Tour de France

Natasha Whittam wrote:I don't doubt it's exciting if you're competing in the sport, but I'd put it "up" there with snooker and bowls as TV entertainment.

Take the train to one of the mountain stages... pack a lunch... sit alongside the road... and you might find yourself embracing the sport. Watching the mad Frenchmen and women run alongside the riders is something that you don't see every day. Watch the caravan of advertisers precede the cyclists and you will experience something else that is novel in the world of sports.

The towns that the tour starts and finishes at all pay money for the privilege of hosting a tour. You won't find a room in any of those towns on race day... but the excitement of all those people in medieval villages is truly pleasurable.

Yes, it is different than the frenetic pace of football... but to witness it in person might give you a different perspective... but you still would not watch it on television, which doesn't translate the sport as well. Still... to be there... is truly blissful... especially on July 14th (le quatorze de juillet)... when all of France celebrates. We sat outside a small village having lunch one year, and it was really fun to watch the tour fly by. The lunch and wine were not bad either! Try it!

observer wrote:Take the train to one of the mountain stages... pack a lunch... sit alongside the road... and you might find yourself embracing the sport.  

I'm sorry, but that's a load of rubbish.

How can anyone get excited sitting at the site of the road watching bikes whizz past? One bike is exactly the same as the next. Surely you'd get the same experience if you brought a packed lunch and sat on the side of the A6.

And you don't even get to see who wins!

It's a bit like going to a football match but not being able to see either net.

Nat on a bike.

Natasha Whittam wrote:I don't doubt it's exciting if you're competing in the sport, but I'd put it "up" there with snooker and bowls as TV entertainment.

Don't forget golf and darts. How they can be described as spectator sports is simply beyond me.

xmiles wrote:

Natasha Whittam wrote:I don't doubt it's exciting if you're competing in the sport, but I'd put it "up" there with snooker and bowls as TV entertainment.

Don't forget golf and darts. How they can be described as spectator sports is simply beyond me.

I love watching golf and darts. Looking forward to the Open. As for darts, the venues for competitions are always sold out...

Natasha Whittam wrote:

observer wrote:Take the train to one of the mountain stages... pack a lunch... sit alongside the road... and you might find yourself embracing the sport.  

I'm sorry, but that's a load of rubbish.

How can anyone get excited sitting at the site of the road watching bikes whizz past? One bike is exactly the same as the next. Surely you'd get the same experience if you brought a packed lunch and sat on the side of the A6.

And you don't even get to see who wins!

It's a bit like going to a football match but not being able to see either net.

Remember, Nat is always right... but:

3.5 billion people watch the tour on television
188 countries carry the coverage
2,000 journalists are accredited to cover the event
12 million spectators watch the tour from some point along the route
30% of the spectators are women

So to answer your question... How could anyone get excited... ask one of the 12 million along the route. It may not be your cup of tea, but it is certainly a formidable sport to many. I expect to see you by the M6 later this week with your lunch.

observer wrote:Remember, Nat is always right... but:

3.5 billion people watch the tour on television
188 countries carry the coverage
2,000 journalists are accredited to cover the event
12 million spectators watch the tour from some point along the route
30% of the spectators are women

So to answer your question... How could anyone get excited... ask one of the 12 million along the route.  It may not be your cup of tea, but it is certainly a formidable sport to many.  I expect to see you by the M6 later this week with your lunch.  

The people who watch it are the people who live there. If the Red Arrows started flying around my penthouse I'd watch from my window - but if they were flying 2 miles down the road I wouldn't bother.

And let's be honest, most of those spectators are just folk walking to work or the shops.

If the Tour went to North Korea for a year how many of those French folk would travel to watch it? None.

Natasha Whittam wrote:

observer wrote:Remember, Nat is always right... but:

3.5 billion people watch the tour on television
188 countries carry the coverage
2,000 journalists are accredited to cover the event
12 million spectators watch the tour from some point along the route
30% of the spectators are women

So to answer your question... How could anyone get excited... ask one of the 12 million along the route.  It may not be your cup of tea, but it is certainly a formidable sport to many.  I expect to see you by the M6 later this week with your lunch.  

