Gosh, there is SO MUCH to talk about when you say 2020 Tour de France! I think I will start a few rungs down from the top with Richie Porte, who fought tooth and nail to get onto the podium. Well done Richie, I think the entire world has been rooting for him to break the bad-luck streak and do this. And just in time, as I don't see him getting the chance with his new team next year (Death Star...darn it Richie!) He overcame a LOT to do it. The flat on the dirt section (stage 18 I think) was terrifying, but he got a bike and pulled his way back. And then to take enough time in Stage 20 to get on the podium, that was quite special!
Next: Sagan, and the Green Jersey. CVV and Chris talked about this a lot, but it was SO SPECIAL this year. Setting the clock back to when he was relegated for over-aggressiveness against Wout in the sprint where he had taken 2nd (30 points), and lost that AND 13 more points...that was crushing. And a man in his prior leadout train has been the one to take the green! When Bora went out the very next day and destroyed the Peleton putting Peter in position to take max points in the intermediate sprint (which they did for several other stages) was stunning, most especially to the rest of the peleton who were expecting easy stages until the end. Sagan made the entire Tour more fun to watch as he gave it his very best to regain the Green. Sadly it never happened, and we all are left wondering if this was a 1-time "off year" or is this the inevitable decline of an aging cyclist. Sagan hasn't won a race this year, let-alone in the Tour. I truly hope it was the madness of this Pandemic-year and the stopping/restarting of the season that left him in less than stellar condition. We will see next year.
Americans in the Tour: Sepp Kuss, Neilson Powless, and uhm, what was his name, the guy I don't recall seeing even ONCE in action this year...oh yeah...TJ. I saw (not counting stage 21) that he finished in 90th place! This for a former "GC guy". Say what? My how the mighty have fallen. Seriously...I can't recall seeing him in action ONCE this Tour. But that can't be said about Powless nor Kuss! Powless was in a bunch of break-aways when he wasn't directly supporting Rigo, and almost won a stage if I recall. And Kuss? DAMN can that kid CLIMB! That he was repeatedly the last man standing with Roglic in the big mountains says it all. The Durango Kid. Pretty sure I will remember him! It was really fun watching him when it was his turn to go in front, how he'd check with Primo for orders and then do it.
Bernal and Quintana. Wow. What epic collapses they both suffered. Were they just not ready or was it something else? Q wasn't hardly ever in any contention, and when the climbs got steep instead of flying he faltered. Bernal and his team, SO dominant over the last near decade, were on their back-feet pretty much since day 1. How quickly they fell and how fast Jumbo took over the mantle of SUPER-TEAM. Both Bernal and Quintana had won big races quite young, and everybody was saying how they will be future multi-Tour winners, and that doesn't appear to be the case. I hope we aren't saying that about Pogacar in the coming years...it's a LOT of pressure to perform at the highest level in the biggest race, especially when your pay-check has shot up expecting that.
Covidiots. We've all talked about this a lot, and even on the TT when the crowds were gathered, there they were. LOTS of them. Each time throughout the Tour when the roads were steep and the crowds were making a tiny passage for the riders, I'd watch the faces of the crowd as the camera/rider went by. By my rough guess, 1 in 20 to 1 in 30 did NOT have a mask on! Seriously...in every bunch of fans if you pause the video and count, there they were. Within a foot or 2 of the poor rider just trying to get thru, no mask, SCREAMING (and blowing Covid-spit) at the approaching riders. It is truly amazing that none of the riders "got it". We will see in the next week or so if that continues, or did some get infected from the last week of racing. I seriously don't get it...WHY won't they wear masks? Just how selfish can a person be?
OK...I need to head to work, didn't get close to all my thoughts...so I will post this and head in...feel free to vent/rave/whatever about the amazing race we just witnessed!
GREAT recap! While I'm not as adoring of this Tour as most others, it was overall, very interesting, at times, exciting & worrisome & shocking. The reason I didn't "love" this Tour are 2-fold : 1st, NOT a fan of basically flip-flopping the 2nd week with the 1st. By putting the Pyrenees (not even counting all those other early climbs) in the 1st week, the "GC group" was pretty much SET by the end of the 1st week. Nobody else had a chance at a day in the YJ & it took away a lot of the suspense. 2nd, I was LIVID at the LACK OF CONTROL by the ASO over their own damn race! It took one of the French Departments to lay down the hammer or who or if anyone would be allowed to view the riders up-close on a mt. Why didn't the ASO do that & much more often?! Meanwhile, the "quarantine rules" all the teams had to literally live by were VERY strict! Made no sense to have the teams live in jail-like seclusion & then EXPOSE them to germ/virus crazies out on the mt roads!
