Tour De France 2012

Koffee_Kosmo

It's close to that time again
I am of cource talking about the Tour De France

For mobile and tablet device users that want to keep up with the up to date news, SBS has an app specifically for the big race

Otherwise SBS TV coverage will be as comprehensive as ever this year

So I will open up this thread for discussion
I will however keep you informed of the daily standings when the race begins

KK

Seeya Latte

Love the TDF Go Cadel Sbs coverage is the best and I hope they don't get out bid in 2017 by the local commercial channels because you know what they will do with it Sad that Andy and Thor aren't in it this year

beanflying

Mentally and Physically prepared for it  :coffee: Apart from the racing it is a great travel show too for the non bikie types  :thumb: Off my morning Twitter feed "Levi Leipheimer ?@LeviLeipheimer Busy day here in Liege but it seems less so than 10 years ago, maybe I'm finally getting the hang of it? #TdF" "STUART O'GRADY ?@StueyOG TDF team presso done.New kit unveiled.Boys are ready to ride into history.3500kms of pain,sacrifice and god knows what awaits!Let's RACE!"

Koffee_Kosmo

The Tour De France has begun  :thumb: Prolouge is a time trial Liege It's a fairly flat course but very technical Fortunately it's a dry sunny day as it rained during the week The top five of the prologue 02 Jul 12|01:29 AM After 6.4km of racing in the 99th Tour de France, the top five is: 1. Fabian Cancellara (SUI) RNT - 6.4km in 7'13.470 (53.2km/h) 2. Bradley Wiggins (GBR) SKY at 7" 3. Sylvain Chavanel (FRA) OPQ at 7" 4. Teejay van Garderen (USA) BMC at 10" 5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) SKY at 11" Snip Just when most thought Team Sky has the most formidable team at the Tour de France, along comes BMC Racing and places five riders in the top 25 riders in Saturday

beanflying

Now that's one stage I could handle Shame I would be nearly 1/2 their speed. Apart from deciding the first Yellow Jersey wearer not much to tell from it really but we are off on the journey  :coffee2:

beanflying

So much stereotyping AM  :rofl: I don't wear Lycra and my only doping if generally caffeine related  :angel: As to wombat pack road hogging cyclists on open roads they give me the ...... too. Problem now becomes the motorists in return see ALL cyclists as the same which we clearly aren't Some courtesy and consideration needed by all. Now how can I sticky this topic in BOLD type it for the duration of the TDF  :stir :stir

Koffee_Kosmo

Stage one results as follows Li

Koffee_Kosmo

Stage 2 results as follows Vis

galumay

quick pic of my rig, its purpose built for riding the bike track to work, (wouldnt be much good for the hills in TDF!) Single speed, carbon fibre forks, bars & seatpost, Stans ZTR Flow wheels, tubeless Schwable Super Moto tyres in 29 x 2.35

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1341304726:

quick pic of my rig, its purpose built for riding the bike track to work, (wouldnt be much good for the hills in TDF!) Single speed, carbon fibre forks, bars & seatpost, Stans ZTR Flow wheels, tubeless Schwable Super Moto tyres in 29 x 2.35

Very nice And good of you to be getting into the spirit of the big race My bike has flat tires

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 3  TDF Watching the race live last night / early morning I was a thrilling stage that was made for team support or be left behind Very narrow road sections with many bikes wanting to get past caused several crashes splitting the peloton into sub groups The Stage has several hilly sections that drain the energy from the riders The front runners were well supported by there respective teams Cadel Evans ran a shrewd race with his team keeping him relaxed and out of harms way The standings as follows Orchies to Boulogne-sur-Mer     Stage 3 (197 km) 1. CANCELLARA F. RNT 14h 45' 30'' 2. WIGGINS B. SKY 00' 07'' 3. CHAVANEL S. OPQ 00' 07'' 4. VAN GARDEREN T. BMC 00' 10'' 5. BOASSON HAGEN E. SKY 00' 11'' 6. MENCHOV D. KAT 00' 13'' 7. EVANS C. BMC 00' 17''

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 4  TDF The standings as follows Abbeville to Rouen     Stage 4 (214 km) 1 012 Fabian CANCELLARA RNT 20:04:02 00:00:00 2 101 Bradley WIGGINS SKY 20:04:09 00:00:07 3 192 Sylvain CHAVANEL OPQ 20:04:09 00:00:07 4 009 Tejay VAN GARDEREN BMC 20:04:12 00:00:10 5 102 Edvald BOASSON HAGEN SKY 20:04:13 00:00:11 6 131 Denis MENCHOV KAT 20:04:15 00:00:13 7 001 Cadel EVANS BMC 20:04:19 00:00:17 8 051 Vincenzo NIBALI LIQ 20:04:20 00:00:18 9 061 Ryder HESJEDAL GRS 20:04:20 00:00:18 10 015 Andr

hiphipharar

on 1341445882:

Abbeville to Rouen[/b]

The road to Rouen, huh? I think a few of us may have been on that road at some time in our lives? 

