[Other Sport] 2024 Tour de France

[North of Robertsbridge]

He's got a bit lost in all the excitement (and speculation) about Pogačar, but the other exciting new talent I've watched winning at this year's tour is Biniam Girmay, the Eritrean sprinter

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Anyway.....team of the race for me..?
EF Education. Always on the attack, stage wins, the yellow jersey, the climbers jersey etc. Great race for them I thought.
Disappointments? Decathlon AG2r, as one of the winningest teams in 2024 I expected a lot more from them, although they snuck Gall into fairly decent final position without really showing anything at all over 3 weeks. Also Bahrain....what was the point?

 

[Pogue Mahone]

He's got a bit lost in all the excitement (and speculation) about Pogačar, but the other exciting new talent I've watched winning at this year's tour is Biniam Girmay, the Eritrean sprinter

Absolutely. He’s been a breath of fresh air throughout.

Cycling has been a sport noticeable by its ‘whiteness’ - hopefully this is going to change.

 

[Bozza]

Not much different, no.

But I love the traditional sprint stage to finish the Tour, with the main event already decided - and if it’s decided on the penultimate stage, that’s even more exciting, IMO.

Oh, I agree with that, certainly.

After the majesty of the French countryside and mountains, Paris serves up a thrilling spectacle to round the whole thing off.

 

[keaton]

Yes, I was talking to @Hamilton about this the other day.

He was convinced that Pog is clean - that it’s virtually impossible to get away with ‘things’ these days.

He compared him as a generational talent to Usain Bolt, Messi and Donald Bradman.

I’m prepared to go with this assessment.

In my head I think he must be clean because if he was doping surely he wouldn't be so obviously taking the piss and winning so many stages unnecessarily

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

In my head I think he must be clean because if he was doping surely he wouldn't be so obviously taking the piss and winning so many stages unnecessarily

But then you could say the same about LA all those years.....

 

[Spiros]

In my head I think he must be clean because if he was doping surely he wouldn't be so obviously taking the piss and winning so many stages unnecessarily

Agree. Also saw a comment on coverage (though can’t remember who) saying that cycling has widened its appeal tremendously over the last few years and they’re getting athletes in the sport who would previously taken their abilities elsewhere. As the pool of talent gets bigger it also gets better.

For example Remco Evenopoel was originally going to be a footballer (he played for Belgium at u16 level) but opted for cycling instead.

I really enjoyed the whole race. Even though Pogacar was nailed on to win from ages out he still lit up the race with attacks on most stages and stirred the pot with some of the sub contests. I really hope he goes for the Vuelta but can’t see it happening

 

[The Lemming Stomper]

I have also chosen to watch on ITV4 this year. Their presentation is much more interesting, in my view,

Adverts with a bit of cycling thrown in...

Discovery plus the way to go ( if it's affordable natch) imo

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Still got this on VHS somewhere. Love looking back at the era of cycling when I was a kid, & idolizing these riders.

 

[sir_gullahad]

Still got this on VHS somewhere. Love looking back at the era of cycling when I was a kid, & idolizing these riders.

Nostalgia overload. ITV should bring that opening credits music back.

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

Nostalgia overload. ITV should bring that opening credits music back.

I was only thinking the other day that ITV need to update their intro music etc...its been like that how many years now?!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

I was only thinking the other day that ITV need to update their intro music etc...its been like that how many years now?!

No! It’s like BBC’s music for cricket, tennis and skiing. Iconic!

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Adverts with a bit of cycling thrown in...

It’s felt less like that this year. (And anyway, when I’m feeling particularly geeky, I turn over to Eurosport during ITV’s ad breaks).

 

[Fignon's Ponytail]

No! It’s like BBC’s music for cricket, tennis and skiing. Iconic!

I've never liked it tbh. Theres something about it thats just not grabbed me - unlike the old Pete Shelley Ch4 intro.

 

[Surf's Up]

I hope Pogačar has won it clean but lets face it the sport's history is littered with doping scandals so it is inevitable that apparently superhuman efforts that result in significant racing results are always going to be open to question particularly on mountain stages - and the dopers tend to always be one step ahead of the testers.

 

[Albion in the north]

I was only thinking the other day that ITV need to update their intro music etc...its been like that how many years now?!

Noooo... It needs to stay! My daughter used to come home from school around the same time that the end of the stage would be on and we would put it on. This music has such happy memories for me. Shes now 19 and at University. A year or 2 ago, I asked her if she wanted to sit down and watch the tour with me, she said that she didnt really like it and only did that to spend that time with me

 

[keaton]

Interesting article about some legal but dubious techniques that may be used by UAE and others

Road cycling: how a legitimate blood test became the focus of performance abuse claims

Carbon monoxide rebreathing, which may give riders an edge, caused controversy at this year’s Tour de France

www.theguardian.com