ReplyDeleteI guess we won't know about Sagan until the season continues or maybe not until next year, once COVID has been defeated. Compared to most riders (& ahem, most mortal men) Sagan rode well, just no Green jersey this year. BUT, Sagan is NOT most riders! He's been a cross between Hercules & Superman since he burst into the World Tour & he was far below his usual level this time. And it's not that he didn't win any of the sprint stages, he's never been the best sprinter, it's that he usually gets into an early break & scoops up Intermed points if not make it all the way to the Finish & scoop up high points while ALL the other sprinters are back in the caboose. The one time he did get into a break with his teammates & make it to the end, he had some kind of mechanical (?) & got no (or almost no) points. But of course, what's worse is to see a sporting hero off his/her game even temporarily. We can whine & moan & sniff back a tear or even deny it's happening right before our eyes until the athlete is gone from the field (in this case, road) of play. Heck, I'd been holding out hope that Cav would get back to his peak self for YEARS. Anyhoo, until he has two consecutive subpar seasons & Tours, I'm still clinging to he hope that, er, "Hercuman" will ride again! :)
Bernal is only 23, so he's still got years to possibly become a multi-Tour champ. But Quintana? The idea that it was just the nonsensical "tactics" of Movistar the past few years as what was holding him back has now been put to rest. Even when Q was at his peak, I eventually ruled him out of EVER winning the Tour because he seemingly has refused to improve his Time Trialing. Then you get a course like this year, with just one TT & its final 6K all uphill & you think, well, maybe he can get on the podium again but this was his worst outing yet. I think he was involved in some crashes & MAYBE he was more injured than reported, but if not, his days of even being Top 5 (or 10!) may be over. And THEN, have you read about the French police raiding his & his team's hotel rooms looking for doping stuff?!
ReplyDeleteAs for Tejay, I wondered throughout what his role was at this Tour - definitetly not a GC protected rider & didn't seem to be the final mt guy for Rigo either, so maybe he was there as a road captain? Or for training for the Vuelta? I like the guy himself MUCH more than his early days but his GC career seems to have died that day he abandoned sick late in the Tour & he had been sitting 3rd (I think) at the time. I hadn't been that shocked again at a Tour stage until this recent TT! I can STILL remember staring at him getting off the bike, thinking "what's he doing?"
About my early Tour-watching years - I 1st clicked onto the Tour in 1984. It was on CBS 'Sports Spectacular' show (their version of Wide World of Sports) & I was ENTRANCED & ENTHRALLED from minute 1. It was my 2nd summer/year of working for a living & thus not going to my summer camp where I'd gone for 16 consecutive years. I was depressed about missing camp & looking for something to do/watch. John Tesh (before his Entertainment Tonight stint) was one of the commentators. I didn't discover for many years that HE was the composer of the musical scoring to all the taped Tour coverage, which I LOVED.
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, those 1st 15-16 years, I understood VERY little of what I was seeing. I knew no one in "real life" that watched & had not read a book yet about the Tour & this was before the internet , so basically all I knew was that the guy in the yellow "shirt" was the leader so far & that there were VERY few Americans in the race. When LeMond 1st emerged as a contender 85(?), I was thrilled as it was someone to focus on & root for. And then the next year LeMond & Hinault were teammates again & this time, Hinault was SUPPOSED to help him win the Tour as payback for LeMond sacrificing for him the year before & Hinault BACKSTABBED HIM! It was soap opera/drama/insane athletic achievement all rolled into one & that sealed my lifelong love affair with Le Tour! Well, the fact that an AMERICAN (LeMond) won the race that year (86) probably had something to do with it too. :) :) :)
I've watched whatever version we could get on TV since. Although, by the 3rd or 4th consecutive Indurain winning years in early-mid 90s, I ALMOST stopped! LeMond's heyday was over & there was no other American close to the podium. I liked Andy Hampsted but he never quite got on the podium at the Tour. Plus, Indurain did not speak English so whatever interviews we got were translated & they were poor. Honestly, until this cocky, brash young Texan came along, there were some BORING years! (If we'd seen more than taped coverage AND I, ahem, actually understood what was actually happening, it might have been exiting, but taped coverage of yet MORE European guys winning was a snoozer.)
Thank God for OLN/Versus/NBCSN!
So I'm looking thru my notes (Susie, you are rubbing off on me...great idea, being as I can't seem to remember why I walked into rooms it seems lately).
ReplyDelete1st topic: NBCSN. Wow...I had been hesitant all these years to get the internet Gold package...that won't be an issue any more, I will DEFINITELY get it every year! I loved that I can call up prior stages or live stages and watch, and leap anywhere in the video that I want just like a youtube video! And that I was able to watch in my hotel was awesome...AND that I was able to add the NBCSN app to our TV (via the firestick, but there are other ways) and then watch there too...it's the best of both worlds! AND I now have whatever races NBC covers thru May 31st next year, and then I will renew my subscription and have a full year! I think the evil geniuses at NBC outdid themselves...it was very easy to forget that Phil and Bobke were NOT sitting at the finish side by side, but they were many thousands of miles apart. And to Phil and Bob, they were exceptional dealing with this...obviously there WAS a delay but we the viewing public weren't getting it...you could tell now and then when one of them would start to talk over the other and they'd both stop and one would say "go ahead Phil (or Bob)"...that was the only indication that they were sitting alone with monitors and computers but not the other guy (or guys..as there were Paul, CVV and Chris who on the final day I heard were in Stanford Conneticut. No idea where Bobke was...back in Durango maybe? I missed it if he ever said..I know Phil said several times he was in a studio in London. Anyway, serious kudos to all. Oh..and I REALLY liked Adam on the Moto (in lieu of Steve Schlanger)..nothing against Steve, but Adam was great I thought, and I hope they keep him doing that in future broadcasts. Also on note, on Sundays final Phil said this was his 48th Tour broadcast! Isn't that something!! Damn...I was TWELVE when he started! Sheesh...I was riding my Schwinn Sting Ray (5 speed) all over creation back then...that was 1972. WOW. Blows my mind!
I did mention this already, but it bears one more time: PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, STOP THE ZWIFT COMMERCIALS EVERY 3 MINUTES!! (and it was sad that GT was in the commercial but not even invited by his team to race). As it is, I SO HATE ZWIFT that even if I WAS in the market for that kind of thing I would NOT use them just out of spite! I would rather use a cheese-grater on my elbows and knees (in lieu of an actual road bike crash) than see that commercial EVER AGAIN!!!
