TDF could be fun - if you had three months, instead of three weeks, to complete it. It's a wonderful event to watch happen, especially the entry to Paris at the end.
I only have some sense of what it might be like due to riding for several years with La Grange, a group still riding in the Los Angeles area. A friend conned me into going along one time: "It's just a bunch of old guys that like to ride on Sundays". Right. Old guys (at the time) - past French bike racers. First time out they lost me at the first hill, but I did learn to keep up, and also learned a bit about close-coupled riding.
It's a great sport - thanks to The Times for providing commentary and coverage.
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It’s not spandex. It’s lycra.
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How about the fact that no one contends the lead on the final day of the race into Paris. Seems like in any other sport you would like to race till the end but in the TDF its over on the day prior.
@Miguel Paz This is mostly true but in '88, I believe, Greg LeMond was a few moments off first place then won the race on the final day. This really happened, right?
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I cringe every time cycling is covered in a mainstream publication, or is portrayed in a Hollywood movie. In the former, the treatment is always lazy and clueless (and why is there always--usually in the first paragraph or two--a comparison to some aspect of stick-and-ball games?!), and in the latter, cycling is typically an object of mockery and/or a way of expressing something distasteful or pathetic about a character. Consider "The 40-Year Old Virgin" (who actually *rides a bike* to work! who does that!), or the put-upon dork in "Better Living Through Chemistry" (a film with a bike race at its center that looks nothing like a bike race). And as the latter film asks: who wears those silly shorts? Spandex knickers?! Who indeed? Well, the aforementioned stick-and-ball baseball and football players, actually . . . (but those folks are objects of deep reverence, even with the brain damage, the sub-80 IQs, and the long histories of video-documented domestic violence).
The journalists and film producers of the world could just pick up the phone and call any bike shop anywhere. The first person who picks up the phone can answer any question you might have about how this alien culture operates. It's really not that hard to get it right--or at least reasonably accurate.
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Not all riders with broken bones withdraw. The Canadian Michael Woods has been riding very well for the last week or so with several broken ribs. Ever had broken ribs? Riders have also completed the Tour with broken collar bones and wrists – not because the Tour is easy, but because pro road cyclists are tough as nails. Besides the extreme physical demands (due to the Tour's duration, there is no more difficult sporting event on Earth), road cycling is incredibly dangerous. The combination makes road cycling a uniquely grueling and unforgiving sport – something I think most mainstream North American sports fans still do not understand or appreciate (maybe because the riders shave their legs – for crash-related reasons more so than aerodynamic – and wear “spandex”?). Cycling is still a bit of an enigma to most North Americans (this article from an admitted novice cyclist—but not a novice journalist—falls short in some regards), but I am glad this toughest of all sports continues to grow in popularity and that more and more people are taking up cycling for sport and transport.
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There is nothing pejorative about 'abandoning' the race due to injuries. Every tour rider has at one time experienced some type of season ending injury or illness and understands that no one would willingly abandon the Tour (Rohan excepted). Many consider themselves simply lucky to be alive after a wipe out, because some haven't survived.
However, I am still in awe of Lawson Craddock's resilience after his horrible Stage 1 crash in last year's tour. He struggled to make it across the line each day before the time cutoff, all the while helping his team achieve their goals. He finished with the slowest eligible time, but earned the respect of everyone and raised over $200K for charity. There are many different ways to win in the Tour.
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@Maggi S I agree there's nothing wrong with withdrawing due to broken bones and the like. These are tough brave athletes. My point is that the word itself carries an unnecessary pejorative
@Michael Powell Maybe in French it doesn't sound so bad?
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@Michael Powell
Multi-stage cycling events, especially at the top levels, is for very tough people, and part of instilling that toughness is thru pressure with a word like that. I don't see anything wrong with it, and no one, for example, faults racers who abandon for good cause, such as serious injuries.
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Michael Powell, its neither a cylinder, nor a top bar. Its the top tube of which you wrote last time. But whatever your newness to cycling, still appreciate the Times bringing some coverage to what is truly a fascinating race.
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for me its the greatest sporting event in the world. cycling in general has so little exposure here in the states. no televison coverage besides the TDF and california. no giro, tour de suisse or vuelta!! tragic
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@philip Couldn’t agree more about the coverage. I’m grateful for whatever I can get. I look forward to the TDF every year.
Just a correction. Rohan Denis is not a sprinter, he is the time trial world champion. It’s quite different.
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@Peter Schilling I know. As noted earlier, I corrected.
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Please, please, please find someone who understands and appreciates professional cycling to write your columns on the Tour de France.
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Just slightly condescending, Mr. Powell? Oh the smirks that one could indulge in after referring to the cylinder in baseball or the circular goal in basketball.
