2006 Tour de France

Capt.Flock · Post by **Capt.Flock** » July 14, 2006 11:45 am

I am just waiting to see what happens in the alps

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 14, 2006 12:28 pm

Floyd's new hot wheels! And, he gets to wear some good looking black shorts! He's way tricked out.

www.velonews.com

I can't get the photo to link.

ragtopW · Post by **ragtopW** » July 14, 2006 8:32 pm

Thanks for all you do .

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 15, 2006 11:15 am

ragtopW wrote:Thanks for all you do .

I just work one month a year. You, on the other hand, have to work all year round in your toy shop!

Not to mention what you have to do on December 24.

Today was a killer on the roads of south France. Five non-contender riders went out early. One was dropped about 15k out. The peleton let them go.

Jens Voigth (CSC) is one of my favorite riders. He's got guts. He was in the breakaway and rode like a man possessed to the end. Drug Periro with him to the finish line.

The other two sat up at about 2K.

Voight wins! He dug really deep during the last 1K.

Floyd should stay in yellow. He just has to pick up the pace with the peleton and there should be no problem.

***Update*****

Periro gets yellow. Smart move on Phonak's part (Floyd's team). They won't have to defend the yellow in the Alps, which means they won't have to work as hard. Floyd must not see Periro as much of a threat in the mountains. Such a different race without Lance. I like seeing a lot of riders wearing yellow. Periro will have about 1:30 lead, which doesn't mean much, since he lost something like 26:00 in the Pyrenees.

The heat was brutal today. Everyone rode well, considering the temperatures.

Enjoy!

Lightning Bolt · Post by **Lightning Bolt** » July 15, 2006 12:12 pm

That was a nice move to break away like that.
Just taking a stage win in The Tour must be a huge victory in a cyclist's career.

And, I bet ya' he disappears in the Alps

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 16, 2006 11:10 am

Horrific crash for three of the breakaway riders.

All three flipped over a guard rail.

One has a broken leg.

One has a broken collar bone.

Matthias Kessler (T-Mobile) got back on his bike.

They're on their way to the finish line....looks like they'll be caught by the peleton.

Wow.

What a day.

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 16, 2006 11:18 am

Wow. The two riders were *NOT* caught by the peleton.

The group just sat up. Weird. Disco tried to bridge the gap, but couldn't.

Christian Vandevelde (American) riding for CSC *almost* made it to the front, but even he didn't have enough.

Great racing today.

Carnage on the road.

Rest day tomorrow.

Then, to the Alps. And the moment of truth.

SchoolGirlHeart · Post by **SchoolGirlHeart** » July 16, 2006 11:19 am

Thanks again, ETP.

Sounds like a *nasty* crash.....

Quiet and Shy · Post by **Quiet and Shy** » July 16, 2006 11:23 am

Wow!!!

Thanks, ETP!

J.LeP · Post by **J.LeP** » July 16, 2006 12:07 pm

My daughter is a Tour fanatic. She is in France now and will be watching stage 15 on one of the mountain climbs. Lucky kid!
John

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 16, 2006 1:04 pm

J.LeP wrote:My daughter is a Tour fanatic. She is in France now and will be watching stage 15 on one of the mountain climbs. Lucky kid!
John

Wow! She *is* so lucky. Hope she's on Huez. I want to see one mountain stage before I die . . . and if I've been very, very good, it will be the great Huez.

I have to take Mr. Mojito to the airport Tuesday morning. Then come to work. I'm not even going to peek at velonews.com. I'm going to wait until Tuesday night to see the results.

Congratulations to your daughter!

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 17, 2006 2:14 pm

Kid from Spain (yesterday's breakaway) has to have a pin in his leg. Nothing could have prevented the wreck yesterday. The road was hot. The first guy slid, then the others hid dirt as they were trying to miss the first guy.

Such carnage on the road this year. And it's really no one's fault.

The peleton is nervous. No real leader = jittery riders. Jittery riders = clipping someone's wheel at 45 mph. Clipping someone's wheel at 45 mph = fall down and go boom. Big time.

Tomorrow will be a great day in the Alps.

Enjoy.

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 18, 2006 11:43 pm

I would love to see an aerial photograph of the carnage Huez exacted on the riders of the TdF today. There was *no* peleton today. Just riders strung out like they were standing still . . . some even looked like they were going backwards down the hill by the time they hit Huez.

Huez is a giant killer.