Richie Porte! I mentioned it above, but just wanted to say his name in THIRD PLACE again...he worked SO HARD, and it was so fun to see him actually pull it off FINALLY!! Well done Richie!!! I've been rooting for him for a long time to do well, maybe this means the Silverback gorilla that has been hanging out on his back for a long time is now gone? He broke the curse of the Bambino? Sadly he will not be riding for a win hext year (unless Ineos does something STUPID like NOT bring a 2nd GC guy for when Bernal falls apart..maybe he wouldn't be too far back and could again try for Podium). We shall see..it will be hard to root for him on that team...but hey...they got BEAT this year, and beat BAD I might add...so that should add some humility to their program.
Continued: And the TT on stage 20: I mention Tommy D as he CRUSHED IT for Jumbo! I was wondering how it would work out with him in that dual GC guy, but right from Stage 1 he seemed to be working for Roglic...and he never faltered in that role...so that was cool to see. And then that TT ride, GO TOM!! Damn..he killed it! If it weren't for Pogi DESTROYING IT, he would have won the stage! I don't know if it was due to my NBCSN Gold package, being on travel (in a hotel with nothing else to do in a Pandemic), or what, but I think I watched MORE actual footage this year than ever before! (ie, a LOT less FF'ing). I think it was a combination of those things. In Stage 20 I think I watched the ENTIRE STAGE! I have NEVER done that before on a TT. Same with the final stage...it's like I was milking all the Tour out of the Tour that I could! And now I also have PTD...I keep wishing there was another stage to watch! Rats...nothing. But I am hopeful the Vuelta goes off, as I SHOULD be able to watch it on my NBCSN Gold app!
ReplyDeleteAnd last, but not least, Team UAE and Pogi! It still seems impossible to say out loud that the reigning Tour Champ is on UAE (a Sprint team)! I'd venture to guess that NEXT YEAR they will have altered their Tour squad with a few more guys for Pogi...I'd say Kristoff is getting a bit long in the tooth (tho he DID win Stage 1 and wore yellow, so that was cool and different, and entirely unexpected!) I'd have to say that a lot of that is due to the carnage of the rain and crashes...but a win is a win.
So..speaking of the team...that they had lost BOTH of their climbers that were SUPPOSED to be w/ Pogi in the mountains...yet somehow he stuck with Roglic, and with only 1 exception that I can recall (was that Stage 18?) when he and Roglic again went for time on each other and Ro beat him for like 17 seconds? That was the ONLY time in the entire race that he faltered. Think about that..no teammates day after day in the mountains...who was getting him food and water? Was it all neutral support? Roglic had teammates ala Lance and all 3 winners w/ Sky/Ineos...seems like nearly the entire team was up there, slowly dropping off 1 by 1 until the group of 30 is down to about 5 or 6. Then Sepp would take over and crush those klingons until it was time for Ro to fly on his own. It was nice to see as long as you were a Jumbo fan...not so much if not. I was a fan of ANYBODY who could put pressure on Ineos (which this year was pretty much every other team).
Pogi...how many days did he ride with big sprigs of hair sticking up out of his helmet vents? I thought that was HILARIOUS! Name another rider who does that...it's like he doesn't care...and it happened a LOT! (like he was a regular guy out for a ride). I just thought it was odd and fun...if he showed up at a recreational 'hammer ride' (if they didn't know who he was that is) like that he would be ridiculed, right up until he decimated all that is. I just loved that..and he had that going on a lot this Tour. Babyface...that still cracks me up!
Stage 21, suddenly (in his FIRST and ONLY DAY in Yellow) Pogi has a yellow bike! I was wondering how THAT happened...then I think Phil mentioned that a Colnago employee drove all night to get it to the team early enough on Sunday to build it up. Cool! Sure, it's huge advertising to Colnago, but it's also fun to see how hard the company worked to make that happen. I mean, did they actually HAVE a yellow frame of THAT model in HIS size lying around, just in case? I have no idea, but I have to imagine that frame didn't just arrive, lots of phone calls and people involved. Kudos to them...it was awesome!
And even MORE continued: I didn't listen to any of Lance and Georges daily Tour podcast on the race, but I have to think they both thoroughly enjoyed the race. And Lance always said, the strongest man in the race (ie, the Yellow Jersey holder in Paris) should win the final TT, proving that is the case. Usually doesn't happen, but it did this year. Taking Yellow for ONE DAY...still blows my mind!
ReplyDeleteAnd can't remember if I said this, but Phil said that Pogi is the youngest KOM jersey winner in the history of the Tour! I would not have guessed that. Just wow!
OK...that's all my notes...on, one final thing that occurred to me a few times (as Phil would talk about it now and then): Valverde! Every day in the mountains, the oldest man in the race, right there in the front group (till near the end, he'd be dropped when it got frosty). Unlike his much younger super-climbing sensation next big thing Movistar GC guy Quintana. Sure, he (Valverde) has a history of being involved in doping (I guess that's becasue he is one of the very few old enough and still racing to HAVE been riding in that wild-west timeframe of 20 years ago). It was cool to see him doing well.
OK...THAT is the end of my notes...I'm sure as you discuss things I will think of more. I really enjoyed the race, despite the pitfalls (Covidiots, the race structure, all those things). I actually liked that they really shook up the status quo with mountains right off the bat, and the very unusual Bora takeover of the Peleton trying to crush the sprinters to get points back, a new superteam, and in the end a lone wolf stealing the title. It was great fun and serious drama...almost no foregone conclusions, and every day was just "hang on to your hats, it's going to be a wild ride day" race. And that I got to actually WATCH more than ever...of course, with a pandemic going on I didn't have a lot else to do, but still...it was fun! And I so miss it, as always.
