Vuelta a Espana stage one - Assen TT - 4.8km

[ak-zaaf]

well, just came back from assen.
thank god we found a security breach after a few hours, sitting in a stand watching cycling from 50 meters is ridiculous.

for the last hour and a half we were able to get to a spot next to track about 100 meters after the start / 50 meters after the finish.

if they want to do something like this on a racetrack again, please let the crowd stand next to the track. watching it through 2 fences is no fun.
4 euro for a 1/2 liter beer is also idiotic.

on the plus side: i managed to snap a sfw pic of roger hammond and my wife. that's always good

 

[Anonymous]

well, just came back from assen.
thank god we found a security breach after a few hours, sitting in a stand watching cycling from 50 meters is ridiculous.

for the last hour and a half we were able to get to a spot next to track about 100 meters after the start / 50 meters after the finish.

if they want to do something like this on a racetrack again, please let the crowd stand next to the track. watching it through 2 fences is no fun.
4 euro for a 1/2 liter beer is also idiotic.

on the plus side: i managed to snap a sfw pic of roger hammond and my wife. that's always good

we had been wondering about where the crowd where...
the atmosphere on television came across frankly as completely cr@p.. one of the most boring few hours of television i have watched in a long long time..

good on you for escaping security, we would have done exactly the same thing, we had considered going out, glad we didnt but it would have been fun escaping security.

 

[ak-zaaf]

we had been wondering about where the crowd where...
the atmosphere on television came across frankly as completely cr@p.. one of the most boring few hours of television i have watched in a long long time..

good on you for escaping security, we would have done exactly the same thing, we had considered going out, glad we didnt but it would have been fun escaping security.

there was actually some kind of a (positive) football-atmosphere in the stands when big names and dutch riders started/finished , i was wondering if that would come across on tv. if it didn't it must have been horrible to watch

 

[SergeDeM]

It wasn't so bad. I was watching it on TV and I could hear the crowd roar whenever a Rabobank rider came off the ramp.

 

[Cobber]

there was actually some kind of a (positive) football-atmosphere in the stands when big names and dutch riders started/finished , i was wondering if that would come across on tv. if it didn't it must have been horrible to watch

The crowd was quite audible for the Dutch riders on TV (universalsports), but were completely absent otherwise. I agree it would have been better if the crowd was allowed near the track. Probably would have been better for the riders too!

 

[Anonymous]

It wasn't so bad. I was watching it on TV and I could hear the crowd roar whenever a Rabobank rider came off the ramp.

9 cheers in 2 hours of television wasnt enough to keep me occupied..

bsaically, we had individual riders, riding around in fairly anonymous time trial gear, helmets etc which dont exactly lend themselves to being interesting

on a completely uninteresting track devoid of any features, landmarks, anything to look at, unless chicanes and rumble strips are your thing

with virtually no fan noise, and no fans trackside

was actually the dullest two hours of cycling i have ever seen in my life.. at least the rain made it interesting but that went and dried up..

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I liked watching it on TV, but it is absurd that they didn't let the crowds stand alongside the track. I mean, they could have definitely allowed a limited number of people in there to watch and cheer on the racers.

Universal's coverage was excellent.

4 euro for a 1/2 liter beer is also idiotic.

Sounds about average for a US major sports venue. Oh, but you guys all drink decent beer, right? Over here it's $5 for a pint of Bud Light (easily confused with a positive sample from controls).

just a slightly off topic question. has anyone ever worn the leader's jersey in all three tours in the same year.

Worn, yes. I don't have the stats, but I know it's been done. Won, no. Pantani should have tried it in 1998.

 

[Cobber]

Sounds about average for a US major sports venue. Oh, but you guys all drink decent beer, right? Over here it's $5 for a pint of Bud Light (easily confused with a positive sample from controls).

Ha ha ha... that is so true! If you are "lucky", at some events you can fork over $9 for a Heineken.

 

[Anonymous]

4e on the continent for a beer seems about right.. france runs anywhere between 2e50 and 12e a pint..

 

[Anonymous]

Worn, yes. I don't have the stats, but I know it's been done. Won, no. Pantani should have tried it in 1998.

tough one, and im trying to find the answer...

found a few riders who have worn the jersey in all three major tours (but not in the same year), jalabert, and then the obvious contador etc..Anquetil managed to in one year and has obviously done all three. trying to find the all in one year guy and struggling

give up, damned if i can find someone....
feel free to try find out yourselves...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_jersey_statistics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_jersey_statistics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_jersey_statistics

 

[auscyclefan94]

Good final snort by Boonen!

Let's see how Konny does.

He rode on the white lines which helped him get a good time

 

[auscyclefan94]

He did pretty good. Basso being close is interesting...

I wouldn't read too much into Basso or Valverde's form. This time trial was always going to suit riders who are explosive so Valverde and Basso would of always been high up. The sprinters were always going to feature as they are explosive riders as well. Today has told us nothing. The stage 4 or 5 tt will tell us a lot more. Does anyone know how Andy schleck went?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

He rode on the white lines which helped him get a good time

Cancellara way too good. didn't get to see the stage had to go to a birthday Boom didn't do as well as i thougt he would. Basso had a good prolouge.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

I wouldn't read too much into Basso or Valverde's form. This time trial was always going to suit riders who are explosive so Valverde and Basso would of always been high up. The sprinters were always going to feature as they are explosive riders as well. Today has told us nothing. The stage 4 or 5 tt will tell us a lot more. Does anyone know how Andy schleck went?

basso explosive? err no.

