Tour de France Stage 3 Wanze - Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 207km

[flicker]

Wow, those guys have SIX WHOLE PAGES of commentary for the stage. I would think that someone there would realize that having a taintstain of a moderator banning anyone who praises Lemond or criticizes Armstrong is bad business. Literally.

For the favorites excluding F. Schleck and A. Schleck it was a predictable stage.Chapeau Andy for riding so well. and sorry Frank is out. Other then that, it was predictable.

 

[therhodeo]

I see you're relativaly new to the forum but please keep the tone friendly.

I'm sorry. You are biased beyond the point of being logical.

There no sarcasm and a smile.

 

[Dominar]

Thanks for bolding the part I would have. Its nice to have my commentary taken care of before ever having to post.

Hahaha. Can never go wrong with Picard.

But let's face it, without the masses cycling will remain the province of a core group of enthusiasts. If you like it that way, then that's fine. But if you want to see it grow in popularity and media coverage in the U.S., you have to accept the compromises that go along with that (at least initially) and, I think, actually be at least a little bit grateful to LA for his efforts to promote the sport in this country (whether or not he's also promoting himself at the same time).

 

[Anonymous]

For the favorites excluding F. Schleck and A. Schleck it was a predictable stage.Chapeau Andy for riding so well. and sorry Frank is out. Other then that, it was predictable.

Yea, not only did Frank go down, but he really was hurt. A collar bone plus shoulder fractures. He will need one of those on demand morphene pumps.

 

[woodburn]

Radioshack is in a big hole.
With this team, it's hard to believe that Popo was the last lieutenant.
18 Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack 0:02:30
24 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack 0:02:53
27 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack 0:03:00
29 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack 0:03:01
44 Chris Horner (USA) Team Radioshack 0:03:17

For a team that was so confident about its strength, they were weak today. They missed the split because they were not at the front, which is what they blamed Alberto for last year.

LA was struggling on the cobbles enough that Contador bridged to him. That should illustrate the strength of the two.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Most of the posters and certainly the Mod over at this place do .......

http://forums.roadbikereview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

the post count for this website compared to the rbr site for yesterdays stage was like 10:1. I'll stick with this, more people, some of them here are even well-informed. A couple might even be sober (occasionally).

 

[flicker]

For a team that was so confident about its strength, they were weak today. They missed the split because they were not at the front, which is what they blamed Alberto for last year.

LA was struggling on the cobbles enough that Contador bridged to him. That should illustrate the strength of the two.

All those guys are mountain goats. /What is surprising about their results?

 

[Dominar]

That is true. It's a lot of Armstrong and Shack, but they sometimes mention other riders (in particular those which can speak English).

Now here's a thought for versus: why not take a guy with them who actually speaks Spanish. It shouldn't be so hard to find a semi-decent Latino sports reporter who could be taught a bit of cycling. Maybe someone who also understands a bit of French or Italian. It would be so great to be able to interview so many other riders. Also, maybe it would open up a whole new section of viewers (for instance with Latino background). I know that cycling in the US is mostly a sport of affluent suburban white people. But still, it would be worth a try. VS sent Trautwig and Kirtin Gumm over there not so long time ago. It can't be worse than that.

hahahahahahaha ... If you haven't heard, some in this country think simply speaking Spanish is enough reason for the police to stop and question you. I can just see the casual U.S. viewer sitting patiently with remote in hand, while waiting for a translation. They'd switch over to American Idol in no time flat.

 

[Anonymous]

Hahaha. Can never go wrong with Picard.

But let's face it, without the masses cycling will remain the province of a core group of enthusiasts. If you like it that way, then that's fine. But if you want to see it grow in popularity and media coverage in the U.S., you have to accept the compromises that go along with that (at least initially) and, I think, actually be at least a little bit grateful to LA for his efforts to promote the sport in this country (whether or not he's also promoting himself at the same time).

But I don't think the effect will be lasting. Lets face it, we used to get all three GT's on tv along with live classics. Now we get the ToC and 1 hour recaps of races that are FANTASTIC.

I don't begrudge Lance's commercial draw. As I have said, my dislike has to do with the damage he has caused others. I just don't like bullies. However, I do find it annoying that there is a suggestion that the race will not be as exciting without him. My enjoyment of the race has nothing to do with Michelob Ultra commercials, and lets face it, that is what he really brings to the coverage. They could care less if the "show" were two flies copulating. Getting people to watch the commercials has and always will be the point. I have seen hundreds of races that far surpass the excitement of races like last year's TdF. I prefer them. I don't need Armstrong to be excited about racing.

 

[alberto.legstrong]

Yea, not only did Frank go down, but he really was hurt. A collar bone plus shoulder fractures. He will need one of those on demand morphene pumps.

I was in the hospital 9 years ago with one of those. In the morning the nurse came in, looked at it after I felt like I had been hitting the thing all through the night and said, 'Oh, you barely used any.' I was like 'dammit!, gimme another night with this thing, then! I know I can do better.'

 

[ingsve]

So too bad Hushovd couldn't get over his ego and help pulling on the front, because he could have still beaten Thomas.

Why would he ever help Schleck and Evans get an even bigger lead on Sastre? Regardless of what happened yesterday there would be no rider that would ever help out in that situation when you have a captain that would lose more time by it. Do you think Thomas should have helped as well to give Schleck and Evans a bigger gap over Wiggins?

 

[Barrus]

hahahahahahaha ... If you haven't heard, some in this country think simply speaking Spanish is enough reason for the police to stop and question you. I can just see the casual U.S. viewer sitting patiently with remote in hand, while waiting for a translation. They'd switch over to American Idol in no time flat.

Isn't that just a stereotype?

