Le Tour 2012

jww · Post by **jww** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 7:22 am

Agreed -- fabulous pics indeed.

Sunday's carpet tacks at the top of the final climb was beyond bad form and hooliganism (as Bob Roll labelled it). It was pure luck that only one broken bone resulted in this stupid act.

I think everyone was looking forward to the final rest day yesterday -- Monday's stage felt anti-climactic. Back in the Pyrenees today - should be interesting .... does Chris Froome challenge teammate and Sky leader Bradley Wiggins? What about pinny #1 -- Caudel Evans is surely out of this if he can't mount multiple serious challenges in the final stages.

paddy · Post by **paddy** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 9:40 am

froome did not and will not challenge wiggins. all of this talk is media hype.

although it's the individual who gets the glory in the end, people seem to forget that cycling is very much a team sport. it's not every man for himself. there is also a very strong tradition of hierarchy and sacrifice in cycling. wiggins is the agreed team leader and they are both professionals. plus wiggins is stronger in the time trials. wiggins will now win this tour and froome will be second.

jww · Post by **jww** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:37 pm

paddy wrote:froome did not and will not challenge wiggins. all of this talk is media hype.

Agreed.

paddy wrote:although it's the individual who gets the glory in the end, people seem to forget that cycling is very much a team sport. it's not every man for himself. there is also a very strong tradition of hierarchy and sacrifice in cycling. wiggins is the agreed team leader and they are both professionals. plus wiggins is stronger in the time trials. wiggins will now win this tour and froome will be second.

Also agree -- unlike a certain Spaniard who challenged the gentlemanly hierarchy of the sport by sticking it to those around him when he was in the lead by taking advantage of mechanical breakdowns to pad his lead. Bad form, Mr. Contador. I am still sorry to not see Andy Schleck in this years tour -- Frank is not near the rider that Frank is. And I have to say hat's off to Fabian Cancellara who left after withdrawing at the end of Stage 11 so he could be home with his wife while she gave birth to their second child. Now that's class.

I will be watching today's stage later this evening -- thank heavens for PVRs!

paddy · Post by **paddy** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:44 pm

erm....the contador attacking schleck 'chaingate' incident happened back in the 2010 tour. and neither of them are in this year's tour. think you really need to let that one go dude and move on!

jww · Post by **jww** » Wed Jul 18, 2012 8:06 pm

So -- moving on, Cadel totally bonked today, so it was good to see Team BMC give Tejay the green light to stay in white. An animal of a ride today from Voeckler ... he was an absolute beast today - especially on Col du Tourmalet - that is a killer of a climb and he nailed it.

Wiggins will have to fall down and brake a limb to loose yellow now. Glad to see that crashes have been minimized in the mountains - there have been some brutal crashes this year in the sprint stages.

Still can't stand Contador though.

Big Swifty · Post by **Big Swifty** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 3:21 pm

Well a Brit finally won the tour! second place as well. Whats next... an American taking Paris-Roubaix

congratulations to Bradley Wiggins

jww · Post by **jww** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 5:47 pm

And I understand that Cavendish took the final sprint along the Champs-Élysées for the 4th time in a row today --- the man is a sprinting machine -- even if Sagan sewed up the green jersey with aggressive riding earlier in the Tour, Cavendish showed why he's world champ. I'll watch the recording tomorrow sometime.

Big Swifty · Post by **Big Swifty** » Sun Jul 22, 2012 6:04 pm

Yeah there's definately something special about watching the rainbow jersey win a sprint finish... especially that sprint