Posted on 07/02/2014 12:26:29 PM PDT by Baynative
While the media tries to make soccer into a real sport we are only three days away from the 2014 Tour de France a genuine test of men against men, men against nature, men against elements and men testing their own hearts and will.
(Excerpt) Read more at letour.com ...
9 flat stages 5 hill stages 6 mountain stages with 5 altitude finishes 1 individual time trial stage 2 rest days
Distinctive aspects of the race
Beyond the borders After taking off from the United Kingdom for a 20th Grand Départ abroad, the Tour de France will also go through Belgium and Spain.
A taste of Paris-Roubaix Before crossing the finishing line of the fifth stage in Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, the riders will have covered 15.4 kilometres of cobbled-stone sectors that are on the course of the Queen of Classics every spring.
Is that a typo or are we a year late?
Yes, fine,, but can they dribble a soccer ball on their head while peddling up the Pyrenees in a cold rain?
Beats WC. Jmo
After a scare from PeteB570, I am on track to get the FR peloton rolling. Looking back, the history of the Tour is something remarkable indeed.
Fixed gears, coats and ties –WHOLLY KRAP. These guys were either tough as nails or crazy as peach orchard boars.
Looking forward, this year has enough twists and nuances to make everyone sit up and take notice.
So fill your water bottle, strap on your helmet and join us for 21 days of cycling super bowl in a row.
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Is that a typo or are we a year late? Aw, gees. I cut and pasted and forgot to change. Mod can you help, please?
Already done.
FYI there is no “moder_ator”, in the future hitting abuse is most effective.
and remember, them’s wool pants and jackets, and afterward they’d stop and smoke a few cigs and have a snort or two!
(Have you guys ever considered an edit function for goof balls like me?)
And a test of performance lab against performance lab.
Did they ever use wooden t’ars? Solid rubber?
I can only imagine flying down a steep grade and a not so GOodyear letting go..
I ground my chest to a tender raw chunk on gravel chasing my sista in our ‘56 *heavy wagon once. I was a walking scab over a chunk of what was left. But, now they wear protective gear.
Here’s to a safe one!
An edit function?
What do you think this is, the IT department at the IRS? ;)
... men with masking agents against testing.
I was warned as a child that hitting abuse against myself could make me go blind.
Really? And I thought it was more a test of doped men trying to hide their doping techniques and seeing who was the best at it.
First Chinese at the Tour de France is a «breakaway killer»
After completing the 2012 Vuelta a España, Ji Cheng is the first Chinese cyclist to line up at the Tour de France. He's set to prepare the sprints for Marcel Kittel and John Degenkolb at Giant-Shimano. He'll celebrate his 27th birthday during the first rest day on July 15 in Besançon.
Ji hails from Harbin, a “small” city of 3.3 million people in the province of Hei Long Jiang in the far north east of China near the Russian border. “Our normal climate in the winter is -36°C”, he described. “The record is -55°C but I've not experienced it personally.” A son of a housewife and an interior designer, he comes from a family that contravened the one-child policy that once was enforced in the People's Republic of China. He has a sister and remembers that his parents got fined 3000 yuans (around 370 euros) for the birth of a second child.
“At school, I was a runner and I always won, so I got a chance to enter a sport's school”, the 26 year-old explained. “In 2002, because it was still cold for running in April, I moved to cycling and started on a home trainer. Only one month later, I took part in my first competition on the road: 12 laps around Laoshan, the venue of the Beijing Olympics for track, BMX and MTB. It's been the hardest race in my life. I didn't even have cycling shoes.” He was then assigned to track cycling for the 2005 China Games in Nanjing.
“In 2006, I heard that Shimano wanted Chinese riders for their team in Europe”, he recalls. “They interviewed me and asked if I could cook by myself and speak English. I answered that cooking is my passion and I can learn English, so I joined Skil-Shimano in 2007 and I made Hengelo my home in the Netherlands. You can ask my team-mates: I'm the best chef in the team! My speciality is to cook coca-cola chicken wings.”
“When we started working with this young talent”, explained Giant-Shimano's directeur sportif Rudi Kemna, “we had a long term plan to make him reach the highest level of cycling and that's what he has achieved in playing an important role in the preparation of the sprints”. Ji's usual contribution to the team work consists in pulling the bunch for lengthy hours. A worthy domestique, he's identified and sometimes nicknamed as “the breakaway killer” since he brought the bunch across to escapees on many occasions during the 2012 Vuelta a España at the service of John Degenkolb who won five stages. He also took part in 2013 Giro d'Italia but was forced to pull out with fever after five stages.
“At Giant-Shimano, we know how to control the flat stages”, he said. “Even the riders from other teams like Lotto-Belisol come up to me sometimes and ask: ‘hey Cheng, you're gonna pull?' It seems like everyone likes to follow me. I always ride at 75% of my possibilities, so on hard days, I can push more. I've learnt cycling in Europe. When I first arrived, I was shocked to see people sprinting to corners instead of braking. Chinese riders have a lot to learn here, technically and tactically.”
Regularly followed by TV crews who produced documentaries on his participations to the Vuelta, the Giro and Paris-Roubaix, Ji feels like he's on a mission. “I might not be the most talented cyclist from the country but I want to show everyone that a Chinese can also do the job providing that he acts as a professional”, he continued. “I'm doing these Grand Tours to give inspiration to my compatriots. What I've achieved so far has had some impact back home among the cycling fans but my participation to the Tour de France is gonna be massive for China.”
Thanks for making me laugh ... both of you.
I've been meaning to get up to speed. NBCsn is running a preview show which is airing now (today at 7pm est).
Have any thoughts on the race this year? At first glance there seems to be less mountain stages.
Finished my math homework last night and sat down to channel flick on the TV to cool the brain cells.
Clicked onto 50 and there was some guys on bikes - I was like Crap, that’s a prelim stage of the Tour. Boy did that sneak up on me.
Team Bus got stuck under the finish sign with the riders 10k out, 6k still stuck race officials said photo finish at 3k, riders “What does that look like?” At 5k they got the bus out and said regular finish, crash - top three sprinters are out, crash - another group is out.
The last 30 minutes were crazy last night.
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