# Looking forward to TdF time again?



## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Surprised myself. Thought I'd not be interested much this year, but despite all the dope [email protected], whiny little-boy-racer [email protected], and Pro cycling political [email protected], I'm finding once again that it's late June and I'm actually anticipating the needed mental break from real life in the form of 4am summer morning wake-up calls from Phil and Paul: on my couch, with fresh brewed coffee in hand. 

Oh yes! And Welty's pre-race reports. Those are gold.

...enter in Versus' cheesy like square dancing where "everybody loves doing it but won't admit it," music...da, da-da da-da dah.dah....

Happy July y'all!


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

hey, look who it is!!!

not sure im gonna get the daily race threads, but i sure hope so. missed you around the giro. we had some great discussion going then.

this year should be good for all the reasons you thought it would be bad. plus we have:
- contador vying for the double
- andy having a ho-hum season thus far (is he holding back?) and still dropping chains
- radioshack without lance going all-mountain
- htc calling out to get their leadout train organized
- basso deferring to race for the yellow rather than defend the pink, then seeing contador try for the double
- garmin lost and searching aimlessly for an identity
- rabo banking on gesink
- voekler looking royal in le bleu
- vino

no prologue, opening stage across the straits, second stage very short TTT, flat stages for almost a week. all of this following giro that COULD have been exciting but never really recovered from the tragedy of w2.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

I am up for the spectacle and Le Tour never fails to deliver some awesome bike racing - if only for stage wins.

... reminds me, I have some google driving to do.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...d=208160582722354201508.0004a17dc84dd5de46a99


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

weltyed said:


> hey, look who it is!!!
> 
> *not sure im gonna get the daily race threads, *but i sure hope so. missed you around the giro. we had some great discussion going then.
> 
> ...



Whaaaa??? No daily TdF race reports from Welty? Puh-leez! Shoot me now. I always check your pre-race run downs...just good stuff. You should off Phil or Paul and you'd be set. 

As for the Giro, sadly I mostly missed it this year.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

stage 1: Passage du Gois


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Creakyknees said:


> I am up for the spectacle and Le Tour never fails to deliver some awesome bike racing - if only for stage wins.
> 
> *... reminds me, I have some google driving to do.http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?[B]i...d=208160582722354201508.0004a17dc84dd5de46a99*[/B]




Excellent!


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

stage 3... skinny roads and crosswinds


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Creakyknees said:


> stage 3... skinny roads and crosswinds


You're killing me, Creaky, killing me. Ahhhh yes.... July.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

stage 4: hilly with a big finish


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> You're killing me, Creaky, killing me. Ahhhh yes.... July.


how could I neglect stage 2... the time trial:


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Surprised myself. Thought I'd not be interested much this year, but despite all the dope [email protected], whiny little-boy-racer [email protected], and Pro cycling political [email protected], I'm finding once again that it's late June and I'm actually anticipating the needed mental break from real life in the form of 4am summer morning wake-up calls from Phil and Paul: on my couch, with fresh brewed coffee in hand.
> 
> Oh yes! And Welty's pre-race reports. Those are gold.
> 
> ...


+eleventy (though, I'm on the East Coast and cheat by using my Tivo so I can skip some commercials and catch up fast).


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Stage 5: Brittany. Seems to be a lot of villages and blind corners on this one


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

AJL said:


> +eleventy (though, I'm on the East Coast and cheat by using my Tivo so I can skip some commercials and catch up fast).



Ya know, sometimes I envy you folks with your fancy pants high speed monkey- befuddling digital diggity dog widgets...but there's something refreshing to the soul about waking up with the roosters at zero-dark thirty on a cool summer morning... stupid commercials and all. 

(of course if I wasn't so cheap I'd spend the extra 5 smacks a month for a Tivo monkey...).


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

6. another hilly one. might rain.


