Tour de France 2012 (with SPOILERS)

[raindog]

How steep was that gradient FFS?

12% average 14% at the top

 

[junglegusset]

Brutal.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

12% average 14% at the top

Yes, found that too but looked steeper than that at the top and sure I heard someone mention 20% plus but must have been a very short section.

 

[doctornige]

The Eurosport guys said 23%. It didn't look like 23. 14% seems right.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Doping allegations are what every successful rider will have to live with, at least for the foreseeable future. The history of the sport is so steeped in it there will always be those willing to point the finger at any great performance. Unfortunately the only defence is "I have never tested positive" and that line has been discredited by a certain American.

 

[Rob500]

They definitley mentioned 20% + on tv. As Monsieur R says, it could have been a very short section.

Also - is that an 'old' map? They did build an extra bit of road on top when they knew the TDF was coming to town. Can't remember what side it was on, ES or ITV4, but they mentioned that in the past they had ridden up there and thought they'd reached the top. A farmer came over and said, 'Do you want to see where the the top is going to be?'

 

[thom]

Yes, found that too but looked steeper than that at the top and sure I heard someone mention 20% plus but must have been a very short section.

Where the road switched back, where Cadel went, there is a short section of 20% or more, maybe just 200m. The route included a relatively flat bit at the top which obviously that graph doesn't show...

 

[yello]

It was a circular course too apparently

 

[thom]

Incredible day for British cycling. Froome rode the ride of his life.

I think beating Cobo to a stage win atop that mountain in the Vuelta last year was better to be honest - remember he did come second overall in GC there.

 

[smutchin]

I think beating Cobo to a stage win atop that mountain in the Vuelta last year was better to be honest - remember he did come second overall in GC there.

That Vuelta stage was one of the most exciting bike races I've ever seen. I was trying to watch it surreptitiously online at work and could hardly contain myself. I get the feeling we won't see anything to compare to that in this Tour.

d.

 

[smutchin]

Very strong group breaking off the front early - Voigt, Millar, Rui Costa, LL Sanchez, Chavanel, Gilbert, Riblon, Westra... Could be a very exciting stage...

d.

 

[thom]

Wiggo headlines in L'Equipe:
http://inrng.tumblr.com/post/26746871607/wiggins

 

[just jim]

We discussed this a few pages back. Basically, there is a certain amount of bandwidth available to broadcasters and they can use that to broadcast a few channels with higher picture quality or many more channels with lower quality. ITV have gone for quantity rather than quality!

The bitrate they use for ITV4 on Freeview is much lower than that used by BBC1 (for example) and the effect is obvious when the picture being displayed is changing rapidly - there is a digital bottleneck which prevents the picture data getting through fast enough and the picture breaks up into pixellated blocks which are horrid to look at.

Oh, and yes - a great win by Cavendish!

I'm noticing that frazzled screen quality quite a bit (rate) so far!

 

[Noodley]

Today's not-very-interesting fact is that the 3 fastest prologues all have a british connection. Chris Boardman has the 2 fastest times, and the 3rd fastest prologue was in London.

 

[Noodley]

And my tip for today's winner is my favourite rider, Sandy Casar.