kiwis in the Cycling Great Tours

Ha! Not girly - skinny white blokes all the way!

I would be surprised if he still has it as I expect Radioshack will try to cause problems due Lance's problems on the cobbles.

I don't even see Armstrong as a contender. I'm picking Contador, Schleck, Michael Rogers or even Cadel Evans has been showing some form and lets not forget that even tho he's riding as Contador's domestique that Vinorourov  is also strong stealthkiwi2010-07-11 21:24:23

Well today decides who the contendors are. All the major teams had pretty average days except Astana who impressed. Shack dropped Kloden and lost their "multi card" but I think he dropped off intentionally. Contador will win it. The only way it could go badly is if he falls/punctures or gets caught out which would be unlikely. He can ride with all the current riders in the mountains. No one can out do him.

Btw SK thanks for that list you published earlier of the good stages. Makes it good to know which time they start at!

I found yesterday's medium stage absolutly riveting & had always thought Tommy Vockler might make a break for it but think he wd have had a better chance in that original breakaway. Both Kloden and cancellara really looked like they just didn't have the legs. Rafael Valls Ferri  the first timer on the tem full of first timers was outstanding but we still have to see if he has the pace to ride at that level the entire tour since he doesnt have anything to compare his ability against

today will def be interesting - some of those gradiants make my calves & quads seize in empathy

for those only vaguely following today is the first of two major alp stages - the 2nd is on tues night after tomorrow's rest stage. Then the rest of the mountain stages are in the Pyrenees next week. There are loads of possible winners going in to this stage but by the end of it the peleton will have a huge time spread and should be maybe ten riders in contention for the whole thing. yesterday's stage was actually driven at a cracking pace so many will have tired legs going in to today so shd be great to watch them slowly grind upward. coverage starts at 10.30pm and riders shd start staggering across the finish 3-4am in time to wait one hour for the world cup closing ceremony then the final

thank god for a nice boss (who thinks i'm insane) who gave me the day off
stealthkiwi2010-07-11 21:27:02

Well stage 8 saw a cpl of major upsets and some truly horrendous gradients... I wd need a whole pit crew to help me push my bike up that last bloody ski pass

Lance Armstrong had his worse ever day in any tour and crashed twice ending up coming over the line 11mins behind. his teammate Leipenheimer came in 8th only 10secs behind so ill now be team leader with Lance the ultimate team helper

Andy Schleck won the stage after racing away from a Contador who looked like he just didnt have any extra in the tank. Australian Cadel Evans now has the yellow jersey with Schleck 2nd and Contador 3rd overall.  But there are 15 main contenders all with 3mins of one another so will still take a few more mountains to realy show who has the legs this year

a major surprise in that newcomer Rafael Valls Ferri is still hanging in their coming 26th and now holding 19th place overall. thats outstanding for someone who has never ridden the tour before so doesnt yet know the best way to pace one self to manage to get through all 3 weeks. at only 25 he isa star of the future

& kiwi Julian Dean is at 167th - managing to get over the last two stages with all the other sprinters in the autobus tho one wonders if he's more hanging back to help team leader Tylar Farrar who must really have balls of steel to be riding these mountain stages with a broken wrist

wow how tough are australian cylists. Simon Gerrains & Cadel Evans both crashed 6km in to stage 8. Both completed only for Gerrans to end up in hospital having ridden 183km up killer hills with a broken wrist. And now after a disasteroud stage 9 for Cadel Evans we discover he broke his elbow in the same crash and is still riding with it. This is the tour of broken bones as before yesterdays stage we also had Roger Kluge& Vladimar Karpets not start becuase of breaks in their hands

Heading off on Saturday to Stage 12. Where are the best parts to watch that one do you think? I know little about it but still enjoy watching.

Stage 12 is an odd one as its long but hilly but not steep compared to the real mtn stages stealthkiwi2010-07-15 10:29:07

Congratulations to forumite Paulinho on his stage win this morning...

yep portugeuse rider Sergio Paulinho won stage 10 with the main peleton coming in a whole 14mins behind the breakaway of 6. Schleck still has yellow and the battle between the main contenders shd be stage 14 our time sunday 11.40pm plus stages 15, 16, 17 then the time trial stage 19 sat 24/7 midnight

Sweet cheers, don't think I'll be camping out! But I'll try and get there early. Won't be able to get to 17 but will be in Paris for the final stage. Though that'll be mega packed.

Got my days muddled. Going to Stage 13.

Kiwi head butted by an Aussie at the cycling. The Aussie has been disqualified. What is it with all the head butting lately? Good grief.

Same old Aussies....

Nah, Aussies are c**ts.

Buffy this is a thread for those few of us actually interested in cycling. take your stereotypes and swearwords elsewhere - and I'd point out that many kiwis think exactly the same thing about Aucklanders stealthkiwi2010-07-16 11:30:07

Not exactly subtle!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oen6ZcoVOa4

...and Cavendish is defending him.

My cat gives out better headbutts than that weak Aussie twat. She does it as a sign of her love and I've almost had a fat lip because of it.


She once gave her big brother so many headbutts he started squeaking in fear. She only wanted to show him how much she loved him.

