or one-day victory.

not sure if this has been posted before, but it's excellent:

Vive Le Tour

"Tony Martin has in fact just moved away from the front end of that two-man breakaway"

Vive le Tour is so ace I've sent it to my mum and dad.

Hats off to Tony Martin, but this is one boring stage.

Downhill finish = none of the GC guys risking it.

And Nibali ok with Gallopin taking over the yellow.

It'll save him all the post-race faff I guess.

Don't forget all eyes are on the yellow all the time, Astana had to make the ride for the peloton every day. With tomorrow's stage it'll be way more 'relaxed' for Nibali to not have to deal with that.

Well yeah, I think that's right to an extent, but many eyes will still be on Nibali in turquoise, red, white and green. If they can bear the sight of that jersey.

Of course, but his helpers won't have to be at the front of the peloton all the time. It's quatorze juillet tomorrow, you can count on Galopin's mates to do all the peloton work tomorrow.

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/tour-de-france-cyclist-busted-using-cellphone-2014-7

luv luca - fave grizzled veteran

Contador in a big fall, back on his bike but 4 minutes behind the peloton already

Astana not attacking tho

reports that his frame broke causing the crash? yikes

Having the hardest time coming back to the peloton, too. He's losing the TdF here :(

and gone :(

Such a stupid way to go out :-(

Wowsers this Tour.

WHAT?

damn. corpses everywhere. good that it opens it up for some new names, but frustrating the pre-race GC favourites aren't duking it out.

this is about to crack wiiiide open.

wouldn't you just love tony martin as a teammate?

welcome back to SHARK WEEK!

omg lemond tv what a shitshow

Lemond TV? Dare I ask?

That was a fun/evil watch this morning. But I am kinda glad for the first break day here.

it's the post-race segment on eurosport. i always figured that lemond had been on teevee at least once before today. remember that time he called claudio "cappuccino"? this time he got just up to trying kwiatkowski, panicked, and went mute until his colleague supplied it for him.

otoh, at 3:16 lol.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJppzuMNPSE

given what I've read about his super-ADD rambling conversational style (<3 u Greg) I'm surprised anyone would give him a microphone, will be interested to watch this

Remember Eurosport are also the broadcaster that employ Carlton Kirkby, Sean Kelly's hyperactive 7th circle punishment.

Contatdor's bike

http://i62.tinypic.com/294qlad.jpg

Uncle Oleg shouldn't be buying fake spesh gear from eBay

haven't heard Carlton this Tour, there's some other dude who keeps reading poetry instead (!)

oh wait i'm confusing Carlton with the guy who used to chip in comments about castles, cheese etc. all quality stuff of course.

i find kirby pretty innocuous, but not too helpful.

as opposed liggett who is just straight wrong on almost every issue. you are safe to assume that for any activity described, the precise opposite has in fact occurred.

bertie did 17km on broken tibia. jesus christ.

oh wait i'm confusing Carlton with the guy who used to chip in comments about castles, cheese etc. all quality stuff of course.

Every Tour broadcaster in the world has somebody in this role tbf, thanks to the giant binder of facts they get from the tourist board.

My favourite commentators are Sean Kelly and Ant McCrossan but Ant McCrossan only gets the second tier gigs on Eurosport. I've no objection to the masses of tourist info and when Carlton Kirby was confined to this he was fine but now he's been promoted to second chair next to Kelly he's dreadful. Sherwen and Ligget are naturally the nadir. Ligget keeps threatening to retire but never follows though on this.

I wish ITV would steep up and employ their own commentary team but while Pipi and Popo remain and remain 'the voice of cycling' they won't do it.

Italian commentary during the giro is the best race presentation IMO although those who speak Flemish claim Sporza during the classics wins.

I should really dip into the french commentary but it's nice not to have to bother with dodgy feeds and just watch the cycling on broadcast telly.

For all their faults it won't be the same without Sherwen and Liggett - they're all I've ever known. Shouting at the telly and laughing at pronunciation are all part of the experience for me. And they're not as bad as Hugh Porter on the BBC.

i find kirby pretty innocuous, but not too helpful.

as opposed liggett who is just straight wrong on almost every issue. you are safe to assume that for any activity described, the precise opposite has in fact occurred.

for all that I agree with Madchen here, in the last couple of years Liggett and Sherwen have been making me churlishly irritable to the point of rage.

