This Tour de France is the most boring in my lifetime

jay zzee wrote:

Why was his teammates leading the chase pack?? Unless they were there to intentionally slow the pace down it didn't make any sense. He looked really pissed at the post race interview.

Hincapie wearing yellow for a single day isn't as important as Cav winning the green jersey. Columbia waited much longer than they normally do to get the leadout train rolling, but they couldn't risk Thor picking up more points on Cav so they eventually had to start hammering.

Of course it becomes irrelevant when Cav was set back to last.

SMJO wrote:

Of course it becomes irrelevant when Cav was set back to last.

Yeah, I just noticed that. Thor will win the green.

Great ride by Hincapie today but it will mean nothing if he loses 10 minutes tomorrow.

26mi235 wrote:

This is a general requirement - only about 2-3 true mountain top finishes and there cannot be much of ones 'just before', either. Sorry if you do not like it.

Well, I don't. I agree with most (?) of the posters on this thread. More mountaintop finishes and no earpieces. Yes, it would change the event, and a lot of the riders would grumble like assembly-line workers whose daily output quotas get raised. Let them grumble. If you shift the incentives, you should be able to get some of them to race hard in spite of the grumbling. I might also consider another final-stage time trial, although that's highly unlikely to happen.

This year's race could still be memorable because of the late time-trial and the finish on Mont Ventoux on the penultimate stage, but I could do without the three weeks leading up to those stages.

if you aren't interested in stages and the more subtle aspects of pro cycling, then why have you been watching? everyone knew that the GC wouldn't change between the pyrenees and tomorrow or even tuesday. take a break, go for runs, do something useful

klewrns wrote:

if you aren't interested in stages and the more subtle aspects of pro cycling, then why have you been watching?

I haven't been watching. I looked at the profile of each stage and decided that the race wouldn't be worth watching until well into the Alps -- perhaps not until the final time trial.

Why are you in this thread if you haven't watched it period? And tomorrow, I can almost assure you, will be an extremely fun day starting from the first Cat 3 climb. I expect Brice Feillu and Egoi Martinez to be part of a breakaway--except Feillu isn't far out of GC, so I think we'll see the real GC contenders keep him on a short leash and set up attacks from Evans, Menchov, Sastre, and Schleck rather early. Look for Lance, Contador and Kloden to keep them close, but not get really involved until the final climb, where Nocentini will lose the yellow jersey to Contador, and I wouldn't be surprised if Armstrong gets mopped up by the serious climber trio of Sastre, Evans, and Schleck. While he can definitely keep up with the GC guys when they are riding 80-90%, which only about 15 riders can do, I really doubt he will be able to roll with some of the best climbers of the decade (also 5-10 years younger than him) when they are near their breaking point.

I think if Andy gets a bit of a jump and has Frank up supporting him, he is a good pick to leapfrog Armstrong into second of the contenders.

V6 wrote:

Why are you in this thread if you haven't watched it period?

Because I have been struck by how poorly the Tour is set up this year for those of us who are GC and climbing enthusiasts. I was interested to see that others here are apparently feeling roughly the same way.

A bit of an impossibility for something to bore you that you haven't watched, yes?

A better claim might've been, "this tour is the most boring other people that I've talked to have ever seen in their lifetime."

Although I don't think that's true either. I have actually been pretty entertained by every stage except for 12 and 13. I thought the opening time trial, stage 3, stage 7, stage 8 & 9 (attacks by Cadel), the TTT, and today's stage were terrific.

V6 wrote:

A bit of an impossibility for something to bore you that you haven't watched, yes?

Two points:

1. I never said that I was bored by this TDF. The original poster said that.

2. No, it's not impossible to be bored by something that I haven't watched. I can, for example, be bored by something that I hear (like a symphony, or commentary about the TDF). More pertinently, I can be bored by a subject that I read about.

Just watched the delayed coverage and can't believe the irony of George's team being responsible for decreaseing the time gap (because in the end a green jersey that is attainable IS more important than a one-day yellow) AND THEN Cavendish doesn't make good on it. The arrogant prick allowed his teammate to be denied yellow (regardless of its fleeting passage) and he doesn't even take the sprint (NOT EVEN CLOSE). In a just world that would haunt Cavendish.

George is a class act. Someday it won't matter as much and he will get the last laugh, beit professionally or personally.

Hey, serious (noob) question here:

Why is Hincapie mad at the Garmin team for picking up the pace? I understand that he'd like the yellow jersey, but this is a race, right? So why the hell wouldn't they go faster? Perhaps I just don't understand some of the tour etiquette or something.

Oh hi. wrote:

Hey, serious (noob) question here:

Why is Hincapie mad at the Garmin team for picking up the pace? I understand that he'd like the yellow jersey, but this is a race, right? So why the hell wouldn't they go faster? Perhaps I just don't understand some of the tour etiquette or something.

Because George isn't a threat to Garmin's GC guys (wiggins and VdV), and Garmin wasn't moving up to set up a sprint. So in the end, Garmin tired out their guys the day before a big stage without gaining anything. Garmin's DS claims it was to keep the guys in the front and out danger... a rather weak explanation.

Cycling "manners" get a little bit ridiculous at points. The idea that Hincapie wasn't a threat to Garmin is a legitimate one, as that means they were trying to bring the pace down simply to spite Columbia-HTC. However, the poster above said it correctly--it is a RACE. Not to mention--AG2R was the team that really pulled it back. Garmin took a pull or two up front, but it was really AG2R trying to keep Nocentini in the yellow that brought that back--and it probably would've happened with or without Garmin up front.

I think the one valid complaint that Columbia's manager had with Vaughters (Garmin manager) is that both teams are US teams, and having Hincapie in the yellow--such a likeable guy and a well-known cyclist--could only help the sport of cycling in the USA.

klewrns wrote:

if you aren't interested in stages and the more subtle aspects of pro cycling, then why have you been watching?

Avocados Number wrote:

I haven't been watching. I looked at the profile of each stage and decided that the race wouldn't be worth watching until well into the Alps -- perhaps not until the final time trial.

BURNED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

V6 wrote:

A bit of an impossibility for something to bore you that you haven't watched, yes?

Two points:

FAIL!!!!!!!!!

I agree, Garmin narrowed down the gap because they are jealous and wanted to make sure Hincapie didn't get yellow. They probably underestimated LA's twitter account and how everyone now sees Garmin kinda as traitor.

However, this is pro cycling and there are teams and you ride against other TEAMS not other nations. Don't do that at the Olympics or World Championships. :-) So, it was perfectly fine. If you wanna be in yellow, ride faster.

Having that said, today is a whole different picture and we will see some serious racing. There will be attacks and I predict that at the end of the day we will know for the first time if LA has a shot for no.8

Nutella wrote:

I agree, Garmin narrowed down the gap because they are jealous and wanted to make sure Hincapie didn't get yellow. They probably underestimated LA's twitter account and how everyone now sees Garmin kinda as traitor.

However, this is pro cycling and there are teams and you ride against other TEAMS not other nations. Don't do that at the Olympics or World Championships. :-) So, it was perfectly fine. If you wanna be in yellow, ride faster.

Having that said, today is a whole different picture and we will see some serious racing. There will be attacks and I predict that at the end of the day we will know for the first time if LA has a shot for no.8

We already know he has a shot.