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Bike vs Car in the Tour de France

Really amazing footage of the accident today where a TV car clipped a rider at the Tour. Any driver who thinks it's okay to pass within 2 feet of us should have to watch this.


http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/42433236#43702680


Both riders finished the stage, will see how they are after the rest day tomorrow.


erink
2011-07-10 17:39:20

Good lord. Watching the guy flip into the barbed wire fence made my heart drop into my stomach.


scott
2011-07-10 22:16:40

ouch, they must have hired a pittsburgh driver.


thelivingted
2011-07-10 22:44:38

Simply astounding. And I think calling it "clipped" is being charitable to the driver. I think of being clipped more as what happened to Sorensen with the the moto earlier-ie, getting passed too close. Here the driver basically swerved right into them. ASO's rules (or maybe UCI, I forget) specifically speak of criminal punishment for drivers on the course, and if this doesn't qualify I don't know what would. Insane.


chinston
2011-07-10 23:19:50

Both Hoogerland and Flecha will wear red numbers on Tuesday as the most combative riders on today's stage. There is chatter about lobbying the race organizers to give both riders the same time as the rest of the break (which finished several minutes ahead of the group of GC contenders). Don't know if anything will come of that.


This race has been a mess of accidents. Nicky Sorenson got caught up with a moto earlier in the week and watched his bike dragged off into the sunset. Several other GC contenders have gone done and abandoned because of wrecks.


bjanaszek
2011-07-11 01:07:43


If some american football player did something

1/2 as awesome as this, it would be heard

about for the rest of our lives.


steevo
2011-07-11 01:22:35

Wow.


kgavala
2011-07-11 01:25:31

Look at that tan line.


bradq
2011-07-11 01:43:33

I couldn't believe it when I saw it.


I think people need to stop the "sissy bike racer" sterotype. Seriously, Getting hit by a car, thrown into a barbwire fence, and then finishing the race is totally hardcore.


igo
2011-07-11 01:52:34

Oh f#%k


stefb
2011-07-11 01:58:50

Yeah I just saw that watching the replay. That picture is unbelievable steevo.


salty
2011-07-11 02:57:35

Hope he's up to date on his tetanus booster.


dmtroyer
2011-07-11 04:29:09

Saw the replay last night. Looked like the driver was trying to avoid a tree on the other side of the road. Made me think that if he had hit the tree, that car might have ricocheted back across the road and caused much worse carnage.


As it is, holy cr*p. I can't believe both riders finished. Jens is wearing a Hoogerland t-shirt today.


atleastmykidsloveme
2011-07-11 11:05:41

I always cringe while watching these races when the cars and motorcycles accelerate around the racers. You can see the mess they create following the riders so closely. If the driver would have braked to avoid the tree it would have caused a pile up, if he would have hit the tree it would have been worse as ALMKLM points out.


rsprake
2011-07-11 12:29:11

@andrew

I think people need to stop the "sissy bike racer" sterotype. Seriously, Getting hit by a car, thrown into a barbwire fence, and then finishing the race is totally hardcore.


There are those of us who dislike the process of turning a decent form of transportation into a macho competitive sport.


As long as there's guys in lycra that don't warn me as they pass way too close, I'm not liable to change my mind.


[Edited to reduce heat]


mick
2011-07-11 17:32:19

There would have been no trouble avoiding the tree if his wheels were on the pavement. He was edging over off the pavement and I think he dropped a wheel off into the grass, which is why he swerved so badly.


lyle
2011-07-11 17:41:42

I dunno, from that video, it looked like the car was giving the tree more clearance than it was giving the cyclists before the incident - looks like it could have gotten by scraping the car up without any change in steering... it was probably an over correction "doodedoo... ACK! TREE!"


Mick, there's a whole 'nother world of "Competitive Walking" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racewalking ). Some people are wired to compete, and will create competition to satisfy that. It can be hilarious, and it can hurt, sometimes all at once.


ejwme
2011-07-11 17:51:11

I watch the tour and it amazes me that something like this doesn't happen every other day.


edmonds59
2011-07-11 18:15:57

Mick, I hate race cars cause people who drive

cars around me are jerks.


steevo
2011-07-11 18:39:40

Ya know, I was wearing straight-up lycra this weekend (except for my wool socks), and it was admirably well suited to the conditions in which I rode.