OK. I'm tired, slept till noon today (got home about 5:30am from work) and then got up around noon so that I could sleep tonight. I think I'm done with the night-shifts..but that could change with an email or phone call. Tomorrow I HOPE to get back out on the Mt bike after work, and start on my comeback 4.0 (hopefully this will just me more of a continuation of comeback 3.0 with a 2 week break). Last year by this time I was killing it, riding in the best shape I've ever been in. I'd REALLY like to get back to that form here by the end of October...we shall see. It's all up to me, and what excuses I make not to ride at least 4 times a week.
And so. Game OVER. Damn...it was a good one!
Well, I had written a nice long comment on Tuesday AM, which promptly disappeared, and I didn't have the time to recreate it - and now I don't think that I have the memory to!
ReplyDeleteBut -- Richie Porte - a shame I think that he won't be a GC contender for Ineos, unless he targets the Giro or Vuelta - and I don't know if either of those would suit his style. Very happy for him in this TdF, regardless! The table (Chris and Christian) discussed his transfer, and Christian came down on the side of going for a big paycheck and security at this stage of his (Richie's) career, while Chris (not surprisingly) said that if he thought that he still had the legs to be a contender, he would choose that over the paycheck. Which I think didn't quite play out that way for him - he tried for the big paycheck after his Vuelta win, didn't get it, (can't recall if he ever rode for a ProTour team after that) and ended up racing for small teams stateside in the end.
Valverde has had a fabulous career overall, which I think gets overlooked in our focus on the grand tours sometimes. I do wonder if he is clean - Spanish sports have had a real problem with doping, and sometimes I think it may have been almost enforced on the riders by a kind of doping mafia, so I don't fuss about it too much. I just hope that the managers who were clearly linked with doping on their teams, like the former manager of Saunier Duval and Geox who now manages UAE, are indeed committed to clean training and competition.
I think TJ is solidly in the ranks of the early domestiques now. He seemed to have so much potential, but it seemed that he never could mentally or physically hold it together in the biggest races. I do hope that he is performing well in his current role, well enough to be kept on.
And Sep Kuss! (Told ya!!) One to watch, and to hope that he doesn't burn out quickly but is managed well by his team. Remember when the young/novice TdF riders would be sent home halfway through, to keep them from too quick efforts in their progress? I don't see any team doing that anymore.
Also I wonder if either Quintana or Bernal will take a stab at the Vuelta or Giro - but I do think there probably isn't enough recovery time (unless, their low finish/DNF were with just that in mind.)
ReplyDeleteThe world championships start today, Matt, and you can watch them with your Gold subscription!! I will be cheering on CHLOE DYGART, in the women's ITT!!! USA USA !!!
I knew about Lemond, Team 7-11 and such back in the early 80s because my husband and his best friend were fans - but I was usually at work on weekends, and never saw the racing. Tri was becoming a big sport in San Diego then too, and I had several co-workers who competed (one actually quit nursing and became a pro!) It wasn't until my cable service added OLN in 2004 (I think) and I could finally see what a Tour really was all about, with LA's star power, and the educational commentary of Paul & Phil, that I became a complete fan. As I mentioned before, I don't sit entranced through an entire stage as I did in those first year (cheering on Team CSC, btw) but it is still one of my favorite things - I really don't watch any other sport, except some of the Olympic gynmastics, and ice skating (when I remember to look for it - I used to be a big fan in the late 80s-90s too).
I also remember the years of OLN...that was when I first started watching road-racing (the Tour). Lance had already won at least one. Boy, those Tours were SO EXCITING!
ReplyDeleteSo...had there NOT been a Pandemic this year, I would be in London right now (would have flown over yesterday). We were to spend 3 days I think, then onto Munich for Oktoberfest for 10 days I think, then back to London for another 3 and then back home. Damn.
All of what y’all said. I really enjoyed Le Tour this year!
ReplyDeleteI started watching in the mid-Lance years, and as someone said when all the “stuff” came out, “I can’t go back and UN-enjoy watching him ride!” I learned everything I know from Phil & Paul & Bobke. I read a book of Bob’s (something like “how to watch the TdF” and read blogs (how I found Martin Dugard, and then Sara, and you guys!) and many days watched the daytime broadcast with P&P and then the evening show with Al Trautwig and Bobke and I developed a great respect for Bob’s ability to explain things.
Thanks, everyone, see you at the next one!
Barbara
Hey Barbara, thanks for stopping by! I miss the old M.D. days (especially when we were out of control when he was on a vacation or somehting, which is what got us asked to leave pretty much)...gosh that was so long ago! I see Sara on FB now and then...always wonder how she's doing. Haven't heard a peek from Jaanan or Theresa in ages...always wonder how they are doing. Anyway, it was great fun to be back in the saddle so to speak...so glad le Tour was able to happen in this insane year!
ReplyDeleteSara is doing great! She has a booming business counseling people on changing their eating habits - she became a nutritionist and discovered it’s not about the food, but the neuroscience of why we eat. It’s an amazing thing she’s built on FB - she has programs that you sign up for and she does one-on-one coaching too. I discovered a few months ago that her old blog page is still active, right where she left it. I sent a screenshot to her and we had a little reminiscing fun.
