Is there a Tour de France thread?

[EndoplasmicReticulum]

Because it starts tonight!

Much more exciting than football, or yet more tennis.

Sagan is an ANIMAL.

Yellow helmets make Sky easy to spot, no?!

I like it being a lottery, better than the days when Virenque won every horrible mountain stage & sure enough he was doped up to his eyeballs; pretty obvious in retrospect that his superman achievements couldn't be real.

I felt for Frank Schleck today, he looked frantic.

Why couldn't Cav build a team around himself & have a lead out train dedicated to him alone? Was No one really interested in being his team sponsor, or was joining Sky a gesture of paying Sky-Brailsford back for getting him the Rainbow jersey in 2011?

ps: do we think Armstrong was dirty?? I really wanted to believe his perfect calculated strategies are what won it, not blood doping. :(

Sagan has been ace.

DH and I not sure about Armstrong, would love to think it was pure achievement/endurance/skill/fitness etc. He is a force of nature, but still....

I was wondering that about Cav leading a team.

I don't like to see a rider's chances ruined - his career, even - by random crashes which he didn't cause but couldn't avoid. Of course these things happen, but they seem to be happening more frequently than they used to. That is what I meant when I called it a lottery.

Couldn't care less about the Schlecks. What a waste of talent. It pains me to see the likes of Jens Voigt and Fabian Cancellara slogging their guts out for that pair of losers.

As for Armstrong - of course I believe he was doped. USADA clearly thinks he did, too.

At least Cav hasn't been injured.

Not sure I believe the hype about Wiggo. He did well one year (?2009?) mostly because they let him get away & he managed to surprise them by defending most of his lead after that. But then so did Voekler in 2011 TdF.

I'm not really sure Wiggo is in the elite. I suppose he did do well in Vuelta last year, at least, although I sense Froome could have done just as well if he had been the nominal tour leader.

Not sure about Wiggins either, Adventures. On the other hand, the parcours could have been designed to help him. (Though I'm sure it wasn't!)

And Voekler had a much weaker team to help him defend. Must admit I think it would be lovely if an actual Frenchman could win for a change.

They're all big wimps compared to this lady.

Rumour is that Greipel contested that last sprint with a dislocated shoulder from the big crash .

It is a real problem that Sky has both Wiggens and Cav - they don't have the manpower to give them both what they need. But it's been a very dramatic Tour so far - was it 3 or 4 crashes today?

Dh, the dses and I saw stage 2 of the tour go past a couple of years ago, and it was a great experience. I would love to follow the whole Tour one year if I ever win the lottery.

Oh - and all those bums and thighs in Lycra - yum yum!!

Looks as if it popped out then popped back in again. Oww!

Tommy V was unlikely to have such a good Tour this year because of his knee injury. Would be good to see Chavanel do something. He's had a go already and is well up on GC still, but I don't think he can win. Liquigas have a strong team and I'm going to keep an eye on Nibali. If Szmyd is back to his usual form after a below-par Giro, and if Basso does his bit, you never know... But the race is probably Evans' to lose.

Ds2 has just shown me a picture of David Millar's leg after yesterday's crash - it look as if he has been mauled by a creature with 10 claws - very painful-looking!

I can't put my finger on why, but I just can't warm to Sagan

Can only assume that Cav went with Sky, the British team, because his objective for this year is the Olympic Gold. Will be interesting to see if he stays with them afterwards.

Sky did seem to be a bit slow off the mark in realising that using the team to keep Bradley at the front (as BMC have been doing for Evans) would benefit Cav as well as keeping Wiggo safe.

No I don't warm to Sagan either - I know he's good, but he seems just a little smug with it, and I don't like the silly victory gestures either. I think there have been more crashes over the last couple of years, I wondered whether it was because the riders are of a more level standard which means that you get the huge pelotons, rather than longer, more broken up ones.

Cav was unlucky yesterday, but hopefully he can regroup. I think this year is all about the Olympics for him, hence the reduced weight and the GC win for Wiggins hence the lack of a lead out train. I agree that Sky seem to have been a bit slow to get working together as a complete team either for Wiggins or Cavendish. I'm just praying that Cav doesn't get hurt and rule himself out of the Olympics. I think he may pull out of the TDF once the hills really get going - perhaps he'll see if he can get the 22nd stage win then stop.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius LoL! I will join you in lowering the tone, I like the lycra-clad bottoms and legs on show too, particularly Mr Cancellara's! DH and I always say if we won the lottery we would buy a motorhome and follow the Tour and Giro one year. Would be great. When DS was 9 months in 2009 we were at the Passo Lanciano/Blockhaus stage of the Giro, from 6am-6pm, we just set up 'camp' for the day and it was a party atmosphere, kids, pensioners, mostly Italians, but lots of other nationalities too. Loved it.

