[EIGHTFOUREIGHT]

Originally Posted by Soz

I thought Carl was dead.....

He is, but since he was also a master of time and space, he's figured out how to come back and win the tour de france. remember, "if you're going to bake an apple pie from scratch, first you have to invent the universe".

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Originally Posted by Soz

I thought Carl was dead.....

Its his younger brother.

Stages usually end at around 2am here so we dont get to see the exciting bit till the next day/evening so we might be a bit behind you. I usually read the results in the morning so spoilers are fine, but you guys will be a bit ahead of us.

Sagan seems to be one of the form riders. Is this his first Tour?

[EIGHTFOUREIGHT]

First TdF, 2nd Grand Tour - Vuelta last year. He did really well in Paris-Nice and a few of the classics. There is this group of young riders that are going to be fun to watch (Gesink, Rolland, Nibali, Hesjedal, Taaramae, Van Garderen and probably a few others I'm missing). Those are just the GC guys.

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I'm looking forward to it. 3 weeks is such a loooong time! it has to be one of the most grueling sporting events in the world.

I pretty much only watch the TdF each year (which is a bit like watching one GP!) so appreciate the background info.

[EIGHTFOUREIGHT]

No big shocker today - very flat stage. Cavendish takes the sprint, even though he's not the focal point of the team. His lead outs have changed a lot since Team Sky will be in contention for the GC with Wiggins. It will be interesting to see how many stages Cav can win having to work harder than he ever has before on Highroad.

Stage 3 will be more interesting - this is a one day classic type stage with a lot more classified climbs built for the likes of Phillipe Gilbert & Cancellara. No Hushovd or Boonen this year, which is interesting. BMC I can understand because of their ambitions and lineup, but surprised that Boonen isn't there with the tour starting in Belgium. Boonen won Flanders, Paris Roubaix & the Belgian national jersey. Whoever mentioned it before, I think the olympics has maybe watered down the TdF, especially for the one day/classic guys.

[eric9877]

I'm just dissapointed the evans and hincappie ride for BMC. What an absolute shit bike with even worse customer service. I bought the team machine frame and in 3 months the head tube began to separate and the seat tube cracked. after fighting with them for almost a year (they had my bike the whole time for this) they finally replaced my frame. I consigned it out through my local bike shop before I even unboxed it. within two months the next owner had the head tube come clean off while riding. That had to be fun.

[EIGHTFOUREIGHT]

Holy crap, Dude - I can only imagine. I bought an Orbea carbon Onix after my last Felt aluminum. Completely trouble free on both. The Felt is still locked into my trainer and gets a couple hundred miles a month of unflexing abuse. The orbea is a dream to ride with Ksyrium Elite SL wheels on it. I never go top end gruppo because I don't want to spend the dough - it's like buying CPU's. You pay for the latest and greatest. One step down is usually adequate for what you're doing and high quality.

I'm a huge Euskatel-Euskadi fan... The basque's know how to freaking party! Love the Pyrenees stages!

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I stayed up until 35kms to go last night.... Have to wait for the highlights package.

Cavendish pissed off early 2 or 3 years ago didnt he to compete in the Commonwealth Games or something? He doesnt need to do the whole 3 weeks to make an huge impression. How many stage wins did he have last year?

[EIGHTFOUREIGHT]

Not sure about a few years ago. He won something like 5 last year, but he won on the Champs Elysee. That's a huge accomplishment for a pure sprinter - you have to make it through all of the mountain stages under the time cut. In the really hard stages you get between ~5% & 20% of the winners average speed to finish. Some of these climbers are flying up the mountains - they're built just for efficiency. Not a single extra once of fat or muscle than necessary. Sometimes it looks like the bike weighs more than them. If you look at a guys like Cancellara or Cav, they're much more considerable (by cycling standards).

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Every year its like reading a novel with plot twists and turns and the drama unfloding as it progresses, all with a backdrop of medievel castles and the french countryside, the Alps the cities.... Love it.