Tour de France 2006 - Page 5 - JP Fitness Forums

Mark57 · 07-20-2006, 04:32 PM

Mrs. Hincapie

Mark57 · 07-20-2006, 09:38 PM

I like Bobke, I think he's pretty cool and adds the voice of experience to the OLN coverage, but........"The greatest stage in Tour day France history"? It was pretty good, Landis did a hell of a job, but the greatest ever? Gimme a break, Bobke!

And Al "Trouser" Trautwig is just a fucking jackass.

Mark57 · 07-20-2006, 10:13 PM

Did anyone watch the OLN prime time coverage of today's stage? After Landis finished and Roll and Trautwig were waiting for Sastre to finish there was a minute or two when it seemed like they didn't know their mics were still hot.

Speaking of hot.....a couple ads on OLN got my attention. The chick on the Michelob Ultra is smokin'. And that ad with a few dozen insanely hot chicks in almost no clothes grinding away. I admit that I totally miss the point of that one, because I really have no idea what its for or why. I just see a bunch of insanely hot babes shaking their asses. Are they selling something?

Kaiser · 07-21-2006, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark57

Mrs. Hincapie

And that's after a baby! Melanie Hincapie is a former TdF podium girl, ya know, and those chicas are smokin' hot! Ouch.

Mark57 · 07-21-2006, 08:31 AM

This is great, from Velonews:

Quote:

Friday's Foaming Rant: Beer me, Floyd
By Patrick O’Grady
VeloNews editor at large
This report filed July 21, 2006

Mmmm ... beer

photo: Krusty the Klown

"Son, when you participate in sporting events, it's not whether you win or lose: It's how drunk you get."
-Homer Simpson

None of my colleagues in the cycling press thought to ask Floyd Landis the two questions I wanted answered after Stage 17: What kind of beer were you drinking last night, and where can I get some?

This is what happens when a magazine sends amateur tipplers to cover a sporting contest of this magnitude. John Wilcockson may have written up 39 Tours de France, but I'll bet you a case of Deschutes Brewery's Twilight Ale that I can drink that skinny Limey under the table without even getting up to take a leak. And I certainly expected more from Rupert Guinness, who in addition to being named after an Irish beer is an Aussie - on the rare occasions when one of those guys gets hurt badly enough to bleed, the stuff tests out at 8 percent alcohol, and comes complete with a foamy head.

I mean, c'mon - how many cues does a savvy scribe need? During a press conference after Landis went as flat as a 2-year-old Michelob Ultra on the Stage-16 grunter to La Toussuire, the former race leader was asked, "How do you deal with this from a mental standpoint?"
His reply: "I don't know. Drink some beer? That's what I'm thinking about now."

Then, at a press conference on Thursday, after Landis chased down an 11-man breakaway, killed them and ate them, built a new bicycle out of their bones, and roared away in a pillar of fire to win the stage to Morzine and jump back to within 30 seconds of the yellow jersey, he mentioned beer once again.

Asked why he kept calling for water, more water, alternately drinking it and pouring it over his head, Landis quipped: "It was very hot. Maybe that was the explanation, or maybe it was the beer I had last night." No follow-up question. Good Lord, what the hell are they teaching in journalism schools these days? Stenography? Sobriety? The man has discovered the elixir of the gods in some anonymous French taproom and the sporting press just stands there like so many badly dressed mannequins, pondering their next hoary cliche.

Was it Shiner Bock? Didn't the French outlaw that brew after Lance went all bulletproof on them? Chimay? No, Landis is a Mennonite cyclist, not a Trappist monk. Stella Artois? Wasn't she in "A Streetcar Named Desire?"
Frantic, I e-mailed my pal Big Jonny at DrunkCyclist, who has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of cyclists and their beverages. But he was off somewhere, either cycling or drinking, or both, and I got no reply.

Oh, it's maddening, I tell you. I could be a six-pack away from cycling success - I just don't know which six-pack has the killer legs in it. So I'm off to the liquor store with an empty Toyota pickup and a credit card. I figure I'll start with Anchor Steam and work my way down the alphabet to Zywiec Porter until I find the one that does the trick.