Suffice it to say, grown men were reduced to gasping skeletons. I think three abandonded, including Tom Boonen (world champion), so you know the mountains show no favoritism.

Schleck (CSC) won ... he's only 26, but he rode brilliantly . . . and wept like a baby after he got off his bike. The mountain broke him, too, in the end.

Crazy Floyd (Landis) is back in yellow. I was amazed at how good he looked all day. I don't think he got out of the saddle and pumped but just a couple of times.

Indulge me here: Axle Merckx (Landis' Phonak team mate and the son of the great Eddie Merckx) was in the original breakaway early in the day and was making his way up Huez with the lead group, but when he realized Landis was coming up from behind, Axle faded back and led Landis up the Huez in a brilliant show of team work.

It was a 'moment' for me to see that kid . . . the son of one of cycling's greats . . . turning himself inside out for his team leader. That's what you do in the TdF if you're not the leader.

Landis looked fresh during his interviews after the race. He's right where he wants to be, I think. He didn't just take up room on the bus during his years under Bruneeyl and Armstrong.

The others riders looked liked skeletons. As my granddaddy used to say, "They looked rode hard and put up wet." And they still have two hard mountian stages to go.

Tomorrow is prolly the hardest day of the tour . . . re: climbs. Not the Huez, to be sure, but the Galibier is no walk in the park.

Sorry for any words that aren't spelled correctly. I'm way into the red zone re: lack of sleep. Up at 6:30 this morning. And 5:30 tomorrow. Boy, this TdF stuff is hard work!

Enjoy!

SchoolGirlHeart · Post by **SchoolGirlHeart** » July 19, 2006 12:06 am

Thanks for the recap, ETP!

I saw he replay of that crash yesterday.... Awful......

PirateJohn · Post by **PirateJohn** » July 19, 2006 8:58 am

East Texas Parrothead wrote:
Tomorrow is prolly the hardest day of the tour . . . re: climbs. Not the Huez, to be sure, but the Galibier is no walk in the park.

Enjoy!

The Col du Galibier has witnessed a turning point in just about every post-WW2 Tour. There's an excellent article on the history of the Galibier at http://www.velonews.com/tour2005/news/a ... 336.0.html

So yeah ... if Landis is rested for the Galibier that's an excellent sign. We'll see.

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 19, 2006 3:42 pm

Well.

The mountains took no prisoners today.

Landis looked solid . . . until the last climb. He blew up. He's out of the top ten.

Little, tiny Rasmussen took the stage. How, I'll never know. He's no bigger than a minute.

Axel Merckx stayed with Landis as long as he could . . . and then came back to help lead him in .... some 10:00 behind the leader.

They're still in the mountains tomorrow, but there's precious little time to make up what was lost today.

PirateJohn · Post by **PirateJohn** » July 19, 2006 4:37 pm

East Texas Parrothead wrote:
Little, tiny Rasmussen took the stage. How, I'll never know. He's no bigger than a minute.
.

Remember the late Jose Manuel Fuente? Couldn't time trial particularly well, couldn't sprint, even got dropped on some flat and easy stages. Hell, he was so small that he had trouble finding cycling shorts that fit. But he could do one thing well. CLIMB! He won the Vuelta and almost pulled off wins in The Tour.

http://www.cyclinghalloffame.com/riders ... ider_id=58

INeverGoAnywhere · Post by **INeverGoAnywhere** » July 19, 2006 4:55 pm

Did Lance just fall again?

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 19, 2006 5:15 pm

INeverGoAnywhere wrote:Did Lance just fall again?

INGA, hush! Lance p*** off the French by calling their soccer team a**holes.

I'm surprised he survived riding Alp d' Huez the other day. He and Jake Gyllenhaal rode it the day before the stage and lived to tell the tale. The French must not have known he was on the hill.

Little people climb well. They have nothing to haul up the hill. I just don't know how Rasmussen climbed that well all day! He said he rode the stage earlier this year and knew what to expect. Lance did that a lot. Rode the stages prior to the race.

East Texas Parrothead · Post by **East Texas Parrothead** » July 20, 2006 11:49 am

I just witnessed the greatest one day race in my 20+ years of watching the Tour de France.

Down 8:08, Landis broke away early and rode like the wind to win his first ever stage . . . and left everyone to eat his dust.

If you have the chance to watch tonight's coverage...it's incredible. A true testament to courage, guts and determination.

Landis is just :30 out . . . flat stage tomorrow and time trial Saturday. Landis excels in the time trial.

There are no words for what Landis did today. Just duckbumps.