"It's a crash!" no he's gone back to get water
"He's cracked!" no his chain has slipped
"This is Hushovd [no], at the front [off the back], looking really strong [about to get off]"
"Must be some sort of mechanical" no I can see from the blood pouring from his head and because he's tangled up with another rider that it is in fact a crash.

I know they have to do the tourist information - it's part of the fun (and point) - but the nadir for me on this Tour was when Liggett laboriously described, like a blind dog navigating a maze, the US early warning base at Menwith Hill TWICE. And with the same formula! "They may look like mushrooms but..." My brother will
attest to me leaning back in my chair, weakly crying out for him to please stop.

Kelly's unenthusiastic monotone is sometimes not up to the situation and he's reticent unless forced to
speak but he's sometimes? often? tactically interesting, albeit with a habit of admitting that, yes, any eventually is certainly possible, and yes p much anything may very well turn out to be the case.

Flemish speaker here. Can confirm Sporza for the classics and the big tours. Michel Wuyts (main commentator), José De Cauwer (second commentator, ex-rider and team leader/manager) and Renaat Schotte (on the motorcycle + interviews) are a great team.

The daily "Vive Le Tour" evening talkshow is pretty great too, they always have one guest who has nothing to do with cycling (belgian celebs) and another who does (e.g. a rider who doesn't participate in the current tour) and both get to follow the day's stage in a car. They also make great/fun/informative mini documentaries (they followed Gallopin's podium miss girlfriend for a day on the day he won the yellow jersey for instance).

Er... that's "Vive le vélo" - I can't even get the name right even though I watch it every night

that does sound good. I don't mind Sherwen and Liggett really, but the intricacies of cycle racing are worth teasing out, and a keen and expert eye is useful in doing this. rather than one of S+L's wacky predictions based on false assumptions and poor observation, followed ultimately by an incredulous "Well, would you believe it!" when something else happens.

That sounds very similar to the Rai setup for the giro, the best bit being Processo alls Tappa after the stage. Typically featuring a motley crew of DSs, ex DSes journalists, and whatever riders and local celebs they can rustle up for the show. It often taxes my italian comprehension abilities but, I enjoy it a lot.

xpost

Pipi and Popo seem to have have been watching the race without learning a jot for the last 30 years or so. To be fair they seem to be more with it when doing their pre-stage piece to camera on SBS, but when the hammer goes down they reach into their suitcases of courage and come out empty handed.

I would dearly love it if ITV would put David Millar in the commentary box, maybe with Sean Yates who has been good on the Eurosport post stage show in the past. What I like about Ant McCrossan is that he has the rare talent of providing insight that is valuable to first time watchers and old fans alike.

I'm fairly sure I've said all this before, but I liked Dave Harmon on Eurosport, especially when teamed up with Sean Kelly. Unfortunately he quit last year and it doesn't look like he'll be back. Liggett really should have quit when Armstrong was finally busted, the amount of bollocks he spouted in Armstrong's defence. Even when just about everybody else in the world knew the game was up, he was still peddling nonsense about shadowy conspiracies. The annoying thing about the Sherwen & Liggett commentary is that they have to cater for the casual viewer and educate them about just about everything to do with bike racing, so they're constantly pointing out the most obvious things ("Well, Phil, it actually takes him about 30% less energy to ride behing his teammate" etc.) again and again. I understand why they have to do it, but it's frustrating when you've heard it all a million times before. Imagine if on every football match the commentary went "now the ball's gone out of play to the side, which means a player from the other team can pick it up and use his hands to throw it back onto the pitch, what's known as a 'throw in' in the sport of professional football."

I'm hoping that will change as more Britishers watch cycling but their commentary goes to several countries, doesn't it? I also agree about the Liggett/Armstrong thing which made him look at best like a very silly old fool.

I like Millar as a pundit a lot - I think his appearances during the Yorkshire bit might have been a bit of an impromptu audition for a bigger role after retirement. Could move his mouth a bit when he talks, maybe.

But commentary's a different beast - the ability to keep talking as well as to spot important stuff quickly and work out the possible consequences is a hard skill to pick up. And stages are looooooooong compared to other sports. You don't get many replays, no Guess The Hawkeye Result etc. Hence the constant repetition of Sherwen's10km to a minute catch-the-breakaway recipe etc. I still cringe when I remember Porter and Boardman on the Olympic Road Race - so many toe-curling silences, it was hideous.

my favorite rai coverage thing was the post-race trailer "studio" in which the lighting and stuff was so terrible it looked like a spoof. my italian isn't good enough to evaluate the roundtable analysis though.

that and paolo on the motorbike was cool. A VOI.

