Finally! a positive TDF article on ESPN
07-06-07 | 11:48 AM
#1
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From: williamsburg, va
Finally! a positive TDF article on ESPN
07-06-07 | 12:10 PM
#3
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Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading that. I especially enjoyed this bit...
Originally Posted by espn article
Baseball players sit in the dugout half the game chewing sunflower seeds. Basketball and football players get halftime to rest, in addition to their bench time. Golfers walk and still have someone carry their clubs. Cyclists, meanwhile, race up to 130 miles an afternoon, fighting the wind and climbing up steep Alpine mountains in the heat of summer.
07-06-07 | 12:20 PM
#6
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Comparing the physical feats of the TdF to the popular sports is silly. Not even close. What these riders do is nearly unhuman.
The downside of this, IMHO, is why cycling is THE testground for all performance enhancing drugs. I do not mean this as a cheap shot.
No other sport will test the effectiveness of increased power, stamina, and recovery like cycling will.
I think you have a stream of people willing to risk getting caught (as this is all a cat and mouse game)
Plus they are tested so much - the makers of the drugs find out clearly what can be caught with the current testing technology.
I am so pumped either way - this is my first year to watch the TdF as a cyclist and a fan. I will log a lot of hours on the couch and the lemond revmaster watching versus!!!
The downside of this, IMHO, is why cycling is THE testground for all performance enhancing drugs. I do not mean this as a cheap shot.
No other sport will test the effectiveness of increased power, stamina, and recovery like cycling will.
I think you have a stream of people willing to risk getting caught (as this is all a cat and mouse game)
Plus they are tested so much - the makers of the drugs find out clearly what can be caught with the current testing technology.
I am so pumped either way - this is my first year to watch the TdF as a cyclist and a fan. I will log a lot of hours on the couch and the lemond revmaster watching versus!!!
07-06-07 | 12:22 PM
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True, the podium girls are a reason to watch the TdF. I am just wondering if in the Ladies equivalent race are there podium boys?
07-06-07 | 01:51 PM
#8
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07-06-07 | 01:55 PM
#9
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Pure awesomeness:
Originally Posted by Jim Caple
Bicycles are the new SUV. I'm way ahead of the curve on this one, but bicycles are poised for a quantum leap in popularity. Continuing concerns about global warming, rising obesity, diabetes and traffic snarls will prompt more people to ride bicycles in the coming years.
Which is the biggest reason I love the Tour. Most of America's most popular sports are enjoyed only from the couch. Not biking. No matter your age or weight, everyone can bike -- and should. It's fun, and a good way to get around -- the extra time it takes to bike somewhere is easily made up by the time you save not looking for a parking space or going to the club for a workout.
More importantly, it's good for you, good for the environment and good for the country. Who is more patriotic, the person who commutes to work on a bike, or the guy who slaps a U.S. flag decal on his SUV that gets 12 miles per gallon?
So turn on the Tour during the next three weeks and start riding your own stages. Once again feel the joy you enjoyed as a kid while you pretend you're breaking away from the pack on Col d'Aubisque. Trust me, there is no greater pleasure in sports than passing SUVs stalled in rush-hour traffic. Unless you're passing them as they fill up at the gas station.
Which is the biggest reason I love the Tour. Most of America's most popular sports are enjoyed only from the couch. Not biking. No matter your age or weight, everyone can bike -- and should. It's fun, and a good way to get around -- the extra time it takes to bike somewhere is easily made up by the time you save not looking for a parking space or going to the club for a workout.
More importantly, it's good for you, good for the environment and good for the country. Who is more patriotic, the person who commutes to work on a bike, or the guy who slaps a U.S. flag decal on his SUV that gets 12 miles per gallon?
So turn on the Tour during the next three weeks and start riding your own stages. Once again feel the joy you enjoyed as a kid while you pretend you're breaking away from the pack on Col d'Aubisque. Trust me, there is no greater pleasure in sports than passing SUVs stalled in rush-hour traffic. Unless you're passing them as they fill up at the gas station.
07-06-07 | 01:59 PM
#10
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Nice. I like the "fact" that the winner of the Tour of California has always gone on to win the Tour de France....Restores my faith in ESPN sports statistics. 
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07-06-07 | 02:01 PM
#11
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Originally Posted by indygreg
Comparing the physical feats of the TdF to the popular sports is silly. Not even close. What these riders do is nearly unhuman.
But it's funny how the people who mock cycling for the proliferation of performance enhancers often are the same people who love football despite the suspicious size and speed of NFL players. When several Carolina Panthers from Super Bowl XXXVII were implicated in a steroid scandal, no one stopped watching the Super Bowl. When Shawne Merriman was busted for steroids, the media didn't scream that the Chargers' season was a joke. So why the double standard?
what these athletes do is nothing short of remarkable. Baseball players sit in the dugout half the game chewing sunflower seeds. Basketball and football players get halftime to rest, in addition to their bench time. Golfers walk and still have someone carry their clubs. Cyclists, meanwhile, race up to 130 miles an afternoon, fighting the wind and climbing up steep Alpine mountains in the heat of summer.