The people who watch it are the people who live there. If the Red Arrows started flying around my penthouse I'd watch from my window - but if they were flying 2 miles down the road I wouldn't bother.

And let's be honest, most of those spectators are just folk walking to work or the shops.

If the Tour went to North Korea for a year how many of those French folk would travel to watch it? None.

Perhaps you should consider that 2,000,000 of your countrymen turned out to see the Tour de France the last time it visited England... obviously you not being one of them in 2007. Your observation that most of the spectators are just folks walking to work or shops in absolutely wrong... they travel an average of 80 miles and line the streets... it is actually an event when the tour goes through towns. Most people take the day off and make it a holiday when the tour comes. So your arguments hold little credence to reality... and I'm not a big cycling aficianado... just one who has been there more than once and has actually seen the event over the course of a month. It's quite remarkable and while the Tour will not go to Korea, it has gone to neighboring countries and produced equally large crowds.

Since the cities pay a fee to host the start of the Tour, you should believe they expect a benefit from hosting it. The following have hosted the start or will host it in coming years...



1954: Amsterdam, Netherlands
1958: Brussels, Belgium
1965: Cologne, West Germany
1973: Scheveningen, Netherlands
1975: Charleroi, Belgium
1978: Leiden, Netherlands
1980: Frankfurt, West Germany
1982: Basel, Switzerland
1987: West Berlin, West Germany
1989: Luxembourg, Luxembourg
1992: San Sebastián, Spain
1996: Den Bosch, Netherlands
1998: Dublin, Ireland
2002: Luxembourg, Luxembourg
2004: Liège, Belgium
2007: London, United Kingdom
2009: Monte Carlo, Monaco
2010: Rotterdam, Netherlands
2012: Liège, Belgium
2014: Leeds, United Kingdom
2015: Utrecht, Netherlands
2017: Düsseldorf, Germany
2019: Brussels, Belgium

Add the neighboring countries that the Tour has visited, even for a few minutes, and you should readily see there is a worldwide demand for the event. You rail against others who do not attend football games, and here you rail against a sport you have not seen in person. It truly is a spectacle... and I might have said the things you are saying before I went to my first Tour... but remarkably it changed my opinion. Even with the drug scandals, riding up the Alpe d'Huez is a gruesome and harrowing experience. You should try it in a car one day and you might have some respect for the difficulty involved. Seeing it on race day would further enlighten you to the passions of those who follow the sport.

I've no idea how far the bikers cycled when the Tour was in England, but I'm guessing they went past thousands of houses and businesses. Of course people are going to pop outside for a quick look.

What I genuinely admire about Observer is that he is intelligent enough to always put forward a good case in any debate. Most posters either agree or disagree without expanding too much on the how or why, unlike Observer who actually articulates his point of view with salient facts.

I can remember some time ago there was a thread about the death of Meredith Kercher and in my opinion he absolutely nailed it.  
Refreshing. 

boltonbonce wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/40529614

It's been known about for years.

Millar was at one time our most successful Tour de France rider and the first Brit to win the King of the Mountains jersey.

He was around during the drug era and I guess he was involved as most were.

Great climber and the best we had until Froome came along.

Best of luck to him - it's his life and he should be free to be happy in the way he wants.

Geraint Thomas crashes out of the Tour with a broken collarbone - big, big loss for Froome.

Anybody who is interested in the race can watch it live now on terrestrial TV - ITV4 - it is the hardest stage in the Tour today and will be key as to who will win the Tour in Paris.

Treat yourself and watch it all unfold before your very eyes now!

Wow - Porte crashes out - looks a bad one - hope he's ok.

He's brought down Dan Martin - which probably takes away his chances of winning in Paris.

It's all happening!

Fantastic stage - really, really great race.