Pipi and popo are employed by NBC and ITV, SBS and others buy the commentary from them.

Gary Imlach is a consumate pro on ITV, at least, and Ned Boulting is only averagely annoying. I actually quite enjoy Kirby and Liggett's Partidge-isms, but then I rarely watch a whole stage in real time.

I think the Imlach/Boulting/Boardman stuff on the ITV highlights is much better than the Sherwen/Liggett commentary.

sorry Sherwen/Liggett as you say, and yes the ITV support people are v good. I've always liked Imlach since he used to do American Football on C4.

Where can one watch the Italian stuff on the internet - do you have to downloot it?

pirate streaming sites are perilous and full of distraction and sketchy video, but if you run down the list of feeds you will usually eventually find rai, or slovenian eurosport, or other alternate audio feeds. stuff like hahasport or lemontv.

Sherwen lives in Kampala, Uganda where he has interests in a gold mine, commuting between Uganda and the United States regularly.[4]

o_O

i just watched a tour talk segment with andreu and startt, it wasn't bad. just two chatty bike dudes talking about the day's race. not much there there.

http://www.bicycling.com/video/tour-talk-stage-10-1#/video/tour-talk/created/d/1

Sherwen is constantly tweeting about Uganda - everything from African proverbs to updates from a bike charity he's involved with there.

Less about the gemstone mine he part owns there (IIRC Armstrong was an investor)

For the giro you can watch the italian stuff on the Rai website they have a very liberal streaming policy:

Here is the post stage show for the penultimate stage

http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raiSport/media/processo_alla_tappa-f0f27f38-85f5-432f-a7ed-a31229b582f1.html

and the whole stage itself

http://www.raisport.rai.it/dl/raiSport/media/giro_20a_tappa-3f7a4489-5522-40a8-a884-6bbb2d27161f.html

Thanks Ed, I'll give them a shot. I've always listened to a bit of Italian radio but never really thought of telly because it's usually so bad!

can't recall someone getting a dedicated moto by being otb solo, next level by garmin.

...and now they have five dudes pulling to catch the break!

Harsh for Talansky, but understandable from Garmin to work for Slagter now.

haha wow, Talansky back on his bike!

Oh dear... tears

IAM are quite a stylish team, no?

Poor Talansky, nearly 20 mins back. They described him as 'cast to the wolves' which seems about right. I know why they're doing it but oof, still.

yow. if you can escape a break containing rogers sagan and kwiatkowski you deserve victory.

Def, but he had the fortune no one wants to go to the finish line with Sagan. Can only imagine how frustrated Sagan must be.

remember mid 00s boonen? "when you ride the finale with me, you're riding for second place" or something like that.

http://i60.tinypic.com/2zz2el2.jpg

Cofidis soigneur is a goodmcandidate for fat mantis

Some great racing today! Nibali's still dominating.

Great race from Nibale, but it kinda takes the excitement out the GC battle tbh. He's out of sight.

Porte loses almost 9 minutes btw...

but it kinda takes the excitement out the GC battle tbh

What GC battle? I think that ended when Contador crashed out.

Yeah at this point barring Nibali doing himself in it's all over but the shouting. And Sagan has a deadlock on the sprinting.

Well, on the green jersey anyway.

NBS, well obv. But today really sealed it. Sagan on green but it will be v interesting to see if he can win a stage this TdF.

Valverde kind of attacking today was a first shocker. Props to Pinot and Van Garderen today, really strong.

Valverde kind of attacking today was a first shocker

He's such a shameless wheel sucker, I'd be tempted to slam on the brakes and punch him

I know right? And yet, he's loved in the peloton, supposedly's a real likeable guy. But maybe you'd have to be, clinging on like that all the time.

True re Madchen's point (sprints vs sprinting).

I've never warmed to Sagan - he's such a cocky blighter and so daggy - but I found myself rooting for him to win a stage this year. Then he said something about coming second being written in the stars and I went back to finding it hilarious.

I have to say I've enjoyed him getting more and more resigned to not winning in his post stage interviews, he's a lot funnier when he's not winning.

http://vine.co/v/MQ9j1AhOh2K

Well that was all over the place (in a good way!).

Yeah that was good! Isouard descent was something to behold, too.

Had to miss that part but sounded great. Will catch up later.

Does anyone know what he was doing in that auto caravana? I've been girlie shopping this afternoon and am well behind on the sport.

