Tour de France 2007 thread (1 Viewer)

dunno. He's a prick but he's some competitor. Some going to be able to still be taking stages at this age of his life.

I was warming to him briefly, then Vinikourov ran in when he was being interviewed. Fucking filthy team Astana.

Right. I never liked him. But now, I kinda do. Whatever about it, it does take some fucking doggedness to get a stage win at 39.
 
Sir Cav did a brilliant sprint weaving through and following the wheels mostly without team mates.
Not a fan but that was his best win for long years.
Cavendish won't stay dead will he?
Retired last year, didn't win a race for three years before 2021, then only got selected for 2021 Tour cause Sam and Jakobsen were injured then Ewen crashed in first sprint finish and then there were no top sprinters left (Gronewegen (sic) was also banned for Jakobsen accident).

Tim Merlier and Jonathan Milan are better than any sprinters at the Tour. Expect Philipsen to come good though.

ITV 4 Tour stage 5 highlights just beginning now.
 
Sam is so far off the pace at the moment. I had higher hopes for him for a stage this tour but he's not in the mix at all.

25th place in as clear-cut a sprint finish you'll ever see in a stage.

Disappointing.
Today Sam lost his lead out man completely and didn't bother starting his sprint.
The day Girmay won Sam got a great lead out and finished 9th was it?
 
Today Sam lost his lead out man completely and didn't bother starting his sprint.
The day Girmay won Sam got a great lead out and finished 9th was it?
he got boxed in that day and didn't sprint all the way to the line.

so he has a 9th, 15th and 25th on the 3 sprint stages so far.

one win could change everything of course. Still 5 stages left for the sprinters.

yesterday was such a shit stage. no significant breakaway all day. It looked like lads out training, until the last 20km.
 
he got boxed in that day and didn't sprint all the way to the line.

so he has a 9th, 15th and 25th on the 3 sprint stages so far.

one win could change everything of course. Still 5 stages left for the sprinters.

yesterday was such a shit stage. no significant breakaway all day. It looked like lads out training, until the last 20km.
Only interesting moment was the echelon which caught out all 7 of Pogacar's of team mates but no one else important and after about 12 minutes they just eased off and the peloton regrouped.
Cavendish had a mechanical just as the brief moment of chaos started and a commissar was telling a panic stricken Cav off when he had close 90+ second gap.
 
Raphael Geminiani (12 June 1924 - 5 July 2024)
One of the outstanding figures in French cycling has died aged 99.
He was at the heart of French cycling every step of the way from the 1940's until he finished as a team manager in 1986 (w/ Cafe de Colombia).
He finished 2nd, 3rd, 4th + 6th in the Tour and won 8 stages but Gem was hampered by having to work for Louison Bobet (also born in 1925) in the days of national teams
In 1958 he came close but lost to Luxembourg's Charly Gaul. Gem cursed French riders for not helping him in what became known as 'The Judas Tour'.
Despite being a superb grand tour rider Raphael won few other races.

Gem traveled to Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) in December 1959 with Fausto Coppi for some races and a hunt trip.
On returning home to Claremont -Ferrand Geminiani became gravely ill and was eventually diagnosed with malaria. The news was sent to Piedmont where an diagnosed Coppi was dying but it was too late to save Fausto who died on The 4 January 1960 aged 40.
Malaria all but ended Geminiani's cycling career.

From 1960 under his management Gem's St. Raphael (apertif drink) team dominated cycling winning the Tour 1961-64 with Anquetil among many other races. Elliot, Stablinski, Simpson, Altig where among his riders.

When Anquetil set a World Hour Record Geminiani was banned for punching a dope tester - then a rare breed.
After the Anquetil era Gem continued managing teams inc. Roche's La Radoute team guiding Stefan to 3rd in the 1985 Tour.
Gem also worked with several other Tour winners Aimar, Ocana and an over the hill Merckx (1977).

Raphael was a big personality and raconteur whose quotes often graced old cycling mags and books. He seemed to have every semi significant rider who raced in France since the war sized up.
Many he spoke of warmly and others less so saying another lad from Claremont - Romain Bardet - was too thin - especially his arse.

