I’ve had a few dust ups with the indiginous populants over the years. A bike box thing in Toulouse, a waiter in the Pyrenees. Parisians who speak English mo better than me and take snobbery to new heights. Respect, yo.
It’s okay because, per number deux, it’s a helluva country with big ass mountains to ride and climb and ski and then get hammered on great wine and cheese and pig entrails, etc. Point being, there’s no free lunch. But I am going to make fun of them every chance I get.
Things we can count on:
Bad calls by the commissaires. Someone will get sent packing and they may not be French.
There will be large crashes because the road is small and the field is big with race directors screaming move up move up and someone will fly off into a cow pasture as a french farmer looks on, shaking his head in disgust.
There will be farmers on strike.
The podium ladies will be spectacular. No grand tour can touch them. And if anyone else does, le Badger will punch them out. (sidebar: Hinault was definitely tough but let’s face it, tough for a former cyclist not tough for, say, pro rugby. He’s not going to come after a former New Zealand All Black…)
The Brit announcers will say “Chwis Fwoome” every 45 seconds.
Sean Kelly will fall asleep mid sentence during a sprint stage.
There will be sunflowers.
The cat will be amongst the pigeons and lots of people will be in a spot of bother.
A fan will run alongside and fall flat on his face.
I miss Paul Sherwen. Class dude.
Who is going to win? No idea, don’t really care but a podium with Uran, Bardet and Domoulin would be cool. Not going to happen. It may be Ineos, Ineos and Ineos. I want to see Thomas De Gendt get a stage, Ben King get a stage, Sagan return to form, Cav have a good ride but even when he was at his peak, he couldn’t get over the Tourmalet. Nibali is riding? Somebody call a doctor?
Froome, who was using the eight-day race as preparation for next month’s Tour de France, is understood to have crashed heavily ahead of the 26.1-kilometre individual time trial in Roanne, with some reports saying he had sustained a fracture."
I’ve had a few dust ups with the indiginous populants over the years. A bike box thing in Toulouse, a waiter in the Pyrenees. Parisians who speak English mo better than me and take snobbery to new heights. Respect, yo.
It’s okay because, per number deux, it’s a helluva country with big ass mountains to ride and climb and ski and then get hammered on great wine and cheese and pig entrails, etc. Point being, there’s no free lunch. But I am going to make fun of them every chance I get.
Things we can count on:
Bad calls by the commissaires. Someone will get sent packing and they may not be French.
There will be large crashes because the road is small and the field is big with race directors screaming move up move up and someone will fly off into a cow pasture as a french farmer looks on, shaking his head in disgust.
There will be farmers on strike.
The podium ladies will be spectacular. No grand tour can touch them. And if anyone else does, le Badger will punch them out. (sidebar: Hinault was definitely tough but let’s face it, tough for a former cyclist not tough for, say, pro rugby. He’s not going to come after a former New Zealand All Black…)
The Brit announcers will say “Chwis Fwoome” every 45 seconds.
Sean Kelly will fall asleep mid sentence during a sprint stage.
There will be sunflowers.
The cat will be amongst the pigeons and lots of people will be in a spot of bother.
A fan will run alongside and fall flat on his face.
I miss Paul Sherwen. Class dude.
Who is going to win? No idea, don’t really care but a podium with Uran, Bardet and Domoulin would be cool. Not going to happen. It may be Ineos, Ineos and Ineos. I want to see Thomas De Gendt get a stage, Ben King get a stage, Sagan return to form, Cav have a good ride but even when he was at his peak, he couldn’t get over the Tourmalet. Nibali is riding? Somebody call a doctor?
Most excited about #1. That’s something to get excited about.
Personally I’m looking forward to hearing about all the chateaus during TdF broadcast. They remind me of my Amazon house.
Crazy about Froome, and bummer to go out that way. GT to save the day again; competition will be fierce for 3rd spot on podium. And Aru will be back, so there’s that.
Froome, who was using the eight-day race as preparation for next month’s Tour de France, is understood to have crashed heavily ahead of the 26.1-kilometre individual time trial in Roanne, with some reports saying he had sustained a fracture."
I’m bummed that Froome is out. I did not like him initially, but now respect his ability and he has ridden with panache. Would have liked to see him get fifth.
A fresh Dumoulin may be trouble for Ineos and Thomas. He’s my hope now.
Gutted to see Froome out, hope he heals as quickly as he can. Brailsford said he hit a wall at about 60 kph so it was a really big one. It’s a real shame for the Tour too - for all the flack he (and the team) takes, he’s been responsible for some of the most exciting days of GT racing in the past three years.
I’d like to see Froome and Sky/Ineos get beat, but not like this. I want to see the best go at each other.
Haven’t figured who I’m rooting for this year. Rooted for Voeckler for years. Would like to see more riders ride crazier and less calculated like he did.
When I hear the names of the riders in my head, it’s in Sean Kelly’s voice.
If Froome is out I’d very much enjoy seeing what Thomas has got as leader of the team from the start, the full 3 weeks under more pressure than last year - retaining the title would be great to see!
You may not understand the meaning of panache. Yes he wins but Froome is the anti-panache.
For the bulk of his career, sure, but in the last few years he’s made some pretty daring moves. Breaking away with Sagan, catching guys asleep over the top of a climb and attacking the descent, the Landis moves in the Giro…