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Creakyknees said:


> Stage 5: Brittany. Seems to be a lot of villages and blind corners on this one



Thanks for reminding me I'm still _such_ a danged chick. Instead of contemplating the race stage, I'm looking at those cute purple shutters and that tidy little street.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

7. definitely a sprinters stage. Interesting they put the intermediate sprint so late in the course.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Thanks for reminding me I'm still _such_ a danged chick. Instead of contemplating the race stage, I'm looking at those cute purple shutters and that tidy little street.


You also used to be a bike racer so that photo should elicit a certain degree of pucker factor when you contemplate hurling into it at 50 kmh inside a 160 rider pack.


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## weltyed (Feb 6, 2004)

from what i read they are limiting the intermmediate sprints and putting them later in the stage hoping the sprinter teams will have to work harder to control the race longer. that is if they want to donn the green jersey under the arc.

and while we get all excited, there is this picture of procycling mag. i know it must have been a photochopping nightmare, but i think it still looks bad.









you, creak: you know if they are gonna have better profile images than that? i was looking around the other night and those lil ones were the only things that i could find on the tour page. i usually get my stuff from cyclingnews, but they dont have anything yet.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

8. now we get to see who can climb a real climb.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

good sites:

http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/
- check the timetables for google mapping village names

zoomable stage maps
http://www.2travel2.nl/English/all-stages-tour-de-france-2011-on-a-google-map.html


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

Creakyknees said:


> You also used to be a bike racer so that photo should elicit a certain degree of pucker factor when you contemplate hurling into it at 50 kmh inside a 160 rider pack.



Do you have a link for pucker factor? In the spirit of PO, I'd like to see the real scientific data, preferably in graph form. 

Nonetheless, looks like fun...ah love high speed corners. Wheeeee! (from my middle-aged armchair, of course :thumbsup.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

stage 9. So you liked those hills yesterday? Good, we got more.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

after that, rest day 1.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

Tuesday the 12th, back to work.










so they come bombing down into a big river valley on this skinny little road, and are greeted with yet another blind corner leading to this one-lane bridge, then a cat 4 climb.


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

11. Another lumpy one. Seems to be a lot of these this year.


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## allison (Apr 19, 2006)

weltyed said:


> and while we get all excited, there is this picture of procycling mag. i know it must have been a photochopping nightmare, but i think it still looks bad.


Totally agreed. Almost think it would've looked better had they truly organized them all together instead of the "photography nightmare" it took to get that. Weird.

Creaky - love the coverage!


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

weltyed said:


> you, creak: you know if they are gonna have better profile images than that? i was looking around the other night and those lil ones were the only things that i could find on the tour page. i usually get my stuff from cyclingnews, but they dont have anything yet.


I haven't been able to find decent sized stage profiles either. Maybe the the ASO is only giving out high res renderings to the magazines this year.

I did bump into this interesting video over at Velonews.com:


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

Just switched from Time Warner to Veriozn Fios today. I now have Versus whereas I would have had to take ane expensive upgrade from T-W.

I'm ready to set the coffee pot for automatic start and get ready for some live coverage!

JSR


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## bike981 (Sep 14, 2010)

JSR said:


> I'm ready to set the coffee pot for automatic start and get ready for some live coverage!


If by "coverage" you mean 5 minutes of bicycle racing and then 5 minutes of commercials, you'll be quite pleased.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

bike981 said:


> If by "coverage" you mean 5 minutes of bicycle racing and then 5 minutes of commercials, you'll be quite pleased.


here we go again - oh pleease stop your whining!

I don't think the total amount of commercials is so much different from other similar programs.
Versus carries amazing footage of TdF in HD, and extended segments with no commercial interruptions - towards the end of the mountain stages, for example. 

And if you do hate the commercials so much, just DVR it and start watching the coverage 30 or 40 minutes after it starts (go make the coffee, eat breakfast, talk to your spouse etc.), and then fast-forward through commercials - by the end of the coverage you will catch up with live footage.

It's no rocket science and the rest of us figured this out many years ago...


