The Official 101st Tour de France, thread.

[pastafarian]

i am dropping in on my first ever cycling thread.....i wont be here long.

some of the household watched a bit of tour today on TV......but we have a question if someone can answer to someone who does not have a clue......the pack of cyclists was going along,there were various support cars weaving in and out(how dangerous is that).....anyway a support car pulls alongside some chap,he hangs on to the car,receives some tech advice,sups on water etc etc.....but all the time he is chatting he is not peddling just getting a free lift by hanging on to the car......is this permitted?maybe everyone is allowed a rest break.......i dont know.......seems to defeat the object!


a nice explanation would be good..........a simple #### off is not unexpected

 

[Bold Seagull]

i am dropping in on my first ever cycling thread.....i wont be here long.

some of the household watched a bit of tour today on TV......but we have a question if someone can answer to someone who does not have a clue......the pack of cyclists was going along,there were various support cars weaving in and out(how dangerous is that).....anyway a support car pulls alongside some chap,he hangs on to the car,receives some tech advice,sups on water etc etc.....but all the time he is chatting he is not peddling just getting a free lift by hanging on to the car......is this permitted?maybe everyone is allowed a rest break.......i dont know.......seems to defeat the object!


a nice explanation would be good..........a simple #### off is not unexpected

No, he shouldn't be doing that unless he was getting attention from the medical car. I think I saw the same incident and the race directors may have something to say about the incident. The red cars are officials who are looking out for infringements and review the race after. The classic is the 'sticky' bottle being passed from the support car but seems to stick to both set of hands for far too long.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Oh, and mechanicals, a rider is entitled to grip the car if part of his bike is being adjusted by a mechanic in the team car while in motion

 

[Stat Brother]

i am dropping in on my first ever cycling thread.....i wont be here long.

some of the household watched a bit of tour today on TV......but we have a question if someone can answer to someone who does not have a clue......the pack of cyclists was going along,there were various support cars weaving in and out(how dangerous is that).....anyway a support car pulls alongside some chap,he hangs on to the car,receives some tech advice,sups on water etc etc.....but all the time he is chatting he is not peddling just getting a free lift by hanging on to the car......is this permitted?maybe everyone is allowed a rest break.......i dont know.......seems to defeat the object!


a nice explanation would be good..........a simple #### off is not unexpected

You'll never get 'a simple #### off is not unexpected' unless that's the specific purpose of a troll question.

The race refs look at 'minor' infringements like sticky bottle, drafting behind team cars etc, and turn a blind eye for as long as they can, then words will be had and small fines dished out.
It's not possible for the same rider to free wheel round France while everybody else pedals.
Overall positions aren't effected by dubious practices.
The race favourites have more of the focus on them and are less likely to 'cheat' (like that anyway).

Occasionally you'll get a stage winning favourite caught out with a flat tyre or something, with only 15kms to go.
The speed of the bunch will make it almost impossible to catch up, but they'll draft their way through all the cars.
For me at least, this bending of minor rules is amusing in a whole 'I can't believe he thinks he can get away with this', style.

But in the whole scheme of things 10 kms of drafting in a 3000+ km race doesn't really amount to much.


As for cars and bikes sharing the same space show Le family du Pasta this:-

 

[Bold Seagull]

How tough is that. Every time I've seen that I can't believe after being catapulted through the air, landing on a barbed wire fence, cut to ribbons, he's back on the bike catching up. Hard as bloody nails that is.

 

[Stat Brother]

How tough is that. Every time I've seen that I can't believe after being catapulted through the air, landing on a barbed wire fence, cut to ribbons, he's back on the bike catching up. Hard as bloody nails that is.

It has pretty much ended his career, as he's not been the same rider since:-

 

[Hillian1]

What channel is it on?

Have a day off so am going to try and understand what's going on.

Get ready for some really stoopid questions.

 

[Bold Seagull]

What channel is it on?

Have a day off so am going to try and understand what's going on.

Get ready for some really stoopid questions.

Eurosport UK - live on every stage (today's stage has started already - it is a long one…)

ITV4's coverage starts later, typically at 2pm, with highlights at 7pm

 

[martin tyler]

You'll never get 'a simple #### off is not unexpected' unless that's the specific purpose of a troll question.