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@Bob Krantz Condescending? Easy. It's a terrific sport and like all sports with a long history -- baseball, peut etre? -- it has its quirks and argot and that's all quite wonderful.
Fascinating! Wonderful to get a peek or 2 "behind the scenes!"
Lemond supported Hinault in '85 although Lemond might have been the stronger rider. Nevertheless, Lemond's teammate Hinault offered Lemond no help in '86. Lemond won sans help from Hinault.
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@Gary P. Arsenault
Those were fascinating Tours. Greg was clearly stronger than Hinault in '85, and then still won in '86 despite Hinault's treachery.
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(O.K., “a bit the novice” might understate matters in the eyes of hard-eyed riding sorts, who have complained that I referred in an earlier column — la scandale! — to the “cylinder” of the bicycle as opposed to the top bar. I will console myself this evening with an extra glass of a fine Alpine wine.)
have some cheese with the wine, scandale is “masculine” as in le scandale...
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Thank you for providing some coverage of this event in a way that helps others understand its complexity. You'll probably never satisfy all the cycling fans with any descriptions of this sport, but it is refreshing that we (hopefully) have moved beyond the endless articles with a narrow focus on American cyclists, including cheaters that I am sick of hearing about.
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“top bar”?! Out of the pan and into the fire. Try top tube. And Alaphillipe’s comment? The Australian NBC commentators gave it 4 stars for “it’s all about me.”
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@Harold Berkowitz My point, reinforced by other riders on the tour, is that this was one of the roles that falls to the top GC contenders.
Note to readers and to the editors: Rohan Dennis is one of the top time-trialists in the world, and not a sprinter.
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Rohan Dennis is the world time trial champion, not the best sprinter in the world.
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Apparently you still don't get it. It's a top tube, not a top bar.
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Rohan Dennis is not the best sprinter in the world.
Rohan Dennis is not a sprinter.
Doesn’t take much cycling observation or research to figure this out. Wikipedia has it right.
It's "le scandale", not "la scandale"...
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As in motor racing what should be a one person against everyone else is now a team sport. Being the people assigned to coddle the designated lead rider and never given the chance to compete on their own merits is to say the least denigrating.
How good are these “premier” riders that they cannot win a race without being in a teammate’s draft and having blockers protecting them?
Blocking for another rider should be a instant disqualification.
Now let the “purists” go insane in their defense of what would be a much more interesting sport with one person, one bicycle race.
As it is, I find the Tour de France incredibly boring event with the team with the deepest pockets buying riders that could win on their own but are assigned to be enablers to the designated leader.
It seems the only racing event that subscribes to the one person against all others is the Isle of Mann motorcycle race, which is much more engaging as a viewer. That a BMW privateer won against the everyone, including the BMW factory team, that as exciting.
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@Paulie
Many cycling fans find the team dynamics and the incredibly complicated intersection of tactics and aerodynamics to be what makes bike racing so incredibly compelling.
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@Jeff Agreed. The combination of individual and team heroics, and the tension between those two, is fascinating and makes for a three week long chess match
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It’s a team sport. The leader is the strongest rider with the best chance of the overall win. This can change during the race due to injuries, fatigue, etc. The same rationale applies in soccer where the goalie does not get to score goals. See how that works?
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There are no eight second bursts of action separated by minutes of waiting in this sport. Every rider in the Tour (Add to this race the two other Grand Tours and many "lesser" races) is a super athlete. They ride day-after-day on terrain that we lesser beings might drive on if we are brave. They fall, they get up and go some more. No time outs, no excuses. Just finish the stage and go on to the next. An amazing sport.
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The whole family has enjoyed watching the Tour this year.
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Dennis is one of the best time trialists- not sprinters- in the world.
And Bennett came into the tour openly saying he was a domestique, not a competitor for GC.
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@cyclingfan He may have said that but clearly he did not view himself that way. Witness his direct quotes. The jockeying at the top of each team for who is the true GC contender is considerable as often the # 2 or 3 cyclist is nearly as capable of contention. Team Ineos is the best example but many teams have multiple potential leading cyclists.
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@Michael Powell And you are right on Dennis. My mistake and corrected. Thanks
@Michael Powell Ok, I reread and see the use of Bennett in the story more clearly. But I do believe the characterization of him as "one of the best in the world" is a bit of a stretch.
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Mr. Powell seems to have much more regard for himself than for those who attempt the herculean task of completing the Tour de France.
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@Detached. Oh come on...Powell is very upfront about his newness to bike racing. He is at least attempting to cover the intricacies of a complicated sport. You getting better coverage from the Mpls Tribune?
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