Of course, it may have led me to pass various GAP trail-users far too closely, but I was too busy admiring the play of my own thigh muscles under the shorts to notice.


reddan
2011-07-11 18:47:12

"but I was too busy admiring the play of my own thigh muscles under the shorts"


T. M. I.


atleastmykidsloveme
2011-07-11 18:55:50

people who chose to engage in similar activities as the ones i pursue, but for different reasons are jerks!


cburch
2011-07-11 19:07:35

@ steeveo Mick, I hate race cars cause people who drive

cars around me are jerks.


Me too!


We spend a lot of time here talking about how we can change car drivers.


If you dislike the the well-earned rep that the lycra-clad, hypercompetitive riders have, why not take some time to try to influence them, instead of hating on us that speak out.


I doubt that reddan let himself be inconsiderate of other traffic (to better admire his thighs), but there are plenty that are.


If competitive a walkers started self-styling themselves as "serious walkers", and started risking my safety on the sidewalk, I'd speak out (more) about them. If that behavior was associated with a style of dress, I would likely critique it.


mick
2011-07-11 19:11:04



here are his legs normally.

lucky he didnt catch a vein


steevo
2011-07-11 19:11:38

oi, humans are a wildly varying, curious lot.


I'm repeatedly astonished that I am considered the same species as these Tour guys (and the NASCAR lot). Though having not reproduced or had a DNA test, I suppose I can't prove it. But even the good possibility astonishes me.


ejwme
2011-07-11 19:19:55

There are those of us who dislike the process of turning a decent form of transportation into a macho competitive sport.


That's ignorant.


johnwheffner
2011-07-11 19:25:01

Man.... that is just... without words!


bikeygirl
2011-07-11 19:29:06

look, i don't compete on or off road. i'm about as far from a "lycra-clad roadie" as you can get while still owning a road bike. but to fail to realize that a)many people cycle for many different, and equally valid reasons or b)a lot of people who race also commute (and post here frequently) and spew nasty remarks that paint all racers and wearers of spandex with the same broad brush is to remain willfully ignorant of reality and does not speak well of the person saying such things.


cburch
2011-07-11 19:30:02

Personally, most of my bad experiences with other cyclists come from people wearing tight, pegged jeans or people with messenger bags (note: there may be an intersection between those two groups). Quartuccio's law is in effect here: people are idiots; some of them ride bikes. Some of those people wear lycra, too.


bjanaszek
2011-07-11 19:38:25

Mick is very nice to triathletes.


I race and commute. Same rider. Two bikes. Vastly different outfits. No one should be too quick to judge -- and the judgement can easily go both ways.


sarah_q
2011-07-11 19:42:49

@Mick "If you dislike the the well-earned rep that the lycra-clad, hypercompetitive riders have, why not take some time to try to influence them, instead of hating on us that speak out."


Have you ever even met Steevo, much less ridden with him?


mayhew
2011-07-11 20:24:53

@Mick


"There are those of us who dislike the process of turning a decent form of transportation into a macho competitive sport."


Mick, there were competitive cyclists long before you were born. Maybe they were cringing "Ah! There are those of us who dislike turning a competitive sport into a form of decent transportation!"


Isn't your real problem unsafe cycling? Do you really think when people see you cycling around they're associating you with "a macho competitive sport."


What exactly is your problem with cyclists that wear form fitting clothing? Do you really believe that because some you've encountered (how many?) didn't meet your needs for safety that they all ride unsafely?


sgtjonson
2011-07-11 20:45:07

I wore lycra-shorts today for commuting, and lycra is just comrfortable for riding -period!


Most of the lycra-clad riders I've seen on the road have been nice, courteous, and respectful of the road. While OTOH, it has been the tight-jeans, messenger-type, no-helmet dorks who have been at times rude.


But getting down to the point of the thread: that accident is just ridiculous! And I can't imagine how that must have felt -ugh.


@steevo: looking at the guy's normal legs with all those veins -that is scary, and I guess that's normal for cyclists according to this buzz I saw:


http://deadspin.com/5819391/this-is-your-leg-this-is-your-leg-on-cycling



Anybody care to explain how this hap[ens? And how it is normal?


bikeygirl
2011-07-11 20:45:28

Steevo is a real meanie.