Raphael was still a cycling obsessive in his 90's and often complained at how predictable modern racing is.
Gem was no doubt heavily involved in doping and saw little wrong with it and said as much.
In 1955 Raphael was one of the first riders to finished to finish all three grand tours - 3rd in Vuelta, 4th in Giro and 6th in the Tour.
Geminiani's team mate / rival Bobet died in 1983 and Anquetil in 1987. Late Irish cyclist Raphael Kimmage was named after Gem.
Excellent English wiki article w/ lots of quotes:
Huge French wiki entry:
 
Andre Drege (1999 - 6 July 2024)
Norwegian rider died after a crash in Tour of Austria. He was having a fine year winning a string of smaller races.
 
Happier news - Didn't see this but... Biniam Girmay won again and is in a very strong position for Green.
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Post race Interview:
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Don't really like Cavendish (particularly when he was younger and far more of a prick) but at least he's a Manx and not a full on Brit bastard
Cav was an awful dangerous so and so in early years that he won a lot of stages. The worst crash Cav caused in a 2010 Tour de Suisse sprint finish led to a rider protest the next day and Cavendish took no responsibility for it. In last 12 years or so Cav has been no more dangerous than many others. Cav is quick to blame others for dangerous riding.
Ignore the egregiously biased commentary here! Cavendish was sanctioned for causing the crash. Some poor French rider broke his femur in this but so many go down I can't pick him out.
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From 5:23 on here is stage 5 finish overhead shot. This is as good as sprinting gets in fairness.
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Cav will won't go quietly - he will probably keep racing until he can't get a contract. He will have huge problems adapting to life outside pro cycling.
Totally one dimensional addicted to cycling - probably why he is so immature.
 
A fortnight ago Wiggo said he had some media planned for the Tour but didn't want to say what it was yet...
Brad must have extreme PTSD (teeing someone up for a one liner here)
 
Stage 3 of women's Giro is later today...

I mentioned the 1984 Tour de France previously...
The stand out stage of the first 10 was stage 5. Finish at 5:40
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Three riders came in 17:41 ahead of the peloton this put Fignon's Renault team mate Vincent Barteau (3rd on stage) into yellow which he held for 12 stages. Kimmage memorably mentions his RMO teammate Barteau in A Rough Ride - somehow Barteau finished the 1986 Tour prologue OTL(!!). Barteau won a stage of the 1989 Tour and later worked for French Eurosport.

Paulo Ferreira (Sporting-Raposeira) won the stage his Portuguese team had somehow got a wildcard. It was the only race he ever won outside Portugal. 22 year old Ferriera didn't get to Paris and never rode a GT again.

The other early stand out stage was the first TT. Hinault had edged out Fignon in the prologue but Fignon began to take over on stage 7 taking 0:16 out of Kelly, w/ Hinault @ 0:49 and Roche 4th @ 1:07.
 
40 years ago today -
1984 Tour de France first day in high mountains.
stage 11 Pau to Guzet-Neige 226 km.
Only footage I can find. It cuts out before Senor Herrera (2nd) finishes.
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Winning attack @ 5:48.
Nico Roche gets mentioned @ 5:22.
 
Stage 9 of 1984 Tour was from Nantes to Bordeaux. Sounds a long way, right?
338 km!!! Jan Raas won after 9 hours 40 minutes! FFS.
No commentary just Kraftwerk -
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Also stage 21 of the 1984 Tour was 320 km and took the winner Frank Hoste 9 hrs 28 mins.
 
Stage 9 of 1984 Tour was from Nantes to Bordeaux. Sounds a long way, right?
338 km!!! Jan Raas won after 9 hours 40 minutes! FFS.
No commentary just Kraftwerk -
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Also stage 21 of the 1984 Tour was 320 km and took the winner Frank Hoste 9 hrs 28 mins.

and they want us to believe that Lemond was clean?
 
another training spin today. Looks like they're gonna soft-pedal all the way until they wind until the sprinter teams want to start controlling it.

I didn't even see anyone trying to get into a break. There should be some penalty for this shite.
 

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