Wiggo

Generali

purch wrote: »

...driving is more sensible.

Well in the 2nd Tour de France, one did. Another couple took the train instead:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1904_Tour_de_France

purch wrote: »

I vaguely remember Greg Lemond trying to do something similar to Merkx in Paris one year, (1991 ?) when he went off the front and tried to ride away from the "peleton" for a few circuits. I think he was way down in the overall standings, but was just trying to make a point.

Probably not Merkx as he retired in the 1970s. Are you thinking of Laurent Fignon (had a pony tail)?

Jennifer_Jane

chewmylegoff wrote: »

why so worked up, is you belgiumese?

No, but the last time I went into Thorntons to buy some belgiumese chocolates, they laughed at me.



Still bitter - and that's not just the chocolate ....;)

Generali

Jennifer_Jane wrote: »

No, but the last time I went into Thorntons to buy some belgiumese chocolates, they laughed at me.



Still bitter - and that's not just the chocolate ....;)

They all laughed when I said I was going to become a comedian.

Well...they're not laughing now.

Kennyboy66

Generali wrote: »

The BBC seem to have gotten it into their heads that nobody can attack Yellow on the last day because of etiquette. Twaddle AFAIK. It's such a flat stage that it's highly unusual that anyone could make up enough time to overtake yellow ordinarily. However in 1989, the Tour was won on the last day by Greg LeMond who beat Laurent Fignon in a time trial to take yellow.

Eddie Merkx once (1975???) announced his intention to take yellow from some French bloke on the last day and gave it a decent shot. He failed though.

I'm not sure if this is true.

In 75 Merckx came 2nd by almost 3 minutes to Bernard Thevenet (French).

This was the tour when he was punched by a spectator on a climb and a few days later crashed in Avoriaz and fractured a cheekbone (amongst other cuts and bruises). Naturally he rode on but couldn't recover the time he needed.

Pretty sure they coasted into Paris on the last day. Even Merckx would have accepted a lone attack would be impossible for a GC contender.

(Tours then were also about 500 miles longer - but someway short of the 5745km they rode in 1926 !)

Check out stage 10 in 1926 which the winner won in 17 hours.
They set out at 2am in the morning.

http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdf1926.html

The Lemond / Fignon was a different ball game as it was a time trial so everything up for grabs. It was heart breaking to watch Fignon lose that day.

That race was particularly good as it featured the above 2 plus Delgado and Roche (winners in previous 2 years) as well as Indurain who would dominate from 1991 onwards.

Do you remember when they used to do mad things like have 2 stages on the same day ? Often a flat stage followed by a team time trial in the afternoon.
The 1977 race had 5 days when they had 2 stages each day.

Or when the only TV coverage was a 35 minute round up on ITV each saturday at lunchtime (pre the Channel 4 days).

Kennyboy66

and for those who bemoan the time trials - in 1979 there were 2 team trials, 4 individual time trials plus the prologue.

Generali

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

I'm not sure if this is true.

In 75 Merckx came 2nd by almost 3 minutes to Bernard Thevenet (French).

This was the tour when he was punched by a spectator on a climb and a few days later crashed in Avoriaz and fractured a cheekbone (amongst other cuts and bruises). Naturally he rode on but couldn't recover the time he needed.

Pretty sure they coasted into Paris on the last day. Even Merckx would have accepted a lone attack would be impossible for a GC contender.

(Tours then were also about 500 miles longer - but someway short of the 5745km they rode in 1926 !)

Check out stage 10 in 1926 which the winner won in 17 hours.
They set out at 2am in the morning.

http://www.bikeraceinfo.com/tdf/tdf1926.html

Brilliant. The Tour de France has some of the great sporting stories; only cricket really rivals it for tales of daring and cheating! The story about Merkx was on the Aussie TdF commentary so I have no idea if it is true or not. Mr Liggett knows a thing or 2 about cycling (:cool:) & it was his story.

My favourite story about La Grande Boucle is about a rider called Bahamontes who supposedly waited at the top of a climb with an ice cream until the rest caught up and then rode away from them to win the stage and the race!

I understand that the reality is more prosaic: he had broken spokes and had to wait for a mechanic so passed time eating an ice cream.

Never let the truth get in the way of a good story though!

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

The Lemond / Fignon was a different ball game as it was a time trial so everything up for grabs. It was heart breaking to watch Fignon lose that day.

That race was particularly good as it featured the above 2 plus Delgado and Roche (winners in previous 2 years) as well as Indurain who would dominate from 1991 onwards.

IIRC that was the year that Delgado (my favourite that year) turned up 2m30s late for the prologue as he was signing autographs!

Indurain was probably the first rider that I really loved to watch. That poker face he used to put on as he ground his way up the mountains. There was no acceleration, his competitors just dropped off the back one-by-one. He's the reason that I became a grimpeur.

