# If the peloton had no reason . . .



## obfg (Jul 18, 2004)

Today, Phil pointed out that the peloton "had no reason" to reel in Heinrich Hausler (the breakaway rider). Now, it seems to be that a fair rephrasing of "has no reason" is "doesn't care." 

If the peloton doesn't care if some guy who is 55 minutes back wins todays stage, why should I?

I've started to collect broadcast gems that demonstrate how uninteresting this tour has been.

One exampe: Today Phil spent several minutes discussing the fact that Fellieu (?) had almost launched a big attack. Well, "almost" launching an attack is not launching one. So, I'm supposed to fascinated by the analysis that this possible GC contender didn't do something?

Phil also described a bike change as "brilliant." That's right. The fact that a professional bicyclist, who was in radio communication with a team car carrying a spare bicycle, was able to get off of one bicyle and (assisted by a professional mechanic) get on another one, was "brilliant."


----------



## slowdave (Nov 29, 2005)

sounds like its time to get out and ride the bike rather than watching it


----------



## LWP (Jun 6, 2006)

If I was that bored with something, I'd just avoid it. Spending hours watching something just to collect proof that it's boring sounds kinda sad to me.


----------



## Mel Erickson (Feb 3, 2004)

Newsflash. The last week has been boring, just as predicted. The first week was very interesting, not predicted. The next week should be very interesting, my prediction.


----------



## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

Yea the only people worth watching and caring about are Cavendish and Lance and Contador    

Gawd people.


----------



## iamnotfilip (Jul 9, 2007)

I kinda enjoyed todays stage. I was really pulling for Hausler and was fearing he may crack any minute now. But he held on solo for quite a while.


----------



## ChilliConCarnage (Jun 1, 2006)

LWP said:


> If I was that bored with something, I'd just avoid it. Spending hours watching something just to collect proof that it's boring sounds kinda sad to me.


way to lay the smackdown on the op. you got served!


----------



## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

iamnotfilip said:


> I kinda enjoyed todays stage. I was really pulling for Hausler and was fearing he may crack any minute now. But he held on solo for quite a while.


He's a mutli talented rider. Not the pure sprinter that Cavendish is and not the pure classics man of the Tom Boonen variety.
IMO if he stays on form we could see him winning a few of the major classics races in the future. 
I also heard somewhere that this possible new pro tour team "Team Sky" has will snatch up pretty soon. Too bad since Cervelo Test Team has done pretty well this season.


----------



## Snakebit (Mar 18, 2002)

Marc said:


> Yea the only people worth watching and caring about are Cavendish and Lance and Contador
> 
> Gawd people.


All the others are very specialized and only those with a deep understanding of pro racing can really appreciate them. Most of us watch to see a race and we are seeing a tactical ride across France instead. Oh, they'll race at the end and the long ride will play a role but to most it appears they could go straight to the Ventoux stage and skip the bother in between and nothing would be amiss. The only reason to watch all this tedium is the off chance that a contender will get himself in a bind and effect his opportunity ala Levi.

I like the sprints, they fill the void between the start and the actual race, wherever that is taking place and long breakaways that succeed make that anticlimactic. Interesting stories and great experience for individual riders that have absolutely nothing to do with the race itself. Being an announcer in this Tour must be as difficult as being a weatherman, cut the guys some slack.


----------



## Mootsie (Feb 4, 2004)

My my my someone is bitter.


----------



## rogger (Aug 19, 2005)

Wait until spring and watch the classics, no time for boredom there.


----------



## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

rogger said:


> Wait until spring and watch the classics, no time for boredom there.


Stop that.....HATER!


----------



## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

srsly didn't teams used to try and attack the race leader, instead of just waiting until the >insert "epic" stage here<

maybe i have selective memory syndrome?brought on by the WANT to believe the tour is amazing this year


----------



## Marc (Jan 23, 2005)

JohnHenry said:


> srsly didn't teams used to try and attack the race leader, instead of just waiting until the >insert "epic" stage here<


We have a peloton of wheelsuckers this year.


----------



## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

Marc said:


> We have a peloton of wheelsuckers this year.


I feel like the tour got divided by zero.


----------



## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

Mootsie said:


> My my my someone is bitter.


