Tour de France on TV

Month: July 2014

  • Best of the 2014 Tour de France

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    Alex
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    As I said when I did the same thing last year, everyone loves a ‘best of’. Best viewing option – mute What is it about cycling that attracts such mediocre commentary? Sean Kelly’s emotionless analysis on Eurosport is usually interesting and informative, but while his partner, Carlton Kirby, can have his moments, when he starts…

  • How did Vincenzo Nibali win the 2014 Tour de France?

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    Alex
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    Last year, I looked at where Chris Froome gained time on his rivals in a bid to explain how he came to win the Tour. That’s not really so necessary this year because the result was so much more clear-cut. Vincenzo Nibali gained time on pretty much everyone, pretty much every chance he got. These…

  • Marcel Kittel’s back off holiday

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    Alex
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    Because that’s where he’s been, right? On the eighth of July, he’d won three out of four stages and then, on the 27th of July, he won a fourth. In between those times, he disappeared. I can only conclude that he had a fortnight in the Bahamas. What an oddly protracted sporting event the Tour…

  • A French majority on the Tour de France podium

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    Alex
    in

    Chances are, if you’re into cycling, you’re not anti-French. I think most of us would consider having French riders finishing second and third in the Tour to be ‘a good thing’. Okay, you’d probably prefer someone from your own country to be standing somewhere on the podium, but failing that, it doesn’t do any harm…

  • Ramunas Navardauskas finds his niche

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    Alex
    in

    The penultimate sprint stage of the Tour de France was no such thing. Lithuanian rider, Ramunas Navardauskas got away towards the end and held everyone off for the win. If you’re thinking to yourself ‘who is Ramunas Navardauskas?‘ he’s one of those riders who doesn’t particularly have a ‘thing’. He’s quite a big guy, which…

  • Alejandro Valverde falls off the podium

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    Alex
    in

    He’s been tottering around these last few days, but on stage 18, Alejandro Valverde finally slipped. Now he’s lying in the dirt, clawing at the air and screeching the word ‘podium’ like Gollum. There was an unseemly rush to take his place. The French have been like queuing primary school children, all pressed up against…

  • Rafal Majka emerges from the chaos

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    Alex
    in

    The chaos of a break and then another break from the break and then a further break from the main bunch. So many groups, all moving at different speeds. So many potential ramifications that it’s all but impossible to to keep up. And then order. Only after the finish line can a bike race truly…

  • Michael Rogers and the ferocious French fight for third

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    Alex
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    You wonder what Michael Rogers could do if he didn’t have to spend the vast majority of his time dicking about towing Alberto Contador around. Free to do as he pleased in the Giro, he won two stages – one after attacking on a descent and then atop the mightily-steep and oddly-named Zoncolan. His first…

  • Tour de France cryptic crossword

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    by

    Alex
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    As compiled by Bert. Here’s a link to an Excel version that you can fill in and here are the answers, also in Excel format. In-depth stage 16 preview Big mountains.

  • For once Jack Bauer needed just a few more seconds

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    Alex
    in

    Jack Bauer has never been afraid of doing a full day’s work. The Kiwi cyclist got in the break from the very start of stage 15, alongside Swiss rider, Martin Elmiger. No-one joined them and so the two of them were committed to an all-but-impossible day-long attempt to stay away from the peloton over flat…