Tour de France

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- Coming in to the Home Stretch, 2008

It may be called the Tour de France, but the international bike race that sets off today is not limited to a ride through France.

Cyclists push off from a starting point in the principality of Monaco; from there, the route also passes through Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy, with most of it running through France.


The first Tour de France was run in 1903: 60 riders rode 2,428 km (1509 mi) in six stages. Only ten riders finished the race.

This year, some 180 bikers will begin the 3,445 km (2,141 mi) route, through 21 stages, finishing on July 26.

The record-holding winner of seven consecutive Tours de France
(1999-2005), Lance Armstrong, has announced he will be participating again this year after a three-year retirement. He will be riding for the Astana team.

Quote: "One of the most important days of my life was when I learned to ride a bicycle." — Michael Palin


What are the main differences between the penny farthing the safety bicycle and the modern bicycle?

The penny farthing had no gearing between the pedals and the front/drive wheel, so the front/drive wheel had to be made really big to get any speed out of the bike. This made the bike prone to toppling forward while braking.

The safety bike had a chain between the pedals and the rear/drive wheel. By having a bigger sprocket by the pedals and a smaller at the rear wheel you could get the bike up to speed while still retaining a more practical wheel size.

The modern "utility" bike is in principal very similar to the safety bike. It is most likely lighter, has better brakes and the ability to freewheel; it might have any number of gears, but the basics still remain.

Today we have all manners of specialized bikes, full suspension MTBs, flimsy road bikes and everything in-between.


Richard

 

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Although they are now most commonly known as 'penny-farthings', this term was not used until well after they became outdated - the first print reference is 1927, It comes from the British penny and farthing coins, one much larger than the other so that the side view resembles a penny leading a farthing.

- Old British Penny and Farthing (quarter penny) coins which inspired the name of the Penny-Farthing Bicycle.

- A penny-farthing photographed in the Škoda Auto Museum in the Czech Republic

- Two men ride penny-farthings in Los Angeles, California, 1886.

- Touring the countryside, 1887


Richard

 

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Added captions to the additional bicycle pics


Richard

 

[Carol C]

I just found this thread! I'm jonesing after the "Rest Day" on the Tour. I look forward to watching it on VS every year, and this year it's brilliant once again. Watching Lance Armstrong after his 4 yr hiatus...wonderful. It was great to see them pull into one of my fave cities...Barcelona...even though it was raining. And the scenery in the Pyranees and Andorra...spellbinding beauty, that.

Thanks for posting about the Tour...your photos and historical footnotes are much appreciated too!

 

[Sandy VDH]

I am living in Austin, so I have to cheer for my home town boy.

Go Lance. It does not look at though he is suffering from having a 4 year break. He looks good. He is currently is 3rd, and 8 seconds off the leader.

Waiting for stage 16, when it will get interesting in the Alps. This weekend was good to. I love the climbing days, but not the flats so much.

 

[Ireland'sCall]

Not sure if it's available on TV in US...here we have extensive coverage .Like all day !
Yesterday (Tues)was Bastile Day ...but was won by a British biker ..
G

 

[Talent312]

I'm concerned about those snails VS showed in road.
It looked like they' were gonn'a be smushed at some point.
VS left us hanging.

It seems clear that none of the leaders will challenge for the yellow jersey B4 the Alps. They may even wait for the final time trial to sort that out. It means the next few stages will be as boring as today's.

 

[Carol C]

I'm concerned about those snails VS showed in road.
It looked like they' were gonn'a be smushed at some point.
VS left us hanging.

It seems clear that none of the leaders will challenge for the yellow jersey B4 the Alps. They may even wait for the final time trial to sort that out. It means the next few stages will be as boring as today's.

Escargot???!!! Mais, no!

 

[Sandy VDH]

Not sure if it's available on TV in US...here we have extensive coverage .Like all day !
Yesterday (Tues)was Bastile Day ...but was won by a British biker ..
G

As Talent312 said VS or Versus in showing it live in the morning and then repeating it again in the evening. Versus is broadcasting it in HD also. It really looks beautiful in HD. So coverage in the US is awesome actually. I like the VS commentators.