DeleteAnd Susie & Rae, wanted to give a BIG thanks to you both for continuing to visit here all year long, even tho we often don't have much to talk about! I'd just be talking to myself (shut up...no YOU shut up!) if it weren't for you. OK...guess I'll go talk to myself some more...
ReplyDeleteHey Matt, you're welcome but *I* am thankful for YOU that you've kept this site going! I so enjoy coming here to chat about the Tour & other things & would be inconsolable if you stop. I feel badly that I don't get here to comment often enough; the past several years have been not just one long struggle but various struggles on top of struggles. If I'd known what THIS year had in store, I'd have tried to enjoy the previous years more!
ReplyDeleteAnyhoo, loved your & Rae's additional comments. (Although, you must not read ALL of my comments as I did twice mention that CVV, Chris, etc were broadcasting out of NBC's Stamford's (not Stanford) studio & in fact, they used the NHL set. :) ) Also, these guys are used to commentating remotely as pretty much the only race they've actually been on site (at least for the past 7 years or so) has been the Tour. What I don't know is if the guys would all go to the Stamford location to broadcast together or separately from their homes. I much prefer the guys onsite as it brings their coverage more heft/authenticity/excitement. Still, I'm grateful we actually got daily coverage this crazy year, even though most of the usual nighttime broadcasts were delayed until after midnight! For the past 17 years, I would be giddy all day just thinking about settling down on the sofa at 8PM that night to watch that day's coverage. Yes, it chopped off a couple hours of the LIVE morning coverage, but I loved it anyway. I HOPE this year does not set a precedent & that the only reason we didn't get the "Primetime coverage" was because of the NHL Playoffs on NBCSN at the same time.
BTW, were there ever any TV shots of sunflowers? I missed a lot of the AM coverage & the midnight/1AM show was only about 2-3hours so much was left out. Either way, I didn't get to see any & just wondered if there had been any to see.
Actually I do remember you mentioning (in the first week I think?) about CVV/Chris/Pauls studio...totally thought that was a typo (Stamford) and meant to ask you about it (but forgot, my brain was all over the map after each stage). I had no idea where the NBCSN NHL studio was and had never heard of Stamford (and I don't really follow hockey). They had to all be at the studio, unless they had some real magic it sure appeared they were all actually in the same room...they showed them all together all the time, but I only recall seeing Phil and Bobke once or twice...separately...Bobke had his crazy beard, looked like a wild-man.
DeleteAs to sunflowers, never saw them, and it was either Phil or Bobke who mentioned the 2 month difference and that all the crops were in and it was a different landscape than in July. Certainly not quite as beautiful, but I STILL really want to go. Following the Tour even part way would really be something.
Wow...we are in our THIRD (or fourth?) HEAT WAVE of the year! (usually we have only 1, and it's just a few days). It was 102 in Santa Maria yesterday! AND the smoke is BACK! It wasn't the worst we've had, but it was still pretty bad...looked like we had medium level of fog all afternoon and evening (and still this morning). Those 2 new fires up north (Glass Fire, and can't remember the other one) that are wiping out Sonoma and Napa areas are pretty bad. Homes, businesses being lost, including wineries. You wouldn't think wildfires could rip thru green areas (such as vineyards) but they are so hot that pretty much everything burns...fanned by high hot winds.
ReplyDeleteAnd did you hear that a Trek/Segafredo rider was suspended for tweeting a racially charged emoji? (and I think there was other stuff involved too). Man, things are just insane right now (and for quite awhile now actually). Damn this year needs to end...we need a do-over!
I don't feel the same about Valverde as you & Rae but I AM amazed that the old man is still Top 10 at the Tour! (Or close). I guess I just feel huge amounts of resentment against any pro cyclist that was CAUGHT doping, got a slight punishment, NEVER apologized & yet has been fully accepted back in the peloton by other riders, fans & MEDIA while Lance is treated as a hardcore criminal! It ticks me off!
ReplyDeleteYou are correct that Lance & George both loved this year's Tour. I was able to see ALL their daily webcasts this year (not the Live ones but the one they do after each stage). The dynamic between L&G just cracks me up - they tease each other & Lance does his cranky act & it just makes me giggle. My only complaint is that the 1st 10 days this year it seemed Lance's daily promoting of his sponsors took over HALF of each episode but luckily, he divided up the promoting in later stages so it wasn't just 15 straight minutes at the top out of a 30-40 minute broadcast. This year they had remote guests - Andy Schleck & Johan, both a couple of times. Great to see & hear both! Johan had his own podcast each day too but I just didn't have the time to listen to both.
It's a shame that Barbara will leave us again until next year's Tour but at least this time, it's only 10 months away! BTW, when will the ASO do the Tour presentation? Which is usually in Oct but with the Giro & Vuelta & other races happening, riders will mostly be busy. Of course, I guess it will be "remote" anyway.
Hey Susie...I had my hard feelings towards Valverde but honestly they have slipped away as he just keeps riding and riding...I have to assume he's been clean ever since, and that he's doing what he does now blows my mind. I don't fault any of the riders from THAT era...the Euro peleton was already doing it (doping) cuz it worked. However, Lance did way more than that...he ruined peoples lives and careers. He didn't just deny, he went after, sued, used his immense power (as a multi-Tour winner) to blackball riders...that's why he got what he did (not that I'm a fan of that either...I truly think his wins should be put back in he books with an * by them, just like Barry Bonds records). That there are no winners for those 7 years speaks volumes...how far down to you have to go to find somebody not implicated/tainted/convicted of doping? It's just what it was in that era. And the lifetime ban, don't agree w/ that either.
