>>3294

I wish I'd been able to. I'm hoping to catch a bit more of it as it continues. The only stage I had set aside time to watch was stage 4, anticipating a Cav/Petacchi showdown, but obviously it was neutralised after what happened to Weylandt.

No but I have just been cycling.

I watch the cycling sometimes when my dad is though.

Did you see the UCI list leaked by L'Equipe ranking last years Tour de France riders on suspicion of doping from 0-10? Absolute shambles that it's got out, as if there aren't enough actual doping scandals around we need to throw some presumed ones into the mix too.

>>3295
Bad luck! The Weylandt accident was horrific, felt my heart in my throat when they showed paramedics giving him CPR.
At least they gave him a a respectful send off, even if it wasn't entertaining to watch.
If you're having trouble catching the stages live, there's always www.cyclingtorrents.nl/ .

>>3297
I hadn't until now. Drama, drama, where would the sport be without it? Still, it's no good for the riders. I'm sure we'll see a few sackings to appease the mob peloton!

>>3296
brb - getting a few laps in.

Maybe he doped, maybe he didn't, but damn if Contador doesn't have the most beautiful climbing style in the world. When he gets out of the saddle and puts the hammer down he looks like he's floating up the mountain. I might slap some money on him winning the hat-trick right now.

>>3307
Just watched Stage 9 (slowly catching up), Contador was incredible! Such a strong rider, even attacking at the front of a break away he hardly seems to break a sweat as he flies off.
As you said, doping or not, it's superb to see.

I enjoyed watching the stage finishing on Monte Zoncolan - even Contador was pedalling squares for bit there! The Italians love their insane mountains.

It's also somewhat pleasing to see Lance Armstrong's name being dragged through the mud right now. After years of it being painfully obvious that US Postal/Discovery were involved in systematic doping (remember when Hincapie used to be able to burn off real climbers in the Alps without even breaking a sweat? Lol.) and all the fanboys screaming that we were just jealous Europeans who couldn't handle American success, it's nice to get some vindication.

https://www.youtube.com/v/h4e2e74DGHM

>>3414
I did find the indignation caused by this chap hilarious. On every other forum there were calls to "LYNCH THE CUNT".
Anyway, it's been a good Tour so far, lots of excitement and pile ups, glad to see Contador isn't dominating again like in the Giro.
I'm loving this tour!

https://www.youtube.com/v/XCXqyrZcUWQ

I'd put my house on Cav for green in Paris. His form looks unbeatable.

https://www.youtube.com/v/2KAKwu0bbNU

>>3420

I couldn't believe that Hoogerland was able to get up and ride on. What the fuck was the driver thinking? This coming just days after Sorensen got taken out by the motorbike, to boot.

>>3421
He was swerving to avoid the tree, but fuck knows why he was accelerating.

>>3421
Hard bastards! That's one thing appreciate about tour racing, there's no tears and whining you get in football (aside from Cavendish), unless they've broken something, every rider will try to get back on his bike and back to the peloton.

>>3424

To be fair to Cav, when he crashes I think that most of the whining is from everybody else demanding he be sentenced to death for moving off his line or something.

>unless they've broken something

George Hincapie broke his collarbone, then just got back on his bike and finished the stage anyway. Then for good measure he rode the rest of the tour too without telling anybody that it was broken in case they made him abandon. Cyclists are all crazy, really. Their entire job is to put themselves in unbearable pain.

>>3425
Fair enough about Cav, there's a lot of pressure, yet he does come off as a big smug/moany after his races sometimes.
Good to see a Brit on the podium though!

>George Hincapie
While I hadn't heard about that, it doesn't surprise me. Read stories of riders tying their hands to the bars with inner tubes after breaking an arm. Crazy sods.
It doesn't make up for his fucking pasta leg though, urgh!

Cav surprised me today, thought those hills would have him reeling off the back, yet he managed to stick with the best and missed out on another win by a wheel length.