I think Cavendish is going to rule for these flat stages.

 

[helenbarnett1963]

As Talent312 said VS or Versus in showing it live in the morning and then repeating it again in the evening. Versus is broadcasting it in HD also. It really looks beautiful in HD. So coverage in the US is awesome actually. I like the VS commentators.

I think Cavendish is going to rule for these flat stages.

Can I just "fly the flag" for my little home island - Cavendish is actually from the Isle of Man, but as we are such a small country athletes in many sports actually compete as part of GB or England. There is much interest in the Tour here because of Cavendish.
Current thinking is that by the 2012 olympics virtually the entire GB cycling team will be Manx - not bad for a nation with a population of about 80,000.

 

[Ironwood]

The Tour

It's Cav again in stage 11! Say how does someone from the Isle of Man come to own at Smuggs! We did own there for 12 years but sold out 10 years ago and bought again closer to home.
It's not on our travel short list, but would you recommend Cherry Orchard resort?




http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/other_sports/cycling/8152489.stm

 

[helenbarnett1963]

Say how does someone from the Isle of Man come to own at Smuggs!
It's not on our travel short list, but would you recommend Cherry Orchard resort?

short answer...pre-kids we had skied with friends in Europe. With 4 kids aged 2 to 6 between us wanted to take them skiing, didn't fancy Europe, saw Smuggs advert in ski mag, booked vacation....fell in love with smuggs, kids fell in love with skiing. Later in the year saw new North Hill units for sale...bought 2 weeks between the two families...we are now in our 7th year as owners, still love smuggs, still love skiing!. Living on an island its a hassle to get anywhere, so flights to US are not an issue for us...3 or 4 flights each way and 36+ hours tavelling...not a problem!

Cherry Orchard...wouldn't recommend it. Whatever you use to trade it will be a trade down. Locals buy (very cheap) units thare and get trades to orlando (vistana or OLCC usually), Mexico all-inclusives and end-of-season ski weeks.
Visiting the Isle of Man I would recommend though...its like the UK and Ireland all in microcosm, but with its own unique twist. History & museums, golf, hiking, motorsport, watersports, dolphin &whale watching, casino, we've go it all!

 

[Ironwood]

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Smuggs, but sold when it no longer met our vacation needs. Smuggs was great for young families, but we out grew it. As active skiiers, we were disappointed they spent little improving lift facilities on probably the best hill in Vermont. All the money went into new condo development. The tipping point was the Cdn dollar falling to about 65 cents to the US $ in the mid 90's and the maintenance fees for us Canadians became unbearable. We sold, got our money out and bought into a new resort close to home that we thought we would use as a country club...but we don't and we've only stayed there once...great place, just too close to home! I have the live feed of the tour on and the Manx missle is back in green looking for his 5th stage win. He will fade in the mountains but I'd like to see him wear green into Paris.

 

[helenbarnett1963]

I have the live feed of the tour on and the Manx missle is back in green looking for his 5th stage win. He will fade in the mountains but I'd like to see him wear green into Paris.

Yeah, Cav doesn't really do the hills. I think he's aiming for some sort of points win over the flat stages, plus of course the green jersey over the finish in paris. (Can you tell I don't really follow the cycling at all closely!)

 

[Talent312]

IMHO, this week's flat stages were a total waste of time.
It just gave the sprinters a chance to trade stage wins.
Nothing's changed for the GC leaders, 'cept for Leipheimer's broken wrist.
As Armstrong says, avoiding accidents is a major part the race in these middling-stages.

 

[Keitht]

IMHO, this week's flat stages were a total waste of time.
It just gave the sprinters a chance to trade stage wins.

These stages may not affect the overall winner, but it does provide the specialist sprinters with the opportunity to shine, just as the mountain stages give the specialist climbers the same opportunity. Both results are based on points over the entire race whereas the overall winner is the rider with the lowest combined time.
There are also individual and team time trials within the overall competition.
Bear in mind also that it's not necessarily a sprinter who wins the flat stages any more than a specialist climber is certain to win a mountain stage. Every year there is a surprise or two during the race.
Finally, if you really thing the flat stages are a waste of time, try accelerating as those guys do after riding a bike at speed for 100 miles or more. Easy it ain't.

