Rest is difficult.
July 10, 2006 10:39 AM Subscribe
The 10th day? A day of rest. Thank goodness for Caroline Yang's TdF photos. Ever wondered why McEwan rides so hard to stay in Green? What Ukrainian joy looks like? When you can wear socks with sandals? She's also got some decent shots of speed skating (oh, and real blood sports, like weddings).
Very nice stuff.
This is an odd tour. So many of the favorites have either been kicked out or failed to perform.
posted by caddis at 11:23 AM on July 10, 2006
This is an odd tour. So many of the favorites have either been kicked out or failed to perform.
posted by caddis at 11:23 AM on July 10, 2006
Caddis: This is an odd tour.
Agreed. And apparently Floyd Landis -- the only favorite who had a really good showing on Saturday -- is riding on a destroyed hip.
posted by dseaton at 11:34 AM on July 10, 2006
Agreed. And apparently Floyd Landis -- the only favorite who had a really good showing on Saturday -- is riding on a destroyed hip.
posted by dseaton at 11:34 AM on July 10, 2006
Who are the favorites failing to perform.. Hincapie? I don't follow the sport closely enough, but I suspect his status as favorite was just OLN hype (or wishful thinking). Why isn't Kloden considered a favorite? He finished 2nd in 2004! Last year he was riding great until withdrawing on stage 17.
I couldn't believe the idiot commentators on OLN complaining about the success of T-Mobile.. "They are a disgraced team, shouldn't that bother the other riders, isn't it a black eye for the tour, blah blah blah" At least when Lance was riding their obsession with him, and the Discovery Channel team, was justifiable. At this point the coverage is almost unwatchable.
Why aren't Phonak and CSC disgraced teams? Oh, because there are Americans on those.. Of course!
posted by Chuckles at 11:44 AM on July 10, 2006
I couldn't believe the idiot commentators on OLN complaining about the success of T-Mobile.. "They are a disgraced team, shouldn't that bother the other riders, isn't it a black eye for the tour, blah blah blah" At least when Lance was riding their obsession with him, and the Discovery Channel team, was justifiable. At this point the coverage is almost unwatchable.
Why aren't Phonak and CSC disgraced teams? Oh, because there are Americans on those.. Of course!
posted by Chuckles at 11:44 AM on July 10, 2006
Chuckles: At this point the coverage is almost unwatchable.
Also agreed. Al Trautwig is completely insufferable (I'm assuming this is who you're talking about). It seems to me that if you're covering the Tour, you could learn something -- anything at all -- about cycling. If you want to watch good coverage, you have to either watch or tape the live coverage in the morning, since it's just Phil and Paul then.
And it might be too early to say that there are favorites who have completely failed to perform -- although there were some poor showings in the TT -- but there have been plenty of surprises. Tom Boonen can't seem to win a stage, Leipheimer's complete collapse in the TT was a shock, Mayo's too (although it was completely hilarious that Trautwig was going on about how much better Leipheimer looked than Mayo, only to find that Mayo beat him!), and Hushovd's relegation has pretty much knocked him out of green jersey contention. Just to name a few.
Kloden is certainly a podium threat, but with only seven guys, his team is pretty badly depleted before they've even got to the mountains, and they'll definitely have their work cut out for them if they're going to protect a lead, should he find himself with one.
posted by dseaton at 12:17 PM on July 10, 2006
Also agreed. Al Trautwig is completely insufferable (I'm assuming this is who you're talking about). It seems to me that if you're covering the Tour, you could learn something -- anything at all -- about cycling. If you want to watch good coverage, you have to either watch or tape the live coverage in the morning, since it's just Phil and Paul then.
And it might be too early to say that there are favorites who have completely failed to perform -- although there were some poor showings in the TT -- but there have been plenty of surprises. Tom Boonen can't seem to win a stage, Leipheimer's complete collapse in the TT was a shock, Mayo's too (although it was completely hilarious that Trautwig was going on about how much better Leipheimer looked than Mayo, only to find that Mayo beat him!), and Hushovd's relegation has pretty much knocked him out of green jersey contention. Just to name a few.
Kloden is certainly a podium threat, but with only seven guys, his team is pretty badly depleted before they've even got to the mountains, and they'll definitely have their work cut out for them if they're going to protect a lead, should he find himself with one.
posted by dseaton at 12:17 PM on July 10, 2006
Yeah, I didn't link to Watson because he's already so iconic.
I was very disappointed by Levi's ride in the TT. I liked him to win.
posted by OmieWise at 12:20 PM on July 10, 2006
I was very disappointed by Levi's ride in the TT. I liked him to win.
posted by OmieWise at 12:20 PM on July 10, 2006
Yeah, I didn't link to Watson because he's already so iconic.
