What happened?

[chet]

Did everyone lose interest in the Tour? I'm still taping it and enjoying it despite the little controversies.
The fact that some cyclists are dropping out because of the Olympics is another odd thing about this Tour.

[surfoverb]

Yeah I don't like Cavendish dropping out...What I really appreciate is how those big sprinters can dog it out in the mountains and make it to Paris...I love seeing those big dudes get dropped on the climes and watch them suffer...Its all about Paris aint it?

[chet]

From doing the relatively miniscule hill training I'm doing and getting dogged out I think these guys are like machines going up the mountains like they do.

[TDPRI]

Interest in the tour seems way down this year. The previous two years it was about twice as active in here.

[chet]

Maybe it's because there's no clearcut American bicycle racing star right now.

[telel6s]

I've either watched every stage or read the feeds on the versus TDF website. I'll load the page, close my eyes and hit the Page Down button to get to the beginning and read through the posts. I spent way too much time yesterday watching them race into Italy.

With the number of riders still in legitimate striking distance of winning the whole thing, you would think that interest would be up. And Van de Velde (sp?) is a US guy for us on this side of the pond. The next two days will be interesting to see if one person can take command.

As for posting on the TDPRI Le Tour sub-forum, I've been reading/posting on BikeForums.com instead. Guitars go one place; bikes go another. Sorry.

[edhead]

My family still watches it everyday at least once, sometimes a few times. Just doesn't seem to be as much excitement yet this year. A lot of stages with no breakaways. As I told my wife, watching the Peloton leading at the end, doesn't lead to great drama, with everyone getting the same time.

[surfoverb]

I think this is a great TDF...It started out slow but its been gettng better ever since the Pyrenees and now the Alps are going to blow everything out...The top 5-10 riders are all within a minute. Its gonna come down to the last time trial and these next 2 alps stages before a winner is clear...Or maybe a sprint in Paris will decide...The American teams are doing great as well as some US individual riders... The Aussies are having one of the best tours as well.

[simonc]

If you ask me, this tour is the most exciting in years, & the next 2 stages are going to be superb in breaking up the top 10, I hope....its so close right now its anyones guess who will win - exciting cycling.

[TDPRI]

I think the tour is great this year. I don't think the coverage on Vs is up to par this year though. Too much Craig and Bob and the two owners of Columbia and Garmin teams. Not enough special interest segments to break things up over 2 to 3 hours of racing that isn't always interesting at the moment.

[e-merlin]

From conversations on other boards, I think a lot of the guys that used to watch are just fed up with the doping and have given up on the TDF. I don't see the same outrage in Baseball, though. And there's almost no outrage in WWE.

Anyhow, I'm not knowledgable enough to hold an intellegent conversation about the TDF. I'm just a casual fan, and think it's an amazing event.

[chet]

That was pretty wild when that guy went over the side of the road yesterday and slid down that dirt slope! He's lucky it wasn't steeper or rocky. They kept reshowing it last night.
The footage they're getting as the riders go down these decents is pretty amazing! It looks like guys are literally right on the edge of crashing or going off the lip of the road.

[e-merlin]

That wasn't as bad as the guy that hit the sign the other day! Broke the bike in half.

The guy that went over the side yesterday was also the one that was leading at the top of the second Col.

[chet]

Yeah, I saw that crash. He flew up about ten feet in the air.

Watched a little bit this morning and there seemed to be several people losing it in the few minutes I watched. I'll tape it at lunchtime and try to watch the coverage tonight but may be at the beach.

[jhundt]

For me it's too difficult to deal with the time difference. I'm watching it all live here, but the USA is watching on delay. So I get all excited but then I shouldn't post too much, and I have to mark my posts for "spoiler" content...

So I just decided to watch and enjoy; I drop in here every now and then for some commentary and analysis. But since I know almost nothing about the nuts and bolts or tactics and techniques of the Tour, I have nothing meaningful to add. But I'm happy to read what others have to say...