Huh? Was that really directed at my post?


----------



## Mel Erickson (Feb 3, 2004)

JohnHenry said:


> srsly didn't teams used to try and attack the race leader, instead of just waiting until the >insert "epic" stage here<
> 
> maybe i have selective memory syndrome?brought on by the WANT to believe the tour is amazing this year


Lot's of things affect how interesting a particular Tour is in any given year. Not the least of which is how each stage is constructed and how all the stages are put together. Many of this years stages were strangely constructed and the stages were put together in a way that lent itself to some uninteresting racing. Combine that with an uber dominant sprinter/sprint team (at least in the flat sprint stages) and the two biggest GC contenders being on the same team and voila, you've got this years cake. Just think how different it could/would be if Contador and Armstrong were on competing teams instead of the same team. Sure, this week would have been similar but the first week would have been even more interesting than it was and next week could be even more interesting. And yes, you've got selective memory.

Oh, I forgot, blame Armstrong.


----------



## rogger (Aug 19, 2005)

JohnHenry said:


> Stop that.....HATER!


Oh right, I forgot to mention the Tour of Mizzurah. :wink5:


----------



## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

rogger said:


> Oh right, I forgot to mention the Tour of Mizzurah. :wink5:


RESPECT.


----------



## JohnHenry (Aug 9, 2006)

Mel Erickson said:


> Oh, I forgot, blame Armstrong.


I do. I just finished a "blame storm" session.


----------



## obfg (Jul 18, 2004)

LWP said:


> If I was that bored with something, I'd just avoid it. Spending hours watching something just to collect proof that it's boring sounds kinda sad to me.


Ah, but hope springs eternal.


----------



## obfg (Jul 18, 2004)

Snakebit said:


> Being an announcer in this Tour must be as difficult as being a weatherman, cut the guys some slack.


Actually, I do kind of feel sorry for Phil and Paul. I know it's their job to make the broadcast sound interesting and it must be pretty difficult to do this year. But, still, a "brilliant" bike change? I've gotta believe that, right after he said that, Phil mentally slapped his forehead and thought to himself "WTF am I saying?"


Phil sometimes seems to feel that he has to fill up the time with words, no matter what they are. He would benefit from slowing down, letting some silence in, and thinking before he talks.


----------



## kreuzberg (Feb 1, 2009)

Marc said:


> We have a peloton of wheelsuckers this year.


Oh my god. Seriously?
If you were Cadel would you bust your ass in the hopes that you MIGHT get ten seconds leading over the top of the climb, only to be pulled back in the long downhill to the finish. Sounds like a big waste of energy to me.

And not everyone can just attack up a climb. If it didn't work, than you are done and you lose your GC position. No one's going to risk that just to make it more "interesting."

In the grand scheme of things, this week hasn't been that interesting. But each stage day by day has been really great. Lots of good breakaways, the tactics in the bunch about columbia and other teams trying to bluff their way out of pulling it back, the green jersey duel between cav and thor which has seen the cervelo rider getting in breaks in the mountains,

Wow I can think of like ten really interesting things that have been going on.


----------



## QuiQuaeQuod (Jan 24, 2003)

obfg said:


> Actually, I do kind of feel sorry for Phil and Paul. I know it's their job to make the broadcast sound interesting and it must be pretty difficult to do this year. But, still, a "brilliant" bike change? I've gotta believe that, right after he said that, Phil mentally slapped his forehead and thought to himself "WTF am I saying?"




In normal British usage, "brilliant" means "excellent" or "darn good". So they weren't calling the bike change highly intelligent and something that required genius to do, but rather that it was slickly done. 

Bike changes gone wrong can really mess things up, and getting one done without a hitch is not a simple thing.


----------



## kbiker3111 (Nov 7, 2006)

obfg said:


> Today, Phil pointed out that the peloton "had no reason" to reel in Heinrich Hausler (the breakaway rider). Now, it seems to be that a fair rephrasing of "has no reason" is "doesn't care."
> 
> If the peloton doesn't care if some guy who is 55 minutes back wins todays stage, why should I?
> 
> ...


I love how people don't follow pro cycling for 11 months and a week, tune in for the tour and then b!tch when people they don't care about win. Read up on Hausler and Chavanel, they had incredible springs and it was good to see them keep it up. 

