Tour de France

[dawg80]

Starts today.

No Americans likely getting on the podium. Teejay and Andrew T. should contend for a Top 10 finish, but they won't sniff a Top 3 finish. Well, unless all the contenders crash out, like last year.

Find it curious the number of caught dopers allowed to start the Tour. Some of these guys lied about it too. Gee, Lance has been demonized for lying about it. Yet, for others it's like, oh well, you're not Lance Armstrong, so.....okay, come ride!

All that aside, from a sporting point-of-view, this might be the most competitive ever.

[TYLERTECHSAS]

I don't really care about this sport anymore after all the mess.

[dawg80]

I separate the mess from my interest in the sport. I like endurance sports: distance running, triathlons, and cycling. Amazing athletes. The closest I personally get to it these days is a 20-mile ride on my bike , and not terribly fast either!

The big 4, the favorites, this year are Contador, Froome, Niboli, and Quintanna, and those guys can flat-out climb. Absent a long TT Tejay V. will have trouble even finishing 5th, behind those guys. There are only 3 Americans among the 198 riders, the fewest since 1996.

Yeah, I understand the disgust with "all the mess." But there are some hellacious mountain-top finishes, like 6 or 7 of 'em, and it will be a battle among the contenders.

[sportdawg]

Find it curious the number of caught dopers allowed to start the Tour. Some of these guys lied about it too. Gee, Lance has been demonized for lying about it. Yet, for others it's like, oh well, you're not Lance Armstrong, so.....okay, come ride!

.

he was not demonized for lying but for attacking the people trying to expose the truth

[dawg80]

he was not demonized for lying but for attacking the people trying to expose the truth

blah, blah, blah....

and the others also "attacked" those accusing them. Do you have a real point?

[dawg80]

Two huge crashes today. Tejay V. managed to avoid them and is now sitting 3rd.

[dawg80]

Tejay sitting 2nd heading into the big mountains.

Team BMC nosed out Team Sky to win the TTT today. Tejay gained time on everyone. He's in a great position. Only 12 seconds out of yellow (Froome). But 7 mountain-top finishes will make it tough for Tejay to hold on to a podium spot. Hope he does.

[dawg80]

Froome crushed everyone. This race is over.....unless Froome crashes or tests positive for dope.

Tejay still in 2nd. But he struggled on the high mountain. He did beat Contador, and Nibali appears finished.

[dawg80]

Tejay had to drop out of the Tour on Stage 17 due to severe headaches he was suffering. It was concern for his safety/health that compelled the BMC Team managers to yank him. Of course, I think Tejay concurred with that decision. Didn't look like he was feeling too well.

Besides the obvious reason, it is really sad this happened. Tejay is not a strong climber, not in comparison to the elite contenders, but he is better suited for the Alps, given the more gradual gradients and longer climbs. And, he was sitting 3rd in the GC. Valverde offered the greatest threat (4th) to his making the podium in Paris, but it was certainly possible that a 100% healthy Tejay could have held Valverde off. Contador is struggling, and Nibali is out of contention. This might have been the year Tejay finished in the top 3 on GC.

Now...he's out of the Tour and the US is out of the Gold Cup. Bam! Bam! on the same day!

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeet! how long to football starts?

[Russdawg]

I separate the mess from my interest in the sport. I like endurance sports: distance running, triathlons, and cycling. Amazing athletes. The closest I personally get to it these days is a 20-mile ride on my bike , and not terribly fast either!

+1. Throw in the longer swimming events where endurance/speed/pacing becomes a factor and I love all these events plus the adventure races. One of the positives of being in my mid-60s is I can usually age group place (not first) in a sprint triathlon: not many guys over 60 can even finish 'em.

Keep pedalin' dawg80, way to go! If you ever want to do the Natchitoches Meat Pie Triathlon as a team (SLOOOOOW TEAM) let me know. I can swim, you can bike if you could get us a runner: just to be there and enjoy the atmosphere. This year it is Sept 27, which means getting home late from the Tech-FIU football game, then up very early to be at Cane River by 6:00 am.,

[dawg80]

I will give that some thought. How long is the bike leg in the Meat Pie Tri? I could go back into training. As recently as 2012 I was flat-out "flying" at the 20-mile distance, doing it in about 75 mins (1:15). That's not bad for an old, fat dude! I can't do that right now. But, with 2 months of intense training....it's doable.

[Russdawg]

I will give that some thought. How long is the bike leg in the Meat Pie Tri? I could go back into training. As recently as 2012 I was flat-out "flying" at the 20-mile distance, doing it in about 75 mins (1:15). That's not bad for an old, fat dude! I can't do that right now. But, with 2 months of intense training....it's doable.

It's 20 miles ride from the riverfront around Sibley Lake. There's a small map of part of the course on this website. Think about it a couple of weeks and see if you're interested. If not, they can always use volunteers and that'd get you into the experience.

http://www.sportspectrumusa.com/even...pie-triathlon/