Delete(I'm not done yet!) :) :)
ReplyDeleteNow that some time has passed, I'm trying to decide how I feel about this year's Tour. 1st, it was SO STRESSFUL each day! Worrying about COVID & if the guys were actually fit enough for such a hard course since they were not able to race until a month prior & in fact, many could not even train for several weeks back in Mar-May. And then seeing how STUPIDLY the ASO handled most of the mt stages, I was disgusted/angry/somewhat relieved almost every minute & it DRAINS you! And while I was THRILLED to see Team Deathstar on it's er, (probably temporary) deathbed, I wasn't so thrilled that one dominating team was merely replaced with another. But even worse, that ALL that work by Jumbo was mostly for naught as "their" win was snatched away at the last moment! STILL can't believe it & still can't decide if what we saw was "REAL" or, um, "performance enhanced". I was mighty impressed with Babyface (& Roglic) at last year's Vuelta & it was great to see the youngster do so well in the mts, but to ride like that in the TT? He was not quite 22! A BABY! I dunno. I'm TRYING to be accepting but don't you all question it? It is cycling after all!
And OMG, that horrific crash at the Women's TT World Championship! I wasn't watching at the time, but saw clips. Oh man, our BEST American female cyclist! Do you think she'll be able to recover or will her career basically never be the same, as it was for Andy & Taylor?
I did watch part of the men's road championship. Unlike a Tour stage, which I can sit & watch ALL of it, day after day, I just can't seem to do the same for LONG one-day races, especially when the course is a circuit. B-O-R-I-N-G!
I'm hoping we'll all be able to see the Vuelta this year (IF it takes place, the COVID#s in Spain keep rising!) & that it will be broadcast again on TV on the Olympic Channel (as for the past 2 years) or NBCSN. Still don't know what they'll do about snow & ice in the mts!
And glad to see I'm not the only one who occasionally has comments go POOF! It's weird, Matt, you type up as usual but when you click to publish, it just disappears!
Anyhoo, I'll be watching at least some of the NBA Finals this week & next as my Sweet Pea (LeBron) has got his team into the Finals once again. His 10TH Final! I'll never quite forgive him for joining the Lakers but I want him to win another championship! At least one, maybe 2 or 3! And this year, at least it won't be in front of the obnoxious LA fans, so maybe 2020 isn't alllll bad after all! ;)
Gotta scoot. Take care everyone & catch ya next week!
I'm not so upset about the flipping of the 1st and 2nd weeks as you (well, not at all actually), I like that they really changed it up (as a rider I wouldn't be so keen on it tho). I was totally worried about the riders form with the crazy split season, but honestly the entire peleton seemed quite fit (as evidenced in the wild race...the insane FIRST WEEK, the 2nd weeks fast (easy) stages when Bora was trying to drop the sprinters), it was just a wild-west race, don't recall seeing a Tour like that.
DeleteMy biggest beef w/ the ASO was the handling of the mountain stages and fans during the Pandemic...that there were SO MANY fans w/ no masks screaming at the riders from point-blank-range...it's just a miracle none of them got the virus! That was entirely unfair to the teams, the risk to them of the entire race was already huge, and THAT should have been under control from the start with LOTS of security in those sections. I still can't believe no riders tested positive after all that!
I finally caught up on all the UCI World's races last evening. Poor Chloe!!! why does it seem that our best American riders can't catch a break in the past several years? If her muscle was transected as her father said, I do wonder if she would ever be able to regain the same form.
ReplyDeleteI was happy to see our other 2 TTers place in the top ten, though.
I only watched the last 2 hours of the Men's RR (and the last less-than-an-hour of the Women's, knowing USA or anyone else didn't really have anyone who could overcome the current Dutch dominance) but I did find it an exciting race - lots of attacks, and to see Alaphillipe hold onto a mere 10-15 sec lead over the last, what, 40K!?! At one point that the Belgian team would surely continue to control the race, then I thought that Fuglesang had a chance, then I really thought that Van Aert or Roglic would pull it together - but the final chasers either really didn't have the energy left to cross that gap, or couldn't/wouldn't work together well enough to do so (something I will NEVER understand in cycling). Alaphillipe truly deserved the win - and I was happy to see it! His emotion was truly touching! French fans must be ecstatic!
BTW, Valverde finished 8th, ahead of all his other teammates (including Landa!)
So, I still need to catch up with LBL and the Fleche, then it is on to finding a way to see the Giro, the Ronde, and Roubaix for free. I may take advantage of the free trials of the other two cycling content providers here in the USA - not sure if any of those will be on the Gold pass.
Matt I find your posts interesting and appreciate that you maintain this site. Your posts, too, SusieB! Especially for talking about cycling. I used to frequent another cycling site, but it changed over the past couple of years, less pure fun, less banter during races (and I haven't been finding ways to watch livestreams in the early mornings, either), and more "serious" fandom, which I couldn't keep up with - I don't follow the sport THAT closely! So, thank YOU!
Hey Rae...I'm WAY behind too...haven't yet watched any of the races since le Tour! Just seems like I'm too busy (I'm not really, but that's my excuse). Since coming back from this last Mission I feel like I'm just catching up for some reason (the first entire week back we worked 12 hour shifts...it was horrible...maybe THAT's why I feel like I don't have any time). Last week was just 5 eight hour days...more like a week of decompressing after the short high-paced mission.