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1341451956:

The road to Rouen, huh? I think a few of us may have been on that road at some time in our lives? 

I should have used that in the mini description of stage 4  TDF

Seeya Latte

Trying not to be too biased here, but I reckon Cadel's sitting very nicely for now. My view of week 1 of any TDF is that all the GC contenders primarily make sure they stay within reach of each other (time wise) while getting protection from their teams and staying out of the bash n crash that comes in the first week. Once Week 1's out of the way,  we're into some hills and that's where they start freeing up and you start seeing team tactics and strategies playing a key role is setting up a winner...great stuff.

beanflying

Great finish tonight with the breakaway just getting caught in the last couple of hundred meters. Huge effort by Greibel to just pip the others in the uphill sprint including Australias Matty Goss in third. Cadel sitting nicely, safe, uninjured and just where he would be happy toward the end of week one. Time for some sleep I reckon  :coffee:

Koffee_Kosmo

Update snip Furious United States sprinter Tyler Farrar tried to storm into a rival team's bus after another crash in week one of the Tour de France Story here http://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/news/37462/garmin-s-farrar-attempts-to-storm-argos KK

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 5  TDF The standings as follows Rouen to Saint-Quentin     Stage 5 (197 km) Stage winners 1 114 Andr

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 6  TDF The standings as follows

beanflying

Time everyone took a chill pill and relaxed the pack spacing a little - OUCHY.  :o Bring on some hills tonight should help spread the peloton out hopefully and maybe not a bunch sprint for the line would be nice

Kevohere

on 1341110756:

Just my 2 cents on this subject.

I might just throw in another two, bringing the tally up to four cents.  :stir Why is it that the news reports/reporters, media and here as well it seems, refer to this event as: "The Tour de France"? :tearhair: It's either "Le Tour de France" or "The Tour of France" :exclaim: Great information and pics by the way KK.  :thumb: Shows how keen you are. You could be referred to as "Keen Koffee Kosmo" but...... I don't think the abbreviation of "KKK" would sit too well with some.  ;D

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1341654697:

I might just throw in another two, bringing the tally up to four cents.  :stir Why is it that the news reports/reporters, media and here as well it seems, refer to this event as: "The Tour de France"? :tearhair: It's either "Le Tour de France" or "The Tour of France" :exclaim: Great information and pics by the way KK.  :thumb: Shows how keen you are. You could be referred to as "Keen Koffee Kosmo" but...... I don't think the abbreviation of "KKK" would sit too well with some.  ;D

The word " de " in French means " of " in English

The preposition de, often meaning from or of, combines with the definite article to produce the following contracted forms. These forms thus all have the rough meaning of "of the...", "from the...":

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 7  TDF The standings as follows Tomblaine to La Planche des Belles Filles     Stage 7 (199 km) Sky Racing Team dominated today's stage wanting to place there rider Bradley Wiggins into the yellow jersey Making Bradley Wiggins only the fifth Briton to pull on the Tour de France yellow jersey, after taking the race lead at the end of the seventh stage Saturday This stage was the first of the mountain stages with some sections having up top 20% inclines The leader board has changed and the contenders will be trying not to loose any time to rivals Stage 7 Standings 1 105 Christopher FROOME SKY 04:58:35 00:00:00 2 001 Cadel EVANS BMC 04:58:37 00:00:02 3 101 Bradley WIGGINS SKY 04:58:37 00:00:02 4 051 Vincenzo NIBALI LIQ 04:58:42 00:00:07 5 081 Rein TAARAMAE COF 04:58:54 00:00:19 Overall Race Standings 1 101 Bradley WIGGINS SKY 34:21:20 00:00:00 2 001 Cadel EVANS BMC 34:21:30 00:00:10 3 051 Vincenzo NIBALI LIQ 34:21:36 00:00:16 4 081 Rein TAARAMAE COF 34:21:52 00:00:32 5 131 Denis MENCHOV KAT 34:22:14 00:00:54 6 019 Haimar ZUBELDIA RNT 34:22:19 00:00:59 7 016 Maxime MONFORT RNT 34:22:29 00:01:09 8 079 Nicolas ROCHE ALM 34:22:42 00:01:22 9 105 Christopher FROOME SKY 34:22:52 00:01:32 10 108 Michael ROGERS SKY 34:23:00 00:01:40 KK

