Well knock me down with a feather...

[Crackle]

Would I be right in thinking the TdF is the worlds most recognised cycle race?

Oh I wondered where you were going right from the start. So is Wimbledon the worlds most recognised tennis tournament?

 

[girofan]

What also amused me was the ITV4 programmes, where Gary Inmlach and Matt Rendell would comment on the politics, undercurrents and infighting, would get Chris Boardman on to comment about them...

...whereas the Paul & Phil commentary duo would blithely ignore it all and see just how many times in 30 minutes they could cram-in mentions of how strong Lance Armstrong was looking !

Paul & Phil get their bread & butter from the States, they're not going to bite the hand that feeds them!
Irony seems to pass them by as it does the majority of the American media.

 

[borsuk]

Senna didn't have as long a career as that cheating Kraut ba*stard (as he's known in these parts). Who knows what he would have won if he'd lived? Likewise Fausto Coppi didn't get to race the Tour for several years because of the war. Who knows how many he would have won? Even Merckx was humbled when he learned how Coppi's career had been handicapped. If Merckx had focussed on the Tour exclusively he'd have won ten (cf Bernard Hinault iirc). You say it's just opinion, I say it's more than that. it's breadth and depth of victories and LA comes nowhere near the true greats. Incidentally, my interest started while LA was about to start preparing for his 5th Tour victory. Cycling fans are a historically minded bunch. We're not like football fans who latch on to whoever happens to be top at the moment.

shows how little you know about football culture.


agree with the rest, though.

 

[Chuffy]

Oh I wondered where you were going right from the start. So is Wimbledon the worlds most recognised tennis tournament?

I sometimes get the impression that people think of the Tour as being a bit like conkers. Win a Tour and you're automatically better than all the winners of all the other races.

 

[Chuffy]

shows how little you know about football culture.

So all those kids who I was at school* with in the late 70's and early 80's just happened to pick Liverpool as their team through sheer chance?
And all those 90's Manchester United fans. Perhaps they all have deep and ancient family history with the industrial North-West?
Come on, loads of footie fans are just glory hunting b'stards who want to side with the winners.





* - near Bournemouth.

 

[Molecule Man]

Back to the serious illness/injury top trumps.
Eddy Merckx had that famous crash after his first TdF victory, severely injuring his back, so that he was in severe pain for much of his subsequent career. And I am sure I have read something about him having surgery on his perineum before a race (TdF I think), and the wound opened and he was bleeding for most of the race.
Regarding who has been the greatest ever, Merckx wins on every possible measure, surely? His results are simply astounding. Even his TdF record alone possibly trumps Armstrong, if you consider his wins in the points and mountains competitions, and his stage win record.

 

[dan_bo]

Back to the serious illness/injury top trumps.
Eddy Merckx had that famous crash after his first TdF victory, severely injuring his back, so that he was in severe pain for much of his subsequent career. And I am sure I have read something about him having surgery on his perineum before a race (TdF I think), and the wound opened and he was bleeding for most of the race.
Regarding who has been the greatest ever, Merckx wins on every possible measure, surely? His results are simply astounding. Even his TdF record alone possibly trumps Armstrong, if you consider his wins in the points and mountains competitions, and his stage win record.

Is that the bit between your front and back bums? ow.

 

[Molecule Man]

Is that the bit between your front and back bums? ow.

Yes, the article I read mentions his shorts being soaked with blood at the end of every stage, if I remember right.

 

[Molecule Man]

Any other tennis fans here?
It may be a close call, but I reckon that the arguments in tennis forums, mainly between Federer fans (Fedtards) and Nadal fans (Rafatards) are even more bad-tempered than Lance Armstrong forum threads.
Then there's all the racist shoot spouted about the Williams sisters.
So I reckon tennis wins internet forum mentalist top trumps.

Sorry, what was this thread about? I got distracted.

 

[Noodley]

This is almost as much fun as seeing Contador and Armstrong hitting each other with handbags

 

[Molecule Man]

Oh yes, I remember now.
Personally, I don't think either of them comes out of this looking good. And perhaps Johan Bruyneel comes out of it looking even worse.
I pity the public relations team at Team Astana?

 

[aJohnson]

This is almost as much fun as seeing Contador and Armstrong hitting each other with handbags

Instead, it's seeing Contador and Armstrong hitting each other with metaphorical handbags.

 

[Panter]

I'm not a big fan, but I think so, yes.

Now back to the TdF?

I think you've got them............

 

[Chuffy]

I think you've got them............

I thought you'd retired from this thread? Jeez even St Lance had the decency to stay away for three years before he made his comeback. You haven't even been gone three minutes.

 

[Chuffy]

This is almost as much fun as seeing Contador and Armstrong hitting each other with handbags

It doesn't take much, does it?