The Historic Racers Cycling Thread

[bauble]

Incredibly he is the first Black African to retire from the Tour de France due to shooting himself i the eye with a Champage cork. Remarkable!

Why must his win be noted as the first by a Black African? The best man won on the day, and that should be enough without dragging race in to it. The media is too fond of dreaming up 'first', it cheapens peoples achievements for me.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by bauble

Incredibly he is the first Black African to retire from the Tour de France due to shooting himself i the eye with a Champage cork. Remarkable!

Why must his win be noted as the first by a Black African? The best man won on the day, and that should be enough without dragging race in to it. The media is too fond of dreaming up 'first', it cheapens peoples achievements for me.

Very fair comment Bob. Agree.

I must admit when I read the article I quoted part of, that I thought it was strange that Girmay was referred to as Eritrean Girmay. I thought his Christian name was Biniam.

[Alan Morgan]

Well done Jai Hindley! That was a killer move on Stage 20. I wonder if the absence of Ritchie Porte hurt Carapaz?

Anyway - May was a big month in the saddle for me. 900km and 11,500m of climbing. A lot of the km were done in Greece. Great roads, no potholes, patient drivers and fabulous views - recommended.

[Alan Morgan]

As the Tour has now started I thought I'd rouse this thread from its slumbers. What a stage yesterday! Bardet, in his last Tour, gets the yellow jersey for the first time. His young team mate, in his first Tour, does a brilliant job to work with him to hold off the closing pack and get the points jersey, young riders jersey and combativity award in the process.

Meanwhile, Jan Hirt is knocked off his bike before the start by a spectator and breaks three teeth but still manages to finish a 200km stage. Mark Cavendish, in obvious distress on the first climb, manages to finish within the time cut, despite throwing up several times on the bike.

Only another 20 stages to go - these guys are tough!

[morninggents]

Tough indeed. I stayed up late last night/this morning to watch the highlights.

What a thrilling finish with the peleton bearing down only 5 seconds behind the leading pair.

Lots of brit riders this year - 11, I think with 3 likely to feature well.

[bauble]

Well done Alan, for the alarm call, I watched the race via Discovery+, £6.0 a month well spent.
The winning pair definitely put a performance, that may well be the 'ride of the race', total commitment, relaying regularly, yet never really appearing to tire.
A reminder of what a special sport cycling is, few other sports can match it for the 'human' element.

Total Fan,

Baub.

[Alan Morgan]

Discovery Plus for me as well. I know Carlton Kirby divides opinion but I love his commentary and the exchanges with Jonathan Harris-Bass etc.

[Gerard C]

Pogacar in the descents was a really enjoyable show.

[Tel 911S]

Right in the middle of Summer seems like a hot time , but I suppose if they are going fast enough there is a cooling breeze .
But I bet the media will still come up with " Hottest Ever " , and not mention the TOUR DE SUISSE of 2 weeks ago when part of the route had to cancelled due to heavy snow .

[S griffin]

Nice to see them racing on the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, really quite a picturesque circuit to go cycling. Really suits them. Aren't they supposed to be doing Monaco too? Anyway will watch some more of the tour today

[Gerard C]

72 kph on a flat surface after five hours and a half of race is not slow. Even for a moped! Deserved win for Biniam Girmay, hope E.B at least will appreciate there's no champagne on the podium…

[Alan Morgan]

Great to see Biniam Girmay do it again! Seriously tough stage tomorrow.

In other news... I'm having to re-register with Tenths every time I post so I may not be here too much if the problem continues.

[bauble]

[

In other news... I'm having to re-register with Tenths every time I post so I may not be here too much if the problem continues.[/QUOTE]

You must be supporting Reform!

[bauble]

What another epic day in the tour, Pog turning it on early in the race, and finding Vinego's weakness, mainly on the descent, Remco riding a patchy race, but as always can dig deep at the end. Rogric not losing too much time and Rodriguez doing well. UAE look incredibly strong, first and third overall!!

The interesting thing is to see who has a bad day in the coming stages, and who maintains their form. I am sure there will be big changes before the end.
Great TV.

[midgetman]

It's no exaggeration to say that the C4 coverage of the TdF changed my life.

I got cycling thanks to the insights of Liggett et al in the commentary box, left my job at the kart track and took one in cycle tourism. From there I took up cycle time trials which prompted me to enter Iain's duel-athon where I first met many of the denizens of this forum! It was a grand period of my life inspired by the exploits of Armstrong and co. I've visited Le Tour twice, once for the Prologue TT in London and once for the Team TT in Flanders area.

Life got in the way of watching the race for a few years, have picked it up again now. Without Phil Liggett it's like watching F1 without Murray Walker. There isn't quite the same drama, insight or passion. I miss "Leaky Gas" and "the Banesto Boys" not to mention his huge mangling of "Bouygues Telecom"!

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[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Alan Morgan

In other news... I'm having to re-register with Tenths every time I post so I may not be here too much if the problem continues.

Try tentenths.com rather than ten-tenths.com (I presume you mean you have to re-enter your username and password rather than re-register).

[Adam43]

Woah! Pog! Magic.

I loved it when he and Vingegaard were together on stage 2. These two are great. Prost and Senna. Without the angst.

I don’t think it’s done yet, but man that was a strong finish to the climb and a great descent. Almost two different kinds of sports on one.

I like the Eurosport and ITV crew for this - commentary and studio. Tend to watch Eurosport live (better streaming for me) and highlights on ITV. And listen to Never Strays Car pod.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by Alan Morgan

In other news... I'm having to re-register with Tenths every time I post so I may not be here too much if the problem continues.

It might sound obvious Alan, but have you checked the "Remember Me" button next to the login box is ticked?
* Speaking from experience! Chris

[Alan Morgan]

Aah - tentenths.com works and ten-tenths doesn't! I was having to request a new password every time I wanted to post.

Anyway - fabulous day yesterday. Vingegaard was understandably not willing to take as many risks on the descent after his awful crash in the Tour of the Basque Country.

[Gerard C]

I think you'll all love today's winner, a famous rider aged 39 becoming a recordman.

[bauble]

35 Stages, and never finished higher than131 overall. Hardly compares with Merckx record.

As sprinters only truly race the final 1km, Cav has raced 35 kilometre in all his Tours

[Alan Morgan]

Somewhat closer to home - city centre racing in Guildford yesterday evening...

[midgetman]

Originally Posted by bauble

35 Stages, and never finished higher than131 overall. Hardly compares with Merckx record.



As sprinters only truly race the final 1km, Cav has raced 35 kilometre in all his Tours

Ouch burn! I feel a long-standing niggle there

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[bauble]

Originally Posted by midgetman

Ouch burn! I feel a long-standing niggle there

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Yep! I would not be-little Cavendish's achievements, however, chalking up sprint wins is RELATIVELY easy, you just have to be a very good sprinter, however, Merckx won 14 Mountain stages, 14 Individual Time Trials, and, 5 Flat Stages, an all-rounder. Cav is a One Trick Pony.
PERSONALLY, I see no comparison between the two.

Feel free to disagree.

[midgetman]

I defer to your greater knowledge. But jolly well done to the Manxman.

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