For someone who seems pretty open-minded, that statement about lycra types seems kind of out of character Mick.


eric
2011-07-11 20:46:17

Over the weekend, on the same day, I went from doing a 45 mile road ride in lycra, to riding to a restaurant to meet my family for lunch, to riding my 50 lb 5 spd cruiser with the family, in baggy shorts and a tank top. Then in the evening I watched some of the Tour. I did not experience an internal argument with myself. I had no negative incidents with myself, any other cyclists, or cars. In fact, it was a fantastic day.

The Dutch are somehow able to be the most active users of transportation cycling, as well as the most insane followers of competitive cycling. It is not an either/or equation. The Dutch are a wonderful people. Probably not too happy with the France Televisions right now, though.


edmonds59
2011-07-11 20:58:27

Also, those legs are fully grossing me out. That must be why they put the leg warmers on for the podium, so the podium gals will even get near to them. Podium gal job must be tougher than it might first appear.


edmonds59
2011-07-11 21:02:06

oh, bikeygirl, that photo is just creepy in a skin crawly kind of way. And I'm not creeped out easily.


I've often wondered what we'd all look like if humans developed exoskeletons instead of skin, and why there are no large creatures with exoskeletons (a la Starship Troopers, but maybe with thumbs and speach and not as gooey... Kafka-esque but with less indiference). An exoskeleton would help one avoid that appearance, but could affect sense of touch. Tricky that. Would definitely change the whole first aid world, and weight gain would have a more immediate and violent effect... too much digression, sorry.


lycra... I've not seen anybody on a bike wearing lycra that didn't sport it quite well. Haven't personally noticed much else about the lycra set other than generally superior calves and thighs (then again, perhaps I'm more distracted than I thought). But I do not encounter "them" much on a bike, or perhaps simply don't notice them. Mick I hope your bad encounters have been rare, though it seems it/they left an unpleasant impression.


ejwme
2011-07-11 21:09:09

Any speculation on what the largest animal is with an exoskeleton? King Crabs?

I guess we have to define largest- would that be dimension size or biomass?


helen-s
2011-07-11 21:46:13

Hincapie has varicose veins.


bjanaszek
2011-07-11 21:49:38

helen s - I always think of horse shoe crabs as the largest, but have absolutely nothing to back that up, it just comes to mind. They seem like such an ancient species... things with exoskeletons in general seem very ancient. Makes me wonder why that tree doesn't have more branches. Did something else get in the way? or did it just run out of variations?


I once had a history teacher say "Never play the 'what if' game. It's fantastic fun, but in the end it's just a game and will get you nowhere fast." It's one of my favorite games to play - endlessly amusing.


ejwme
2011-07-11 21:51:53

Japanese spider crab:



rubberfactory
2011-07-11 22:05:51

Coconut crab



nfranzen
2011-07-11 23:05:28

Wrong and wrong.



mayhew
2011-07-12 00:05:16

well, if we're going that route, I'll let my true nerd out and say that the largest animal with an exoskeleton is Heero Yuy with his Wing Zero exoskeleton



and to get us back on topic, Heero yuy wears spandex and is ultra competitive, but those are probably unrelated.


rubberfactory
2011-07-12 00:10:34



lyle
2011-07-12 00:18:19

finished like a boss:




sloaps
2011-07-12 02:00:44

holy ____


chinston
2011-07-12 13:21:54

wow. They should totally make up an award, like "Miss Congeniality" but instead "Mr. Badass" and all the participants vote for who gets it and that guy would totally be in the running.


hey, do chicks do the same or have their own Tour? I only ever hear about boys - normal for pro sports, but figured I'd ask.


ejwme
2011-07-12 13:32:31

thanks for the links!


"...leaving France without a major women's stage race..." so I guess they used to. Giro Donne seems to be poorly planned exactly opposite the men's Tour (thus not a chance of being paid attention to in a broader sense)... I'm not sure why I expected a little better of cycling than other sports. Maybe 'cause there's so many women on this board and biking around town I didn't really believe the statistics? Not like I'm in to competitions or sports in general. Just... things to mull over I guess.


ejwme
2011-07-12 13:50:22

according to wikipedia, the japanese spider crab is the largest in dimension, while the american lobster may be the heaviest in terms of mass.


the coconut crab, though, is the largest terrestrial arthropod, and is thought to be the upper limit for size of creatures with an exoskeleton.


hiddenvariable
2011-07-12 14:08:52

the basic consensus is that with an open circulatory system and no actual lungs (just pores for air transfer) our atmosphere is not oxygen rich enough to support anything larger. that's why if you go back far enough in the fossil record you will find giant exoskeletal creatures, the O2 content of the atmosphere was much higher then.


cburch
2011-07-12 14:39:03

You go, cburch, science guy! Also, I would dislike having to shed my exoskeleton in order to grow.

