Tour de France 2013 *spoilers*

[raindog]

Jalabert quits as Tour pundit

It was difficult to see how he could carry on. I wonder who will replace him? Cedric Vasseur, maybe.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

According to the following link, Pinerello have a new areo road frame set which they are trying get sanctioned by the UCi before the Tdf


http://www.bikeradar.com/road/news/article/tour-de-france-kit-being-assessed-by-uci-37723/

 

[thom]

According to the following link, Pinerello have a new areo road frame set which they are trying get sanctioned by the UCi before the Tdf

Love it - everyone who went out and bought a dogma will be gutted ;-)

 

[yello]

Wind (parp) could well be a factor on Saturday. It gets fair blowy on that Corsican coast.

 

[raindog]

We had a great programme last night celebrating 100 years of the Tour
http://pluzz.francetv.fr/videos/la_legende_du_tour_de_france_,84284518.html
amazing footage of early races. Don't know if it will work outside of France though. A brilliant bit showing a teenage Anquetil training on an old dropped bar bike with mudguards! It's in two parts.

 

[The Couch]

We had a great programme last night celebrating 100 years of the Tour
http://pluzz.francetv.fr/videos/la_legende_du_tour_de_france_,84284518.html
amazing footage of early races. Don't know if it will work outside of France though. A brilliant bit showing a teenage Anquetil training on an old dropped bar bike with mudguards! It's in two parts.

I think we probably had the same program on Belgian tv (last week we had part 1, this week we had part 2)... with us it was called "de giganten van de Tour" (= the Giants of the Tour).

Nice images indeed of "ancient" stages/cyclists and I liked watching it
... still you could feel/see that it was "French made"... focusing quite some on the best (and/or most popular) French riders (or at least focusing on the competitors of those French riders).
No mention of Bahamontes, Van Impe, ... (but I understand you can't focus on all the greats)
Finishing with the image of Voeckler as the "hope of the French future" or "the example of non-doped racing" or "whatever the hell they wanted to say with it" was a bit weird to me. (Having all these champions seen passing by and then end with showing somebody who is not in that league)

 

[raindog]

... still you could feel/see that it was "French made"... focusing quite some on the best (and/or most popular) French riders (or at least focusing on the competitors of those French riders).
No mention of Bahamontes, Van Impe, ... (but I understand you can't focus on all the greats)

LOL - yes, that's true in a way, now you mention it, but then it is a French race after all. No Charly Gaul or Stephen Roche either, but I doubt there was time to simply make a list of every winner/climber. I stopped watching part 2 when they got to 1990 - I really can't stand to see anything about the EPO era anymore. Loved the old archive footage though - imagine how much film must exist and how much will never see the light of day.

 

[perplexed]

I can't believe, with the raft of knowledge and skill present on cyclechat, that not a single poster has thus far addressed the most important aspect of the whole shebang.

We need a press release from Sky, that should Mr. Froome win the Tour, on absolutley no account will Lesley Garrett be allowed within 100 miles of Paris.

 

[smutchin]

However, should Mr Froome win the Tour, I would be quite happy for him to use his fame to publicise his lifelong love of Krautrock, be photographed hanging out in nightclubs with members of Can, Neu! and Kraftwerk, and start his own clothing line of neoprene neon suits.

 

[thom]

However, should Mr Froome win the Tour, I would be quite happy for him to use his fame to publicise his lifelong love of Krautrock, be photographed hanging out in nightclubs with members of Can, Neu! and Kraftwerk, and start his own clothing line of neoprene neon suits.

OK then, here you go :

 

[lukesdad]

I say "no" but it can't be too far off. lukesdad has been saying for years it'll happen so he's bound to be right one of these years.

Now yer just telling porkies yer big Jock nobber! Have you moved yet coz I need to realign my water rocket guidance system.

 

[mrbadexample]

He's the fifth rider to have won all three, though I wonder if Jaja might retroactively have his Giro title stripped in light of recent revelations...

Abdou wasn't exactly squeaky-clean either.

Is there anyone with more Grand Tour stage wins in a season than Petacchi (15 in 2003)? Or more than his 9 in a single Grand Tour (Giro 2004)?

 

[thom]

Is there anyone with more Grand Tour stage wins in a season than Petacchi (15 in 2003)? Or more than his 9 in a single Grand Tour (Giro 2004)?

Interesting questions, partial answers:
Freddy Maertens, 1977 Vuelta - 13 stage wins apparently
In the tour, Merckx (1970 & 1974), Maertens (1976) & Pelissier (1930) have won 8 in a single year
Alfredo Binda won 12 stages of the Giro in 1927. In 1929 he won 8 in a row out of a total of 11 that he won in the pink jersey.

All this info is according to the internet - wikipedia & yahoo, not my personal knowledge...

 

[smutchin]

Wonder what odds I'll get on that Sanchez stage win...

 

[andrew_s]

Freddy Maertens won 13 stages, points and the overall in the 1977 Vuelta, and 7 stages at the 1977 Giro