Le Tour 2012!

[dbmtb]

Yesterday was a landmark day for me....

20 years ago I would never have guessed that I would be in my own shop, handbuilding a pair of Gold-hubbed Hope wheels for one Danish customer and fitting a pair of Hope SP3 road wheels for another one, while watching live streaming of a UK team dominate the hardest stage of the tour.

The rain is just God's way of making me remember that you can't have it all! But it was one of those really great days.....

 

[kaiser]

Yesterday was a landmark day for me....

20 years ago I would never have guessed that I would be in my own shop, handbuilding a pair of Gold-hubbed Hope wheels for one Danish customer and fitting a pair of Hope SP3 road wheels for another one, while watching live streaming of a UK team dominate the hardest stage of the tour.

The rain is just God's way of making me remember that you can't have it all! But it was one of those really great days.....

 

[kaiser]

I've been on holiday for a week and whilst I managed to see most days it wasn't easy tracking all the comings and goings! Hats off to Sky though, they really have a grip on the race. I'm surprised they have taken command of the race this early though, its alot of work maintaining that yellow for so long. I wonder if they are racing to script or racing for the yellow. I.E are they just trying to minimise losses in the hills and are keeping the yellow by default or are they actively trying to protect it?

 

[retrocomeback]

Sky are doing it the hard way but all credit to them, their tactics in the last few days in particular have been spot on and to have a one-two in GC after arguably the toughest mountain stage must be even more than they hoped for. If they can maintain this domination of the field I see no reason why Wiggins cant keep yellow all the way to Paris.

 

[1210tech]

I wonder if they are racing to script or racing for the yellow. I.E are they just trying to minimise losses in the hills and are keeping the yellow by default or are they actively trying to protect it?

After watching yesterday and listening to what had been said about riders like Nibali trying to psych Wiggins out by saying he is not a very good attacking rider I think Wiggins and co are actively trying to protect the yellow jersey and win the Tour.

When Nibali tried to make a break they could've just let him go but the team obviously gave the call to Froome to real Nibali in and attack him and in the process left Cadel Evans behind. Of course asking Froome to do it is one thing but the way he did it and dragged Wiggins along with him is another, it was immense watching it..... COME ON YOU BRITS!!!!

 

[oldave]

The Sky Team performance is, I think, good enough for Wiggins to hold on to Yellow all the way. The cycnic in me has to wonder about Froome....

 

[suburbanreuben]

The Sky Team performance is, I think, good enough for Wiggins to hold on to Yellow all the way. The cycnic in me has to wonder about Froome....

Sky will be lucky to hold onto him over the winter. He was frustrated yesterday when he wanted to go for it, and how long will he want to play second fiddle?
He would be a lot closer to wiggy if he hadn't lost nearly two minutes in a crash on an earlier stage...

 

[David B]

ive never been one to watch the tour but i had it on yesteday and it ocured to me how white male domanted it is, is there a female tour?

There used to be, Tour de France Féminin it was called; but I think the last one was 2009. It folded due to lack of sponsorship.

Yup - the final edition was only 4 stages long due to various organisational problems. The women's version of the Giro is still going strong though.

David

 

[gmac123]

The Sky Team performance is, I think, good enough for Wiggins to hold on to Yellow all the way. The cycnic in me has to wonder about Froome....

Sky will be lucky to hold onto him over the winter. He was frustrated yesterday when he wanted to go for it, and how long will he want to play second fiddle?
He would be a lot closer to wiggy if he hadn't lost nearly two minutes in a crash on an earlier stage...

to me froome looks like the superior rider and it frustrating that he's working rather than attacking and winning. i guess it all relates to the public sky objective to have a british winner of the tour, aldeit froome has held a uk passport for the last few years, by had Kenyan & SA passports for the 20+ years before it.

i'm sure his contract was up last year, and he resigned to sky after the vuelta, they probably weighed him in, but surprised no-one else stepped in with similar funds and allowed him winning ambitions

sky have controlled it well, but it seems to be a tour with few challengers. there's no proper attacking mountain men left (and few started) to alternate the pace and test the resolve. there's no other teams able to set a challenging pace

now that they've powered through the long but gradual alps it'll be interesting to see how they manage the steeper Pyrenees

 

[kaiser]

Does Sean Yates appear to be fairly inebriated in this clip?!

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/video-s ... and-froome