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## JSR (Feb 27, 2006)

55x11 said:


> And if you do hate the commercials so much, just DVR it and start watching the coverage 30 or 40 minutes after it starts (go make the coffee, eat breakfast, talk to your spouse etc.), and then fast-forward through commercials - by the end of the coverage you will catch up with live footage.


My new service includes a DVR, so I will be taking advantage of your advice. Man, this 21st centruy is an interesting time. I'm glad I decided to wake up!

JSR


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## jd3 (Oct 8, 2004)

I won't be here every day for the play by play like I have been for the last couple of years. I will be here for some of the days and will enjoy the incites and comments of my RBR Tour fans.


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## 55x11 (Apr 24, 2006)

jd3 said:


> I won't be here every day for the play by play like I have been for the last couple of years. I will be here for some of the days and will enjoy the incites and comments of my RBR Tour fans.


Ditto. How could anyone NOT be excited about the Tour? I have been watching every minute of TV coverage since ESPN 30-minute updates in late 1990ies, through OLN and Vs, now NBC Sports. There will be drama, controversies and of course a lot of exciting competition. 

It will be legen-dary!


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## rollinrob (Dec 8, 2002)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Thanks for reminding me I'm still _such_ a danged chick. Instead of contemplating the race stage, I'm looking at those cute purple shutters and that tidy little street.




You should have gone to France, you pass thru lots of villages with houses like that...


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## AJL (Jul 9, 2009)

rollinrob said:


> You should have gone to France, you pass thru lots of villages with houses like that...


That's how I got hooked on the tour, we crossed the peleton's path twice while vacationing in France in 2000. Still love the country, I'd like to go back again and catch some of the tour stages.


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## max354 (Jun 27, 2011)

I'm soo pumped for the tour this year!!


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## Keski (Sep 25, 2004)

Le Tour has their own youtube channel. Most of the posts are french, but they do occasionaly mirror an english one. They post stuff daily.

http://www.youtube.com/user/letourdefrance#g/u

Like this top notch one right here. I've posted it before, but it's always worth a look. Great video.


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## orange_julius (Jan 24, 2003)

OldEndicottHiway said:


> Surprised myself. Thought I'd not be interested much this year, but despite all the dope [email protected], whiny little-boy-racer [email protected], and Pro cycling political [email protected], I'm finding once again that it's late June and I'm actually anticipating the needed mental break from real life in the form of 4am summer morning wake-up calls from Phil and Paul: on my couch, with fresh brewed coffee in hand.
> 
> Oh yes! And Welty's pre-race reports. Those are gold.
> 
> ...


Right.

It's that break period between the Spring Classics and the Fall Classics.


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## yurl (Mar 31, 2010)

I'm going to be lucky enough to be in Paris for the final stage  anyone else going to be around?


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## jarbiker (Sep 29, 2009)

I'm pumped for the Tour this year, can hardly wait to see which of these drug enhanced athletes will win this race. With any luck they may even be able to keep their title.


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## Fireform (Dec 15, 2005)

Not me. The doping has turned me off pro cycling completely. If I'm going to watch fake perfornances, I might as well watch pro wrestling.


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## Mapei (Feb 3, 2004)

I love the TdF. Me and Sogno intend on watching every second of it...recorded for more convenient viewing, of course. 

It's an all-consuming novel of a sporting event. It fills the hi-def TV with beautiful images. Choose your heroes. Choose your villains. 

Watch young stars emerge. Watch fading stars make one last stand. Watch the riders survive rainstorms and bee stings. 

Live in dread of unforeseen events -- a fatal accident, or a dope bust. Laugh at other unforeseen events -- animals (both human and non-human) in the road, or a labor rebellion within the peloton. Some of the story lines evolve over the entire three weeks. Some evolve over the course of a single stage, or over a few stages. Riders lose their legs, only to find them again...and lose them once more.

To focus on one single aspect of the Tour -- such as doping or who will get the Yellow Jersey -- is to ignore the richness that is the event. It is filled with resonance. It is filled with complexity. It is a great show.