 

[Talent312]

Today's stage was remarkable.
Race-veteran George Hincapie (Armstrong's former teammate) looked like he was going to move into the overall lead, but the rival Garmin team, in an apparent act of spite, closed the gap just enuff to keep the yellow jersey with the current leader and leave him in 2nd place by a mere five (5) seconds.

In his initial interview, Hincapie displayed bitter disappointment, expressly blaming Astana (Armstrong's team) for setting up the chase. They had nothing to gain, so why do it, he said. Later, Armstrong claimed that he had been pulling for Hincapie and Astana had let up. It was Garmin's doing, he said.

... Now, boys... It is a race, afterall.

 

[jamstew]

Today's stage was remarkable.
Race-veteran George Hincapie (Armstrong's former teammate) looked like he was going to move into the overall lead, but the rival Garmin team, in an apparent act of spite, closed the gap just enuff to keep the yellow jersey with the current leader and leave him in 2nd place by a mere five (5) seconds.

In his initial interview, Hincapie displayed bitter disappointment, expressly blaming Astana (Armstrong's team) for setting up the chase. They had nothing to gain, so why do it, he said. Later, Armstrong claimed that he had been pulling for Hincapie and Astana had let up. It was Garmin's doing, he said.

... Now, boys... It is a race, afterall.

I was really surprised to hear George putting all the blame on Astana. I can certainly understand Astana not wanting the break-away to go 10 or more minutes ahead, but the way I saw it in the end, it was AG2R (protecting the yellow), Garmin (for Farrar) and his own team's leadout for Cavendish that cost him the yellow. AFAIK, he and Lance are still very close friends, and I choose to believe that Lance would have been happy for him to wear yellow. I think when George gets over his disappointment and talks to Lance at some point down the road, all will be well. I was disappointed as well. I would love to seen Big George at the top of the GC, but I definitely don't think it was Astana's intention to keep him from accomplishing that.

 

[Talent312]

... I think when George gets over his disappointment and talks to Lance at some point down the road, all will be well. I was disappointed as well.

From the AP news story:
"No one wanted George in yellow more than me," Armstrong tweeted. "Until 10km to go he was solidly in yellow, until GARMIN put on the gas and made sure it didn't happen," Armstrong wrote. Hincapie, "deserves to be in yellow tonight. He deserves more than that," he added.

"I don't know why you would do that with George at this stage of his career," Columbia manager Bob Stapleton said. "I mean that's a victory for everybody. That's something that would have gotten attention all over the U.S., that would have been good for the whole sport in America," he said.

"Garmin just wanted to prevent another American team from taking the yellow jersey. It's not right," Astana manager Johan Bruyneel said. "It's not very sporting. "It's a story that I think will continue," he said. "Given the history we have with George, I would have liked him to take the jersey — but independent of that, I don't think it was a fair way of racing," he added.

A Garmin spokeswoman didn't respond to calls from The Associated Press seeking comment after the stage.

Columbia sustained a second blow Saturday: its star sprinter, Mark Cavendish of Britain, was fined and penalized by Tour officials for blocking his rival Thor Hushovd in a final sprint. Cavendish was demoted to last place in the stage, vastly denting his hopes of taking home the green jersey...

 

[jamstew]

I watched the re-run tonight since I hadn't seen it from "start to finish" this morning. I was stunned when Phil Liggett said that "Lance has told his Astana team to 'chase him down'". HUH? I didn't believe it then, and I don't believe it now. I did notice that as the race progressed, he backed off a little, and Paul Sherwin never bought into it. I generally enjoy the commentators, and this really disappointed me.

 

[Keitht]

I was stunned when Phil Liggett said .....

Phil Liggett has come out with a few strange comments during the Tour and many of them have been questioned by the other commentators, resulting in Liggett changing his tune. Maybe engaging brain before operating mouth would be helpful.