I know what you're thinking: "Why don't you just ask Floyd what beer he was drinking?" Well, yeah, I could do that, I suppose. But there's no guarantee he'd tell me. Would you? Besides, it's Friday, the Tour's on TV, and I'm thirsty for some reason. And you never know - we might have something worth raising a glass to come Sunday.

Do you raise your glass to O'Grady or throw the empty bottle at him? Belly up to the VeloNews.com bar at webletters@insideinc.com. -Editor

Edit to add: Stella Artois is the nectar of the gods, I know I ride better with Stella in my Polar bottle.

kuri · 07-21-2006, 11:45 AM

That's funny Mark.

And yes I did catch that coverage where Bob & Al didn't know they were still on. Hilarious!!

I was laughing my ass off when Bob blurted "Goddamn!" when Dessell went over his bars.

If only OLN was cable we could have that kinda commentary the whole way through. Can you imagine Phil, Paul, and Bob getting loaded and going off on Al?

emartin10 · 07-21-2006, 02:33 PM

Boring stage today. Tomorrow is going to KICK ASS! Floyd baby!!

E

Brady · 07-21-2006, 02:49 PM

Help me out here. I know historically the final day is not a true "race" day. However, the way this is shaping up it could be only a few seconds seperating 1st from 2nd. If that is the case, do they stay with tradition or is it a race to Paris?

Mark57 · 07-21-2006, 04:03 PM

I'd guess that if the GC standings look like they do now, Sunday will be a race. Last year there was a sprint finish for the green jersey, but that and KoM aren't really contested at this point this year. Yellow is still on the table though, and unless someone makes a really decisive move in the ITT tomorrow we could have an interesting day on Sunday.

God I hope so. A sprint for the maillot jaune on the Champs-Élysées on Sunday would be the coolest thing I've ever seen.

Mark57 · 07-21-2006, 09:43 PM

Ah-ha, so this is why they want to win the day's stage! Now it makes sense.

swiminto · 07-22-2006, 07:42 AM

Stage 19 the ITT..I am so stoked..I skipped my morning practice to watch this.

BTW Brady and Mark..I too, thought the ride into Paris was not a race for the Yellow Jersey...Whoever has the Jersey going into Paris stays in the Yellow Jersey. I thought this was a long standing Tradition.

Mark57 · 07-22-2006, 10:18 AM

Wow.

Just fucking wow.

Chris D · 07-22-2006, 10:29 AM

Didn't watch the TV (stupid OLN for not being on Dish Network), but caught the comments on Cyclingnews.com. Way to go Floyd! Another American in yellow...wooohooo...I'll betcha the French are even more mad at us...and how long is it going to take before they'll come up with drug allegations on Floyd?

kuri · 07-22-2006, 10:49 AM

Floyd's bringing it home bebe.

How about that crazy ride by Kloden?!

Mark57 · 07-22-2006, 10:58 AM

swiminto: There is tradition but no rule preventing an attack on the final stage. Pereiro is down :59, and if they keep the time bonuses in place on the final stage the race is definitely still in reach for him.

He will probably concede and accept second place, and Sunday will be a parade on the Champs-Élysées. But then again with the way this Tour has been going, who knows? I think Floyd will be keeping him in sight the whole way, that's for sure.

Chris: I think you'd be surprise how wide of the mark you are. Xenophobic jingoism seems to be much more common on this side of the Atlantic.

Mark57 · 07-23-2006, 11:56 AM

It's always kind of a bummer every year when this is over, I wish they would go around again.

Big congrats to Floyd, this was a hell of a Tour.

Kaiser · 07-23-2006, 12:06 PM

What a great thing to watch this years Tour was. Way to go Floyd!

Mark, I think if one of the top guys were to attack Floyd during the last stage, they would probably be hunted down by the peloton and either

-dropped, losing places, or
-get a pump in the wheels, a la 'Breaking Away'.

Perhaps there would be a battle if a guy were 10 seconds off, but not 1 minute. Tradition is way too strong.

Mark57 · 07-23-2006, 12:44 PM

The whole thing was great to watch, including the finish today. Robbie went just a little too soon, but it was great watching Hushovd take the stage. Seeing those guys coming down the Champs-Élysées at 40+mph is awesome, I'd love to be there at the finish some day just to witness it.

The only stage that I didn't stay home for that I wish I had was 11, the big Pyrenees stage, but I got to watch the recap.