OT tour de France. Whats the big deal!
 

I was watching the news today and was surprised at all the noise created by how Contador passed Shleck after his chain suddenly came off? I am not sure if there are some special rules or ethics withing bicycling but in my humble opinion if
your bike or car breaks down you need not complain against the passing racer but your mechanic or supplier. Correct me if I'm wrong or did not get all the news :rolleyes:

You did get the news, but you obviously don't know the special "ethics" of this tour and the long tradition.

And remember: During the first stages there were a lot of crashes and all the top riders waited for each other because of that tradition and those "special ethics".
Schleck waited.

Yesterday Contador looked and pushed, just after he realized the probs with the bike of Schleck.

You can't compare that traditional "ethics" to road racing with motorcars or motorbikes. These guys have to do stages on bike with distances of more than 200km a day, a stage lasts more than 4 hours.

OK, I understand so if you fall all the others wait till you get up and continue. I do think that falling is one thing and getting your chain to fall of another quite different.

Typically, top riders do not try to take advantage of the misfortunes of other top riders. You want to win, fair and square, based on your performance - not based on a mechanical issue or crash.

So on the one hand, it's a race and Contador was attacked and then countered when he saw Schleck was in trouble. And that's fair.

On the other hand, in the past, Lance would have waited (like when Jan Ullrich went off the side of the road - not exactly the same situation, but still, he waited for his main rival to get back up and onto his bike and back up to Lance).

So what Alberto did was questionable and he would have scored points with fans if he had not attacked knowing Schleck was having mechanical difficulties, but it wasn't necessarily the worst thing, either.

Cool to know. I could'nt quite grasp why Contador was apologizing on TV. But if there's an ethics code I guess you need to stick to it.

And Ullrich waited for Lance when Lance went down. Its a long and worthy tradition. Contador is piece of work. This is typical for the overall contenders in the tour overall (yellow jersey) and not necessarily for other riders (sprinters and other specialties) of course.

If you watch the stage Alberto's teammate goes with Andy on the break but as soon as he sees him slow he backs off, but Alberto just blows by and after the race to make things worse he says he didn't know Andy had a problem. As Lance said in an interview before the next stage, stop pulling our chain. LOL With only 35 seconds separating before this event and with Alberto being a consummate Time Trialist he would overtaken Andy anyway, but they have made up more or less.

I hate to see Bicycle racing compared to motor racing, big difference when your body is the motor and that is what the race is about, who is the better racer over 3 weeks, all stages, not mechanicals.

Contrador appears to have not followed the gentlemanly sporting tradition of world-class cycling.

Part of the joy of victory in the Tour (and the source of respect from the fans) is being able to say "I waited until my opponent was ready and then I creamed him on a level playing field". Anything less is boorish.

I love the Tour. I have followed Lance since the beginning of his earliest triathlon days. The strategy, the psychology... the physics of the peloton... all fascinating.

And the fact that my home boy Ryder Hesjedal is currently in 10th place (!!!) makes this year especially sweet.

This sort of thing reminds me of the arguments in racing about who is at fault after a wreck. Both sides are so entrenched in their vested interests, its virtually impossible to be objective.

But I'll try. I think Contador is a bit of weasel, but I don't think he is the nasty guy that many think he is. Likewise about Andy. I'm sure Contador knew there was some problem when he went past, but probably not the details or the reason - was it due to a fault of Andy's or not?

Likewise, I don't think you can be black/white about when you stop and and when you don't. It's a judgment call and Contador knows that there are others in the race who would move up to be threats if he hangs back everytime a close competitor punctures, takes a "nature break", or has a crash. There are times when you probably should hang back and there are times when you need to press forward and try and win the damn race. Anybody who thinks that there are hard/fast rules about this is mistaken.

I'll take Contador at this face when he says that at the time he was in "race mode", but if he had to do it over, he admits that perhaps he should have hung back a bit. So I don't fault either rider. They've forgotten it and are looking forward - so should we as fans. Stuff happens.

- Mark

Slightly OT and some of you have surely already seen this one, but it's one of my favourites of all time pulled from internet. One description says: "In the 1920's it was believed that smoking cigarettes IMPROVED respiration.
Here's a photo of some cyclists in the Tour de France, sharing cigarettes before a hill climb:"
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1279743847.jpg

If that's not sportsmanship I don't know what is. :)

I bet they believed it too..... "wow the more I smoke the better I breath"

watching that $hit is as boring as watching paint dry.

If I wanted so see a line of men sniffing each other's butts in formation I could go to a gay bar in Seattle:0

Did I mention how BORING bicycle street racing is?

It's an acquired taste, but once you acquire it, it is quite entertaining. Which I think is true of almost all sorts of racing - my wife watches a MotoGP or F1 race and thinks it is about the most stupid way to spend an hour or three that possibly can be imagined. If you don't know the nuances, its just a bunch of vehicles driving around in circles.

- Mark

I'll send him the video tape of Greg LeMond vs. Laurent Fignon in the 1989 Tour where Fignon led by 50 some seconds going into the final time trial/final stage into Paris (which they should revive) and Lemond beat him by 8 seconds.
Great drama.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1279747719.jpg

True, if you do bikeing its even more interesting cause you know how tuff it is. I love F1 and Moto GP. However, I do find it lame to see cars go round and round in circles like Nascar.
Put cruise control and lock the steering and listen to some tunes. Booooring.

Best of both worlds: Motorcycle racing:D

Hey, this sounds like fun. I want to play...

Hmm, let's see...

I don't understand how somebody can diminish some form of racing, competition, sports, whatever, that isn't entertaining to them, even though, clearly, it is entertaining to millions of others (NASCAR, bicycle road racing, whatever.). I can easily understand why something is not entertaning to somebody, but I don't see how they cannot at least appreciate what it takes to do well at something and the fact that there are others who 'get it.' Like NASCAR; I don't watch it, but there are many teams of people using all their resources to win, so it must not be so easy! Same as bicycle road racing. I don't watch that either, but I don't understand why somebody would be compelled to ridicule those who do watch bicycle racing by making such negative comments about it ("sniffing asses" or whatever).

Seems like many people who like 'this' sport feel that have to ridicule 'that' sport--like children do in grade school. (Hey, did I just contradict my self by ridiculing somebody for doing something they enjoy--ridiculing others?) :eek:

Like soccer. Soccer isn't 'my sport,' but my step-daughter plays and I enjoy watching when she's playing and watched a lot of the World Cup. I found it entertaining enough because I can at least appreciate the skill and athleticism it takes. So I don't go around saying "soccer sucks," or anything sucks.

That 'code of honor' deal is interesting. I never heard of such a thing in pro sports (though in a motocross race a few years ago I accidentally took a guy out, so I stopped and waited for him to get up and pass by before I got going again).

Okay, the 'Fun' police have left the building! SmileWavy

If you ever read some of the history of the Tour, back in the days it was bad form to attack in the feed zones (it still is) and if a top rider had to take a dump, he would get out the roll of toilet paper, and wave it, and everybody would pull over while he did his business. I don't think they do this much anymore, because the riders are in tune with their bodies enough, to prevent the need from taking a crap during a stage.

So long as Contador wins the tour by more than 31 seconds, it will be a non-issue. If not, the whole event will continue to play itself over again after the time trial.

I did'nt mean to diminish Nascar. I actually do watch it now and then but only when they don't go round n round in circles. I recall Michael Schumacher comments where in the same line. Someone asked him if after retiring from F1 he would consider Nascar...