Tour de France on TV

Month: June 2014

  • Laura Trott and Peter Kennaugh are likeable British road race champions

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    Alex
    in

    A quick diversion to report on the British national road race championships and then I’ll hit you (not literally) with a bunch of Tour de France preview stuff over the rest of the week. I already told you that Bradley Wiggins won the men’s time trial. Emma Pooley won the women’s. Normally people take a…

  • 2014 Tour de France stage two profile

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    Alex
    in

    Just to let you know that my stage two preview now includes links to the profile. I mention this largely because it’s funny to see the Franglais. Highlights include: Cote de Blubberhouses Cote de Holme Moss Cote de Jenkin Road I love a stage profile at the best of times, but this is one of…

  • Wiggins, Froome and Grand Tour fitness

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    Alex
    in

    You can ride hard one day and then feel good enough to ride hard again the next day or you can ride hard one day and then need to spend the next day on the sofa drinking tea, eating sandwiches and moaning like one of the undead each time you get up. That’s Bradley Wiggins’…

  • The Schlecks are riding the Tour de France

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    Alex
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    The Trek Factory Racing team have announced that both The Schlecks (Frank) and The Schlecks (Andy) will be riding the Tour this year. As far as I can tell, the reasoning seems to be ‘because we haven’t really got anybody else’. Frank’s selection is fair enough. He has shown mediocre form all season long and…

  • Apparently Rui Costa always wins the Tour de Suisse

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    Alex
    in

    The Tour de Suisse is not the easiest race to follow. With two time trials before any of the proper mountain stages, you can’t be totally sure who’s really in contention until it’s basically over. After winning the stage seven time trial, Tony Martin led Tom Dumoulin by 28 seconds and Rui Costa by over…

  • Alberto Contador’s team for the Tour de France

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    Alex
    in

    Yesterday, I wrote that Alberto Contador was devoid of team-mates for most of the final stage of the Dauphiné and so Pierre wrote to ask: “Were they all just knackered from the previous day’s efforts or are they just going to be shit at the Tour de France?” The short answer is that Contador was…

  • Who won the Dauphiné? Contador or Froome?

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    Alex
    in

    Er, it was Andrew Talanksy, actually. How the hell did that happen? It was down to an unusually sizeable break. 23 riders got away from the peloton early on, including several riders who were within a minute or so of the race lead. Talansky was among them – which was surprising being as he was…

  • Alberto Contador won’t fade away

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    Alex
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    Meaning two things. One, he’s resurgent this year. Two, if he’s not leading a stage race, he’ll be snapping at whoever is leading until the very last day, like a yappy little dog with a Napoleon complex. Contador finally gained the Dauphiné lead on stage seven. As Sky reached the end of their protracted mountain…

  • Jurgen Van Den Broeck’s back

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    Alex
    in

    As in ‘returned’. He hasn’t got ankylosing spondylitis or anything. This is by far the most exciting aspect of the Dolphin (Dauphiné) from my perspective. I’ve written about Jurgen Van Den Broeck before, but you’ve probably forgotten, because being forgotten is very much Jurgen Van Den Broeck’s defining characteristic. The Belgian’s twice finished fourth in…

  • The biggest names in the Dolphin

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    Alex
    in ,

    With respect to the bairns of this year’s Giro, it wasn’t the most stellar field. Nairo Quintana is a big name, but once Joaquim Rodriguez had pulled out, he was racing against riders we were all fairly certain were inferior. You can quibble with that and point to Rigoberto Uran, but I’d say he merely…