On an only so remotely related note, the USA Womens soccer team has made it to the quarterfinals of the Womens World Cup (wisely scheduled during a year not of the Mens world cup), they play France Wednesday to determine the finalists. I will be breaking from Tour coverage to watch this. USA Womens soccer frking rocks.


edmonds59
2011-07-12 14:47:19

hmm... lungs and surface area. very good. must be work-arounds, I'll think on it a spell. yee gads science is distractingly fun.


Women's soccer was one of the things I was thinking about earlier, edmonds, that and basketball, and that lady hockey goalie that was (is?) playing in the NFL. They are hard core, and awesome.


ejwme
2011-07-12 14:53:36

The Galápagos tortoise may be the heaviest extant land animal with an exoskeleton, at 880 lbs. It may have the longest body too, with a carapace of up to 5 feet long, versus the Coconut crab's 16 inches. (By total length, the Coconut crab might beat the tortoise's 5.9 feet with its 3.3 foot legs and 16 inch body, but I haven't found good total length numbers for the crab.)


The heaviest sea creature with an exoskeleton may be the loggerhead sea turtle, which can weigh up to 1200 lbs (versus the lobster's 48 lbs).


The spider crab's total length beats it, but it has a longer body than the spider crab (a carapace of up to 84 inches, versus the spider crab's 16 inches). The sea turtle may have the biggest exoskeleton of any living creature.


steven
2011-07-12 17:38:07

the tortoise doesn't really have an exoskeleton, though. it has an endoskeleton and a shell.


in fact, there never really were giant exoskeletal creatures. not in the megafauna sense. the largest arthropod ever was a sea creature, and the largest terrestrial arthropods were probably not much bigger than the coconut crab.


while i imagine cburch is right about the lungs vs. spiracles issue, it's not all that difficult to imagine an exoskeletal creature with lungs, or some other more efficient (than spiracles) way of absorbing and processing oxygen.


i imagine that the main reason evolution would choose an endoskeleton over an exoskeleton beyond a certain size is just efficiency. the surface area of a creature grows by at least a square of its average dimension, whereas an endoskeleton would grow more linearly. thus, beyond a certain size, an exoskeleton requires significantly more energy to maintain than an endoskeleton, so evolution would "choose" the endoskeleton.


hiddenvariable
2011-07-12 18:05:56

hmm... so perhaps there could exist an environment that would encourage exoskeletons of size, even though they're less efficient.


yinz guys are smart. I should stop derailing good honest biking discussions, but y'all are too interesting.


ejwme
2011-07-12 18:18:12

I recall being at the museum in Chicago and they had a life-sized reproduction of an ancient millipede that was 8 feet long. Carnegie museum has some scale models of sea scorpions that in real life were nearly as large. I think they may have a fossil sea scorpion that is pretty big. Bigger than the coconut crab.


kordite
2011-07-12 18:19:11

two things: 1) i lied about exoskeleton size increasing with at least the square. it's not quite that much, but it's more than an endoskeleton. b) sea scorpions and other aquatic arthropods don't suffer the from the weight of a large exoskeleton as much as terrestrial arthropods, so ought to be larger. just like aquatic animals are larger than terrestrial animals.


hiddenvariable
2011-07-12 18:23:38



kordite
2011-07-12 18:25:16

kordite, that is awesome.


ejwme
2011-07-12 18:36:23

Wow, this is a thread-jack of epic proportions. Color me impressed.


bjanaszek
2011-07-12 18:40:56

don't worry, bjanaszek, I think you are still winning that one hands down.


as for the current topic, I have to say I'm pretty upset about the coconut crab. And here I've been going around for years saying how I love anything coconut.


tabby
2011-07-12 18:43:07

Hijacked? Well, I tried to bring it back to biking with that crabby bike lane image.


kordite
2011-07-12 18:55:36

the tortoise doesn't really have an exoskeleton, though. it has an endoskeleton and a shell.


Some animals, such as the tortoise, have both an endoskeleton and an exoskeleton.


This is from Wikipedia, so you know it must be true....


Or try this from the Encyclopedia Britannica:



The development of the exoskeleton is carried to the highest degree in Chelonians, when large osseous plates form, in the Land Tortoises and Terrapins, a complete and continuous bony case for the body, invested externally by a rich corneous epidermis, and becoming internally anchylosed with the endoskeleton itself.


