Lets Call The Whole Thing Off......

[richwagmn]

yeah, they should have had a go-slow on the descents if they were that concerned but raced the rest. big girls

The proper insult is little girls but most people don't feel the need to insult people by calling them girls.

 

[metaCYCLE]

This was a great opportunity for a team like Footon to get a win, and they probably wont get another shot.

Footon won't win anything. No matter what happens. No. No.

 

[bobs nob]

Well that's the way it should be IMO - gays and straights having a good time and protesting for the more acceptance of homosexuality together.

Oh, and I agree on the rest of your post as well! I think no one really knew what was going on, where their leaders were exactly at ... so better wait and see!

OK, folks, if you want to continue with the sexual discussion, open a new thread please. Thanks!

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

 

[Signor Corleone]

Signor Corleone

Once again, the Pro peleton has kicked organisers and loyal fans in the teeth
by their actions on the road to Spa. Last year it was a few parked cars and a
couple of tramlines the riders didn't like in Milan,so at the alleged instigation
of Armstrong,we had the sight of a giant club run on one of the Giro's most
spectacular stages,instead of racing.
They think of no one but themselves,not even their sponsors who pay their
salaries. It's a pity some of the guys like Hushovd and his Cervelos, didn't call
their bluff and ride, I'm sure others would have ridden as well....
I've watched Pro bike racing since 1956, the year Roger Walkowiak won the
Tour de France, when it was ridden by real tough guys, who rode far worse
roads, a lot longer stages, heavier bikes and heavy,by comparison,. jerseys
and shorts. Did they quit racing because it was raining a bit, a drop of fuel on
the road, any number of excuses.
Bike racing is tough, it always has been, so as the old saying goes....
" If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

 

[Christian]

The proper insult is little girls but most people don't feel the need to insult people by calling them girls.

... or gays.

OK, folks, if you want to continue with the sexual discussion, open a new thread please. Thanks!

Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I might actually do that! Don't know the Seinfeld episode - what's it called?

 

[hfer07]

"real men go to the Giro--- the Snob goes to the Tour"
have we forgotten this stage at all?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jd6bDxaaCw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxdg41QEQyU

..and lots of riders fell, crashed, got hurt & injured, lost time, and most of all, rode in the most unbearable conditions and guess what:

NOBODY B!TCHED ABOUT IT!!!

 

[ferryman]

He could've been pretty sure of the white jersey if they rode today.
Only Tony Martin was in the first group and he is a far worse climber. Kreuziger, A.Schleck etc were already more than a minute behind.

But ok. They decided not to ride. End of.

I just don't get the complaining about this stage. Since when is a normal Ardennes stage deemed 'dangerous'

What's the future, ride on the TacX with a virtual course? Because the real world is 'To dangerous'??

Bunch of ***. If I want to see whining men on a bike I'll watch the Gay Parade, don't want to see that in the TDF

LOL. Your last sentence has just caused me to spray Chardonnay all over over my PC screen

But seriously, you Gesink will be within 2-3 minutes of boy Schleck come Paris

 

[Christian]

They think of no one but themselves,not even their sponsors who pay their
salaries.

Yep sponsors, money and spectacular show first, health second.

I've watched Pro bike racing since 1956, the year Roger Walkowiak won the
Tour de France, when it was ridden by real tough guys, who rode far worse
roads, a lot longer stages, heavier bikes and heavy,by comparison,. jerseys
and shorts. Did they quit racing because it was raining a bit, a drop of fuel on
the road, any number of excuses.

... and you have honestly never wondered how that could be humanly possible ??!!

 

[mastersracer]

what a bunch of stupid replies - tour organizers should make tough stages, not stupid spectacles that end up taking out GC riders in mass pileups. Over 60 riders went down in that one crash today. Tell me another stage in recent memory when over 1/2 the peloton went down, some riders 3 times.

 

[Carlo Algatrensig]

Given that Cancellera seemed to be the instigator of the neutalisation of todays stage due to the conditions perhaps he should have asked for the prologue results to be neutralised given that many riders rode in vastly different and for some people potentially dangerous in the bends conditions on that day.

 

[mastersracer]

or another stage where almost every GC contender crashed...

 

[metaCYCLE]

there were bends on that course??????

 

[bobs nob]

riginally Aired: Thursday, February 11, 1993, 9:30PM

It's called 'The Outing'

 

[Signor Corleone]

Signor Corleone

By the way, I've just had another thought.....
Do you think Riis will contact the Schlecks gynaecologist, Senor Fuentes for
some more training plans, now they keep fallling off?

