And who says Le Tour is boring... check this out !
 

Click on the link.. some interesting stuff there about the problems with the TdF over the years

http://www.observer.co.uk/osm/story/...966185,00.html

Jeff

I've just started to read it and I have to say, thats awesome.
Very intersting stuff, indeed.

""""1906

Three competitors are disqualified at the end of the third stage in Dijon for taking a train. """

:lol:

My question is........... Who said the Tour was boring?:eek:

Probably my wife... but i'm working on that :D

Le Jeff

Let me know how that goes and if I can reuse some of your tactics.

heheh it isn;t too bad... she can sorta sit and watch parts of it... asks me questions about tactics and such... since it is on at 6am here on the west coast.. I throw it on when we are getting ready for work in the morning... I think it eventually wore into her... my evil plan worked MuHAHAHAHA ! She's coming around.. slowly though

Just throw it on constantly... eventually they will come around :-)

Jeff

*off topic Tour question*

Does anyone know if the tour's site will have the same live updates during the stages like last year? They changed the layout and such, and am worried that all the live gaps and update info will be gone.

It appears that the Liege race had live updates on the site, but in French only.

MY FAVORITES:

"Drunk spectators block the road in the Pyrenees and threaten race favourite Gino Bartali, who quits, taking both Italian national teams with him"

"Michel Pollentier of Belgium wins the stage at l'Alpe d'Huez. When he is dope tested afterwards the doctors find an elaborate system of tubes running from his armpit to his penis containing clean urine. He is disqualified. So are another seven riders for asking the crowds to push them up the climbs."

I'm sure everyone has heard the latest Rumsas news by now. He must have been getting into his mother-in-laws stash... she should have kept it locked up. Man, if he had known he'd get busted, he could've really loaded up and taken 1st in the Giro!
Hopefully, his wife is hiding safely in Argentina.
:rolleyes:
Disclaimer: I know, I know. I'll wait for the second non-negative before actually declaring him guilty. (But, frankly y'all, at this point I think it's just a formality.)

You know how moms are into EPO and human growth hormones! :D

Word. They're like vitamin supplements. You can buy them at the local convienence store.

I just read the Tour de France, Tour de Force 100th anniversary edition and it had a lot of these funny stories in it. Now I'm reading French Revolutions by Tim Moore, this guy who decided to ride the course over a six week period that would have him finish right before the start of the tour. This guy trained for like 3 weeks. It's hilarious. He also has some great stories form the history of the tour mixed in.

Didn't Eddie Mercx get punched in the stomach by a spectator in one tour?

Yep. In 1975 as Merckx, who was past his prime, was trying for his 6th TdF win. The press and the French fans didn't think he could do it, and were more than ready to see one of their own win. Eddy seemed destined to prove them wrong. It happened on a stage where a suffering Merckx was struggling to stay in yellow against Thevenet, a French rider, who would ultimately win that year, with Merckx taking 2nd. He rode the final kilometer to the stage finish, stumbled over the finish, and puked.