So there. Don't go dissing the tortoise.


steven
2011-07-12 19:51:52

oh Tabby... the coconut crab looks really cool to me. Just picture one singing that song "you put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up.." and you'll probably find it more appealing. That or the manamanah doo doo do-do-do song. They both increase the appeal of any unpleasant looking creature. Heck those songs just make me happy.


bj, you know us. Once we get a topic in our claws, we don't let go. Don't be crabby about it just 'cause you're bipedal(cycle?). (I'd creepily walk sideways away right now if I could do so online).


ejwme
2011-07-12 20:19:10


Despite no helmet, he seems well protected, but I admit the pedals are a tad too low for him.


steven
2011-07-12 21:06:27

@steven - i suppose there's no real point in arguing semantics, so i won't disagree with you. however, for the purpose of this discussion, i assumed we were talking about things that had no endoskeleton, and relied on their exoskeleton for all their structural support. for this reason, i also left mollusks out of the discussion (though i don't think they get as large as what we've discussed). in fact, i've pretty much considered only arthropods—that seemed to be what we were talking about.


also, since i can't help myself, from that same wikipedia article: "A true exoskeleton, like that found in in arthropods must be shed (moulted) when they are outgrown." it even has a citation!


also also: while these aren't the largest arthropods, the giant isopods are perhaps the scariest:




hiddenvariable
2011-07-12 21:41:48

it kind of looks like a giant tick, and it's come to suck everything good out of your life. Like a small dementor with an impenetrable shell.


exoskeletons creep me out.


rubberfactory
2011-07-12 22:13:27

i assumed we were talking about things that had no endoskeleton


Topic drift perhaps. Ejwme started with wondering about humans with an exoskeleton instead of skin; I'm not sure if her hypothetical armored people would retain their endoskeletons.


also, since i can't help myself, from that same wikipedia article: "A true exoskeleton, like that found in in arthropods must be shed (moulted) when they are outgrown." it even has a citation!


I blame the biologists for vague definitions. Also dictionaries. Also nature.


Re giant isopods: Arthropods have it all over the tortoises in the nightmare department.


steven
2011-07-12 23:09:00

HV, That pic nearly made me cry. But on second look, it reminds me of an alien.


stefb
2011-07-13 00:08:58

I thought the fresh prince and the fly killed all those things in independence day?


sloaps
2011-07-13 00:41:14

No the fly was just watching them poop.


cburch
2011-07-13 02:30:12

Wow, this thread is both completely disgusting *and* giving me a late night craving for some softshell crab.


pseudacris
2011-07-13 04:45:21

So is the consensus that a coral reef is not really an exoskeleton?


I used to like me a bowl of them critters the Lisboeta call "perceves" -- boiled, with melted butter. Tasty like steamahs but just the necks not the bellies. But that's probably just the buttah talking.


lyle
2011-07-13 11:16:00

So, just to briefly get back to the point, the man who went through the barbed wire, didn't just ride and finish yesterday, he finished the stage by taking the King of the Mountains jersey. With 33 stitches in his ass. But hey, in cycling, stories like that are not uncommon.

That's a feat on par with riding to work everyday through Snowmageddon, or commuting 20 miles each way through hostile automobile traffic. So yes, I will take a little macho badass (dudes and ladies alike) with my practicality.


edmonds59
2011-07-13 11:31:21

le awesome.


sloaps
2011-07-13 13:19:26



stefb
2011-07-13 13:45:18

Oh I want shirt.


edmonds59
2011-07-13 14:20:58

I agree that turtles and tortoises do not have an exoskeleton. And the ones checking out the bicycle were just babies!


Frozen Soft shell crabs were on sale at Wholey's for $2 each.


helen-s
2011-07-13 14:23:42

LOL @Stef :)


bikeygirl
2011-07-13 14:55:03

So is the consensus that a coral reef is not really an exoskeleton?


in the sense that it's not chitinous, no, though we didn't specifically limit ourselves to that (or anything, really). i'm not sure that a coral skeleton is what we think of as "exo-". but perhaps most importantly, coral is made up of tiny individuals, so surely it couldn't be the largest creature with an exoskeleton.


hiddenvariable
2011-07-13 15:18:51

Oh I want shirt.


