Tdf

don't tell me that Wiggins is the wrong team leader.
he has been in the thick of the action since day 1 and if his strength and fitness are not deserving of the yellow jerset then what the hell was he doing helping with the lead out today.
Wiggins and sky have been awesome throughout this tour to the extent that anyone that has has tried to attack or threatened to attack have lost more time. i think it is testament to how sky have controlled and set the pace.
Cavendish now with 22 stage wins was just awesome today. the overhead shot of his sprint was just jaw dropping. lets hope sky now win the last 2 remaining stages.
i am looking forward to a beer after the Bentham 10k and making sure that the local pub has the finish on the TV so the local drunken bums can appreciate a true british champion

agreed that was a spellbinding finish.

cav winning the last stage on the Champs will be the icing on the cake.

1&2 on the tour and the greatest ever sprinter....
The French are bound to go on strike...;)

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Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak

agreed that was a spellbinding finish.

cav winning the last stage on the Champs will be the icing on the cake.

1&2 on the tour and the greatest ever sprinter....
The French are bound to go on strike...;)

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OH you cant mention a country on this thread.
Possibly a mid range european country that host the tour with a 3 coloured flag and a bloke call Thomas who won king of the mountains.

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Originally Posted by IanDarkpeak

agreed that was a spellbinding finish.

cav winning the last stage on the Champs will be the icing on the cake.

1&2 on the tour and the greatest ever sprinter....
The French are bound to go on strike...;)

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French have had a good Tour. KOM jersey, stages and a prospect for the future. And apparently they like the Brits winning. Anyone but Armstrong.

Agree that Wiggins' achievement fantastic but Cav is one of the greats. Voted best tour sprinter ever.

Didn't have much time for Cav, but he's gone up in my estimations during this tour. IMO he still has a long way to go before he matches super mario's 42 stage wins in the giro, and all of that with more panache, élan and flair than you can shake a stick at.

If a sun tan and nice red top = panache, élan and flair or a lazy approach to the Tour and Vuelta, never completing.....

Let's face it, the Tour is the place to win sprint stages and all others are 2nd division.

There was a huge degree of panache and swagger yesterday, not just from Cav, but from the Sky lads who brought it back and showed the other teams that they'd basically given them a few crumbs over the last 2 weeks.

History may not be so kind to The Lion Kings style

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...sAUAZYuuAvkD1w

Mmmh. He wears the same top as me though: MG-GB so he can't be all bad.

GB

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Originally Posted by shaunaneto

History may not be so kind to The Lion Kings style

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...sAUAZYuuAvkD1w

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the more i watch the replays of yesterdays sprint the more i am convinced the others stopped pedalling in disbelief at the speed Cav went past them.
got Ingleborough fell race today but hoping by the time i get back Froome or Wiggins have another stage win. cant wait for tomorrows sprint. who said this years tour was boring? the news is full of cycling so probably one of the best eras for british cycling and the olympic road race only a week away as well

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Originally Posted by Witton Park

If a sun tan and nice red top = panache, élan and flair or a lazy approach to the Tour and Vuelta, never completing.....

Let's face it, the Tour is the place to win sprint stages and all others are 2nd division.

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His job was to sprint, who cares whether he finished or not. And lets not forget he won the worlds, milan-san remo and gent wevelgem 3 times.
The place to win for an italian is probably the Giro. On the basis of your point it should be noted that the majority of Coppi's grand tour success came in the Giro, would you say he was second division?
And before anyone says it I'm not comparing Coppi to Cipo, what I am doing is saying the tour isn't the be all and end all of cycling.

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Originally Posted by Stagger

I agree, the french cheer their men, as do the dutch so how is it a crime to cheer a British lad?

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of course they do, it's not, and I didn't say it was. I said 'it is not ALL about nationality'.
Which means if the price of having a Brit / Sky winner of the TDF every year was a boring Tour, then personally I wouldn't want to pay it.
Being English and following road cycling, you have had to find your heroes from other countries - whether Roche and Kelly, or Millar, or Ulrich, or Voigt, or Jalabert or Hinault. That has made it a sport sans frontieres, in a refreshing contrast to other sports.
People followed cycling because they loved it, not cos they were 'shouting for England'.
Now that you can shout for England, there's nowt wrong with that at all. But it's not the most important part of following cycling, for me.

