Tour de France 2017 ***SPOILERS***

[mjr]

Then been punished for not doing the defined route

It would have been nice if they'd DQ'd Armstrong from the 2003 tour in 2012 for the off-roading in addition to the doping.

 

[mjr]

And then unpunished when footage emerged showing that they'd ridden in the tracks of a French rider who'd done exactly the same thing thirty seconds earlier...

So you're not buying the claim that the team cars weren't able to come up on the penultimate climb?

 

[hoopdriver]

Just having a bit of fun really.

I think the bottle business was silly - nobody should have been penalised.

 

[Hont]

What's happened to Thibault Pinot?
Former white jersey, top 10 and podium finisher, now completely invisible and down in 66th position next to Kwiatkowski, who has spent half the race flogging himself to death on the front, before relaxing and drifting down the field.

Giro effect?

I think he targeted the Giro (4th despite illness) and had no Tour ambitions (especially given the descent heavy route).

 

[SWSteve]

Talking of Quintana; Why did the TV spend so long focused on him after he was dropped from the leading group? It's not like he was top three and loosing his placing, he was already miles behind.
Can't believe he's the same rider from a couple of years ago (even accounting for him doing the Giro). Maybe he's been lying about his age and he's actually as old as he looks.

You aren't saying Quintana is the next Kanu, surely?

 

[brommers]

The sprint is at 13.5km, so it looks as though it will be hectic straight from the start

 

[SWSteve]

Oh crikey, Kirby's been reading the Tour website again.


Well, North Somerset is the place to go if you want to hear the English language tortured in multiple ways - even though I've moved away!

Thatchers are cool though. They allowed the Strawberry Line cycleway (NCR26) to reconnect across their land after a neighbouring farm wouldn't. (It already had to leave the line because of a sewage farm or something like that.)


"But hairy's macho, innit?" said the ad director who knows nothing about cycling...

Yes, let's advertise 'macho' to men who all want to be incredibly skinny, ride around in Lycra and shave their legs.

 

[Hont]

Can't believe he's the same rider from a couple of years ago (even accounting for him doing the Giro). Maybe he's been lying about his age and he's actually as old as he looks.

In the blood passport era no-one has backed up a decent Giro performance at the Tour. IIRC no-one has made the podium of both in the same year since Pantani in '98.

 

[Tynan]

Hilarious watching the Sky team bickering at the finish after the horror of losing the yellow jersey by a few seconds, that's entitlement

 

[Hont]

Whilst you're waiting for the action to start, have a go at a quiz I made...

https://www.sporcle.com/games/Hont/tour-de-france-winners-by-picture

 

[John the Monkey]

The second hand watch advert is the worst.

The bloke's setup on the bike is farking annoying.

We've gone from Skoda, and their metal soundtracked emergency massages to this.

I've suggested that they improve the watch advert by flinging the chap onto a car bonnet and forcibly massaging his quads, then slamming the watch along a drystone wall as they stop to fix a mechanical, but no response as yet.

 

[roadrash]

go on tommy v

 

[smutchin]

Whilst you're waiting for the action to start, have a go at a quiz I made...

https://www.sporcle.com/games/Hont/tour-de-france-winners-by-picture

16/20

Spoiler

Should have recognised Delgado and Thevenet but didn't. Pereiro and Van Impe were the other two I didn't get.

 

[smutchin]

I very nearly went for Gilbert for the punditry today. Will be interesting to see if he can make his break stick. Great to see Chava in the mix as well.

 

[Dayvo]

In the blood passport era no-one has backed up a decent Giro performance at the Tour. IIRC no-one has made the podium of both in the same year since Pantani in '98.

Yeah, and there's a good reason how he managed that, too.