Pro riders don't seem to get enough credit (at least here in the US) for being such hardcore athletes. Maybe it's because they're skinny and there's so much emphasis on brute force here, I dunno, but they definitely don't seem to get their due. I'd put any of these pro riders up against all the baseball, basketball, and football players when it comes to mental toughness, focus, and persevering through pain.
Anyway, great article, thanks for posting. It pretty much sums up how I feel about the sport, which I've just recently discovered. In spite of all the controversy going on, I think it's still an awe inspiring sport.
07-06-07 | 02:49 PM
#12
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Personally I'm totally psyched for the Tour. To me it means that we in that mid-summer bliss of riding lots in great weather and being in the best condition of the year. Bring it on.
07-06-07 | 04:29 PM
#13
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Am I imagining it or is this not the first time the TdF has started in England (as stated in the article)...? Didn't it go down through Devon or Somerset in the seventies??
[edit: yes, it did]
[edit: yes, it did]
07-06-07 | 04:34 PM
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My favorite story, however, is about Eugene Christophe, whose front forks broke on a descent in the Pyrenees. He carried the bike five miles to a village, borrowed tools at a blacksmith's shop, and forged new forks, repaired the bike and then resumed the race.
07-06-07 | 05:10 PM
#15
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The competitors will ride through the Chunnel, beneath the English Channel, to France.
07-06-07 | 05:17 PM
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07-06-07 | 05:31 PM
#18
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lol did you guys read the comments that some people posted to the article.
"yeah yeah, get your lib jabs in - so lame and predictable. did i make fun of people that don't exactly hate spirituality? check. did i demonize suv's? check. did i question the patriotism of americans that drive suv's even though it's a free country and people that live in a free country shouldn't be forced to drive or ride anything? check.
eat a fat __ .
"
WTF? LOLOLOL I knew some of you guys were ******* but this guy tops the charts for sure!!
"yeah yeah, get your lib jabs in - so lame and predictable. did i make fun of people that don't exactly hate spirituality? check. did i demonize suv's? check. did i question the patriotism of americans that drive suv's even though it's a free country and people that live in a free country shouldn't be forced to drive or ride anything? check.
eat a fat __ .
"
WTF? LOLOLOL I knew some of you guys were ******* but this guy tops the charts for sure!!
07-06-07 | 10:44 PM
#19
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Yes, further proof that football reduces one's brain cell count.
There's also a great article in the July 9th issue of Time magazine. They're positioning bikes as the new golf.
https://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...638451,00.html
There's also a great article in the July 9th issue of Time magazine. They're positioning bikes as the new golf.
https://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...638451,00.html
07-07-07 | 07:28 AM
#20
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Originally Posted by mpearson76
Does he mean dropouts? Aside from the fact that a fork breaking on a descent might leave you incapable of walking 5 miles, and the comparative difficulty of forging a new fork, who calls it a forks?
07-07-07 | 09:45 AM
#21
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Originally Posted by ovoleg
lol did you guys read the comments that some people posted to the article.
"yeah yeah, get your lib jabs in - so lame and predictable. did i make fun of people that don't exactly hate spirituality? check. did i demonize suv's? check. did i question the patriotism of americans that drive suv's even though it's a free country and people that live in a free country shouldn't be forced to drive or ride anything? check.
eat a fat __ .
"
WTF? LOLOLOL I knew some of you guys were ******* but this guy tops the charts for sure!!
"yeah yeah, get your lib jabs in - so lame and predictable. did i make fun of people that don't exactly hate spirituality? check. did i demonize suv's? check. did i question the patriotism of americans that drive suv's even though it's a free country and people that live in a free country shouldn't be forced to drive or ride anything? check.
eat a fat __ .
"
WTF? LOLOLOL I knew some of you guys were ******* but this guy tops the charts for sure!!
07-07-07 | 01:33 PM
#24
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Originally Posted by Treefox
Am I imagining it or is this not the first time the TdF has started in England (as stated in the article)...? Didn't it go down through Devon or Somerset in the seventies??
[edit: yes, it did]
[edit: yes, it did]
Key word is "Start".
TDF visited England in 1974 and again in 1994 but hasn't actually begun in England since today.
07-07-07 | 01:41 PM
#25
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Originally Posted by ken cummings
True, the podium girls are a reason to watch the TdF. I am just wondering if in the Ladies equivalent race are there podium boys?
ESPN does not cover the paddock girls of MotoGP.
https://www.motogp.com/en/motogp/moto...=photo_gallery