PS, of course the peleton wasn't going to chase. No one likes chasing after two weeks and no one likes racing in the rain. Combine those two and the breakaway was always going to succeed.


----------



## albert owen (Jul 7, 2008)

I had a cataract operation 3 weeks ago, so I have no choice but to watch rather than ride for the duration. 
This Tour has been rather dull so far - the only bright spot has been watching Cav murder his rivals.- but anything is better than Golf.
The Giro is usually a much more entertaining race IMO.


----------



## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

JohnHenry said:


> srsly didn't teams used to try and attack the race leader, instead of just waiting until the >insert "epic" stage here<
> 
> maybe i have selective memory syndrome?brought on by the WANT to believe the tour is amazing this year


Bring back Vino!


----------



## cyclesoflife (May 8, 2005)

Yes imagine Vino on Astana's Tour team (though most likely ASO will never let him race in the Tour again) this year racing for himself along with AC and Lance. Now that would be a totally disfunctional group of riders!


----------



## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

Am I the only one who doesn't think this Tour is boring? Just because it isn't a mountain top finish every stage doesn't mean it's boring. Just because you don't see Lance and Contador attacking each other every second doesn't make it boring.

Chavanel got dropped on the one stage he really wanted to win (and, by all means, should have). Heinrich Hausler was crying at the finish line! That's so emotionally powerful! I almost started crying with him.

Learn to appreciate the sport or stop watching it on TV. Simple as that.


----------



## lastchild (Jul 4, 2009)

kreuzberg said:


> Oh my god. Seriously?
> If you were Cadel would you bust your ass in the hopes that you MIGHT get ten seconds leading over the top of the climb, only to be pulled back in the long downhill to the finish. Sounds like a big waste of energy to me.
> 
> And not everyone can just attack up a climb. If it didn't work, than you are done and you lose your GC position. No one's going to risk that just to make it more "interesting."


Cadel has no choice BUT to attack!
Preserve his worthless GC position? You must be joking.
If he's not going to attack, the noble thing to do is abandon...he essentially already has.
Do you honestly believe he's going to claw back 3+ minutes on the penultimate day?
You _must _be ****ing joking.
This Tour is starting to become a disgrace...the lack of dopers is incredibly boring.
I want Lance to win as much as anybody...but I want him to FIGHT for it, to EARN it.


----------



## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I've been enjoying the tour. Yes, because the headliners haven't come out to play, it hasn't exactly been exactly gripping in this second week. But it's always interesting watching the race's shifting undercurrents: watching the secondary players duke it out & have their moment in the sun, and watching the scenery go by. I mean, does Bryce Feillu look like a character out of Triplets of Belleville or what? It doesn't have to be all loud, all the time.

And don't worry. Eventually they'll bring out the heavy artillery.


----------



## Frith (Oct 3, 2002)

iliveonnitro said:


> Am I the only one who doesn't think this Tour is boring?


You aren't. I think it's great... the suspense is building and building... and we know as much about the major GC contenders as we did going into July. Less in some cases (Wiggins). That's a good thing!

I think of it like a movie. Most of the viewing public loves their summer blockbusters... Why? they're filled with action from start to finish. This is the precise reason I don't watch these films. There's no variance in pace... just go-go-go... and this makes them boring from start to finish IMO. I like a film that slowly draws me in and builds to a dramatic peak near the end.
But hey, I guess there's a reason popular films are popular.
My advice to anyone who thinks this years tour is boring... Do us all a favour. Get your mega-xxxlarge popcorn and your bucket of coca-cola and enjoy that Transformers flick for the 5th time in a row... We'll all have a better summer that way.


----------



## jsedlak (Jun 17, 2008)

Phil has completely lost it...

During the stage that Haussler won, he makes it a point to tell us that Chavenel is eating and how eating is important. Then an hour later he says Chavenel has bonked because he forgot to eat. Really Phil?

It is as if he just doesn't care anymore and doesn't think about what he is actually saying. He almost flipped out when Lance went to the front near the top because he thought it looked like he was about to attack.

<3 Paul. Not so much Phil. He should stick to sunflowers.


----------

