Tour de France 2013 *spoilers*

[deptfordmarmoset]

Oh dear. Your comments made me search out the video. OMG. I am feeling quite poorly. Wiggo's face was a picture.

I was going to put a link up for that but didn't out of pure charity.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

View attachment 26537

Lol, that's awesome.

​

 

[Monsieur Remings]

I missed it all.

Was out for a ride. Just a mere 163 miles and 9222ft of climbing.

How these guys do this sh*t everyday is beyond me. My legs and backside feel quite raped.

Pah, I'd do that before breakfast after a night on the lash and still have change left for a bike wash and service.

 

[Strathlubnaig]

Pah, I'd do that before breakfast after a night on the lash and still have change left for a bike wash and service.

I bet Pedro is saying a little thanks that Andy Schleck never won a stage after all !

 

[Monsieur Remings]

I might try and go for a bike ride tonight seeing as there's nothing else on. I'll do the right thing and leave the other half to do the clearing up for what my brother and wife, and their children do not yet know - that they are to take part in a pre-tour barbecue of epic proportions where the talk will be of Quintana Rojas, the KOM competition and that plucky little chap from Columbia...and the young riders jersey of course. Lucky for them that they know nothing about cycling and aren't interested in the slightest...bless 'em, it should be interesting.

Second thoughts, the wife will probably have Kittel's, sorry I mean kittens if I leave her to do all that and I wouldn't want her to have a Greipel all afternoon with me, especially when she spent so much money this morning at Argos. I must remember to check my Lotto ticket too...

 

[Flying_Monkey]

I know the evening finish is fun and all, but it makes it impossible for me to see it - I really can't stay up all night.

As to the result: despite the fact that he clearly hasn't been the fastest man this year, I am wondering whether Cav might have a slight advantage with Kittel having lost Veelers and Greipel losing Sieberg.

 

[Pedrosanchezo]

I bet Pedro is saying a little thanks that Andy Schleck never won a stage after all !

You have a good memory! Not hat eating for me.

 

[Crackle]

As to the result: despite the fact that he clearly hasn't been the fastest man this year, I am wondering whether Cav might have a slight advantage with Kittel having lost Veelers and Greipel losing Sieberg.

I was hoping the same thing.

 

[thom]

I'm rather disconcerted by the amount of UK sporting success in the last couple of months. The pleasure of winning is somewhat diminished. At least the success in Tennis, Rugby and ongoing in Cricket alongside Cycling aren't coming in the bombastic arena of Football, where you really do feel the players are too flash to care, so why should you ?

However, aside from this sweet fayre we've been fortunate in GB to have been served, today brings the prospect of something that I think predates the current sporting heatwave. If Cav wins on the Champs Elysee in the 100'th TdF, not only would it be for GB the icing on the cake of this edition, it would be for the 5'th time in a row. His TdF successes over the last years have been as a pioneer, pre-Sky, pre-marginal gains and for the love of racing and riding a bike. So I hope Cav's salad days continue and he is good enough to win for he is fun but whether he does or doesn't, Froome's accumulation of this Tour has been brilliant, awesome and spectacular.

 

[raindog]

I know the evening finish is fun and all, but it makes it impossible for me to see it - I really can't stay up all night.

That's tough FM. I'll give you a thought when I'm in front of the telly with a glass of chilled white.

 

[smutchin]

As to the result: despite the fact that he clearly hasn't been the fastest man this year, I am wondering whether Cav might have a slight advantage with Kittel having lost Veelers and Greipel losing Sieberg.

Good point.

Experience surely counts for a lot too - Cav knows this finish better than anyone.

And as mentioned earlier, he's bound to have found the Alps slightly easier going than Kittel, who will be completing a GT for the first time. I can't help wondering if Kittel can possibly have another stage win left in him.

 

[smutchin]

If Cav wins on the Champs Elysee in the 100'th TdF, not only would it be for GB the icing on the cake of this edition, it would be for the 5'th time in a row.

Bearing in mind that doing it three times in a row was unheard of until Cav came along, it would be a truly staggering achievement.

I mean, yet another truly staggering achievement in a career that has already made a mockery of the record books.

And it would take him clear of Andre Leducq into third place in the list of all time TdF stage winners, only two behind Hinault.

Awesome.

 

[thom]

Bearing in mind that doing it three times in a row was unheard of until Cav came along, it would be a truly staggering achievement.

Has anybody else even done it twice in a row ?

 

[smutchin]

You know, we've picked on Cofidis in this thread (and effing Taaramae is still yet to register a single point in the fantasy league) but at least they have a rider in the top ten on GC.

BMC, on the other hand, have had an absolute nightmare of a Tour, their highest-placed rider being Morabito in 35th. Apart from a few valiant-but-futile efforts from Tejay, they've given Andy Rihs a very poor return for his not inconsiderable investment.

I think yesterday's stage was possibly the first time I'd even noticed Gilbert was in the race.

Cuddles' days as team leader are surely numbered now.

 

[raindog]

Latest live information from FranceTelevision is that Cav did a couple of laps of the Champs-Elysees this morning in front of the spectators and probably Changed His Cleats