2004 Tour de France

Since the start of the Tour de France is just hours away...

http://ww2.olntv.com/cyclysm/jump.html

This is far and away my favorite sporting event of the year! What these guys do for 3 weeks on a bicycle is unfathomable to me! 2300 miles, thru the Pyrannes and the Alps- averaging almost 30 mph on theri bikes!

Lance goes for 6 in a row... dont have a good feeling this year- too many knucklehead specators too close to the action, all it takes is for one non fan to ruin it! The tour is slanted this year to the mountain climbers, which favors well for Lance... watch out for Iban Mayo, Jan Ullrich, and USA's Tyler Hamilton.

I cant believe they start the first day with a 4 mile prolouge? you wait 340 days for a 4 mile start? giddyup!

Quinn, me too! I guess we'll be the only ones discussing it. :lol I just got TiVO specifically for this. Many moons ago, I was a young aspiring cyclist. This is the one event every year I never miss.

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Lance goes for 6 in a row... The tour is slanted this year to the mountain climbers, which favors well for Lance... watch out for Iban Mayo, Jan Ullrich, and USA's Tyler Hamilton.

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Lance is great, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if he lost his reign this year. He'll keep company with the other great 5 time winners. I used to dislike Jan Ulrich but have become a silent supporter of him the last two years. He's kinda like the Buffalo Bills--he'll be known more for placing second in five straight races than he will for his win in 1997.

I'd like to see Hamilton on the podium this year as well. He's hurt going into todays race but said he feels good (90-95%) for the mountains.

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dont have a good feeling this year- too many knucklehead specators too close to the action, all it takes is for one non fan to ruin it!

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As was evidenced last year! This should make for an exciting Tour. Although I'm a little disappointed about the ITT up L'aupe Duez. I would've much rather preferred an epic race up the mountain.

Look forward to discussing this more.

Fabian Cancellara a 23 yr old Swiss rider - riding in his first stage in his first TDF nips out Lance by 1.5 seconds for the Yellow Jersey. An amazing ride by Lance today- sets the tone early that it's time to get down to business.

Lance has a 15 sec lead over Ulrich, a 16 sec lead over Hamilton, and a 19 sec lead over Mayo- his chief rivals ... I dont see much changing in the way of standings for the first few stages as they are sprint stages where usually the whole peoloton finishes with the same time. The first week will be interesting to see how the race for the Green sprinters jersey pans out. I also look for Fabain Cancellara to carry the White (rookie) jersey all the way thru the tour.

the official web site for the Tour de France- with standings, and stage profiles:
http://www.letour.fr/2004/us/index.html

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Originally Posted by speedbump

He's kinda like the Buffalo Bills--he'll be known more for placing second in five straight races than he will for his win in 1997.

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Hush. The Bills are wonderful and I love them, and there's a vast conspiracy holding them back.

Anyway, carry on gentlemen.

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Originally Posted by speedbump

Quinn, me too! I guess we'll be the only ones discussing it. :lol

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Oh, no you won't. There is a Danish team in the tour (CSC), and Jakob Piil has been doing really well, sitting in breakouts both yesterday and today. Go Danish riders! :yay

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Originally Posted by astrogirl_2100

Oh, no you won't. There is a Danish team in the tour (CSC), and Jakob Piil has been doing really well, sitting in breakouts both yesterday and today. Go Danish riders! :yay

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:lol
I like CSC Tiscali. Bjarne Riis, 1996 Tour champ is the team director. I liked him as a racer. Also, there is an American on CSC, Bobby Julich, sitting in 9th place who could give Lance a run for his money now that he's coming back into form.

Jakob has had two good days in the breakaways. Maybe tomorrow will be his day on the podium?

All that being said, this years race was definitely designed for some good competition. The new rule for the team time trial on wednesday should keep the time gaps close going into the mountains next week.

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Originally Posted by speedbump

:lol
I like CSC Tiscali. Bjarne Riis, 1996 Tour champ is the team director. I liked him as a racer. Also, there is an American on CSC, Bobby Julich, sitting in 9th place who could give Lance a run for his money now that he's coming back into form.

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Bobby Julich is one of my favorite non-Danish riders. I though it was great the year he took third. It was great when Bjarne Riis won. That was the year when Tour de France became a really big deal in Denmark. Now everyone watches it.

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Originally Posted by speedbump

Jakob has had two good days in the breakaways. Maybe tomorrow will be his day on the podium?

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I hope so, if he has the energy to sit in another breakout. I love it when the breakout lasts until the end, but the teams with sprinters seem poweful enough to reel everything in.

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Originally Posted by speedbump

All that being said, this years race was definitely designed for some good competition. The new rule for the team time trial on wednesday should keep the time gaps close going into the mountains next week.

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What new rule? It's the team trial, right? I love those, those can really turn the race upside down.

And congrats on getting TiVo, you life will never be the same again :) I like the fact that ONL is showing the tour at least 10 times a day, so there is amble opportunity for TiVo to record it, even if you have lot's of other season passes.

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Originally Posted by astrogirl_2100

What new rule? It's the team trial, right? I love those, those can really turn the race upside down.

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Yep, new rule on the TTT. The most any team can lose at the finish is 2 minutes. That will keep everything tight together. I think the top 4 finishing teams will be Phonak, T-Mobile, US Postal and CSC, which coincidentally has all the top contenders for the tour. With this new rule, all the race favorites will only be spread apart by less than 2 minutes or so. Team tactics are gonna be so crucial heading into next week.

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And congrats on getting TiVo, you life will never be the same again :)

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I love it. How was my life ever complete before it? :lol

i think the rules committee had good intentions with the new rules for the team time trial- and the time limit is 2:30. the downside of the rule is that a good individual rider on a crappy team- can essentially have a rest day off- coast at 15mph for the entire route and only lose 2:30 (whereas the other good riders are busting their ass).

Today is the day the riders are fearing the most in terms of safety- for some insane reason the race features two cobblestone sections- and with the forecast of possible rain- it could get very interesting- especially if you like seeing riders go head over heels at 35 mph? Cobblestones? :ohno nothing good can come from that section- ie wrecks, punctures, and general bike damage?

Lance is currently in 4th- slipping down the leaderboard b/c the sprinters are gaining time bonuses... but those sprinters will be nowhere to be found in a week or so- after a little jaunt thru the Pyrannes- and Lance's real rivals are still behind him in the standings.

Great stage today. Lance took his first yellow jersey and US postal dominates the top 10. However, I cannot believe that Lance will win six. Noone has ever done it, and I'm sure there is some sort of a hex on the tour.

CSC came in fifth, and will all the accidents they had, that's pretty outstanding.