Fair enough. Yang's photos have kind of a more intimate sensibility -- more photographic, captured moment stuff and less of that journalistic look (or, occasionally, dramatic sweep) that Watson's have. The more I look, the more I like them.
posted by dseaton at 12:26 PM on July 10, 2006
Fair enough. Yang's photos have kind of a more intimate sensibility -- more photographic, captured moment stuff and less of that journalistic look (or, occasionally, dramatic sweep) that Watson's have. The more I look, the more I like them.
posted by dseaton at 12:26 PM on July 10, 2006
Thanks Omie. The speed skaters leaning into the curve are great.
posted by Cranberry at 2:34 PM on July 10, 2006
posted by Cranberry at 2:34 PM on July 10, 2006
It's true that this Tour is very strange. But it's still good to watch, as it's completely wide open right now. After 7 years of complete Armstrong dominance, I was not looking forward to another predictable Tour with Basso instead of Ullrich. But now we enter the Pyrenees on Wednesday, and no-one is any the wiser than they were on day 1.
Leipheimer's TT ride was totally bizarre. Beaten by Iban Mayo, a pure mountain-climber, in a 52 km TT? And he didn't even have an explanation for his dire performance. Rather odd.
Personally, I like the look of Cadel Evans. This year has been totally injury free for him, and he has the ability to attack in the mountains - something I think is lacking from Landis and Savoldelli. Kloden is also in a good position.
Oh, and Chuckles? I think you forgot Oscar Camenzind, Santi Perez, Santiago Botero, Oscar Sevilla and José Enrique Gutierrez from your Phonak hall of shame. They are the epitome of "disgraced team".
posted by afx237vi at 2:41 PM on July 10, 2006
Leipheimer's TT ride was totally bizarre. Beaten by Iban Mayo, a pure mountain-climber, in a 52 km TT? And he didn't even have an explanation for his dire performance. Rather odd.
Personally, I like the look of Cadel Evans. This year has been totally injury free for him, and he has the ability to attack in the mountains - something I think is lacking from Landis and Savoldelli. Kloden is also in a good position.
Oh, and Chuckles? I think you forgot Oscar Camenzind, Santi Perez, Santiago Botero, Oscar Sevilla and José Enrique Gutierrez from your Phonak hall of shame. They are the epitome of "disgraced team".
posted by afx237vi at 2:41 PM on July 10, 2006
Sorry, I meant "Basso replacing Armstrong" in my first paragraph.
posted by afx237vi at 2:45 PM on July 10, 2006
posted by afx237vi at 2:45 PM on July 10, 2006
I agree, watching Armstrong was getting boring. However, I really wanted to see Ullrich win. It always gets interesting in the mountains. There we will see who has the best doctor lungs.
posted by caddis at 3:25 PM on July 10, 2006
posted by caddis at 3:25 PM on July 10, 2006
The bad news about OLN's coverage: They seem to be letting Bob Roll talk a lot more this year.
The good news about OLN's coverage: For the first time since I started watching the Tour in 1999, Bob Roll has said a few things that *haven't* made him sound like a fool.
The explanation: What with all those extra words spilling out of his mouth, the law of averages (or the blind-squirrel theory) suggests some of them would have to be borderline intelligent.
Chuckles: I can't see Hincapie doing very well, OLN hype aside. He's not that great a climber. I have no idea who I think will win, although I'll be pulling for Landis, since he's a friend of a co-worker of mine.
Oh, and nice photos, Omie.
posted by diddlegnome at 4:10 PM on July 10, 2006
The good news about OLN's coverage: For the first time since I started watching the Tour in 1999, Bob Roll has said a few things that *haven't* made him sound like a fool.
The explanation: What with all those extra words spilling out of his mouth, the law of averages (or the blind-squirrel theory) suggests some of them would have to be borderline intelligent.
Chuckles: I can't see Hincapie doing very well, OLN hype aside. He's not that great a climber. I have no idea who I think will win, although I'll be pulling for Landis, since he's a friend of a co-worker of mine.
Oh, and nice photos, Omie.
posted by diddlegnome at 4:10 PM on July 10, 2006
I am pulling for Dave Zabriskie, because he's had it so bad for the last couple of years with crashes that were no fault of his own. He's young enough to keep learning from every Tour, and he's a pretty goofy, down-to-earth guy, not at all like the supreme asshole Armstrong was/is, even in person. The year before he started riding seriously for the Posties, he was just a kid hanging out in Berkeley, riding on Saturday mornings with the rest of us hacks from Royal Coffee in Oakland, spinning up Tunnel Road, going for meandering rides through the Berkeley hills, taking time off from racing to recuperate. Oh - and showing up to Tuesday Night criteriums on Alameda island, And TIME-TRIALING to victories against cat 1 and 2 riders. Seriously, he is a monster. Who goes to a crit, and time-trials off the front of the pack for the entire race (and laps the field several times over)? He's my dark horse favorite, because he has nothing to lose, and unlike Landis, there's always next year. Zabriskie is nowhere near his peak, and isn't the favorite this year only because he has had nearly every bone in his body broken several times over by idiots who can't drive. Nice, nice kid. Deserves to win at least as much as some cancer victim...and did I mention he is (probably, more-likely-than-not) clean?
posted by piedrasyluz at 8:53 PM on July 10, 2006 [1 favorite]
posted by piedrasyluz at 8:53 PM on July 10, 2006 [1 favorite]
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posted by dseaton at 11:18 AM on July 10, 2006