WARNING: Totally geeky cycling discussion follows. If you have no interest, skip it and save yourself some boredom.
One of the things that keeps us busy every July is the Tour de France, and this year is no exception. I've been watching the Tour for about twenty years, and I got D hooked a long time ago. For those of you that don't know, the Tour de France is a 23-day, 21-stage bike race through - you guessed it - France. The route changes every year, and the characters, politics, and tactics are just as intriguing as in any other professional sport.
I record 4-6 hours of live coverage every morning on Versus, starting around 4:30am. When we have the opportunity later that day, we fast forward to the good parts - generally, the opening analysis, the first breakaway, any mountain climbs, all the interviews, and the sprint to the finish. D and I even compete by picking two riders each that we think will do well that day, and recording points for whose picks win the stage (four points for first, three for second, etc) - the commentators have a similar competition.
This year the Tour has gotten more press coverage in the US because Lance Armstrong has rejoined the race after retiring four years ago. His seven wins are the most in the history of the Tour, and the chance for an eighth is obviously unprecedented. The big news of the last few days, however, has revolved around other Americans. First, Levi Leipheimer fell at the end of Friday's stage and broke his wrist. Though riders have completed the race with broken collarbones (and worse), he was in no condition to ride and didn't start Saturday's stage. Levi was one of only seven Americans in the tour and he was on Lance's team, so it's a big deal that he won't finish.
Back in February, Levi won the Tour of California for the third year in a row. The last of its eight stages took place in San Diego, from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido. D and I went to see the riders start the stage, and walked around the team buses beforehand. The crowds were very impressive for a cycling event in the United States, though they don't compare to the French crowds at the Tour. The largest crowd was around the Astana team bus, because everyone wanted to see Lance and (to a lesser extent) Levi. When it finally came time to start the race, they made their way out, signed a couple of autographs, and then got on their bikes to ride to the starting line. Here's a quick video of the mass of people surrounding them as they rode through:
Can you tell that Lance is loving his return to cycling?
One of the things that keeps us busy every July is the Tour de France, and this year is no exception. I've been watching the Tour for about twenty years, and I got D hooked a long time ago. For those of you that don't know, the Tour de France is a 23-day, 21-stage bike race through - you guessed it - France. The route changes every year, and the characters, politics, and tactics are just as intriguing as in any other professional sport.
I record 4-6 hours of live coverage every morning on Versus, starting around 4:30am. When we have the opportunity later that day, we fast forward to the good parts - generally, the opening analysis, the first breakaway, any mountain climbs, all the interviews, and the sprint to the finish. D and I even compete by picking two riders each that we think will do well that day, and recording points for whose picks win the stage (four points for first, three for second, etc) - the commentators have a similar competition.
This year the Tour has gotten more press coverage in the US because Lance Armstrong has rejoined the race after retiring four years ago. His seven wins are the most in the history of the Tour, and the chance for an eighth is obviously unprecedented. The big news of the last few days, however, has revolved around other Americans. First, Levi Leipheimer fell at the end of Friday's stage and broke his wrist. Though riders have completed the race with broken collarbones (and worse), he was in no condition to ride and didn't start Saturday's stage. Levi was one of only seven Americans in the tour and he was on Lance's team, so it's a big deal that he won't finish.
Back in February, Levi won the Tour of California for the third year in a row. The last of its eight stages took place in San Diego, from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido. D and I went to see the riders start the stage, and walked around the team buses beforehand. The crowds were very impressive for a cycling event in the United States, though they don't compare to the French crowds at the Tour. The largest crowd was around the Astana team bus, because everyone wanted to see Lance and (to a lesser extent) Levi. When it finally came time to start the race, they made their way out, signed a couple of autographs, and then got on their bikes to ride to the starting line. Here's a quick video of the mass of people surrounding them as they rode through:
Can you tell that Lance is loving his return to cycling?
The second piece of news from this weekend's Tour stages revolves around another American, George Hincapie. This is George's fourteenth Tour, and he's finished all but the first. He rode on Lance's team during every one of his seven victories, and is one of the most popular American riders around; he's known in the sport to be a really great guy and a strong competitor. In Saturday's stage, he definitely proved the competitive part. He was part of a 12-man breakaway that stayed out in front the entire day; his position at 5 minutes and 20 seconds from first place in the Tour meant that if he came in that far ahead of the main pack (the peloton), he'd be wearing the yellow jersey (signifying the leader of the race) at the end of the day.
D and I were watching intently, rooting him on, but in the end he came up just short and is now in second place in the race, just five seconds out of the lead. He just barely missed another great result for his team, Columbia-HTC, which is one of two American teams. The potential "scandal" that has arisen is that Astana (Lance's team) and Garmin (the other American team) seemed to be riding at the front of the peloton, helping the main pack catch up to George's breakaway. They had no tactical or strategic reason to do so, except perhaps an ongoing rivalry between Columbia and Garmin. George was visibly and audibly disappointed and upset by this turn of events, and almost called out his former teammates and fellow Americans. The truth of the matter may come out in the next few days of the race....it should only add to the drama of the last week of the tour.
Anyway, this brings us back to the Tour of California. While I was waiting to get a good video of Lance coming out of his trailer, D was over at the much less crowded Columbia trailer getting these great shots of George Hincapie. He's been one of our favorites for years, and he seemed really nice and approachable.
D and I were watching intently, rooting him on, but in the end he came up just short and is now in second place in the race, just five seconds out of the lead. He just barely missed another great result for his team, Columbia-HTC, which is one of two American teams. The potential "scandal" that has arisen is that Astana (Lance's team) and Garmin (the other American team) seemed to be riding at the front of the peloton, helping the main pack catch up to George's breakaway. They had no tactical or strategic reason to do so, except perhaps an ongoing rivalry between Columbia and Garmin. George was visibly and audibly disappointed and upset by this turn of events, and almost called out his former teammates and fellow Americans. The truth of the matter may come out in the next few days of the race....it should only add to the drama of the last week of the tour.
Anyway, this brings us back to the Tour of California. While I was waiting to get a good video of Lance coming out of his trailer, D was over at the much less crowded Columbia trailer getting these great shots of George Hincapie. He's been one of our favorites for years, and he seemed really nice and approachable.
George was signing autographs and talking to his teammates for several minutes before the start. I felt a little bad that he wasn't getting the attention that Lance did, but I guess that's what separates the occasional fan and/or cancer survivor from the true cycling enthusiast.
D was quite proud of her pictures, and I have to admit that they were better than any of the ones I took that day.
As a last note, the Tour de France continues until next weekend. This Sunday (the 19th) is the first mountain stage in the Alps. The climbs aren't quite as large as they will be later in the week, but it's a mountain finish that could separate the men from the boys. If you decide to watch one stage, make it next Saturday, July 25. It's the second-to-last day, just before the finale in Paris, and it finishes with one of the most famous climbs in Tour history, Mont Ventoux. With such a huge mountain so close to the end, it could literally determine the final outcome of the entire race on its penultimate day. Now that's just good TV.
Sorry to geek out....I'll get back to more normal subjects tomorrow.
Sorry to geek out....I'll get back to more normal subjects tomorrow.
No comments:
Post a Comment