It had everything -

Treachery - Aru streaking past the yellow jersey when he put his hand up to signal a mechanical failure.

Tradition - the rest of the riders stopping Aru as a respect to the yellow jersey.

Tragedy - Great rider as he is, something always goes wrong for Froome - today a horrific crash - hope he's ok.

Team work - Froome and Aru (deadly enemies just minutes ago) having to work together to catch another rider to stop him winning time on them both.

and finally

Surprise - Everyone thought a French rider had won - even him - everbody in France celebrating - but the photo finish picture showed the winner was actually a Columbian!

Pure theatre again!


Rest day tomorrow.

Fascinating events unfolding in todays stage.

Froome lost the lead by 4 seconds yesterday to Aru (Italian).

Froome has a team mate Landa (Spanish) who is 3 minutes behind the lead of Aru.

A former great rider Contador is further back in time than that.

Contador and Landa have attacked the leaders today and are getting on for 3 minutes in front - so Landa is the leader of the Tour on the road.

Contador is after the stage win - Landa gaining time over the other riders - so they are working together (even though they are on different teams).

Aru will soon after 'attack' on the mountain in order to stay in yellow.

Froome only has to sit behind him and gain back over 4 seconds on him at the end of the stage.

All to play for.

Riveting viewing.

Fun day!

Landa moves up to 5th overall and gives Team Sky options for future stages on this Tour.

A Frenchman wins on Bastille Day as well!

Primoz Roglic (Slovenia) - one to watch for the future.

Won the big mountain stage today and although he wasn't a threat to the Tour leaders, and thus wasn't marked and allowed to go up the road - time wise matched the best (GC) contenders racing each other up the mountain and also did the same (time trialling solo) as the GC boys raced as a group to put time into Aru who was having a bad day (and eventually fell off the podium to fourth).

Very impressive stuff from the former world junior ski-jump champion!

Froome now 25 second advantage on Uran (Columbian) and Bardet (France).

The final mountain stage tomorrow, a 'normal' stage Friday and a Time Trial Saturday is all that is left with the gentle ride to Paris on Sunday where tradition says the yellow jersey is not attacked.

Froome is the best time trialist of all those incontention so everyone else will have to attack him in the next two days in order to go into the TT with some time in hand of Froome, to stand any chance of winning themselves.

Froome simply needs to defend by marking his rivals in the next two days - and attack them at the death of the stage if he can.

Anything can happen in cycling - that's part of its beauty to me -so nothing is certain but Froome is looking good to win this Tour with just 3 days racing left.

Good for Froome. He's had some bad luck this tour so let's hope he can win it.

Another great stage today, with Frenchman Warren Barguil winning not only this final mountain stage but the overall King of the Mountains competition of the Tour.

Froome did enough to gain a couple of seconds on probably his main rival in the Saturday Time Trial, Uran (Columbia) and only lose four to second place Romain Bardet (France).

Tomorrow 'should' be a nothing much stage (even though it is the longest of the Tour), but Bardet and his French team will have to magic something up to gain time back on Froome - and in particular Uran - if he wants to beat Froome/stay in second in the Tour in front of Uran - as Froome is probably the best of the three at TT and Bardet the worst.

With Froome having 23 seconds in hand on Bardet and Bardet only having 6 seconds on Uran, it is also so close that a flat tyre or a fall in the next two days could alter everything.

I think Froome will win but this could well be the beginning of the end for his era as a new group of young riders seem to be coming through and capable of matching and beating him.

Even Froome's right hand man at this Tour Landa (Spain) who is in fourth himself even though he's sacrificed his chances in the service of Froome, will be his rival next year as he's joining another team.

Anyway need to get this Tour over with first.

Froome's Team should be good enough to get him through tomorrow and the sprinters should mop up the win (and the time bonus points for the top three places), so Froome should go into the TT with his destiny in his own hands (and the reliability of his bike).

I've got my fingers crossed for him even though he's not been at his very best this Tour.