the famous quote from Lance Armstrong from last year.. still get a kick out of it whenever someone says it lol, which actually this is what this tour has apparently turned out to be; another.. "well.. whatever"

anyways; i was curious if anyone is really watching the tour this year without lance in it
alot of people aren't paying much attention at all because lance quit racing


finally seems as though australia has someone that seems to believe he can win some points .. been a very long time since that last happened lol thats for sure

i personally haven't really ever watched it that much (then again i cant really stand sitting and watching sports games.. its too.. boring; i'd rather be outside doing that than watching with with a bag of chips on me and soda at armlength)

TBH, I FIND THAT, AND THIS IS JUST A GENERALISATION, ALOT OF AMERICANS ARE ONLY REALLY INTERESTED IF AMERICA, OR AN AMERICAN IS IN IT, AND DOING WELL.(grr, gotta remember the caps lock)

but personally, now been interested in road bike racing....i think they forgot the engines, lol. but most respect goes to them for the dedication.

I'm an avid viewer!!!
I wouldn't mind being as fit as the bloke who comes last in the T D F!!

I don't know what you Americans feed your blokes on, but they are GOOD.
You've got to admire Landis as he's having a hip operation soon, but still flying up the mountains!! Even Levi is getting better. But WTF has happeded to Hincappie, I thought he would rock, but seems he has lost motivation without Lance, who knows, maybe he will come good in the Alps.

The Aussies are doing well too, Robbie is a fantastic sprinter and Cadel could be in with a chance of overall victory.

This will be a good year with some of the top men already out. Its wide open. Still some severe mountains to climb yet so I don't know who is up for the win!!!

Too much doping. Not going to watch it.

Vain

People watch bikeing? Whaaaaaat?

Quote :

You've got to admire Landis as he's having a hip operation soon

Personally, I am wondering about that quite a bit. He's supposed not to be able to climb stairs without pain, getting his hip replaced but now puts on such performances? Yeah right, and those who got suspended from the Tour never had contact with that doctor in Spain.

Quote from Vain :

Too much doping. Not going to watch it.

Vain

That could explain why the general classification is so strange!!

Quote from Hoellsen :

Personally, I am wondering about that quite a bit. He's supposed not to be able to climb stairs without pain, getting his hip replaced but now puts on such performances? Yeah right, and those who got suspended from the Tour never had contact with that doctor in Spain.

Could be hype, but cycling isn't too harsh on joints unlike walking, running etc, so it is possible

I think, this years tour has it's "own" highlights. It is open, there is no clear favourite atm, stil 3-4 very hard Alpine stages are coming, a long single-timed-stage. I cant really say, who's winning this year, and that makes it quite interesting. Way more interesting than the last Armstrong years, imho.

The only thing that annoys me is the ammount of coverage...basically that there is none.

In UK it is only on ITV....4! What channel is that..pfft! It used to be on BBC2, then Channel 4 for a while, but now its been dumped to some half-bit channel that you have to search for! :P

I keep forgetting to watch the highlights now too

Quote from mrbogeyman :

The only thing that annoys me is the ammount of coverage...basically that there is none.

In UK it is only on ITV....4! What channel is that..pfft! It used to be on BBC2, then Channel 4 for a while, but now its been dumped to some half-bit channel that you have to search for! :P

I keep forgetting to watch the highlights now too

Here in Holland we have live coverage everyday (not right from the start though).

For those interested, here's a link to the live online coverage which I use at work everyday

http://www.nos.nl/gfx/nosstudi ... nten/tour2006/i_live.html

Mute the sound though, as it has Dutch commentary

PS Coverage today starts in an hour from now (14:40h Dutch time).



Btw, I think this year's tour is very interesting with none of the really big names. Yesterday's course was just fantastic, especially because my personal hero Michael Boogerd was hero of the day

If anything, Lance's doped up domination made the race more boring that it ought to have been.And with the recent scandal in mind, it's becoming very hard to take the sport seriously - the lies and the deception saturate everything.Still, I had hoped the only danish rider might do well, but the rabobank manager had other plans unfortunately.

I like Bob Roll (American commentator,former bike racer) a lot, but I cringe every time he says "Tour day France" - not that my French is very good either. Also, I have never automatically cheered for someone just because they're from Canada (in my case). I tend to cheer for people I like and/or respect a lot;I'm kind of funny that way.

Jens Voigt won today's (yesterday's) stage.

Quote from Tyrion :

Still, I had hoped the only danish rider might do well, but the rabobank manager had other plans unfortunately.

Doing well so far today

Landis looking very bad. :Eyecrazy:

Go, Klöden!

Yey, well done by the danish chicken

Quote from Tyrion :

Yey, well done by the danish chicken

Yeah, got to have huge respect for that man... holy crap... from 6 km after the start all the way to the finish, over 4 mountains on-his-own... illepall

Respect!

Personally I'm glad that Landis lost yellow, pathetic how he let Klöden drive for him two days in a row... now I hope for a good day for Mentsjov or even better, Boogerd

Landis is crazy, lol.illepall

Attacking 130+ km before the finish.

Hehehe, well so did Rasmussen yesterday and that went ok I think. :P Plus, I think it's good to see he finally attacks instead of watching and waiting.

Yes, and it really looks, like it will work out.

He should be good in the stage against the clock on Saturday, so he has still chances for the overall win. Unlike Klöden.