Tour de France 2017 ***SPOILERS***

[MikeG]

Endurance track events at the Olympics and Worlds are a side show, an opportunity to be a big fish in a little pond. Likewise the Hour record. All very worthy but they don't compare with the Classics and Grand Tours.

No. You are comparing apples and pears, and determining that one is better than the other. It is a pretty special cyclist who is successful at both, and you don't get to discount a whole lot of performances and records simply because they aren't your chosen favourite.

 

[Adam4868]

William Fotheringham doesn't think Froome can win it again. He thinks he's in decline now at 32 and the lack of dominance this year and last is pointing towards the end of the Froome era.
Just seen
He could be right but in mitigation this year was a funny parcours and Froome chose to alter his training to have a stronger third week but if I was one of his rivals I'd be thinking along the same lines. Next year could well see a stronger line up if that's the case as they all think they might be able to unseat him.

One thing is for sure, he won't, as Brailsford said, be around for another 5 years.

Just seen Fotheringham has stepped down from covering the tour.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2017/jul/25/tour-de-france-william-fotheringham-2017#comments

 

[Crackle]

Just seen Fotheringham has stepped down from covering the tour.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2017/jul/25/tour-de-france-william-fotheringham-2017#comments

I've just read that. When Channel 4 stopped covering the race and before the internet really kicked in, the only way I could follow the race was to read his reports in the Guardian. I used to cut them out and send them to a mate after I'd read them. The end of a little era.

 

[Adam4868]

Enjoyed him myself,shame it was only for three weeks of the year.I hear the torygraph has good cycling coverage/reporting but I'll never know.....

 

[mjr]

Endurance track events at the Olympics and Worlds are a side show, an opportunity to be a big fish in a little pond. Likewise the Hour record. All very worthy but they don't compare with the Classics and Grand Tours.

But Murdoch likes the Olympics. I wonder why... maybe it's the salute...

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnISASAjbEE

 

[Viking]

Just seen Fotheringham has stepped down from covering the tour.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2017/jul/25/tour-de-france-william-fotheringham-2017#comments

Just seen this. It is great news. Hope he stops writing books as well. His "Half man. Half bike" book about Merckx was shyte

 

[Adam4868]

Just seen this. It is great news. Hope he stops writing books as well. His "Half man. Half bike" book about Merckx was shyte

In what way ?

 

[lyn1]

Absolutely. I used to do the exact same thing when I used to stack pretty hefty wagers on the Tour. But this was not a sprint finish. If EBH did revise the finish then credit to him, my gut tells me he was lucky. If he knew the roundabout trick then why the hell would he have attacked like a noob 1km before the roundabout ?

EDIT: When I say not a sprint Finish I mean not a flat stage.

Just seen this on DDD site. "From the pre stage meeting to the podium " clip. Discussion of the roundabout in team meeting before stage @ 0.40

https://www.facebook.com/TeamDiData/

 

[gavroche]

Food for thought:
Win the TdF, 3 weeks of hard work: £500 000.
Play / Don't play 1.5 hours of football a week: anything from £200 000 to £500 000.
What a mad world we live in!

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

Food for thought:
Win the TdF, 3 weeks of hard work: £500 000.
Play / Don't play 1.5 hours of football a week: anything from £200 000 to £500 000.
What a mad world we live in!

I doubt Froome would get £500,000 for playing football

 

[roadrash]

I doubt roooony would get £500.000 for riding the tour de france

 

[smutchin]

I doubt the Tour de France will ever be subject to a TV rights bidding war worth £5bn.

 

[Adam4868]

Food for thought:
Win the TdF, 3 weeks of hard work: £500 000.
Play / Don't play 1.5 hours of football a week: anything from £200 000 to £500 000.
What a mad world we live in!

I'd guess Froomes annual salary would be 3/4 million ?

 

[roadrash]

I doubt the Tour de France will ever be subject to a TV rights bidding war worth £5bn.

I recon this would help.......

Marmion said: ↑
I reckon each team should have a proper Wildman, a complete nutjob who could be used to protect the rest of his team from spectators; they could ride along with wooden clubs strapped to their bikes and wallop spectators if they got in the way or looked a bit dodgy. A sure-fire winner.

roadrash said
you could add another dimension to pro tour punditry, bonus points for whos Wildman pick decks the most spectators

 

[gavroche]

He deffo will not win 7.

He might win 1 more, maybe.

Brailsford is a complete bell-end (which has nothing to do with anything mentioned beforehand, but it is worth stating)

Where does your 7 comes from? Nobody has ever won 7 Tours. 5 is the target to beat.