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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 5, 2020 14:07:29 GMT
I'm glad they were able to reschedule the Tour de France this year. It is still a lovely travel show even when you don't care about the cyclists.
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Post by Biddy on Sept 5, 2020 21:43:10 GMT
Totally agree. I love to watch it on TV - looking the countryside or towns as the cyclists speed along. I also get out the map of France to get my bearings.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 6, 2020 0:02:27 GMT
Sadly there is some kind of monopoly on it this year and I don't think we can watch it either on the telly, video or in sport bars.
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Post by bixaorellana on Sept 6, 2020 1:50:33 GMT
Great videos. I love those overhead shots, but really hate to see when they crash.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 6, 2020 8:05:13 GMT
Lots of mountains yesterday!
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Post by tod2 on Sept 6, 2020 10:13:08 GMT
I love watching but must accept there is a different feel about it. Today I am competing with two challenges. One wants to watch the Grand Prix and the other is a Municipality who has scheduled to cut the power for two hours.
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Post by whatagain on Sept 6, 2020 12:38:18 GMT
I absolutely dislike watching sport on the telly and dislike more cyclism. So not for me...
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 6, 2020 12:52:12 GMT
I find watching the Tour de France live an endless source of information and amusement, simply because the commentators have to fill a lot of air time even when nothing much is happening. For example, today they are again in the Pyrénées but after yesterday's magnificent sunny weather, today they are in cold fog at the top of the passes. It was mentioned that going up the passes, there is never any problem of being cold due to the physical effort, but going down can be a real problem if they don't take the proper measures (it is only 8° at the moment). "They only have 3% body fat so absolutely no protection against the cold in their ultrathin jerseys. If they don't put on a windbreaker going down, they can be in real trouble." In addition if the windbreaker is not tight enough it can catch the wind and slow them down. So much to think about for these boys who generally were not the most brilliant students when they were in school!
Also some of the ironic remarks crack me up. One of the riders inexplicably lost about 20 seconds at one point, and the sports guy said "He must have stopped to pick mushrooms." (Naturally, in most cases a little delay is because they had to stop to pee and after all, this is the only sport that I know of which includes participants peeing, although in recent years the cameras have been very careful to avoid showing this. Ten years earlier, they would show them all lined up to pee in certain areas.)
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Post by tod2 on Sept 6, 2020 13:31:43 GMT
I have left the Monza Grand Prix at 53 laps to go. The start of a race is always the most exciting. Today Italy put on a show that was absolutely amazing! First of all they didn't have one lone female voice sqeeking out of tune - they had a fully fledged band playing that wonderful Italian anthem, and then the pièce de résistance - the Italian Airforce flying flawlessly overhead with a Loop-de-loop to end it all off. I know the Red Arrows are famous but these guys took the trophy. Stunning, absolutely stunning.
Now, back to Le Tour. I'll have to wait until the highlights later on.
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 6, 2020 15:40:46 GMT
Tod, I think you missed an interesting race.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 6, 2020 16:03:36 GMT
You mean those men driving around in circles? Even golf is more interesting to watch, and that's not saying much.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 6, 2020 16:05:34 GMT
The Grand Prix or Le Tour? If its the GP then I could hear most of what happened to Hamilton as my study is next to the kitchen where the Boss was tuned in. I'm very glad we had a different winner at last.
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Post by htmb on Sept 6, 2020 16:32:27 GMT
I watched much of Stage 9. It WAS an interesting race.
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 6, 2020 20:22:00 GMT
You mean those men driving around in circles? Even golf is more interesting to watch, and that's not saying much. You mean watching a load of lycra clad men riding bikes along a road for many hours and then it gets exciting in the last ten minutes? I'd prefer to watch petanque, even though it's full of tossers.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 7, 2020 2:45:31 GMT
The Tour de France is a travelogue full of spectacular scenery, villages and châteaux -- one doesn't need to look at the cyclists at all.
