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Tour De France....

Edogawakikkoman

Maximum Pace
Jan 14, 2007
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Can't believe there is no thread here for this.... come on you lot. Are you cyclists?
This year, (so far) has been the most exciting tour in years....

Cadel Evans looks keen. Hincapie is having a last dig before he's even more over the hill.
Vinokurov lost more skin last night than I did in my big crash and I can't believe he's still riding today. I expect he'll give up in a few days when his wounds are weeping more than his eyes are.

O'grady was going too fast in the prologue and crashed....I'm sure he would have been in a few more sprints except for his lost time on day one. Saving himself to support their ace now I guess.

And not forgetting Robbie McEwen's sprint.
The biggest come back I've ever witnessed. Crashes out with 23km to go. Gets back about 2 minutes behind the peleton. The peleton try and keep him away by turning up the pace. Robbie's team get together and pedal their butts off to bring him back at about 4km to go and then he makes his way through the narrow bunched peleton and over takes everybody at about 80kph and whips Boonen a new one.... My wife & I were jumping up and down in amazement........
 
agree!

Yep! Like I said in another thread I have not missed a beat of this?

If anyone else is thinking of watching this, it promises to be a fascinating tour.

DON'T miss it.

Post your comments here!

And as I write, I BIG win for BOONEN!

The flat stuff is over soon and then the really interesting mountains begin! Just hope kloden is ok....

Ash
 
Le Tour - c`est tres interesse

.....glued to it every night. Each stage has been fascinating so far. Agree McEwan`s win has been the highlight so far though. Can`t see Vino getting back into it but lets see how he gets on tonight. I ususally go for Milram but I would like to see Carlos Sastre do well and he has an outside chance I think if Vino is struggling. Can`t wait for tonight to begin.....but need to avoid too much red wine and cheese whilst watching it and getting in the mood !

Charles
 
There's been a fair bit of action so far! Looking good.

Biggest innovation for me this year is that it's finally coming in hi-def, although J-Sports seems to switch between HD and SD every other night. Still, nice to have as the French countryside looks so much nicer than normal!

What commentary do people listen to? I still crank up the PC and listen to Eurosport although the 10 second Internet delay is annoying when something happens and you have to wait for the commentary to catch up with the pictures!
 
Eurosport

That`s a good idea ! I am normally listening in J but sometimes French if I can stretch the ancient memory cells that far ! Can you post the URL for that - I would love to hear Phil Ligett and those guys talking about it.

Re HD - is that via Sky Perfect ? I didn`t realise there was any HD on that yet - pleasant surprise if so and might prompt an upgrade on the goggle box if so !

Thanks,

Charles
 
308

Currently watching on Sky Sports 308 J on sub and F on main. Get to your local sports bar and get them to flick it on - they will be glad of the custom on a night like this.

Also recommend this for live text in E http://eurosport.yahoo.com/cycling/livematch/171227.html#

And the ITV TDF podcast for a great round up after the action of each stage

Enjoy

Charles
 
London Time Trials

What a marvelous day I had on the 7th July. I went to see the start of the Tour De France (Prologue) as it kicked off for the first time in London.

I arrived at Buckingham Palace at about 11am and after having a fish and chips brunch went to the end of the race track in Whitehall to see the team bikes. Some of the riders were there too. The mechanics were tuning up the bikes and talking to the public as they did it. Pete - the new Treks looked awesome. Have you bought one yet?

Later I went to find a good place to watch the trials. There was barely a metre on this course that didn't throw up a historic landmark. I found myself a sharp corner at Buckingham Gate and waited there for two hours so I wouldn't lose my front row location. The racing started at 3pm, by that time it was packed with rows of people behind me. The riders flew past at amazing speeds even on the corners.

As the sun was shining, I decided to sit down for something to eat and drink in Hyde Park and watch the second half of the race on the specially installed big screens. It was the perfect place to soak up the atsmosphere of this unique cycling roadshow.

The Prologue was a great success for British cycling. One million people watched the time trials and three million people watched the Stage 1 in London and Kent the next day. Lets hope it will have a knock on effect and encourage more people to try this wonderful hobby of cycling.
 
Great stuff Pete, I was thinking about you on the day and wondering if you were there.

So pleased you could see it! Wish I could have been there too. London looked amazing that day. Beautiful weather and lovely, historic scenary. I loved the way they went past Buckingham palace twice!!

I am sure it will have a big impact on british cycling!

Ash
 
. Pete - the new Treks looked awesome. Have you bought one yet?

