This Year's Tour de France

CanadaSue · 07-07-2012, 12:59 AM

Wild so far, just wild. An extra 2 teams were allowed in & although there are only 38 rookies all told, there have been some pretty hairy moments. There are always a lot of crashes the first week but today's, on a flat & fast stage was right nasty. A bunch of riders ended up in the ditch, in the fence & they were scattered all over the road. That held up most of the peleton, including some of the better sprinters. It was still a stunning finish - excellent sprint but there was just carnage behind. What should have been a fairly tight field at the finish ended up strung out over 16+ minutes.

My poor Canadian - winner of the Giro & who so far was sitting in 9th ended up crashing hard. He finished 13+ minutes out today & dropped to 108th. His dreams of a Tour win are done as are those of several strong contenders. Two guys withdrew as a result of the big crash & several finished but went straight to hospital. It won't be a surprise to me if several more do not start tomorrow. Some straggled across the finish line with their clothing shredded & blood dripping everywhere, grimaces of pain on their faces.

Tomorrow is the first mountain stage - 3 of them on a 199 km. course & it's a mountain top finish with a climb that's a real bitch - gradient of 14% right at the end. It's going to be tough on everybody, even the mountain goats if they got caught up in the crash today. The big crash - there were also a few minor ones.

One good thing for me. After years of watching the Tour & not understanding how everything works, especially team tactics, suddenly this year - I get it. It all makes sense. I'm not sure I could EXPLAIN it but when I see it on TV, even with no sound - I understand perfectly what each team is doing & what most team members job happens to be right then & there. It adds a lot to the viewing experience - trust me! LOL

Kassy · 07-08-2012, 05:50 AM

Friday's crash was rather horrible.

The guys actually do over 70 km/h at some points. Just thinking about riding that speed in such a close pack frightens me... Falling at that speed can't be good.

It's amazing what some cyclists endure. They get back on the bike and finish with broken ribs/bruised lung (Freire?) and Wout Poels fell badly, was in the ambulance for a while but then went back on the bike for a bit before his boss ordered him to stop.

When he got to the hospital they found he had an injury to the liver and an injury to the spleen (and a couple of more usual injuries).

*

I prefer the mountains, it's more heroic. With the flat stages you know they are going to catch them in the end and sprint to the line.

Yesterday went as planned for Wiggins & co. Sadly our dutch contenders were all still bruised so they didn't play any role.

CanadaSue · 07-08-2012, 06:11 AM

Stunning finish yesterday. I was wrong - the fnal 'wall' they climb is 20% gradient. It hurt just watching.

Today, the first 'real' mountain stage - six to climb. A profile of the stage looks like they'll be riding along a saw blade. Got my breakfast ready, drink & snacks - I'm ready!

Hope the riders are - gonna be a tough one; a warm up for when they hit the alps & the Pyrenees later in the Tour.

Kassy · 07-17-2012, 07:37 PM

They are climbing slower then years ago so that's a good sign but now Frenk Slack fails a doping test:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/18880417

CanadaSue · 07-17-2012, 08:08 PM

Argh! I'm disappointed in him. He still had a shot at the podium. I'm escited. Temperatures & humidity levels are supposed to get more reasonable overnight & tomottow's live coverage of the stage starts at the unGawdly hour of 0630. But it's the Queen Stage. 197 kn & 40 km. into it, they start climbing the Col d'Aubusyq - an HC climb. That's followed by another HC climb - the Col du Tourmalet. Two Category 1 climbs - the Col d"aspin & the Col de Peyresourde. It's a screaming downhill run to the finish from then. Sure to be a day of carnage coming off a rest day.

I'm ready!

Kassy · 07-18-2012, 03:26 PM

Hard hot day for the riders some of them looked quite wrung out in the interviews.

Then the belgian rider came in just 4 seconds too late but he can start again tomorrow because one of the organisations motorcycles led him the wrong way and he lost a couple of minutes. The journalist told him he could start again (it was just announced) the guy just said: yeah if i recuperate enough.

He didn't look to sure, looked more like a ghost then a man.