 

[auscyclefan94]

basso explosive? err no.

Your probably right. I'm just making a point that the more explosive riders were going to shine yesterday. Basso did surprise me but i wouldn't read too much into his form or anyone elses.

 

[180mmCrank]

I liked watching it on TV...

Universal's coverage was excellent...

In Canada I get the Universal live feed off the web with an Aussie guy commentating - he's pretty good knows his stuff - don't know who he is. (The feed stays live after the event so today we had several minutes of the guy coughing and eating his tea or something often happens with streamed live feeds)

Question - I assume you guys in the US are watching on TV - do you have a different commentary?

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

well unlike the long and veryy technical TT course in the giro, i feel the time trials at the vuelta are much more suited to basso's capabilities. I'd say the prolouge indicated (even if it was short) that he is in a bit of form.

 

[auscyclefan94]

well unlike the long and veryy technical TT course in the giro, i feel the time trials at the vuelta are much more suited to basso's capabilities. I'd say the prolouge indicated (even if it was short) that he is in a bit of form.

stage 4 tt will tell all about who has good form coming into this race.

 

[titan_90]

In Canada I get the Universal live feed off the web with an Aussie guy commentating - he's pretty good knows his stuff - don't know who he is. (The feed stays live after the event so today we had several minutes of the guy coughing and eating his tea or something often happens with streamed live feeds)

Question - I assume you guys in the US are watching on TV - do you have a different commentary?

I watched the live feed also, and the Aussie guy is Matthew Keenan and he is a commentator for SBS in Australia. I have heard him before and I agree he is pretty good.

 

[auscyclefan94]

I watched the live feed also, and the Aussie guy is Matthew Keenan and he is a commentator for SBS in Australia. I have heard him before and I agree he is pretty good.

His knowledge is so vast and rarely makes a mistake. He adds to the commentary and it's not painful to listen to as we usually have mistakes every 5 seconds from Phil.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

tough one, and im trying to find the answer..

For whatever the reason, I was thinking career. Same year, that will take some digging. Would have to be a prologue specialist or sprinter I'd think.

In Canada I get the Universal live feed off the web...Question - I assume you guys in the US are watching on TV - do you have a different commentary?

Yes, we have Steve Schwitzer (?) And Todd Gogulski. Both are quite good, especially Gogu, who was a pro cyclist back in the US golden era of the early 80's. I'll take these guys and Universal any day over Versus and P&P.

 

[Timmy-loves-Rabo]

stage 4 tt will tell all about who has good form coming into this race.

i assume you mean stage 7, but yes it will. I predict a strong showing from both Basso and Valverde.

 

[titan_90]

His knowledge is so vast and rarely makes a mistake. He adds to the commentary and it's not painful to listen to as we usually have mistakes every 5 seconds from Phil.

I hope Universal keep him on through the Vuelta as he knows his stuff. I remember during the Giro they switched commentators a few times and the one guy was painful to listen to. He didn't know crap about the sport, it was like they handed him the newest issue of Pro Cycling and the start list and that's all he had to go on.

 

[palmerq]

For whatever the reason, I was thinking career. Same year, that will take some digging. Would have to be a prologue specialist or sprinter I'd think.

I think no one has ever done it, infact I think it is quite rare someone would do all three. i had a look through the wikipedia link the other fellow posted and found none, although my methods might miss something, and probably wrong :S. Quite a lot of guys have worn all three of course, but I don´t think anyone ever wore all three in one year.


Good result for basso, I would like him to win a big tour after his return, he seems like a lovely fellow, and quite talented a fellow. I would find it shame if his biggest win was the 2006 giro with all that happened that year. Also vinokourov is looking good in the time trials so far, I hope he wins one here, I think he might.

 

[Kingsley A]

I watched the live feed also, and the Aussie guy is Matthew Keenan and he is a commentator for SBS in Australia. I have heard him before and I agree he is pretty good.

I think this must have been the web feed I found. Good commentary although only the last 2 hours were covered (not that a 4k TT is ever going to be that exciting until the last dozen or so riders get going anyway). No commercial breaks either! Can't be bad

I'm pretty sure that Keenan is the guy who was commentating on the early parts of each stage of Le Tour until Sherwin and Liggit took over with about two hours left on similar advert-less feeds. No idea where the feed was coming from but it seemed to be that both Verses and ITV4 were using it with their own editing and captioning.

I've come to like Keenan as a commentator.

Anyway, hats off to Cancellara, 9 seconds over that short a course is impressive. I don't think we'll get any real feel for who might be a genuine contender until next Sunday though. There will be some fun from the sprinters and break-away merchants but the race proper won't start until stage 8.

Apologies for my drunken stream of conscience, but pubs close too early and my friend owns too much wine!