Will take me a lot longer than I'd hoped to get the money ready.... I just put all my yen into $AU and about to invest it back in Aus..... Then I'll start saving for the new bike... Have to think of the future as well because when I'm 60 or 70 I'll want to buy a nice bike then too, so have to put that money away now.....

Was also thinking of you as I wantched the prologue...would love to have been there with the fish n' chips and bikes and even a warm beer or 10.

:cool:

A lot of the commentators were saying that when you wear the yellow jersey it makes you go faster... well, I tested that theory on Sunday and I swear it didn't help at all. In fact, I think I was riding slower than usual.

It's just a myth! :p
 
kloden still in this!

Great win here by Gerdmann, he climbed like a champ. But looking at the GC, even though Kloden is 3.39 down he is really in this.

I love to see people like this win a stage though, it just means everything to them. It is the thing they tell their grandchildren, what they are remembered for. Forever.

ah! The mountains beckon! Now it gets really interesting!!

As Truffles rightly pointed out, time to HTFU!:D

Ash
 
Tonight is a crucial stage. Expect to see a few do or die attacks tonight.

Hoping Cadel Evans can stick with the important attacks and hopefully have some gas left over to make a few himself.

Michael Rogers too for that matter.

Go the Aussies.... :angel:
 
pheasants and champagne..

Indeed a crucial stage!

As I write they are about to embark on 3 cat 1 climbs to finish an already exhausting day. Expect to see the pretenders fall by the wayside here!

I have just finished roasting a chicken in garlic and basil and settling down to watch this with a nice (cheap, Australian) shiraz. Reminds me of what Jacques Anquetil wrote that the only way to prepare for the Tour was 'a couple of finely cooked pheasants, champagne and a woman.' I am thinking of taking this advice seriously even though they seem to have mysteriously forgotten my invitation to this year's event...

(These days of course they add in the mandatory visit to the pharmacy under the guise of one of their pooches names...)

Anyway, one lives in hope...

Speaking of which, I have hopes for the Aussies! Go young Cadel!

Ash
 
O'Grady & Rogers in hospital... :eek:
Evans did well and was up in contention for 3rd place...that will bring him up the rankings and he'll over take Vino by about a minute....

Too much excitement, rest day tomorrow thank God.
 
Chazzer,

From July 1 JSports Plus started in HD. Right now it's only in HD on the "E2" service. This is the one for which there is an embedded tuner in all new HD TV sets, so as a bonus you don't need a set-top box. There are slightly less channels but I am happy with it.

http://www.e2sptv.jp/

Only JSports Plus is HD so when they put it on JSports 1 it's regular standard definition, but the HD evenings are great!!

I think the "regular" SkyPerfect will start HD in 2008 but you'll need a new set-top box for that service anyway.

Someone already posted the Eurosport URL. Go to Eurosport.com, click on International and on the right hand side is the live audio - although it's sometimes a bit flakey.

Martyn
 
hi Martyn!

Thanks for the tip. But where does it say 'international'? Can you post the url, maybe i am on the wrong page

Ash
 
Hd

Martyn,

Likewise - thanks for the info. Puts a different complexion on HD for me as up to now I was not interested. As soon as I can see English PL soccer and other stuff then I am ready to make the jump. Looks like we are there !

Cycling is really the icing on the cake !

Do you happen to know if the PL coverage is all HD ?

PS - Apparently the Eurosport English Tour coverage is having problems. Have not been able to get it working yet and the site has acknowledged there are some gremlins !

Thanks again,

Charles
 
The full schedule with all the high-def sports (marked HV) can be seen here:

http://www.jsports.co.jp/program_guide/month/english/today.html

I don't know about Premiere League, is that on JSports? Anything on the terrestrial channels, including UEFA Champions, is in high-def. I guess this will just increase as they get more footage and as more viewers tune in.

They made a comment earlier this week on the Japanese commentary that this is the first year the international video feed has been available in high-def for the tour. I think we're certainly lucky to be getting this as I bet Japan is one of the few countries in the world showing this in HD.

As for Eurosport, I get a splash screen asking me which version (UK, France, Germany etc) and International is the one I pick. I think the international version has more live cycling than Eurosport UK. The URL is http://eurosport.yahoo.com/

Martyn
 
Pl

Martyn,

Off topic here but PL is only on SkyPerfect at the moment so I guess not - we live in hope. As for Le Tour then that is great news - now where can I find a hi-def TV to sneak a look ? Have to ask around and see who has one in my vicinity. Will try the Eurosport again tonight - I have been using the page you mention which seems to be hosted with Yahoo UK as far as I can tell.

Anyway thanks again for the info.....

Charles
 
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