The best climber I've seen was 'Mr 60%'. He was the penultimate doper (Coppi was the doper nonpareil) but hell could he climb. Up Alpe d'Huez in under 40 minutes is incredible. It took me more than twice that and The Pirate had ridden for 200km through the alps before he got to the bottom of the climb!

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

Do you remember when they used to do mad things like have 2 stages on the same day ? Often a flat stage followed by a team time trial in the afternoon.
The 1977 race had 5 days when they had 2 stages each day.

Or when the only TV coverage was a 35 minute round up on ITV each saturday at lunchtime (pre the Channel 4 days).

That's before my time unfortunately, when bikes were for riding only not watching too! I was only 6 when the 1977 Tour was on so perhaps I can be excused.

The next time I'm in Europe I'm determined to ride up Tourmalet. I've barely ridden in the Pyranees yet.

Do you ride the climbs or do you prefer to watch? There is no judgement there BTW, I have sports I'd rather watch and sports I'd rather play.

Kennyboy66

Generali wrote: »

Do you ride the climbs or do you prefer to watch? There is no judgement there BTW, I have sports I'd rather watch and sports I'd rather play.

I'll ride upto about 35 miles with my son (13) but never much more than that.
A bit shameful really as my Dad used to time trial and will still knock off 3 x 45 mile rides each week (he's 74).

I still prefer a couple of 8 a side football games and a game of tennis each week. I am toying with the idea of getting fit over the winter and doing a couple of shorter sportives next year.

Incidentally - Armstrong was only 1 second slower than Pantani (albeit in a time trial) and 25 seconds slower during a normal stage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d%27Huez

I reckon of the top 36 times Cadel Evans would be in a select handful of unsullied riders. Its like a who's who of dope fiends.

Bernard Hinault 48 mins - other riders taking 10 minutes less. Hmmmm.........

Generali

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

I'll ride upto about 35 miles with my son (13) but never much more than that.
A bit shameful really as my Dad used to time trial and will still knock off 3 x 45 mile rides each week (he's 74).

That's one of the great things about cycling, you can play it until they carry you out feet first. There's no shame in doing a 50km ride.

If you can do 50kms then you should be able to train up to a big ride fairly easily. The keys are keeping the hamstrings supple (that's easy to do, just sit with your legs out in front of you and gently walk your fingers down your shins to your toes a few times) and getting your core strength sorted (e.g. sit ups).

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

I still prefer a couple of 8 a side football games and a game of tennis each week. I am toying with the idea of getting fit over the winter and doing a couple of shorter sportives next year.

It's funny, I can't play soccer any more. I just can't keep up with a game, even an age graded game, despite being pretty fit.

If you can find someone to do it with, the Alpine climbs are great to do from the UK. You can get the TGV to the region and then hire a car for the last bit.

Any of the decent climbs have several bike hire places at the bottom that will rent you a carbon fibre frame, Shimano 105 drive train bike for about EUR30/half day. E.g. http://www.velofrancelocations.fr/node/45#geometrie_H3 at the bottom of Mont Ventoux.

There is nothing quite like riding up the roads with all those great names still written on them in white paint with car passengers banging the side of the car and shouting 'Allez!' at you as they pass. You'd also be surprised how many riders get their OH to drive them to the top so they can just descend (cheats!).

Generali

Kennyboy66 wrote: »

I'll ride upto about 35 miles with my son (13) but never much more than that.
A bit shameful really as my Dad used to time trial and will still knock off 3 x 45 mile rides each week (he's 74).

I still prefer a couple of 8 a side football games and a game of tennis each week. I am toying with the idea of getting fit over the winter and doing a couple of shorter sportives next year.

Incidentally - Armstrong was only 1 second slower than Pantani (albeit in a time trial) and 25 seconds slower during a normal stage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d%27Huez

I reckon of the top 36 times Cadel Evans would be in a select handful of unsullied riders. Its like a who's who of dope fiends.

Bernard Hinault 48 mins - other riders taking 10 minutes less. Hmmmm.........

Top 10s from the Tour from 2003-11:

http://www.cyclingtipsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/armstrong1150px.jpg

Those in grey have admitted to or been caught doping. I suspect that Armstrong will end up in the grey group in the end. L'Equipe already had a B sample tested for EPO which came up positive and the USDA always get their man.

If you haven't read them this:

http://www.amazon.com/Breaking-Chain-Drugs-Cycling-Story/dp/0224061178

and this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/0224061704/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

Will tell you all you want to know about doping in cycling.

My suspicion is that there is loads of dope in football. If I thought I could go from earning £50,000/year to earning £10,000,000 a year by sticking a needle in my arm I'd sure as hell do it.

[Deleted User]

Generali wrote: »

To be fair, the standard of competitors in the Tour de France is quite a bit higher than the Race Across America.

I wonder why the RAAM doesn't attract more elite riders though. Apparently, there are only about 100 solos that have ever done it. Do the riders follow the media circus or the other way round? A bit of both probably.