Cav put Greipel back in his box today with that one, I think. Trademark absolute and unblinking dismissiveness towards every single one of his rivals in the post race interview too.

Thank god for the Mountains. Can't stand the Cavendish hype, will be nice to see him struggling at the back. The less I have to hear of the 'Manx Missile' the better.

>>3429

Is it hype when he's the best in the world by miles at what he does, though? It's not like he's some no-hoper who gets a few lucky wins every now and then, he is well on his way to winning more stages of this race than anybody in history.

If you just don't like sprinting I can understand that, but levelling the hate at one man just because he's the best at it seems a bit weird.

>>3431
>but levelling the hate at one man just because he's the best at it seems a bit weird.

IT'S THE BRITISH WAY!
I think he'd get a better reception if he grew a 'tache and smoked a pipe in his post race interviews, eyebrow cocked and delivering witty one liners about that foreign lot.
Maybe that's just me.

>>3432
>I think he'd get a better reception if he grew a 'tache and smoked a pipe in his post race interviews, eyebrow cocked

I'm afraid I couldn't think of any witty one liners at short notice.

>>3433
Wonderful all the same. From this image alone my esteem for Cavvy has risen considerably!

Sick of the ITV4 coverage, does any have a link to foreign streams, preferably Belgian or French commentary?

>>3437
http://www.cyclingfans.com/
Scroll down a bit, has links to every channel under the sun.
Eurosport with Sean Kelly commentating is a little easier on the ears.

>>3418

Starting to wish I actually had done this now.

After the ease with which he made it through the Pyranees, is anybody else starting to think that Voeckler is the favourite for this? Andy Schleck, as ever, doesn't seem to have the kick to distance people in the hills. Contador looks out of sorts, and even if he comes back into form in the alps he has 4 minutes to make up. I bet the Frogs are getting excited.

>>3440
Contador looks like he gave too much in the Giro and seems rather pooped, doesn't mean he won't give it his all. I hope both the Schlecks can pick up their pace and confuse the other riders by constantly changing places with each other to create a state of perpetual Schleck-motion.

Would be nice to see a frog win it, let Contador have the Vuelta next month

>>3441

It seems like everybody who raced in the Giro is paying the price. I was expecting something from John Gadret after that stage win in Italy (was planning on having a sneaky tenner on him on Bastille day, in fact), and he had to pull out with exhaustion before they even hit the mountains. Kreuziger has looked shot too, and I'm not sure the crash can be entirely to blame.

Now that is what I call a race! It looks like Voeckler has lost all his puff now - this is Cadel Evan's race to lose now. Kudos to Schleck though, just a shame he will falter in the TT.

YELL FOR CADEL

What would happen if someone challenged him in Paris and beat him, would they be vilified and lynched? Even if it was Voeckler?

You lads think ARE WIGGO has a chance this year?

>>4198
My cycling chum thinks he has a great chance, but I know very little of cycling. Apparently it's because there's more time trialling this year, Cadel Evans is out of shape, Contador's drugs ban and Andy Schleck's injury.

>>4198

I got on him at 3/1 a while back, and very happy with it to boot. He is a genuine favourite.

Contador not being there is the open door for everybody. He'd have smashed it last year if he didn't ride the Giro, I'm certain. Schleck never stood a chance because his time-trialling is cripple-tier and that's going to dominate this year. The only people who are better than Wiggo in a TT are Tony Martin and Fabian Cancellara, neither of whom will be in GC contention because they are too big to get over the climbs with the top guys.

I don't believe that Evans will beat Wiggo in a Time Trial. The effort he put in last year in the final TT was immense, and he's not bad at them, but with it all on the line I would back Wiggins every time. He has slaughtered Evans in the Dauphine TT two years running (which was the same route at the one Evans won in the Tour last year, incidentally), and none of the other GC contenders will even be close.