Lately due to the interviews at Sporza which they often don't translate immediately I regained my interest for German and French and realized I could still partly manage myself in those languages

 

[woodburn]

All those guys are mountain goats. /What is surprising about their results?

Not surprised. Just counter to all of their incessant talk of being the strongest team in the race and all the expectations that it would be AC that struggled on the cobbles.

 

[Dominar]

But I don't think the effect will be lasting. Lets face it, we used to get all three GT's on tv along with live classics. Now we get the ToC and 1 hour recaps of races that are FANTASTIC.

I wasn't around (or at least wasn't watching) when there was serious TV coverage, but cycling isn't immune to the same market forces that have killed other sports on TV. Just look at the Olympics, for example. I used to love watching, but now can't be bothered because all of the little vignettes and promo pieces leave so little time for actual competition. They only bother to show the top few contenders in each event before switching away to something else. I don't think that's anyone's fault, but just a reflection of the "ESPN-ization" of American sports.

I do think cycling can grow in popularity in the U.S., but it won't be because of Versus' cycling coverage. IMHO, it'll be because of fundamental changes at the grassroots -- more/better cycling paths in cities and suburban areas, more local youth cycling teams, more local races, etc. Heck, getting EA Sports to put out a flashy video game of the Tour might be the best bet at capturing a new generation of cyclists.

I guess my point is, LA's lobbying efforts with politicians to sponsor local races, improve laws protecting cyclists, etc. will do more to help the sport in the long-term than whether Versus devotes 1 or 2 hours to a highlight reel of the day's race, or shows the full race from start to finish.

YMMV, of course.

 

[Publicus]

Allow me. What an absolute freaking douchebag.

Let me give it a shot: "Hmmm, Alberto is riding Zip 303's and 27mm tubulars. What a dumba$$!"

 

[Anonymous]

I was in the hospital 9 years ago with one of those. In the morning the nurse came in, looked at it after I felt like I had been hitting the thing all through the night and said, 'Oh, you barely used any.' I was like 'dammit!, gimme another night with this thing, then! I know I can do better.'

Never had one, but with my background, that is a good thing.

 

[hrotha]

Why would he ever help Schleck and Evans get an even bigger lead on Sastre? Regardless of what happened yesterday there would be no rider that would ever help out in that situation when you have a captain that would lose more time by it. Do you think Thomas should have helped as well to give Schleck and Evans a bigger gap over Wiggins?

Adding to that, even if Sastre wasn't riding and Hushovd didn't have to worry about the GC prospects of any teammate, why would he help? He was there clearly to win the stage. Saxo and Evans couldn't afford to slow down. There's simply no situation where Hushovd helping would have been a good idea, not even if the group behind them were catching up.

 

[Dominar]

Isn't that just a stereotype?

Sadly, no. Not in my experience anyway. I'm sure it depends on where you live, though. I speak fluent French and enough Spanish and Dutch to pick up a few words, and so wouldn't mind the exercise, but I don't know many others like me. Also, while I just quickly googled the question and was surprised to learn that 20-25% of Americans can speak a second language, I expect a good number of them are not in the age/economic brackets that are most attractive to advertisers.

 

[luckyboy]

Sadly, no. Not in my experience anyway. I'm sure it depends on where you live, though. I speak fluent French and enough Spanish and Dutch to pick up a few words, and so wouldn't mind the exercise, but I don't know many others like me. Also, while I just quickly googled the question and was surprised to learn that 20-25% of Americans can speak a second language, I expect a good number of them are not in the age/economic brackets that are most attractive to advertisers.

What % of Americans are Hispanic? I know it's not going to be as high as 20-25%, but still.

Edit: Wiki says 15.4%.

 

[Barrus]

Sadly, no. Not in my experience anyway. I'm sure it depends on where you live, though. I speak fluent French and enough Spanish and Dutch to pick up a few words, and so wouldn't mind the exercise, but I don't know many others like me. Also, while I just quickly googled the question and was surprised to learn that 20-25% of Americans can speak a second language, I expect a good number of them are not in the age/economic brackets that are most attractive to advertisers.

Well, I would presume most of those people are either immigrants or well-schooled upper middle class people in the age brackets of 20-35, a group which would be a good demographic for a lot of the cycling sponsors and companies that are alligned with cycling. But perhaps I am wrong in that perception, or are these sponsors too small to maintain enough clout to ensure good cycling coverage

 

[ManInFull]

Like Sastre has any chance of winning. As far as I'm concerned, Sastre's TdF victory should have an asterisk beside it. He won when nobody was there. The press treats him as if he is a GC contendor, but he really isn't it. All he can realy hope to do is win a stage.

 

[Colm.Murphy]

Adding to that, even if Sastre wasn't riding and Hushovd didn't have to worry about the GC prospects of any teammate, why would he help? He was there clearly to win the stage. Saxo and Evans couldn't afford to slow down. There's simply no situation where Hushovd helping would have been a good idea, not even if the group behind them were catching up.

Agree. Not going to happen.
Not to mention how bad it would look if Thor worked and then was pipped by Thomas...

 

[Barrus]

Agree. Not going to happen.
Not to mention how bad it would look if Thor worked and then was pipped by Thomas...

Well that and I guess Thor didn't really want to do any work for FC, knowing that even if the second group would come back Thor was the best sprinter and there obviously was some resentment from yesterday

 

[ManInFull]

Great name, Autologous! No doubt, that will be LA's downfall. You are right, LA lovers would have crowed about AC's lack of experience, etc., had it happend to AC. And no one is talking about the effort that AC put in to make it to the Armstrong group just as Armstrong punctured.

 

[dolophonic]

Who was the Astana rider who was involved in the crash with Frank Schleck?