[chet]

How many here have not been to the Alps? I went skiing there as much as I could afford when I was stationed there. The Rockies didn't compare when I went skiing there after I came back.
I can't imagine riding a bike down those roads. I did ride a sled one night on one trip. Lot's of fun!

[TDPRI]

We've been to the Alps in France and Italy but never skiing unfortunately. But living in Jackson Hole for 5 years was like living and skiing in the Alps. Let me tell you.

[e-merlin]

I've never been east of Pennsylvania. I have been to the Philippines, though. Not much skiing there, but plenty of beach...

I'd love to tour Europe. If I ever get a chance to buy another Audi or a Mercedes, I'd like to do the Euro pickup thing.

[Slow Reflexes]

I dunno; I haven't gotten very worked up about it this year... Maybe the last couple years just bummed me out too much.

That, plus the ludicrous treatment of Astana this year, hasn't really inspired me to get up at 4:00AM to watch the second half of the daily events.

[Dean Gray]

Its been a great Tour so far, sorry I haven't been posting here much. I just saw the daily 6pm highlight on SBS, the L'alp de Huez (sp?) stage. Crazy, crazy stuff. You know if it looks steep on tv it is steep!

I just hope Cadel can gain some time back in the time trial stage.
Go Cadel!!!

[blacklove]

This is the first year I've been able to watch it DAILY on Versus. With Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen giving the play by play. You can't get better cycling action than that. I feel more connected to the sport than the days when you'd get an hour on Saturdays on Wide World of Sports. Or have to wait until Winning came out with the Tour issue.

The first bike race I ever saw was Alexi Grewal's gold medal win in '84. I was GLUED to the set. Kept up on the tour through the Lemond, Indurain and Armstrong years, but less and less every year. Haven't been following it in the last couple of years.

But it has me excited again. The coverage has me interested in the sport like never before and interested in the tactics like never before. And I feel like I have a face to the name. Hopefully Versus will be having it again in future years.

Doping? Unfortunately, it's not just in cycling. I was definitely disappointed with hearing about dopers this year, especially the stage winners. It's idiotic. I think the policies they have this year have proven to be effective. There are investigations going on and they seem to have the dopers picked out already.

They did a search on the Schleck brothers dad's car...wonder if they're in the crosshairs. I hope not...I like those guys.

[koen]

I'm glad I can finally watch it in the US. I'm from Europe, and it was on tv every year since I can remember. But the first few years I lived in the US, there was hardly any coverage. I do hope though that the commentators focus a bit more on what's actually happening in the race, instead of babbling away.

[Sasz]

I'm still in love with Le Tour - I've been glued to the ITV4 coverage here in the UK since the start.
Unfortunately I haven't had time to come on the tdpri much recently, and have only just found the dedicated Tour forum...

[alabama blues]

After having lived in France for five years, I find the VS coverage almost unwatchable. On French TV, they stick to the cycling, with lots of shots of scenery, and there are few, if any, commercials. Not only are there commercials every 10 minutes on VS, the announcers don't tell you where the riders are. Worse, we are inundated with the "human interest" stories that Americans apparently can't live without. Honestly, the cycling IS enough! Same deal with the Olympics -- there is nothing like watching Nordic skiing start to finish, just athletes in action. On US TV, they can it all down to a 7 minute highlight reel. Ugh.

[blacklove]

Originally Posted by alabama blues

After having lived in France for five years, I find the VS coverage almost unwatchable. On French TV, they stick to the cycling, with lots of shots of scenery, and there are few, if any, commercials. Not only are there commercials every 10 minutes on VS, the announcers don't tell you where the riders are. Worse, we are inundated with the "human interest" stories that Americans apparently can't live without. Honestly, the cycling IS enough! Same deal with the Olympics -- there is nothing like watching Nordic skiing start to finish, just athletes in action. On US TV, they can it all down to a 7 minute highlight reel. Ugh.

I'm an American and I could definitely live without the human interest stories! What a slur! Olympic coverage suffers from this chronically.

As for commercials, I record the tour on my DVR and fast forward a lot.

I watched Paris-Roubaix in France the mid-90's and the coverage was AWESOME! Gotta love France for that.

[chet]