If he's going to lose it (apart from via a crash), it would be in the mountains, but while there are strong climbers in the race still, there aren't really too many who have that destructive acceleration which really breaks people. You've got somebody like Nibali, who just sets a good pace and stays with it, same with Franck Schleck. I guess Scarponi would be my man to watch in terms of flying off the front on an ascent, but we'll see. Evans and Wiggins are pretty similar on the climbs, in my book. Both strong riders who will just look to cling on to the out-and-out climbers, which Evans was able to do reasonably comfortably last year, and which Wiggins also managed quite well the year he came fourth.

tl;dr, I'm excited as fuck. We may never have a better chance to see a British rider in Yellow in Paris.

I wouldn't be suprised to see Cav partly sidelined this year in the place of Wiggo, and in return Wiggo to work his heart out for Cav in the Olypmic road race.

As >>4200 says, this has to be one of our greatest chances for a British yellow.

>>4201

Cav has definitely compromised his sprint this season in preparation for the Olympic route, too. I don't think that Sky will do much for him except perhaps have Eisel shepherd him towards the line if a sprint happens to be coming.

I'm sure he'll still win a couple, because he was winning them by so much before that even throwing some speed away shouldn't leave him lagging behind, but I would be surprised to see him as involved in the race this year as in years past.

Boy, this is tempting.

>>4205
Easiest E/W of my life. No idea why his odds were so stupid.

>>4205
Fancy keeping us updated on any more tips you find, eh?

Pleased to see Cavvy can survive on his own in that intermediate sprint, amazing how he just breezed past the lot.
I'm not too clued up on the ins and outs, why did he go to Sky in the first place? He was the golden boy in HTC, getting brilliant lead outs in every race while Sky either can't put a train together (that I've seen) or they're focusing all their attention on Wiggo.

Also, this Sagan fella is terrifying.

>>4208
>Fancy keeping us updated on any more tips you find, eh?

I shall now sound wise after the fact and say that on any stage which has no huge mountains but a notably uphill finish, such as yesterday's, back Sagan and lay Gilbert. Sagan has won anything that fits that profile all year, whereas Gilbert is being priced second favourite in most places, despite the fact he's been nowhere near his best form all season. Last year he was winning these as easily as Sagan is now, and people look to be paying more heed to that than they should in my book.

As for today, they seem to have wised up to Goss, because he's half those odds now. I think Farrar (40/1 in a few places) is value E/W, but with less confidence than I had for Goss. He is patchy as hell, but definitely has the speed on his day and a team who will work for him, with a proper leadout man. He's beaten Cav and Greipel in sprints before, he just doesn't do it consistently. I've got a couple of quid on him, just in case he decides to turn up.

I'm sort of tempted by Greipel for the win at 4/1 but betting on somebody to outright beat Cav in a sprint is a mug's game, even if he's dropped some speed and has no team support.

>why did he go to Sky in the first place?

Combination of reasons, I think. He openly stated that he felt he was underpaid at HTC and felt disrespected because of it. Sky were never going to set themselves up for him lile HTC did, but the team principal (Dave Brailsford) worked with Cav when he was a kid, and is one of the few people he seems to respect. Also, with Sky being a British team with a lot of British people involved, he has ridden with a lot of them through the junior ranks.

I also suspect he wanted to show people he was going to be winning these stages with or without support.

Temper temper

http://vimeo.com/45265842

>>4216
Diddums! It wouldn't be so funny if it wasn't his own fault.
Plus most cyclists are skinny as fuck, so when they do fight it's HILARIOUS

Glad, Cavvy got a lead out though he didn't seem able to break out all the same. At the same time, he seems to do okay riding other teams coat tails and I don't want to see Team Sky exhaust their mountain riders at the expense of Wiggo.
With Cav under weight and without HTC and Contador probably eating steak and getting blow jobs in the Caribbean, every stage seems wide open so far.
GOOD STUFF

>>3294
At first I....

...Then I...

>>4231
...and

Holy fuck, did you see Chris Froome destroy that last ramp? Unbelievable. That was Contador-esque.