 

[lagartija]

ok kids back on point, and i have not been here for some time but i have to say leipheimer and horner need to grow a pair............at least get it right, if you complain about the mishap and oil being spilled on the road , well thats one thing but to complain about the stockeu descent is just ridiculous ........its short of 3 km to the bottom and not all that technical.............so what are they going to do when they have to descend the madeleine or the saisies both over 10 km down hill , what if it rains, or hales .......are they going to want those stages neutralized as well.........i could go on, plenty if long descents this year......im not completely unsympathetic to neutralizing the finish due to oil being spilled on the roadway but lets at least get it right.........it was not the coarse, or the organizer desire for crash related drama, i seem to remember heinrich haussler winning a very nasty stage last year, in which he had to navigate a very nasty wet descent..........these are pro racers, you are getting paid, at least get the whining down right.......oh and by the way the stockeu is also used in amateur and lower division races plenty, so please please just stop

 

[9000ft]

They need to get rid of those *** that are out there riding right now and get the CN fourm hard men in there to show 'em what real bike racers can do!

Damn strait buddy!

 

[metaCYCLE]

amen brother!

 

[Christian]

By the way, I've just had another thought.....
Do you think Riis will contact the Schlecks gynaecologist, Senor Fuentes for
some more training plans, now they keep fallling off?

I see you are relatively new to the forum, so let me introduce you to The Clinic, where you can discuss everything related to doping.

 

[Thee_chisa]

The proper insult is little girls but most people don't feel the need to insult people by calling them girls.

if you were from the north of england you would get it

 

[JesusManzano]

OK... I have now used some hours to calm down after todays rediculous stage. wtf Fabian!? he has started something very dangerous now. Tomorrows stage will be dangerous. riders will crash on the cobbels or maybe even before. thats 100% certain!! So what are they gonna do...who is worth waiting for and who is not!?

 

[Dr. Maserati]

I posted a predicted rain for the first week of the tour post with link http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?t=8328 last Friday and was laugh at because of weather probablity etc....y'know the armchair know-alls around here. Its proven correct. Point why didn't the pro's let down their tyre pressureaccordingly if they felt threatened on the downhills. Look, it was a ploy. I didn't see Saxo hold up for Vandenfeld etc....once Stank Schleck was onboard.

Last Friday?
Why is it the date of the thread is 27th June, a Sunday - and it was a 10 day forecast that said it there was a possibility of showers - ie it might rain or it might be sunny. I am going to go out on a limb here and predict the same outcome tomorrow.

 

[scribe]

OK... I have now used some hours to calm down after todays rediculous stage. wtf Fabian!? he has started something very dangerous now. Tomorrows stage will be dangerous. riders will crash on the cobbels or maybe even before. thats 100% certain!! So what are they gonna do...who is worth waiting for and who is not!?

Stage 3 is understood to be a stage of selection. The 200ft oil slick today was not.

 

[Thee_chisa]

OK... I have now used some hours to calm down after todays rediculous stage. wtf Fabian!? he has started something very dangerous now. Tomorrows stage will be dangerous. riders will crash on the cobbels or maybe even before. thats 100% certain!! So what are they gonna do...who is worth waiting for and who is not!?

well, if they though they had crashes today, wait until tomorrow. but that is the course, everyone has to race it. you don't get thor complaining about the mountains and saying they should be taken out because he finds it difficult.

basically, if you don't want to risk a crash tomorrow and you are no good on pave, you will lose time, that is a decision the riders must take.
that is why the pave is there. either take a risk and maybe crash or take it easy. it is not necessarily dangerous if you take it easy, but you will lose time.

teams have brought in specialists to help their GC guys today, i really hope that some teams don't decide to complain that it is too dangerous just because their riders are not able to ride pave and will lose time. otherwise we may all just sit in a sports hall on turbo trainers, as that is all flat and you won't fall off. this constant moaning is getting to me, just ride the race. there are many different types of stages, put there just so a sprinter can't win everything or the same with a climber.

 

[JesusManzano]

Stage 3 is understood to be a stage of selection. The 200ft oil slick today was not.

you dont decide what stage you gonna race or wait in advance..everyone knew this stage would be dangerous. not falling of the bike is part of the game. yes the roads were dangerous today, but it was the same for everyone, and it would not have been more dangerous to sprint today than normaly

 

[Mach Schnell]

To you lads/ladies ripping on the "big girls" having issues with a stage like todays, each and every rider in the TDF is harder, tougher and faster on a bike than anyone one this forum has been or ever will be. Period.
Secondly, they are paid to RIDE their bikes and WIN, or help their leader WIN, they are not paid to get taken down by out of the ordinary circumstances or poor route selection. Yeah, oil on descents classifies. There are enough inherent dangers in cycling as it is. Name another sport where the participants move along at the speeds pro cyclists do, in the conditions they do, wearing lycra kit.
Thirdly, TDF stages not "tough" enough? What?? Stages like this years 16th would crush the so called "cyclists" who are doing the complainin' here. And I'm talking about stage racing it, NOT going out and touring over it.
And last but not least, if your second guessing guys like Riis' decisions, why aren't YOU a DS?? Why, because you DON'T HAVE A CLUE!
Geeez, armchair quarterbacks, er DS'...