Tour de France on TV

Author: Alex

  • Ryder Hesjedal bothers the peloton

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    Alex
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    I’ve spoken before about grand tours basically being a prolonged bout of whittling. They’re not won. It’s more that at the end, one person hasn’t yet lost. As such, most of the significant action actually takes place away from the cameras. Why attack? On stage three, Ryder Hesjedal attacked on the final climb. The focus…

  • Mark Cavendish surrenders Giro lead to Team Sky

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    After stage one, I wondered how Mark Cavendish would cope when he realised that hills would be added to corners thus increasing the difficulty of the Giro d’Italia. I got my answer after the team time trial. “It was all left, right, up and down. It was difficult for me and the team.” Cavendish’s Omega…

  • Mark Cavendish defies trying conditions to take the maglia rosa

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    Alex
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    The maglia rosa is the Giro’s equivalent of the maillot jaune – only it’s not jaune, it’s rosa. It’s the pink jersey worn by the race leader. Sprinters don’t usually get a chance to wear the leader’s jersey in the grand tours because the races usually kick off with a prologue (a short time trial).…

  • What about Domenico Pozzovivo?

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    Some of you may have noticed that I omitted Domenico Pozzovivo from my list of Bradley Wiggins’ Giro rivals. Others among you will be asking: ‘Who’s Domenico Pozzovivo?’ Pozzovivo is one of my favourite riders simply because he is so terrible at almost all of the vital aspects of cycling. He has so many limitations,…

  • Bradley Wiggins’ rivals for the Giro d’Italia

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    Alex
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    I’ve looked at the important stages and the Sky team riding in support of Wiggins. Now let’s look at his rivals. I’ll keep this brief, because I don’t think there are a huge number of contenders based on current form. That isn’t to say no-one else can win. It’s more that these are the guys…

  • Wiggins and Froome – defensiveness on the road and off it

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    Alex
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    Does anyone else wish that Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome would just knock it off? They both know that wattage speaks louder than words, so why all this public campaigning to be the designated team leader at the Tour de France? What’s going on? It’s primarily Wiggins’ fault. He’s been doing it all year. Whenever…

  • Chris Froome and Buzz Aldrin

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    For me, the 2013 season has two main narrative strands – Bradley Wiggins’ Giro bid and Chris Froome’s Tour bid. The Giro starts this weekend, but first a quick update on Froome. He’s just won the Tour of Romandie. What does that mean? Something and nothing. Romandie is the French-speaking bit of Switzerland. The race…

  • Meet Bradley Wiggins’ team for the Giro d’Italia

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    Alex
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    We’re all familiar with the distinctive cluster of ribs and skin known as Bradley Wiggins, but who’s going to be helping him in his efforts to win the 2013 Giro d’Italia? Chris Froome’s not there this time and nor’s Richie Porte. Most of you are therefore going to be confronted with a few new riders…

  • ITV4 will not be showing the 2013 Giro d’Italia

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    Alex
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    This article is about the 2013 Giro. For information about TV coverage of this year’s race, click here. Bad news, I’m afraid. As it stands, ITV4 will not be covering this year’s Giro d’Italia, which means you’ll have to follow Bradley Wiggins’ efforts elsewhere. Live TV coverage Although this is bad news for viewers, it’s…

  • Dan Martin is no relation to Tony Martin

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    Alex
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    Despite their seemingly identical fear of surnames, Dan Martin and Tony Martin are not related. Time trialist, Tony Martin, is fully German, while 2013 Liege-Bastogne-Liege winner, Dan Martin, is fairly Irish. Dan was born in Birmingham and has only had since 2004 to work on his Irish accent. He is, however, Stephen Roche‘s nephew, so…