>>4233
Amazing performance. Thought he'd fall back and let Wiggs have a shot, instead he blasted past Evans even after doing all the work to the top.

>>4233
Good on the spearchucker, hope he keeps this up through the Jura.

Such a shame to see the dominant force that is Schleck come in so far back, I hope he picks his form up.

Also, I didn't realise ARE WIGGO had such a foul mouth.
>Kameramannen var på vei i motsatt retning for å følge Peter Sagan. I et uoppmerksomt øyeblikk traff han Wiggins
>You fucking wiped me with your camera you stupid cunt, sa en frustrert Wiggins.

>>4235
Hehe
http://www.cyclismas.com/2012/07/wiggins-lets-the-insults-fly/

>fucking wiped me out with the camera, the stupid cunt

ARE WIGGO

Awww yeah, I love it when a underdog gets away and grabs a stage.

>>4250

How funny was Marc Madiot in the team car? I think he enjoyed that.

Good effort by Wiggo to stay with Nibali and Cuddles on the descent without any problems. Hopefully he can dish out some punishment in the ITT tomorrow.

>>4251
That was pretty good, made it all the more tense until he got in sight of the line. Nobody wants to see someone, especially a young domestique do the ride of their lives then get swallowed up at the last minute by the peloton.
Saying that, nothing beats the sight of the now corpulent and aged Eddy Merckx leaning out of the sunroof of the directors car, furiously shouting at anyone putting in a particularly heroic display.
I wonder if he's hanging about this year?

Wiggo looked pretty comfortable there, for Evans he's like the Terminator, no matter how much he tries to get away, Wiggs is there methodically keeping pace.
Froome did well during the first half too, looked like he was dragging the whole peloton up those mountains himself, until Liquigas took over.

Tony Martin is 7/1 for the time trial tomorrow. I know he's got a broken wrist, but that still seems generous to me.

>>4256
It's Cancellara's to lose. Might put a bet down because I can see him decimating the field.

I'm extremely interested to see how Chris Froome goes in this one. I think he might be looking to take this race on in his own right come next year - I'm seeing shades of Deutsche Telekom in 1996/7 with Ullrich first working for Riis then the other way around.

Holy shit, Wiggins is fucking brutalising Evans so far. I hope he can keep this up.

>>4258

I don't think sky would ever do such a thing, but I imagine a lot of the teams would like to have Froome's bloodwork double checked after the past 3 days.

>>4261
Ditto, Sky have way too much to loose with a doping scandal but Froome and Wiggins are incredible this season.
A minute ahead of Cancellara! What the fucks going on!?
Loved this;
>The Tour de France leader, Bradley Wiggins, stormed out of a press conference in a fury yesterday after being asked what his reaction was to anonymous members of the Twittersphere who claimed it was impossible to win the race without being doped.

>"I'd say they are just f***ing w***ers," was Wiggins' impassioned response. "I can't be dealing with people like that, it justifies their own bone idleness. Rather than getting off their a***s and doing something with their lives it's easier for them to sit underneath a pseudonym on Twitter and write that sort of s**t..." Wiggins then got up and walked out, bringing an abrupt end to proceedings.

>>4261

I should clarify that I wasn't trying to suggest that Froome or Wiggins were doped a la Ullrich and Riis, simply that the situation is potentially similar to that where Ullrich could probably have beaten Riis, but instead worked to get him the win and led the team to victory himself the next year.

I think the key man in all of this is Dave Brailsford. I have no idea what this man's training methods are, but he just turns out phenomenal cyclists constantly. Given that none of his riders have ever been implicated in a doping scandal as far as I am aware, I firmly believe he is just a genius with a better grasp on sports science than everybody else, and now road cycling is so much cleaner than it used to be, it's showing through in fine style.

>>4263

Yeah, theres no huge suprise that Sky are doing well. Its a very well financed team, with world class riders and the best coaching/training of any team - so they should be doing well.