Koffee_Kosmo

A random photo or three of the race

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 8  TDF Belfort to Porrentruy     Stage 8 (154 km) The standings as follows Stage 8 Standings 1 146 Thibaut PINOT FDJ 03:56:10 00:00:00 2 001 Cadel EVANS BMC 03:56:36 00:00:26 3 013 Tony GALLOPIN RNT 03:56:36 00:00:26 4 101 Bradley WIGGINS SKY 03:56:36 00:00:26 5 051 Vincenzo NIBALI LIQ 03:56:36 00:00:26 Overall Standings 1 101 Bradley WIGGINS SKY 38:17:56 00:00:00 2 001 Cadel EVANS BMC 38:18:06 00:00:10 3 051 Vincenzo NIBALI LIQ 38:18:12 00:00:16 4 131 Denis MENCHOV KAT 38:18:50 00:00:54 5 019 Haimar ZUBELDIA RNT 38:18:55 00:00:59 6 105 Christopher FROOME SKY 38:19:28 00:01:32 7 016 Maxime MONFORT RNT 38:20:04 00:02:08 8 111 Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK LTB 38:20:07 00:02:11 9 079 Nicolas ROCHE ALM 38:20:17 00:02:21 10 081 Rein TAARAMAE COF 38:20:23 00:02:27 Today was an up and down hill stage (see map)and I believe the shortest of the tour by some 45 km (excluding time trial stages) This gave the opportunity to some individuals to make a run for it and beat the peloton to the finish line As noted above this is exactly what happened two groups were formed in front of the peloton and one Frenchman Thibaut Pinot prevailed to the finish 26 seconds ahead of the chasing group led by Cadel Evans Cadel Evans tried to make time on the leader Bradley Wiggins without success  but I think he managed to sap a little more energy from him Its a long race and every move has consequences over the coming days Wiggins Sky team has lost members due to accidents while Evans BMC team remains unscathed and intact KK philosophy - Teams win races  TDF KK

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 9  TDF Arc-et-Senans to Besan

beanflying

Cadel needs to find at least 5 minutes over Wiggins in the mountains based on last nights TT to be a good chance for the overall. Still a good time to Evans but that ride of Wiggins WOW  TDF

Koffee_Kosmo

on 1341895930:

Cadel needs to find at least 5 minutes over Wiggins in the mountains based on last nights TT to be a good chance for the overall. Still a good time to Evans but that ride of Wiggins WOW  TDF

Totally agree on both comments Wow what a time trial I watched it all unfolding live on SBS However it's a long long race and Wiggins Sky team is short of a couple of key riders due to accidents in the earlier stages The upcoming mountain stages is the time the team is needed most for support Although Wiggins is no slouch in the mountains I feel that the time advantage will be reined in due to the observation I made above KK

Koffee_Kosmo

The Previous was a rest day on the  TDF Tour Update for stage 10 M

Koffee_Kosmo

Tour Update for stage 11  TDF Albertville to La Toussuire - Les Sybelles     Stage 11 (140 km) Stage Standings 1 029 Pierre ROLLAND EUC 04:43:54 00:00:00 2 146 Thibaut PINOT FDJ 04:44:49 00:00:55 3 105 Christopher FROOME SKY 04:44:49 00:00:55 4 111 Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK LTB 04:44:51 00:00:57 5 051 Vincenzo NIBALI LIQ 04:44:51 00:00:57 Overall Standings 1 101 Bradley WIGGINS SKY 48:43:53 00:00:00 2 105 Christopher FROOME SKY 48:45:58 00:02:05 3 051 Vincenzo NIBALI LIQ 48:46:16 00:02:23 4 001 Cadel EVANS BMC 48:47:12 00:03:19 5 111 Jurgen VAN DEN BROECK LTB 48:48:41 00:04:48 6 019 Haimar ZUBELDIA RNT 48:50:08 00:06:15 7 009 Tejay VAN GARDEREN BMC 48:50:50 00:06:57 8 181 Janez BRAJKOVIC AST 48:51:23 00:07:30 9 029 Pierre ROLLAND EUC 48:52:24 00:08:31 10 146 Thibaut PINOT FDJ 48:52:44 00:08:51 A successful defense of his Tour de France title now looks uncertain for Cadel Evans, but his BMC team is refusing to give up and will fight to the end. Cadel's attack was brave but it also weakened him loosing his second place position and time on the leading riders. I am just not sure that he is 100% health wise as its uncharacteristic  Is Cadel's fighting spirit enough to close the gap on yellow on the upcoming stages KK

Seeya Latte

I'd love to be proven wrong and I know they're only half way in to the tour but the dream for a back to back win for Cadel seems very unlikely now. Cadel's a fighter and will keep having a crack but it goes to show the tour's a monster of a race and breaks even the best. Sky's team is extremely well balanced and in top condition. Although he doesn't do it for me personally dont forget that Wiggo broke his collar bone last year and I bet there hasn't been a single day since then that he hasn't been hell bent on making amends at this years race....I bet his fav band is Survivor! It's time for the other teams to work together and keep launching well coordinated attack after attack and who knows they might get lucky but I doubt it'll prove fruitful