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## paredown (Oct 18, 2006)

^^^^ this ^^^^

Couldn't have said it better myself.

(You've reminded me to scoot to the local FIOS store & swap out the box for hi-def now that we have our living room back together and our flatpanel set up.)


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## Creakyknees (Sep 21, 2003)

nice VeloNews analysis of all 21 stages:

http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/06/news/what-to-look-for-at-the-98th-tour-de-france_180439


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

paredown said:


> ^^^^ this ^^^^
> 
> Couldn't have said it better myself.
> 
> (You've reminded me to scoot to the local FIOS store & swap out the box for hi-def now that we have our living room back together and our flatpanel set up.)



Completely agree, Pare. Mappy sums it up. And enjoy the race on that flat panel. :thumbsup:

And to Creaky, thanks for taking the time to post those photos and links. Good stuff.


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## ToF (Jan 18, 2008)

I am surprised -- I'm looking forward to this year more than I have in a while. What Mapei said.


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## baker921 (Jul 20, 2007)

Mapei said:


> I love the TdF. Me and Sogno intend on watching every second of it...recorded for more convenient viewing, of course.
> 
> It's an all-consuming novel of a sporting event. It fills the hi-def TV with beautiful images. Choose your heroes. Choose your villains.
> 
> ...


Precisely! Or as I like to think of it grand opera with bicyles. I especilly look forward to the dulcet tones of Sean Kelly adding a little melody to those quiet times.


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## DZfan14 (Jul 6, 2009)

Things I'm looking forward to...

1. Looking forward to the smack talk and the inevitable controversies.
2. The TTT
3. The battle for the green jersey and probably how it relates to #1.
4. Watching Wiggins getting dropped when it gets down to business and watching a certain group wonder out loud how that is possible.
5. Hopefully some really aggressive echelon riding in Brittany.
6. Evans' excuses
7. Garmin's excuses (hopefully they get a win in the TTT and a sprint win as well)


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## Brad the Bold (Jun 8, 2010)

Creakyknees said:


> Tuesday the 12th, back to work.
> so they come bombing down into a big river valley on this skinny little road, and are greeted with yet another blind corner leading to this one-lane bridge, then a cat 4 climb.


So awesome, thanks for the pics in this thread. 

I'm a middle aged wanna be, but the pictures of the Tour take me back to when I was a teen wanna be on my first Peugeot pretending I was Greg Lemond.


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## godot (Feb 3, 2004)

I'll most likely be watching every minute of the last 2 weeks of the tour, while recovering from shoulder surgery. I've heard the tour is better when popping percocet like skittles.

I get to mostly ignore the 1st week, which is fine as the GC battle doesn't really start until stage 12.


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## MattSoutherden (Jun 24, 2009)

ZOMG - Tour! :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:



baker921 said:


> I especilly look forward to the dulcet tones of Sean Kelly adding a little melody to those quiet times.





paredown said:


> (You've reminded me to scoot to the local FIOS store & swap out the box for hi-def now that we have our living room back together and our flatpanel set up.)


Much to the wife's dismay I just upgraded our TV package to include EuroSport HD. So not only do I get Sean, but I get hi res mountains. w00t! 

I have just made one slight boo-boo though...

...We booked to go on holiday in 2 weeks time.

...To a cottage in the middle of nowhere that has no TV or internet.

:mad2: :mad2: :mad2:


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## OldEndicottHiway (Jul 16, 2007)

MattSoutherden said:


> ZOMG - Tour! :yikes: :yikes: :yikes: :yikes:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Lol! Bad timing for a holiday. But I imagine you'll both get lost in relaxing, enjoying being away from it all, and being with eachother. You can still catch up on the TdF stuff when you get back. 

That said, watching the TdF _is_ my holiday (speaking as someone who hasn't had a real, getaway vacation lasting more than a couple of days, in over two years...I think I get one of those vacations about once every eight or ten years  ).

And so, I will enjoy July, real vacation or no. :thumbsup:


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