Tour de France - 2008

[Mantis]

Just read in the Herald Sun that the Astana team has been kicked out of this year's tour.

Why is that relevant? Well last year's winner Alberto Contador belongs to that team. Also 3rd place getter Levi Leipheimer has also recently moved to Astana.

Cadel Evans will now be clear favourite to become the 1st Australian to win this event.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23215768-11088,00.html

[LostDoggy]

Re: Tour de France - 2008

Somone else will be on the 'good' juice by the time comes to start the race.
Drugs are part of this sport but at least the cycling authorities are seen to be doing something about it.

[Sockeye Salmon]

Re: Tour de France - 2008

I had no interest in cycling at all until I bothered to watch last years Tour.

There's an enormous amount of tactical play involved, the problem is you don't know if the tactic worked until the last 10 minutes so I found I was staying up to 2am every night for two weeks.

I helps your interest when you have Cadel Evans and Michael Rogers as legitimate winning chances.

[westdog54]

Re: Tour de France - 2008

I had no interest in cycling at all until I bothered to watch last years Tour.

There's an enormous amount of tactical play involved, the problem is you don't know if the tactic worked until the last 10 minutes so I found I was staying up to 2am every night for two weeks.

I helps your interest when you have Cadel Evans and Michael Rogers as legitimate winning chances.

I must say I got very caught up in the team tactics as well, especially in the mountain stages.

Its a very unique sport in that you compete both as an individual and as a member of a team, most of the time the latter becomes your priority. Very interesting to watch.

[BulldogBelle]

Re: Tour de France - 2008

I had no interest in cycling at all until I bothered to watch last years Tour.

A very good friend of mine he is right into the Tour De France and has gone over to France to watch it a couple of times. He is/was a massive Lance Armstong fan and whenever we used to catch up all I would hear was about Lance, in the end I also got caught up in the whole TDF and enjoy watching it some of the team tactics are fascinating to watch.

[LostDoggy]

Re: Tour de France - 2008

When I was over in Europe for the 2006 (FIFA) World Cup I was in Cologne staying with a friend when the Tour swung by Holland, just 90kms down the road. I got up early, took a train down and sat by the roadside waiting for the peleton to swing by. An hour later someone said 'they're coming', and we all ran to the kerb. Less than five minutes later, it was all over. Tagged along with some people further up the road and sat by for another half and hour and the whole process repeated itself. Some people sitting by the roadside actually had their back to the road and was watching the race on little portable TVs. Talk about a sport being better on television than it is live. It was very fun though, although I could have done without the cheap-looking expensive merchandise on sale at the finish line.

Funnier thing was, watching the Tour on German TV, despite my resilient best efforts I couldn't understand much of what was going on as everything was in German and out of the reach of my somewhat rudimentary German language skills. So, ironically, despite having been there, then watching it in Europe, the best watching experience I honestly have had of the Tour is 15,000kms away right back here in my living room in Melbourne. (I was also in the UK for a time when the Tour was on, but the BBC covered the Tour in a very fragmented manner. SBS does a far more comprehensive job.)

[hujsh]

Re: Tour de France - 2008

I have no interest in cycling. However i used to say that about cricket before the 05 Ashes and Soccer before the 06 WC qualifier against Uruguay.