The race refs look at 'minor' infringements like sticky bottle, drafting behind team cars etc, and turn a blind eye for as long as they can, then words will be had and small fines dished out.
It's not possible for the same rider to free wheel round France while everybody else pedals.
Overall positions aren't effected by dubious practices.
The race favourites have more of the focus on them and are less likely to 'cheat' (like that anyway).

Occasionally you'll get a stage winning favourite caught out with a flat tyre or something, with only 15kms to go.
The speed of the bunch will make it almost impossible to catch up, but they'll draft their way through all the cars.
For me at least, this bending of minor rules is amusing in a whole 'I can't believe he thinks he can get away with this', style.

But in the whole scheme of things 10 kms of drafting in a 3000+ km race doesn't really amount to much.


As for cars and bikes sharing the same space show Le family du Pasta this:-

I hope they took some action against the driver. That is shocking and those injuries are nasty. Makes some footballers look like right pansies

 

[Bold Seagull]

I hope they took some action against the driver. That is shocking and those injuries are nasty. Makes some footballers look like right pansies

Perhaps not enough really, but a lot of rules on the vehicles changed and he was banned.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2012/07/news/hoogerland-and-flecha-looking-for-justice-in-2011-tour-car-crash_227194

 

[Hillian1]

I hope they took some action against the driver. That is shocking and those injuries are nasty. Makes some footballers look like right pansies

I've watched that a few times now, I really think if the car hadn't swerved like that it would have hit the tree and to be fair could have done much more damage to the riders.

Doesn't excuse it mind.

 

[Hillian1]

Stupid question number 1:

Why have some of the bikes got much bigger back tyres than others?

 

[Bold Seagull]

Stupid question number 1:

Why have some of the bikes got much bigger back tyres than others?

Are you sure it's the tyres and not the rims of the wheels making the tyres looking bigger? I would have thought most are on 23 or 21mm tyre today which you wouldn't really tell the difference on a tv camera.

 

[teaboy]

Stupid question number 1:

Why have some of the bikes got much bigger back tyres than others?

They don't. Some people will be riding with deeper rims. They're black, carbon fibre and look like they merge with the tyre. The deeper the rim, the better the aerodynamics. There are rules about how deep the front and back rim can be. In time trials you'll see people riding with a solid disc rear wheel, but these aren't allowed in 'normal' road stages.

 

[Hillian1]

Ta.

Do they have a break or something?

Right now it shows 34 km to go, even I could do that by the afternoon.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Ta.

Do they have a break or something?

Right now it shows 34 km to go, even I could do that by the afternoon.

That must be what they've completed when you looked (now about 50km). This is a 234km stage. This might help you follow it while you're watching - http://www.letour.com/le-tour/2014/us/live/aso/

 

[teaboy]

i am dropping in on my first ever cycling thread.....i wont be here long.

some of the household watched a bit of tour today on TV......but we have a question if someone can answer to someone who does not have a clue......the pack of cyclists was going along,there were various support cars weaving in and out(how dangerous is that).....anyway a support car pulls alongside some chap,he hangs on to the car,receives some tech advice,sups on water etc etc.....but all the time he is chatting he is not peddling just getting a free lift by hanging on to the car......is this permitted?maybe everyone is allowed a rest break.......i dont know.......seems to defeat the object!


a nice explanation would be good..........a simple #### off is not unexpected

In the early days of the race it wasn't uncommon for riders to use corks on fishing lines to get an illegal tow. You put the cork in your mouth and the other end of the line is attached to the car/motorbike and you got pulled along. If you see an official, simply open your mouth to release the cork and wire. This was all much easier when they had to ride at night too...

Now 'sticky bottles' are used, but they're cracking down on this too with fines for riders that get caught. For medical and mechanical reasons riders are permitted to hold on while things (skin or bikes) are fixed on the move.

 

[teaboy]

Ta.

Do they have a break or something?

Right now it shows 34 km to go, even I could do that by the afternoon.

Highlights from yesterday?

 

[Muzzatron]

Ta.

Do they have a break or something?

Right now it shows 34 km to go, even I could do that by the afternoon.

This is a repeat of the last few days, Live programme starts at 13:15

 

[Hillian1]

No, it's very much going down so I'm watching yesterdays.

British Eurosport, channel 410 on Sky.