But still, having the same little known rider dominate hill stages and time trials seems really dodgy. I'd best a sizable amount that sky weren't doping, they have too much commercial value to lose (the Sky/Sky Sports brand) and there are no shady characters involved - yet it's sort of unbelievable how dominant they have seemed given no precedent being set in previous seasons.

>>4264

I think this article (about Froome's second place in the Vuelta last year, equalling the best ever grand tour performance by a British rider) is illuminating.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cycling/14877053

Basic tl;dr is that Brailsford was surprised at Froome's previous under-performance and inconsistency given his numbers in the gym, and Froome credited Wiggins and Sky with helping him pace himself through a race better rather than blowing his wad on crazy attacks and the like. I find it a creditable explanation of how proper training and mentoring could drag these performances out of a young rider.

The cynics will of course point to any surge in performance after joining a new team as being down to doping, but he was still a kid when they signed him, in cycling terms. Not many serious GC riders come to the fore in their early twenties.

>>4265
Cheers, that was a pretty good article and sets Froome in a better context. Until this tour I hadn't even noticed him.

>>4266
Did you not watch the Vuelta last year? Froome was on fire.

Cycling is funnier when someone lets rip with a big wet shit while in the saddle. Golden.

I'll watch a few tours and a few classics per year but unless you really make an effort to keep up, it's so under reported here that I find it slips me by.

Oh Jens :3

>>4271
He's sold out.

>>4273
I'm not sure that's possible.

Vincenzo Nibali currently making his run for Most Bumsore Man in the World.

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/tour-de-france/533850/nibali-hits-out-at-wiggins-after-tour-frustration.html

A bit rich to accuse a guy of not showing you due respect when you've repeatedly called him shit in the press for the last week.

>>4275
Continentals hate it, absolutely loathe it when we do well in something they see as "theirs". ARE WIGGO and Sky are doing a bang tidy job in keeping them arse aggrieved and I for one love it.

>>4272
http://teamjva.com/jens-voigt-soundboard/

HEILIGE

>>4275
What a fathead wanker.
That descent was pretty nice today but he's not as hot shit as he thinks he is.
I'm sure Wiggins will have a good chuckle at getting under Nibali's skin.

>>4277
I always find time to play with that thing.

After that unpleasantness, nice to see Nibali and Wiggins warmly congratulating each other as they crossed the line.

I note that it was Wiggo that offered the respect first, though. Just more classy Brits taking the high road, nothing to see here.

>>4281
There was a bit of a grimace on his face as he reached out. Swallowing a bit of his pride I guess.
Sad for Cuddles, he looks gutted to fall so far back.

All of this British domination. 1-2 in the GC, 4 different stage winners.

Unbelievable.

>>4283
That was such a beautiful finish for Miller, perfectly played.
As you say, unprecedented.

>Tac attack

Welp, that was a waste of my afternoon and a perfect stage for some attacking and defending from the GC leaders.

I never expected much to happen to the leaderboard today because of how long the run-in was after the descent, but it's still a shame to see it neutralised like that. I hope whichever prick thought it was a great idea to puncture the tyres of guys who are about to be going downhill at 60MPH is delighted with their edgy selves.

I bet it was Contador. What about Rolland? Was he in the right to try and nick back some time, or just a cunt?

In other news, I wish I had seen this.

>>4287
30 bicycle tyres, +1 motorcycle.
Welp indeed.

>>4290

An argument could be made in defence of Rolland that riders shouldn't have bothered slowing down for Evans - the general thinking has been never to attack the yellow jersey in those circumstances with everybody else being fair game - but once the whole bunch did slow, Rolland was just being a cunt to fly off like that. When leading riders effectively neutralise a stage, you accept it and go along whether you like it or not.

Still, looks like his team did finally order him to stop embarrassing them and allow himself to get caught, so all's well that ends well.

I only caught the highlights, one of the Tour directors said one rider ended up with a broken collar-bone because of the tac attack, but I can't find anything about it in the articles I've read.