On a more serious note, all those poor riders who have hurt themselves badly like Ryder Hesjedal, hope they recover soon.

Sagan is only 22 FFS - give the boy a break.

You're right - we have to remember that Sagan is still young. Cav may have come across in the same way in the 1st year he did the Tour. We commented last year how much he had matured and how gracious he was in crediting his HTC team for getting him in the right place to win.

I too enjoy the Lycra clad bums cyclists

Has everyone seen yesterday's stage? Don't want to ruin it for anyone! Awesome scenery and win. I know it's an early post, but I am counting down to DC2's arrival so keep waking up early.

Wasn't it brilliant! His team manager can't have a voice left!

I remember the first interviews with Cav, he did come across as an arogant know-it-all. So, there is hope for Sagan yet.

I worry that Cav may have ruined his career for the sake of olympic gold. Spinters seem to have such a short time at the top and then they lose their top speeds and either transition to a successful 1 day rider or perpetually come 5th in sprint finishes. I hope he knows what he is doing and has been advised in his own interests NOT those of British cycling's medal haul.

I find I no longer care whether Armstrong was on drugs or not. If he was and they strip him of his tour titles, they will have to go an awfully long way down the field to find someone who has not been implemented in drug-taking. His eternal second (Ullrich) has already admitted it. Not good for the sport to rake over its past failings. Armstrong was the best grand tour rider of his generation by a mile and I suspect he was riding on a fairly level playing field.

prettybird LoL at the team manager and DH and I were laughing when he grabbed the poor guy, who was obviously exhausted, then made him change into fresh clothes for the podium! Lovely for the French though, a real morale booster.

I looked up who the 2nd place holders were on Armstrong's winning tours: Zulle, Ullrich (x3), Beloki (first ever win for a Basque?), Kloeden (remember him?) and Ivan Basso.

Ullrich is serving a current ban after retirement but (I think) has only admitted to being part of the "culture" of doping, not to doing it himself (smarmy wiggle room). I suspect Ullrich's actual win (1997?) is more suspect because that was during peak of EPO abuse; then again, it probably was a fairly level playing field among the GC contenders back then. Not much comfort for riders trying to do it clean, though.

Ps: DH & found it fascinating to watch the start of yesterday's stage. I highly recommend watching the first 20 minutes of live coverage if you can, on a weekend. The riders were exactly like over-excited race horses, chomping at the bit to get going, as they were paced out behind the referee's car & before actual racing was allowed to start. The Marshall (whatever his title) kept standing up out the sun roof & waving at everyone to SLOW DOWN (riders, especially yellow jersey, swarming closely around the car & only just succeeding in not overtaking it). Meanwhile other riders playing games hopping on & off the pavement, slaloming around road furniture & each other, finding creative ways to go thru RABs. Obvious nattering, gossip and high happy spirits.

I kept saying "Why doesn't Marshall wave the flag to tell them to slow down?" until I realised that flag waving was the signal to start racing. Duh.

Apparently Francais de Jeux team/management are very anti-doping and the French in general as the Tour is such a big deal there, quite rightly. With regard to Armstrong, not sure what to think. There have been doping scandals with Contador, Basso, de Luca and Landis to name a few so who knows.

I thought it was lovely to see the elation of the Francais team for Pinot yesterday, especially Jeremy Roy, who I love anyway. He made me smile at last year's tour when they were cycling through his village and he pulled over on his bike to stop and kiss his family.

Looking forward to Friday's stage, we stayed in St Jean du Maurienne last year, the Rhone-Alps region is gorgeous.

Kloeden is still riding for team radio shack. He came out of same training route as ullrich.

I am also torn what to think about Armstrong. You certainly have to separate his amazing charity work from his athletic career. Also the era he came from different (that is not an excuse) - but If you read David Millars book the doping ethos then is very different from what you get on teams like sky, FDj or Garmin.

Cav has been training for the Olympic course . I doubt he has lost his speed but he isn't really aiming for tdf. And lovely tho eisel is , Thomas prob a better lead out man.

Awesome work today but will say no more for those who haven't seen results. Sadly tomorrow a rest day (much earned but I am always a little bit when it's not on).