[Aas Gutú Adéli]

I can't be the only one who is addicted to this bizarre sport.

Anyone else shocked when Rasmussen was asked to leave by his teammates?
Who else felt punched in the gut when they found out Alexander Vinokourov was found to be doping?

Who watched when Lance wiped out and his rival waited because he didn't want to win like that?

War the Tour!

[daniel crawley]

It is actually a pretty cool event. I used to wake up at like 5a.m.(in America) to whatch it live when Lance was in it. But after all the Steriod allegations on Lance, then Floyd Landis and his whole steriod saga I just kinda stuck to the ESPN highlights

[Aas Gutú Adéli]

For three of the last four I'd watched almost every stage (usually missing one).

It really went well with my bar prep last year.
My brain would draw all sorts of parallels between the endurance/perseverance of the sport and the endlessness of what I was doing.

Alexander had been so inspiring.
It was supposed to be his year.
He wiped out.
Got hurt.
Had two miserable performances.
Then he won the stage after the bad performances.
Incredible!

But then it came out that he'd doped.
It was a bit of a sucker punch.

After all the dopers were taken out the race was very close.
I think it was the closest that the first place and third place have ever been on the last day. Normally the Tour is already won before the first day.

Good times.

[daniel crawley]

Yeah it is a great event. Just the thought of riding even half of those mountain stages makes me sick. I hope they can get it cleaned. perfect timing with your bar prep too.

[DieselJR33]

Jan Ullrich FTW, he is a beast of a man using a massive gear!!!

[Aas Gutú Adéli]

Originally Posted by daniel crawley

Yeah it is a great event. Just the thought of riding even half of those mountain stages makes me sick. I hope they can get it cleaned. perfect timing with your bar prep too.

I hope they get it cleaned, too.
Preferably before the race instead of during.
Can you imagine if the NSAC tested fighter between rounds?
You have one round of a great fight and then the AC waves their hands, indicating that the fight is over.

[Aas Gutú Adéli]

Originally Posted by DieselJR33

Jan Ullrich FTW, he is a beast of a man using a massive gear!!!

It really sucks for him that his peak came at the same time as Lance's.
He got trapped at 2nd place.

He might've earned himself some gold medals in the Olympics, but it isn't nearly the feat that winning the Tour would've been.

[DaRuckus337]

It's a cool sporting event. I watched them finish up on the Champs Elysee last year - it's quite an entertaining spectacle.

[Aas Gutú Adéli]

Originally Posted by DaRuckus337

It's a cool sporting event. I watched them finish up on the Champs Elysee last year - it's quite an entertaining spectacle.

I've wondered what it would be like to be a spectator for the sport.
You pick a spot.
You sit.
You wait.

Sometimes you have a tv and you watch the event as they near you.
They go by, you go crazy (sometimes running near them, but not touching them).
Then you can stick around as every cyclist goes by or you can get in a car and try to get further down to watch them go by again.

Repeat daily for weeks.
I suppose if I had the money and time, it'd be interesting.

And they go through gorgeous areas.

[DaRuckus337]

Correct. The scenery and the very cool small towns make a lot of the stages worth the trip by themselves. At the last stage on the Champs, they ride by a good 10 (I think) times around the circuit in Paris before finishing up, so you get to see quite a bit of the action if you stake out a decent spot. Last year there was actually a bit of racing in Paris, which made it pretty exciting for a final stage.