ReplyDeleteAnyway...TODAY I start working 2nd shift (2 to 10:30pm) for the foreseeable future. Wasn't my choice (I'm 3rd of 4 in the seniority line, 2 of us went to days and the other 2 get 2nd shift). But hey...I now can sleep in on weekdays if I want, do bike rides (every other day), walk the dogs...and still get a good nights sleep...maybe it will turn out to be an AWESOME shift to work!
Anyway, Susie, hope you had as great a socially distant birthday as is possible yesterday. Sure will be glad when this madness is over...I think I speak for the ENTIRE WORLD when I say that we WANT OUR LIVES BACK!
Hope you both have a good week! Just don't watch any news...that seems to help!
Watched FW last night, hope to catch up with LBL tonight. I don’t want to spoil, but I LOVED the end of FW! And I love those roads in Belgium.
ReplyDeleteFeel terrible for Chloe. She said that after she crashed, she thought, OH, I’m OK, if I can just get on my bike, I can continue... and then she got a look at her leg. UGH!!
Matt, I sent an update on Sara in reply to one of your messages above.
I am considering getting Gold just for the GIro/Vuelta. Following online just isn’t enough.
But I don’t know, I’ve been having trouble focusing at work and having a bike race on in the background wouln’t help. Maybe next year. Which hopefully will be “normal” - whatever that is.
Have a good week, and belated Happy Birthday, Susie!
Thanks so much for the birthday wishes! :) You don't have to worry about any "social distancing" for me as I STILL only go to the grocery store but twice/month at 6AM & then once/week to the office where most days I see no one except a few cars in the parking lot. I DID go to CVS 1st thing last Saturday morning but was in there less than 10 minutes. I had planned to bake myself my chocolate sour cream cake (SO good) on Sunday but I had trimmed my shrubs after I got back from CVS on Sat & my right wrist & hand hurt like the dickens! And this cake consists of constant stirring, 1st over the stove while the chocolate melts into the water & thickens & then while whisking in all the ingredients & I just couldn't do it. I plan to make it THIS Saturday, as long as I hold off on trimming those stragglers! :)
ReplyDeleteThe Giro is not on any TV channel that I get so I can't watch but I did see online that poor Geraint crashed Monday due to a WATER BOTTLE in the neutral zone & had to drop out the next day as he has a fractured pelvis! He must have been in SO MUCH PAIN trying to climb in stage. I'm not sure who the GC faves are now. And Sagan is there but his stage wins for the year still total zero. Of course, I don't know if any stages so far were his specialty so maybe whomever paid him the big bucks to be there is not fretting. Yet. Or maybe all they care is that he is THERE.
I had to giggle Matt because I must have confused you earlier. CVV & Chris, etc were together at NBC's Stamford studio for this year's Tour. What I don't know is if in previous races the past years when they remote-commentate (er, word?), if they have been together at the studio then. :)
I think but am not positive that NBC (via either the Olympic Channel or NBCSN) will be broadcasting the Vuelta, starting 10/24 (or 10/23?). Hopefully, you all can watch too & we can chat some more. :) I read today that fans will be BARRED from the mts in the Basque area. They should do it for ALL mt stages as COVID number keep rising there. How is the Giro handling or going to handle the fans on climbs?
Ooh, gotta run. Sweet Pea plays tonight in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. Hopefully, his team does better than on Sunday when I think they took their foot off the gas since they were up 2-0. I did discover that a bad thing about having your fave athlete playing on your birthday is that his team can lose!
Catch ya later!
Can't chat right now but are you reading what's happening at the Giro? It's the nightmare scenario of what COULD have happened at the Tour! And also why the Vuelta may be cancelled. Several riders (including Simon Yates) & support staff on various teams have tested positive. Teams Jumbo & Mitchelton-Scott have pulled out entirely due to positives on their teams. The COVID numbers in many European countries are on the way back to their early highs. America is not far behind & we have the SOCIOPATH who has fraudulently occupied the WH for most of the past 4 years holding RALLIES, largely WITHOUT MASKS, if you don't count the one that POS THREW OUT TO THE AUDIENCE!
ReplyDeleteStay safe! VOTE!
I'm really hoping the Vuelta will happen (because NBCSN is showing it and for once I HAVE that access!)...but I certainly understand for the Teams sake why it could be cancelled...Spain isn't doing very well Corona wise right now. Reading the riders comments on the hotels and such, my same comments from the TDF still apply....what is WRONG with those people?? It's like there are a whole bunch of Covidiots that think they are in a different situation than the rest of the world! Just floors me that SO MANY PEOPLE can be SO SELFISH! Anyway, we will see how things continue at the Giro, and IF the Vuelta even tries to happen. On a brighter note, nice to see Sagan finally won!! Hooray for him...it's been a terrible year for him...maybe he just wasn't totally ready at the Tour...sounds like he's riding much better now. His win sounds just like the ol' Sagan of old...so nice to see (er, read about)! It was bold, daring, and took a lot of heart and energy to carry it thru to a win.
ReplyDeleteYes about Sagan - I saw that he won after I posted yesterday. Happy for him!
DeleteI was also hoping the Vuelta would happen, partly because you'd be able to watch it too this year & we could all chat like for the Tour. But I'm so worried for them. Spain is WORSE than Italy & getting worse by the day. I don't know what the Vuelta's protocals are but hopefully they are a hell of a LOT better than the Giro's!
