Is there a Tour de France thread?

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

Because it starts tonight!

Much more exciting than football, or yet more tennis.

Can't see one. There were quite a lot of people on one last year. Well, we can have this one! Still watching highlights of Sunday so I'm saying nowt yet.

I was on the thread last year, which is why I was wondering. I record the highlights to watch after boys are in bed, so have seen Sundays but don't know what happened today yet. I am not making the mistake I did last year which was to look at BBC News site and find out what had happened in advance!

No havent seen one and was thinking same thjng

Cavendish you god!!

I tried to start a thread, not many responses, lets try to keep this one going.

I'm with you, great to see Cav get a win this afternoon. Wiggins next? All very exciting.

Ah. Reminds self not to check "threads I'm on" before watching highlights.

I suppose it was inevitable though, for all the "I'm not going to win so many stages this year" talk.

Sorry Endo

Sorry Endo! I'm sure I will do the same this week, I usually wait for the hi lights too. Sorry.

So how does this Cav/Wiggo thing work then? Is Cav just doing it as a one-off this year to see if 'we' can get the yellow jersey and because he's got the Olympics afterwards - and then next year they go their separate ways?

Also, glad to see Phil got in a Liggettism one day one, "he's a vegan, he doesn't eat meat or anything else". Doncha just love him.

He can do it with the train, he can do it without the train. God Cav is such a fantastic sportsperson. I know he got the Sports Personality of the Year thing but I still don't think he gets the recognition he deserves here.

Missing the lovely Gerraint Thomas a bit though.

Good to see other ladies watch this as my friends don't get it, but Le Tour and the Giro d'Italia are great viewing. Cav amazes me - he just comes out of nowhere and steals it! He also speaks very good Italian. I must admit, when he started out, I thought he was a cocky brat, but I got him all wrong. I do like Spartacus, DH thinks I remove my bra when he is on the screen!?!! . I also like Tyler Farrar and Jeremy Roy, both generally happy, smiley sorts. DH and I are looking forward to the mountain stages though.

Didnt cav go out with a former
Miss Italy (and trains a ton in Italy)?

Am having to watch princess and the frog as dd won't put up with cycling so don't tell me the results

Love Cav but find it really difficult to understand him in interviews. But I suppose if I had just ridden 120 miles in under 5 hours I'd be a bit incoherrent too!

I've watched the Tour de France for years and years, my Dad and brother were really into cycling when I was growing up.

Funny thing is - I can't ride a bike!

EndoplasmicReticulum that is funny, but it doesn't matter, it is an enjoyable programme to watch regardless! I used to love cycling until I was 15 and stopped, but really want to take it up again as DH is a serious cyclist, DS already getting into it at nearly 4YO. Am 36 weeks preg so need to get fit again before seriously taking it up as don't want to look a sad sack. I used to mountain bike before DS. We have been at 3 Giro stages and it is a spectacle, would love to be at some of the Tour stages. Had the privilege of watching Lance Armstrong cycle past me slowly up the Passo Lanciano in 2009 Giro, so close I could have pushed him off, not that I would obviously.

Re Cav/Wiggins - I had understood that Cav had said the Green Jersey was not his target this year, he is going for the road race title at the olympics. He has lost a lot of weight so he can get over the hills on the Olympic course and has lost his top end sprint speeds as a result.

That said, I see he has been going for the intermediate sprint points and I can only see a point in this if he still has the jersey at the back of his mind.

I would love Wiggins to win, but somehow I just cannot make myself believe it is a possibility.

We were saying yesterday while watching all those crashes that there's a lot of luck involved - if another rider takes you out and you break something it's totally beyond your control. As happened to Wiggins last year.

When boys and their dad start going on bike rides together I'm intending to be the "team car" and will meet them at a pre-arranged spot with a picnic.

I'm a groupie - hate cycling, but love the TDF. Poor Cav yesterday, he looked so hacked off, but thank god he's ok. Read his tweets, they're good.

I hope he can get a couple more stages, but more than that I hope he's in one piece for the Olympics as that is what he really wants.

Bradley is looking good, but somehow the Sky team doesn't seem as dominant as others, but they're grey outfits make them damn hard to spot, why can't they wear a nice bright kit that's easily spotted on the telly!

frostyfingers. I agree with you about the Sky kit, all the other teams are easy to spot and they have some lovely, bright well designed kits. It may be because many British cyclists wear greys and blacks with a few exceptions, but the other teams are European and European cyclists like colour and don't feel the need to hide away as cycling is liked in other countries. Cav and Wiggins have really helped to start making it popular in the UK though.

Just re-read my post and spotted the spelling mistake 'they're' not 'their' what was I thinking of?

Frustrating stage yesterday for Cav, although it does look like they are working more as a team now. Fingers crossed for a good result for today.

I can't wait until we get a proper mountain to climb up, not long to go now of course. It's not just the climb itself, it's the hope that a stretched out stage will lead to fewer crashes, I don't think I can stand any more! Every time you think, is that Brad? is it Cav? who's broken their wrist? is it Team Sky? etc etc.

I know, there are crashes non-stop at the mo! Is it the first mountain stage on Wednesday, or did I imagine that? I know it is a rest day on Tuesday.

Watch the Tour every year. Peter Sagan amazing today! Will have to watch highlights as well.

Big climbing day tomorrow.

Mightily impressed with young Sagan. He has been the highlight of a crash-wrecked first week. No idea what the answer is but Le Tour is becoming something of a lottery. Been watching for years and it never used to be this bad. I like the Giro best, though the 2012 edition failed to catch light for some reason.

The race gets a bit hilly tomorrow and even more so on Sunday. Time trial Monday then a rest day on Tuesday, by which time the GC should be sorting itself out a bit. Fingers crossed it stays dry.