Kicking him off the tour seems harsh. I think the officials have just got bored because no one's failed a dope test yet. There was an all in brawl between two cyclists a few days ago but apparently punching is OK, yet headbutting is from the, quote, "gladiators arena".  

   

umm they both weighed maybe 65kg & were in their cleats sliding around and cd hardly be called a brawl - more a hissy fit where one tired cranky cyclist hit another with his bike wheel then some shoving. What renshaw did more endangered the entire peleton as they were racing about 70km an hour at that point so if either him or dean had gone down so many riders wd have been out of the tour with major injuries they wd have had to cancel. plus he got in the line of one of the main sprint guys so is similar to a defender handballing a goal shot

stealthkiwi2010-07-17 01:11:26

Thanks. Might head along to the finish then. Two hour drive. Worth it?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/jul/16/tour-de-france-riders-fitness

Good article this for noobs, or those that don't have any idea as to what it takes to do the Tour. These rider are still below my level as a Hard Core Bike Commuter. Roadies are soft as sh*te when it comes to rain and cold.

Truthfully i don't know if wd be worth it only you can judge. The sprint finishes are always in town with huge barriers up that are totally packed 5deep for the last cpl of km so not sure what the view is like and its when the cyclists are going past fastest - I think its prob more a being part of the huge excitement/atmosphere thing. This has been one of the biggest tours re spectator attendance in the 12 yrs or so I've been watching coverage

last nights stage had the steepest gradient (tho fairly short) climb and man Contador showed why he is a legend by standing in the saddle and taking off. He was pipped at the post by Joaquin Rodrigues who took the stage win but he gathered back 10seconds from Schleck so is now just 30sec behind for yellow

thats part of what I love about the tour - that after a prologue and 12 stages consisting of 4-5hr days in the saddle and numerous mountains that the two leaders are still only separated by 30seconds and the lowest rider is 2 & a half hours behind with 22 riders out of the tour so far

FT - I'd rather cycle in Wgtn's cold and wind than go down hill on one of those 'ski' mountains at 80km per hour where the cold is searing through your already overheated body. i used to wonder why the cyclists grabbed newspaper off spectators at the top but now figure i'd need pink batts and still die of cold lol

& there is an interesting doco around called Hell on Wheels about Team Telekom in the 2003 tour and it shows just how hard the event is on the riders and some of the tactis involved in ea days racing

Also Tyler Farrar and his broken wrist couldn't take that last stage so had to pull out which leaves Julian Dean free to contest any further sprints as is the last sprinter left in his team
stealthkiwi2010-07-17 12:59:04

Stage 18 (the 2nd in the pyranesse) saw Contador take advantage of a bike problem and leave Schleck behind on the final climb. the last 20km of the stage was a hairy descent which saw Tommy Voekler take the stage win from being in a breakaway most of the day. Contador gained 40 secs on Schleck which now sees him in the yellow jersey with an 8sec advantage

There are 2 stages left in the pyranese tonight 9.30pm - 4am & thu 10.10pm - 3.40am. the one flat stage on fri night and the time trial on sat night and that might still be the deciding factor for yellow. the sprint jersey isnt likely to be finalized till the final race on the champs elysees on sunday night

Julian Dean is currently 155th out of 174 riders still competing from 198 starters

How did Stuff have no mention today of what could well be the most critical minutes of the tour ?

Shambles.

well ea stage finishes round 3-3.30am when the Dom Post itself is already going to print so the paper is always a day behind and stuff mostly just has brief news at it comes in from a press bureau or articles they are about to put in the next issue

people seem divided on whether Contador was morally right in what he did - I have no probs with it as you can hardly have the entire peleton stop on a steep hill and wait plus Schleck himself started the attack which he then had to drop out of so wasn't like they attacked after he faulted

Cycling coverage in NZ is still only catching up with actual interest. was only the last 6 yrs or so that Sky came to the party and show all stages. I still remember where you might get 6-8 stages out of the 22 shown live and hardly any replays - took them a while and loads of letter campaigns till they realised there is an audience to follow it. lol i'm not the only nut-bar who stays up all night
stealthkiwi2010-07-20 23:39:04

I heart Hushovdt

lol well someone has to love the big blonde viking sprinting men - I jst wd never have guessed it was you

usually I heart anyone who beats Armstong except for today as he deserves to go out with a bang as has nobly been the ultimate domestique the last week or so and has gone up in my estimation

Contador is quite a spunk but in reality they are all weedy and have that gross cycle tan where their puku's are as pale as snow and their arms brown as teak

I do love Tommy Voeckler tho - he is to cycling what the all whites were to the World Cup - never gives up and has  a big heart and occasionally pulls them out of the bag and is just so damm likeable

its the final mountain stage tonight ending with a climb finish on the Col du Tourmalet. coverage 10.30pm - 3.30am on Sky sports 1 - shd be mega exciting and they are expecting phenominal crowds 

Stuff again. Day before, big move no news.  yesterday, Armstrong fails to win a stage articles everywhere.

Yawn.

yeah but even I who always disliked Armstrong admits he's the one name 'everyman' has heard of in cycling and all media will realise people are interested in anything he does - lol he's even been in womans magazines. most people don't care about scrawny foreigners with tricky names insanely racing one another for 3 weeks in a foreign country

Got myself to Rue de Rivoli (where they do the 5 laps) today. Great atmosphere down there.