Which one? Hoogerland or Goldblum?


bjanaszek
2011-07-13 15:21:12

Ha, ha, Hoogerland!


edmonds59
2011-07-13 15:39:48

My uneducated guess would be that the definition of a "skeleton" would have something to do with working in concert with musculature to facilitate movement, otherwise it's just a "shell". But that is based only on me making things up.


edmonds59
2011-07-13 15:43:48

perspective: in the olden days of Le Tour, one was not allowed to accept help!




sloaps
2011-07-13 23:26:45

In unrelated note - I've never bothered to watch this until this year -


but - those spectators who get out into the road and shove flags in the faces of the riders and get literally centimeters from touching them...is this normal (and allowed)? Because if I was a rider I'd want them to get the hell off the road.


italianblend
2011-07-15 17:07:20

They do get close, but remember that telephoto lenses make everything look even closer together than they are.


lyle
2011-07-15 17:58:56

@italianblend: Yes, normal. And collisions are normal, too. Generally, the final kilometers have barriers, though that hasn't prevented a few collisions during sprints.


bjanaszek
2011-07-15 18:05:21

Gah!


Not sure which is worse to look at: ten Dam's mug or Hoogerland's rear.


bjanaszek
2011-07-17 17:57:26

More ESPN coverage of Le Tour. Page 2, of course.


sloaps
2011-07-19 18:05:19

I really wish they would keep those spectators out of the road. But I know that's impossible to do that the entire way. It would burn me up if I was the biker.


italianblend
2011-07-19 21:38:39

Today's stage was very enjoyable. I would recommend you watch it - It's on now, or you can DVR at midnight...or you can watch it at Midnight if you're crazy enough to stay up =)


italianblend
2011-07-22 00:19:41

I was on Galibier last Monday... seeing all the spectators packed on the skinny road today was pretty cool. Tomorrow on Alpe d'Huez should be insane!


quizbot
2011-07-22 00:30:55

I am watching a DVRd time trial, but I have a question - since there is still a stage tomorrow to Paris, why does it seem like the results of today's time trial will decide the winner of the tour? Is the last stage simply a formality? He mentioned something like there will be no attacks on the last stage, and the riders seem to agree to that. This is the first tour I have watched. Thanks.


italianblend
2011-07-23 18:35:43

They also described it as "tradition" that the leader after Stage 20 is unchallenged on the way into Paris. So in effect the leader after today's stage will be the winner, and tomorrow's stage is a sort of victory lap. I am curious, though, to know how long that has been the case.


atleastmykidsloveme
2011-07-23 21:14:44

I know that one case where it certainly wasn't was 1989, when the the final stage was a time trial, in Paris, and Greg Lemond beat Laurent Fignon by 8 seconds. The French were probably pissed. It's possible that's when that "tradition" was established.


edmonds59
2011-07-23 21:43:09

But really, what is stopping Andy Schlek from saying screw it and play to win tomorrow? I know it won't happen but it seems a rather silly tradition for a "race."


italianblend
2011-07-23 21:52:28

The '89 Tour finished with a TT. Tomorrow's stage is into Paris and then laps of the Champs Elysees. Any time there has been a finish there (and IIRC there has been since 1990) the stage is uncontested till they hit the Champs Elysees.


What is stopping Schleck? Every sprinter's team. It's one of the most prestigious sprinter wins in cycling. Plus every team in the Tour would hate them. Good luck at any other race of the year.


I really don't understand why here (and elsewhere) people decide it's a silly tradition. The previous 3 weeks of racing weren't exciting enough for you? You really need one more day? And really, let the pro peloton decide how they want to handle the last flat stage of a Tour. How'd you feel if they came to your job and told you were doing it wrong? It's their job and they have to see each other day after day. Were it a one day race pretty much anything is fair game. Chaingate from last year would not have even been a blip on the radar in Paris Roubiax.


mayhew
2011-07-23 22:59:54

I've decided that it's a silly tradition because it's new to me. Instinctually, I don't see the logic in having a "race" if there actually is no race up to the bitter end. This is my uninformed opinion from a person who didn't even know what the yellow jersey meant a week ago. Makes for a boring last stage in my opinion if they are just going through motions. Why not have today's time trial be the end of the race, and then have a nice parade into Paris tomorrow? That's what's happening anyway.


Don't take it personally, I think a lot of things are silly. Like shootout in hockey. Love Hockey - Love watching a shootout, but it's still silly.