>>4293

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12406/Tour-de-France-Hooligans-throw-tacks-on-race-course-Kiserlovski-crashes-out.aspx

Frank Schleck has tested positive for a diuretic.

For fuck's sake.

>>4300
Wow, he's one of the last I'd expect to be done. Kind of a shame to see a big respectable name go down like that, especially after Wiggo and Jens saying it was a clean peloton just a few days ago.

>>4301

Yeah, but what is he 'being done' for? I've read a few reports on BBC/Sky but for someone only into cycling for a few years I wasn't really around for any big busts. I didn't really understand the Contador thing either.

Basically - he has proven positive for a substance that isn't illegal, but is used in dodgy circumstances and has no explicable use that isn't illicit?

Does it basically mean that he has been doping, but they can't detect it? The actions of his team (kicking him from the tour when a suspension isnt mandatory) would suggest that to me at least.

>>4302
There are plenty of legitimate medical uses for diuretics. Namely the ones they're designed for.

>>4303

So whats the problem? How come he is off the tour? Surely he just needs to bring forward the documentation/medical certificate that justifies his use of the legal chemical and he is clear of all accusations - therefore the problem is that he hasn't done that and so it must be cheating?

>>4302

It's not necessarily a performance booster (although it will help you shed weight, so could offer a tiny improvement in the mountains), but it can be used to mask the use of other drugs, and as such it is forbidden.

Naturally it is, then, not possible to say for certain that he was cheating, but every rider knows that they can't use these substances even if they aren't using them as masking agents. There is no tolerance whatsoever for innocent mistakes, so riders and teams are hyper-vigilant about what they take, with team doctors completely in control of the supplements/medicines that are used. There's no way anybody is going to believe that Saxobank made a stupid mistake in accidentally administering a banned substance, so naturally the suspicion will be that this was a deliberate attempt to mask the use of other substances.

At best, he's an idiot. At worst, he's a cheat. It doesn't really matter which one because it's still doing yet more damage to the sport.

>>4306
>Saxobank

Radioshack, of course. My mistake.

>>4306
>but it can be used to mask the use of other drugs, and as such it is forbidden.
D'oh, silly me. Diuretics. Yes, I see why that would be a problem now.

>>4307
Easy mistake to make.

One more day for WIggins to get through in the mountains, then it's game over. 2min+ lead on Nibali with a long TT to come, unless he cracks something horrific, this is done and dusted.

Game over. We finally have a British tour winner.

>>4311
DON'T FUCKING DO IT MAN, YOU'LL JINX HIM

>>4311
Chris Froome

>>4313
I do think the dynamic between Wiggo and Froomey is one of the more interesting aspects of this tour, I wouldn't be surprised if we saw them going head to head on different teams once their contracts run out (in 2014 I believe).

One possible outcome for the next Tour is a situation similar to that of Astana when Armstrong butted in to Contador's team and they had two leaders. If that did happen, I think the most likely outcome would be that they race to see if one of them could open up a lead at the top, and then the other would step down and protect that lead.

More likely, I am firmly convinced that Froome will lead Team Sky next time around. This Tour could have been designed for Wiggins with two long time trials, barely any monstrous climbs and hardly a summit finish in sight. It was a no-brainer to work for him on this one, even if Froome has shown surprising strength. Next year, for the hundredth anniversary, I have no doubt they will hit all the famous summits, and probably as finishes too. No way Wiggins can live with Contador and Schleck on a race to the top of Ventoux or Alpe d'Huez, but Froome has shown enough to suggest he might be able to. Wiggo has already stated quite publicly that he will happily support Froome in the future, so I don't think he would be put out if the team rallied behind the purer climber in a Tour with a tougher profile in the mountains.

Really, Wiggins would be the perfect domestique for the mountains. He doesn't have the pure acceleration that true climbers have, but he can sit on the front and tap out a brutal rhythm all day.