Anyhoo, Sweet Pea won his 4th NBA championship on Sunday. I watched all the Finals games & the last Western Conf Final game. I'm thrilled for LBJ & the players, just not happy that the 'Lakers' won again. I've hated the Lakers for decades & was pretty p'oed when LeBron went there. After watching 40-70 of his games each year between Xmas Day 2011 & the 2018 Finals (that's a LOT of games!), I stopped watching entirely. Except for one game last season & the one game this season when he passed Kobe on the All-Time Scoring List. But I wanted to watch him win his 4th ring so when watching the Finals, I saw his team not as the despised Lakers but as "Team Sweet Pea". :) He is only about 2 months from his 36th birthday, which in basketball years means he's MY age! ;)
I saw that the Lakers (aka Team Sweet Pea!) won...figured you would be conflicted/happy-sad. I'd say he is still playing at the top of his game...not sure how long he can maintain that tho...I'd guess another few years? Strange watching news highlights of sports...games played with NO fans (cardboard cutouts in the seats)...this is all still so surreal...
DeleteSo we are in the middle of our FIFTH heat wave of the year! That is just insane! Usually he have 1 or MAYBE 2 short heat-waves in a year....set another all time high today (101)...we had FIVE record highs back in the August heat-wave, and I can't even find the records for the other highs this year...but I certainly believe we have a record number of record highs this year. And record wildfires in CA (so far OVER we've lost over twice the record number of acres burned, and Oct is our worst month). Things are out of control...record number of named storms (in the Atlantic...not sure about the Pacific). I think the world is spinning out of control...AND I dropped off my mt bike at the shop yesterday with bottom bracket issues...THAT is the last straw! I can't take it any more! (oh...and I got put on 6pm to 2:30am shifts for this week...THAT sucks too!) My world is spinning down the drain and picking up speed! And now the madness of the election? And the Pandemic? Fires/smoke? What's next? Zombies and Sharknados...that's what I predict!
ReplyDeleteI feel ya, Matt! Some days I'm just barely holding it together! I'm counting down the days until the election when HOPE & SANITY will finally arrive after the past 4 years of Hell. But I've written off the rest of the year & even January too. If we don't get a SAFE vaccine by early Spring, I don't know how much longer the country & world can keep IT together!
DeleteQuestion for you - do you usually have to rotate shifts like this at work or is this 'special' during the pandemic? You are the ONLY person I know whose work life is almost "normal" in that you go to your work place every day & still go on work trips. Those trips were affected by the locations, but you did go. Also, has the past 8 months changed your idea of when you'll retire? It has lengthened or postponed it indefinitely for many while after a couple months (stuck in my house 24/7) I screamed I would "NEVER RETIRE, I'LL WORK TILL I'M 80 JUST TO BE OUT OF THE HOUSE!", I've since then decided to CHOP off 5 months from my target & am thinking about chopping off another 4! So, I was wondering if it's changed your thinking at all.
Tomorrow, I go the the High School 3 minutes from me to drop off my ballot in the "Drop-off Box". About half my voting life, I've voted absentee but this will be the 1st time I've "dropped off" the ballot & I'm weirdly excited. :)
Have a great weekend! Ooh, next weekend I get a flu shot for the 1st time in 40 years in a "drive up, park, stick your arm out the window" thing. Hopefully, it goes better than the last time I got a flu shot, which is the reason I hadn't gotten another in 40 years! ;)
Hey Susie...nothing has changed in my retirement plans (hopes)...I will have my 85 points (years of service w/ my company + my age) on March 28th 2022 (I think)….I will have 19 years of pension accumulated, + my 401k, my IRA, my Navy retirement, and when I max it out (67 or 68) I would then take my SS...which would be about the time Jeannie retires (she needs 5 years after I'm done). Nothing that has happened will affect that (I think/hope)...my 401k is still doing quite well (took a hit back in the early Covid days, but I've climbed almost all the way back to where it was last Feb). I've been invested HEAVILY in my company stock in my 401k for many years now (which all financial people say don't do)...but it has been doing 20 to 30% annually...why would I NOT take advantage of that??
ReplyDeleteAnyway...I sent in our ballots early in the week (dropped them off at the post office in person).
As to my job...the wild shift changes are when we have a "Mission" or a payload (spacecraft) in a processing center here on base...we not only transport but we also help prep for launch (there is a lot that needs to be done to a spacecraft before it launches). My wild shifts this week (I've had 4 different start times in the last 5 days) are due to the processing thing. But our part is now done (for now) and Monday we all go back to normal 8 hour days (HOORAY!)
As to flu shots....in the military you get one every year unless you have a Dr.s certificate that you are allergic...so I got flu shots every year, and I just try to keep it going. I know a lot of people claim they got the flu from the shot, but that's pretty much impossible (it's a dead virus vaccine)...there are reactions and can be mild flu like symptoms but it's NOT the full blown flu. One of the only years I didn't get the shot was when I FIRST went to the ships (after I retired from the Navy)...flew to Japan and picked up my ship, and my VERY FIRST DAY AT SEA EVER (my entire Navy career was on shore duty)...I came down with the real thing...so I was seasick AND had the flu at the same time. Boy...I can remember WISHING I would die....for about 36 hours it was hell on earth...felt like every bone in my body had been broken, I was freezing (chills) and had spewed whatever I had in my body that could spew out both ends till it was only vital organs left, and then the dry heaves just kept coming). I think I'm still missing a kidney from that...believe I spewed it out in one of the bad moments of dry heaves. All I can say is that I NEVER EVER want to catch the flu again...so I'll take the shot every year!
Anyway...I gotta run...dinner time (my last night of 2nd shift...get off about 8pm tonight...yea!!) have a great weekend Rae and Susie! Stay SAFE and do something FUN (in your house)!