Arnoud Démare had diarrhea all day, so when he had to go just went in a spectators caravan.

Man, I was pedalling along with Bauer then.

Damn right, we all were.

really thought they were going to make it :(((

Boy we were all quiet this past week here, weren't we.

enjoyed seeing Vos the Boss racing earlier on
who was the last Frenchman on the podium? a doped-up-to-the-eyeballs Richard Virenque?

Yeah Ned. I've enjoyed myself but it's not been the same without a fight for yellow.

Still, a deserved winner and a great tour.

the race for the podium has actually been really good!

peraud is a great story I think, I read about him when he turned PRO after switching from MTBs and his struggles with getting comfortable riding in a bunch, playing a team role, etc. you'd assume he wouldn't have too many grand tours left, though he's pretty lightly-raced for a 37-y.o. due to the late switch.

good to see nibali win. no great love for Astana or Vino, but European cycling isn't the same without Italian cycling. great to see Peraud & young Pinot up there as well.

reasonable/decent Tour. kinda amusing 'everything' was decided in that Paris-Roubaix stage. (Contador wouldn't have crashed if Nibali hadn't put 2 minutes 'behind him')

it was good to see so many helpers get their chance to shine because their team's top rider was gone/crap.

Yeah, definitely. Interesting to see Richie Porte crash and burn too - I wonder how much use he'd have been to Froome.

I missed nearly all of the final week because I'm on holiday (ironically in France), but I managed to catch Nibali's stage win in the Pyrenees the other day (I started watching maybe two minutes before he caught and zoomed straight past Nieve). I'm pleased for him (assuming he's clean, which I'd say is probably but not definitely the case). Also pleased for the French. And also pleased that Sky managed absolutely fuck all. And relieved that unrepentant cheat Valverde dropped off the podium.

i do hope it's not the red sox winning the world series, but i do enjoy seeing deserved (afaict) french success at tdf.

Kind of bummed about La Course, not the race itself which was everything a women's race can be, attack attack attack right from the gun. Not that we got to see it. Despite it being on at a convenient time for Oz, it started too early and ended up being a minor side show. Not having a combined podium at the end diminished the race. La course should have been scheduled to finish just before the Men hit the champs so we didn't have to watch the parade from Evry.

How the last shot of the coverage should have looked

http://i62.tinypic.com/33zfh3q.jpg

Really thou, Lacourse should have started back in Harrogate or Continued on from the Giro Rosa, see stage 9 here

http://prowomenscycling.com/2014/07/14/video-stage-9-giro-rosa-2014/

All the other highlights are on that blog

As for the tour, great race, Nibali is a well deserved winner. I think he could have taken it over Contador. as for Froome, he may have had it in him to get to the podium but I Sky would have imploded all the same so I'm not sure if he'd have made it beyond third. Anyway, you win the race you get to race. Nibali didn't put a foot wrong all race, he was very canny and took time whenever he could, I'm not sure Contador could have made back enough after the Roubaix stage, it would have been close though.

Super stoked for what Pinot does next, I hope being the great French hope isn't too much for him. Being heated by Peraud was probably a good thing in that regard.

Also, second hand lolworthy moment. Greg Lemond asking Vino is he would ever support a women's team, only thing that would have made it more priceless would have been Astana BePink rolling into shot behind him.

Need to catchup on Greg LeMond's Eurosport work, it has apparently been highly amusing, a bit too ADD for TV. (Probably how I would be)

what i saw of lemondtv was just terrible. i'm actually quite sympathetic to him, but, man.

re nibali- love the way the guy races, great winner. thought any shit he got about last year's vuelta and worlds was bullshit. but then, i totally loved the way vino raced, and now they are linked. *shrug emoticon*

oh man not gonna lie I checked out after early on cuz I thought it was gonna be boring w/o real contention for the yellow

are there good stages to watch in retrospect?

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/gallery/2014/jul/27/tour-de-france-2014-cycling-pictures#/?picture=443148015&index=0

i like this gallery

baden cooke rumor-mongering that froome started the race with the busted wrist from the dauphine crash! lordy.

gbx how many stages did u see before checking out - should check:

- s2 (mini northern classic)
- s5 (cobbles)
- s10 (belles filles finish)
- s14 (rafa majka winking @ camera)
- s15 (can the break stay away??)
- s18 (hautacam finish)

Is there a Way TdF 2015 thread? Can't find one...

Haven't seen one

i made one Tour De France 2015

Cool, thanks!