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Post by kerouac2 on Sept 20, 2020 17:33:16 GMT
So, a Slovenian won as expected, but not the Slovenian who had been expected to win since he had a bad day yesterday.
The cycling sportscasting enthusiasts were happy to be able to say "see you in 9 months" instead of "see you next year" as has always been the case in the past.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 18, 2021 15:14:53 GMT
The Tour de France starts in a week and people are more excited than usual, because it should feel close to normal this time. images.lanouvellerepublique.fr/image/upload/t_1020w/5f9f1ee3b28792d0308b45df.jpgFor another forum, I wrote this short exposé, so I might as well copy it here rather than waste my effort for nothing: It is about this time of year that I start to really scrutinize the route and the dates to see if there is any way for me to be in the right place at the right time. In former years, that was generally somewhere within reach of Avignon, where I would spend a week for the Off festival. But I have not attended the Off for three years now even though I expect to return next year if there are no masks and other health annoyances. One time, the suburban hotel where I often stayed was chosen by the Tour for some of their minor advertising employees and it was fun to even share the breakfast room with the girls (yes, a sexist job) who would be throwing little gifts to the bystanders along the route that day.
I have been at the starting stage a few times, which is interesting if you go early because you see every stage of preparation and then finally the start. But my two favorite Tour events happened mostly by accident. One time I was driving along some roads in the south of France, and there were a lot of signs telling when the road would be closed to traffic for the Tour. People were beginning to choose their parking spots by the roadside, so I pulled off, too, and decided to wait for the Tour, even though it would be a couple of hours before they arrived. It was a hot day, but I actually had a little cooler plugged into the power point (cigarette lighter of olden days), and it was filled with icy drinks, in addition to the food items I had on hand. So I was a happy camper.
Just sitting by the side of the road watching the other people, their children (turbulent or not), people looking for places to pee discreetly -- it was all just as fascinating as watching the Tour itself arrive. And of course then there were the helicopters to give you advance notice, the publicity caravan with the people throwing junk to the crowd in frenzy (I think I got a few things.), and finally the riders, the leaders, the peleton, and the people struggling at the end. It is really so much more emotional than anything you can see on television.
Another time, I went with two friends to the Vimy Canadian memorial when the Tour was going past all of the major places of WW1 in that part of France. I chose Vimy because I knew the area and had decided that it would have the best viewing areas. The weather was pretty awful that day but we still got excellent views of the riders and had a great picnic in the car (because of the weather). But the best part was driving back to Paris. I took small roads not too far from the route of the Tour and kind of sniffed out where I thought they would pass (since a car goes considerably faster than a bicycle) and on impulse turned into a village where there were cars parked everywhere. I found a place to park and we all rushed down to the main crossroad. We saw the Tour pass 5 minutes later, and it was spectacular. (Also the weather had improved quite a bit.)
So there are a number of ways to appreciate the Tour, which is an incredible sociological event even for people with no interest in sports.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2021 16:22:42 GMT
In just two days, the Tour has provided too much excitement for most people, especially after the stupid woman caused the first huge crash. The authorities want to prosecute her but first they have to find her because she ran away immediately.
And today, the grandson of Raymond Poulidor (who died in 2019), the eternal #2 for years and years behind Eddy Merckx, won the stage and is wearing the yellow jersey for his first participation -- bravo, Mathieu van de Poel, even though you are from the wrong country.
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Post by whatagain on Jun 28, 2021 18:02:56 GMT
The stupidity of fans will never cease to amaze me.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 28, 2021 20:39:21 GMT
And today was another brutal day even without fan misbehaviour.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 2, 2021 15:32:42 GMT
The Tour de France is now nice and calm, and the bicycles are not crashing. This is perfect for me since I love having the Tour in the background on television and only glance at the screen from time to time. When there is too much drama, I miss the event and then have to look at the replay 3 or 4 times while the commentators go over the top about it.
I really don't care who wins as long he is the best person. It was extremely irritating during the years of Lance Armstrong and a few other people because it was so obvious that they were cheating (The French were accused of being anti-American if they doubted the performance.). I hated Lance right from the start when they gave the details of what he was doing -- not staying in the same hotel as the rest of his team, remaining in isolation at all times and giving very few interviews and only in English. (Anybody who has had any success in the TDF speaks French after just 3 or 4 years since French is the language of cycling.) It was such a relief when they canned the bastard.
Since those years, the Tour seems to be completely open to everyone again. They no longer announce who is going to win after just 3 or 4 days. No team dominates all of the others. It is real sports. I have seen comments on other forums saying that it is boring now because the drugged superstars are gone. Fuck that shit.
And of course the aerial travelogue of the French countryside remains spectacular.
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Post by breeze on Jul 4, 2021 16:30:54 GMT
I have a question about the finances of the Tour.
We were disappointed that the day the Tour was near Laval, and very close to where we've often stayed, there was nothing but individual time trials. We saw just one or two overhead shots and very few views along the route. This is an area of beautiful countryside but you couldn't tell from the Tour coverage. (The one part we did recognize was the apartment building in Changé just behind where the riders started.)
Anyway, a friend wrote that the area was pleased to be in the spotlight but disappointed that the coverage didn't highlight the bocage and the beauty of the Mayenne, and that the event costs a lot of money. It made me wonder if some of the effort and expense falls on the towns or departments the Tour goes through. Who pays?
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Post by bjd on Jul 4, 2021 16:50:03 GMT
I just had a quick google and found an article from 2016, so I guess prices have gone up. The answer is that it depends on what the town/city gets: a city where a stage leaves from costs the town 65,000€; a stage arrival town pays 110,000€; both arrival and departure costs 160,000€. (As I said, in 2016.) The first "big departure" costs between 2 and 10 million euros. In 2015, the Dutch city of Utrecht, where the tour started, paid 4 million euros. These towns or cities also have to improve infrastructure, host the riders and support groups, etc. Information here if you speak French: www.lepoint.fr/sport/tour-de-france-pour-les-villes-etapes-combien-ca-coute-04-07-2016-2051643_26.php
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Post by breeze on Jul 4, 2021 18:13:52 GMT
bjd, I had no idea. Thanks for the link. It gave me some more specific search terms that I used to bring up this from 2020: thehustle.co/the-economics-of-the-tour-de-france/The article made the point that the lowest-ranked competitors could make more money working retail for three weeks then they make from the tour.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 4, 2021 18:38:45 GMT
I saw that link on another site a few days ago, and it is indeed extremely instructive. On the other site, some people were saying that they had no idea that the Tour was a completely private enterprise. They thought it was run by the French government.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 7, 2021 18:04:37 GMT
Driving up the Mont Ventoux is already a challenge, but today's Tour cyclists had to go up TWICE!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jul 10, 2021 15:32:15 GMT
Looks like Slovenian Tadej Pogacar still has a good chance of winning the Tour, but today I appreciated the joy of Michael Woods winning the polka dot jersey (best climber), the first Canadian to ever do so. One of the good things about the Tour de France is that even though there is an overall winner, there are different categories to make more people happy about their performance.
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Post by whatagain on Jul 11, 2021 11:43:49 GMT
I was with a commercizl of Soudal, which cosponsors the Soudal - Lotto team.
Since they lost their sprinter, and this their chance to win an 'étape' they must find a way to be seen...
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