College football overtime is outright silly and goofy...but still entertaining.


Soccer Penalty kicks are very silly. But I watched every second of the world cup this year.


Freddy Kreuger in Mortal Kombat is silly too =) (but it's true!)


italianblend
2011-07-23 23:59:45

Hockey, football, soccer - all match based. Rarely more than a 3 hour event. The tour is 20 some days of cumulative efforts. Different sport entirely. The race this year took the winner nearly 84 hours. The last day, they drink a toast & have an easy spin. I'm ok with that.


quizbot
2011-07-24 01:09:43

I have two different dreams for tomorrow's stage:


1. Phillipe Gilbert takes a huge flyer with about 3k to go and manages to make it stick. I know he likely won't take the green jersey, but I'd love to see him win tomorrow.


2. With about two laps to go, the bunch lets Hushovd and Boassan-Hagan go to finish on their own. Then bunch can fight out the remaining points, which will be enough for Cav and Rojas to sort out the green jersey.


bjanaszek
2011-07-24 01:17:22

I'd like to see Cav, Gilbert, and Farrar line up elbow to elbow about 500 m from the finish, and Cav without his lead out man. I bet the Manx missile would get spanked 2 ways.


edmonds59
2011-07-24 01:39:49

@edmonds: I'm not a big Cav fan, but he won a couple of stages this year without his train. There was at least one stage where he started his sprint a loooooong way out, and managed to beat everyone. You may think his attitude is poor, but the boy can sprint, that's for sure.


bjanaszek
2011-07-24 01:55:46

No doubt, but Farrar showed some power, and w/o a lead. I am now officially a huge Garmin Cervelo fan.


edmonds59
2011-07-24 02:23:13

Also, it would be next to impossible for someone to take time tomorrow. Attacking isn't just in poor form, but stupid.


steve-k
2011-07-24 03:31:45

i can't imagine trying to attack when the ENTIRE peloton would chase you down and bring you back. thats not even stupid. that's insane. also, italianblend, if you watch the final stage the sprint around the Champs Elysees is like an insanely fast and aggressive mini criterion. its anything but boring, possibly one of the most exciting parts of the race.


cburch
2011-07-24 04:23:24

I think such "traditions" more like a gentlemans agreement. Civility among sportsman, like not smoking an equally match competitor that suffers a mechanical (I think this happen last year in a stage, but cant remember which, or which riders) Refreshing an sort of old fashion too.


untameable2
2011-07-24 13:57:25

Okay I just watched it and have a better understanding. Basically, today was about the green jersey, right? Evans had such a large lead that it was understood that he would just remain with the peleton and he would be okay, correct? I was thinking that this was just a parade stage and they would not really race. Told you I was uninformed =)


But I would like to ask, let's pretend that Evans only had literally a 1 second lead over schleck after Saturday. What would happen then? Would they still compete or would they hold on to the tradition?


italianblend
2011-07-24 16:35:36

Short of a crash slowing one of them, as in some of the other flat stages, no one would be able to take any advantage. I always have enjoyed watching the last day parade around Paris, with a sprint at the end.

And if they decided they wanted to fight it out, I think Evans might be able to do more damage than either Schleck.


helen-s
2011-07-24 17:05:01

Well, italianblend, if this was the first tour you've watched, you picked a heck of a one to start, it was fantastic.

Not...sure...what to do with my evenings now...


edmonds59
2011-07-26 00:42:33

Not...sure...what to do with my evenings now...


Evenings? I'm not sure what to do with myself in the mornings at the office. Oh, yeah, that's right--work.


bjanaszek
2011-07-26 00:50:41

I'm just psyched that there has been no major contender caught up in doping this tour, so far at least. it could explain the lack of massive withering attacks on the climbs... fair sport.


quizbot
2011-07-26 02:14:39

That's a really good point, qb, the racing was great, the crowds were huge. If the organizers and sponsors are able to see that no doping = better racing, the doping will become the anathema it ought to be.


edmonds59
2011-07-26 11:34:59

I doubt there was NO doping - but I'm pretty sure Contador wasn't.


atleastmykidsloveme
2011-07-26 17:58:46

...this year.


atleastmykidsloveme
2011-07-26 17:59:32

^ Heh heh.


I miss the sound of helicopters in the morning...


kbrooks
2011-07-26 20:31:19

Yeah I really miss having the tour and the Women's World Cup gone already.


italianblend
2011-07-26 22:20:04