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Post by mich64 on Sept 7, 2020 3:09:40 GMT
Sadly there is some kind of monopoly on it this year and I don't think we can watch it either on the telly, video or in sport bars. Lagatta we could not find it on any channels either until this weekend. I hope it will still be on Monday (Labor Day holiday) but I expect it to be gone again on Tuesday. The Tour de France is a travelogue full of spectacular scenery, villages and châteaux -- one doesn't need to look at the cyclists at all. Agree with this completely but we do follow the racing once we listen to some of the background stories and develop some favorites to cheer for.
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Post by onlyMark on Sept 7, 2020 6:25:28 GMT
".....one doesn't need to look at the cyclists at all."
Which is something in its favour (and I do watch it for that) considering the competition is less about cycling skills and more about how much drug taking can you get away with. It is a travelogue through the French countryside whilst just so happening to be following a group of dope heads. It has all the appearances of a sport whereby I can never trust if the winner is the best cyclist or the best cheater.
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Post by tod2 on Sept 7, 2020 8:47:44 GMT
Like Kerouac said…….it's a huge travelogue about France. And if it were not for the scenery and little historic anecdotes by the commentators , I doubt I would be interested. If I missed a day or even not, in the evening I would tune to Netherlands TV. NOS. Journal - for half an hour to catch a lot of behind the scenes activity. Now that I have a different TV system I haven't tried to catch up there yet.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 7, 2020 10:35:17 GMT
I can never trust if the winner is the best cyclist or the best cheater. Just ask Lance.
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Post by lagatta on Sept 7, 2020 12:33:17 GMT
When I was in the Netherlands, they also had coverage of women's cycling, as there are so many fine women cyclists there. www.iamexpat.nl/expat-info/dutch-expat-news/how-do-you-say-cycling-dutchI love watching Le Tour, mostly for the scenery and anecdotes. Brr, 3% body fat! I've lost quite a bit of (menopausal) weight since anyone on this site has seen me, but I'd have to be seriously ill (if not deathly ill) to get down to that. Everyday cycling does get one in shape, but is far from enough to attain that.
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Post by whatagain on Sept 7, 2020 13:33:32 GMT
Why are petanque players tossers ?
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 7, 2020 14:01:14 GMT
Well, they toss the balls, but the most distressing thing that I have seen when I have watched pétanque championships on television is that the Thai teams often win.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 7, 2020 14:12:00 GMT
Meanwhile, back when drugs were still part of the Tour (back in 1998), the biggest scandal was concerning the famous product "le pot belge." The name comes from Willy Voet, a former Belgian cyclist who became a soigneur on the Tour with some very special products.
Le pot belge consisted of :
• mixed amphetamines
• cocaine
• cafeine
• Pain killers
• heroin
• morphine
It sounds super sophisticated, almost up to Olympic game standards. It is not surprising that the cyclists no longer break the records of the past with their clean blood and urine.
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Post by bjd on Sept 7, 2020 14:50:05 GMT
Fewer of them dying too.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 9, 2020 15:22:33 GMT
Yesterday made everyone want to take a holiday on the Atlantic coast around Oléron and Ré.
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Post by htmb on Sept 9, 2020 19:48:38 GMT
I’m watching a recorded version of stage 10, mainly to see the scenery. Seeing the riders come across the big bridges is a real treat, not to mention views of the ocean coast and the gorgeous weather. I’d love to get back to that part of France.
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Post by bjd on Sept 11, 2020 16:32:32 GMT
I don't care about the Tour de France and never watch it but hear the results on the daily news. What I find good this year is that a different guy wins every day. Makes it more interesting than when the winner was obvious from Day 3.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 16, 2020 13:11:52 GMT
Now that they're in the Alps, the real suffering has begun, and they're having the same heat as if it were July.
Slovenians Primoz Roglic and Tadej Pogacar have been leading the Tour so far. We may have a Slovenian winner this year.
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 18, 2020 16:20:43 GMT
The Tour is definitely dominated by the Slovenians this year and Slovenian president Borut Pahor is loving it.
From NBC Sports:
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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 19, 2020 14:49:59 GMT
American cyclist Sepp Kuss probably had to leave his own country with a name like that.
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