dynodan22

I have been really enjoying the TDF since I took biking back up a year ago.
There is a bit to learn to the staging and what the teams are thinking on break
aways. What I wish was that the teams were Mic up so I could hear them discuss
strategys and whats going on in the pack. Watching the first 70 miles can get stale
unless a good crash happens . I kinda wish I could hear them speaking and discussing
that first 70 miles then Mics go off so kinda keep you wondering what there going to
do in the end.

Dynodan

ekimeno

If we could hear the team managers talking strategy, they'd be giving it away to the other managers via television.

Mazaev

Hah... this is why watching curling is fun.

vic32amg

mic = nascar.

dahoss2002

This is the first one I've watched since Lemond's first Tour and so far Im enjoying it. NBC did that one and you saw highlights on the weekends. Much better nowadays as u can watch daily!

gcl8a

Man, that would be cool to hear all the variations. I wonder how many languages each team uses. For example, Caisse d'Epargne has all Spaniards and one Frenchie, so I'm guessing they use Spanish. Millar is on a Spanish team -- does he converse in Spanish or do they have to spell everything out for him in English?

Then there's CSC, which is a 'Danish' team, despite the closest they have to a Dane being Arvesen and a DS who's recused himself from the proceedings at hand. They must use English primarily, ikke?

Interesting...

gcl8a

Now that would be entertaining, hearing the various translations an such. "Quick! How do I say 'Drope the hamer' in Italian?"

Wait. They don't have to take a TOEFL before signing? That's not very American...

bad timmy

gold.

merlinextraligh

Keep watching, you'll learn,and apprecite there are many layers to the onion.

Bike racing is not the most accessible sport, but as you learn the nuansces it really is fascinating.

The key is understanding that different teams, and diferent riders have diffierent goals. Those goals determine their behavior and strategic choices.

Some are out to win GC; some our out to win a staqe, some are out for the green jersey,s ome for the polka dot, some to wear yellow for a day,some just to get a little exposure for their sponsor.

The key to success is understanding everyone else's motivation,a nd play off of it to do your bidding.

ChromePista

I used my scanner once and hacked into a team manager's wireless. This is all I heard: "Allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez, allez......." It got repetitious, so I turned it off.

bbattle

Are you telling me that somebody that watches NASCAR finds cycling boring?

lotek 

I guess you missed the "Venga. . venga. . .venga" channel.

dynodan22

No Nascar for me, there is only so much of the commentators that I can stand listening to on versus .The tdf I enjoy the moves, I enjoy especialliy when the peleton catches up to the
breakaway. But I would love to hear some of the comments when say a crash happens.
I can watch without the mic's , but say when you have a 7 year old with you, and all they see
are the guys racing , never team talk or anything else . Kids love to hear what they say
and are planning. That is what made my kid like watching nascar. I have a hard time watching
nascar longer than 5 minutes , drag racing I can watch all day. I do like the camera angles
they have been showing on versus they have decent coverage.

Dynodan

bbattle

I prefer the guessing game. Cancellara's move yesterday was brilliant, caught people napping and shows what happens when the sprinters can't get their act together. Television watching is such a passive thing; trying to figure out the strategies keeps the brain waves moving. (read somewhere that your brain shows more activity when sleeping than when watching tv)


You can be the one to explain what's happening to your 7 yr. old. Explain breakaways, why they happen, why they don't get chased down right away(unless somebody like Vinokourov of Leipheimer was in one), why the sprinters need leadout men, how important drafting is in cycling(a little Nascar angle), the differences between sprinters, climbers, GC riders, domestiques, the gentlemans rules of the road(no attacking in the feedzone, no attacking during a natural break, etc.)

Did you notice that Chavanel didn't try to win those KOM points but was fine with second place? That was so Auge, his teammate, could still have the jersey. Often, the breakaway chaps will take turns winning the intermediate prizes instead of one of them hogging it all. Lot of good life lessons to teach a child.

dutret

I really don't think that was his goal. Unlike the sprinters he didn't care if he pulled everyone up to the line and then lost. He saw his jersey slipping away and pushed hard to keep it. He amazingly got a gap and then the disorganization behind him left noone to pull him back. Everyone else had more to lose by chasing and pulling the rest of the field up to him then they had to gain if they caught him then got passed at the line. Therefore the chase was nonexistent and the sprinters sat in until the end.

He made a desperate move and it paid off in a way he probably didn't expect.

I suppose the lesson to be taught is that you can only expect people to work well together when they have different goals like the KOM points.

SunSwingsLow

Im a little concerened by your facination with crashes in the TdF. The TdF broadcast is not geared for kids and it never will be. My suggestion is that you Tivo or DVR the race then have the capacity to fast forward when your child loses interest to more interesting parts. Or educate yourself better on the teams and their players and use that time to show your child the amazing strategy involved in such an amazing race.

Finally, the race coverage is 3 hours long, expecting a 7 year old to be interested that long in a bike race is fool hardy at best, and dumb at the worst.

Rotten Bastard

That's one of the cooler things about this sport. There's a high level of sportsmanship among the participants, not just with teammates but between the different teams as well.

biffstephens

Here is a quote from the other side....an after stage quote...

Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis): "It wasn't necessarily the plan for me to be in the break, it just happened. We wanted to keep the jersey."

"Stéphane Augé (Cofidis): "I need to thank Sylvain [Chavanel] today. He made the decision to leave the jersey for me [by not sprinting for first place in the last KOM]. He is a great champion. I had nine points and he had six. If he'd taken the KOM, he would have passed me, so he let Knees go ahead, and now has eight points."

"Yesterday I did a bluff [when he attacked more than 30 kilometres before the KOM]. I surprised everyone, including my directeur sportif."

He explained the electric shifting system, describing that there is a battery in the bottleholder with a wire connecting to te shifters. He said, "the system works very well and I am very happy with it." He does mention some people predict trouble with it, but he is confident that it'll work fine.
An off the wall comment about the shifting.....interesting....


GREAT SPORTSMAN none the less!!!!