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Originally Posted by The devil's own

what I am doing is saying the tour isn't the be all and end all of cycling.

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yes, well said.

Wiggins having a storming TT, boring???

I wish I could average 50kph on the flat.
Great to watch.

Awesome...

Why's he got two CD's stuffed down his shorts? Or are they afterburners!

Chapeux Bradley

Never thought i'd see the day. Genuinely never thought it'd happen but there it is!

A 3rd Cav win would just top it all off.
Sky as a team have been head and shoulders above every other team.
Lets hope they can keep em together and raise the bar even higher.

I went through a spell of cynicism with the Tour... the endemic drug taking just turned me off what is a real spectacle.

I may be being very naive, but I believe him and I take a good deal of pleasure seeing Bradley Wiggins win... chapeau mate...:thumbup:

... don't fall off tomorrow eh?!

Monsieur Wiggins, Le premier Ros Boeuf

If Bradley doesn't get knighted after this i'll renounce my citizenship. It may not have been as spectacular as Contador or Pantani, but Wiggo isn't a druggie.

We have a British winner of the tour we should rejoice, but we're British so I'm sure we'll find something to winge about!

I couldn't care less if he's a tester, he's the fastest man out there and he's a decent guy too.

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Originally Posted by Dynamo Dan

If Bradley doesn't get knighted after this i'll renounce my citizenship. It may not have been as spectacular as Contador or Pantani, but Wiggo isn't a druggie.

We have a British winner of the tour we should rejoice, but we're British so I'm sure we'll find something to winge about!

I couldn't care less if he's a tester, he's the fastest man out there and he's a decent guy too.

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totally agree

Sad ending for his father, I'm sure he's looking down with pride though.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-...of-how-1152656
No Wiggins whinge from me, well done to the first Brit to ever win the biggest bike race in the world.

read a piece in The Times yesterday about Gary Wiggins - yes very sad.
That was a spectacular time trial - 49kph for 54km, my word.
After 20 days of riding, what, 160-170km a day on average? Unthinkable.
Really looking forward to watching the finish today.

I was pondering this, while I was watching the time-trial yesterday: what would have happened if for some reason Froome was looking like he was going to come in three minutes faster than Brad - an accident for Wiggo, say, or a catastrophic loss of legs for him combined with a freakishly fast ride for Froome.
Or more realistically, let's say the pre-TT time gap had only been 30 seconds: it's quite possible that Froome on a good day could take 30 secs out of BW on a bad day.
If it was looking like that at the last split, would Yates have had to tell Froome to hold off and go slow, to stick to team orders?
I'm assuming yes.

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Originally Posted by Dynamo Dan

If Bradley doesn't get knighted after this i'll renounce my citizenship. It may not have been as spectacular as Contador or Pantani, but Wiggo isn't a druggie.

We have a British winner of the tour we should rejoice, but we're British so I'm sure we'll find something to winge about!

I couldn't care less if he's a tester, he's the fastest man out there and he's a decent guy too.

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Dave Brailsford deserved one too.

It seems natural to me to assume that someone who beats a load of drug cheats is probably a drug cheat himself.

This has been established wisdom over the last few years. But I see that now it's a Brit, most people on here think he's clean.

I'm very impressed that he's on the brink of winning and it's a wonderful acheivement, as it was for the previous winners. But I suspect he's cheating like the rest of them.

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Originally Posted by ZootHornRollo

I was pondering this, while I was watching the time-trial yesterday: what would have happened if for some reason Froome was looking like he was going to come in three minutes faster than Brad - an accident for Wiggo, say, or a catastrophic loss of legs for him combined with a freakishly fast ride for Froome.
Or more realistically, let's say the pre-TT time gap had only been 30 seconds: it's quite possible that Froome on a good day could take 30 secs out of BW on a bad day.
If it was looking like that at the last split, would Yates have had to tell Froome to hold off and go slow, to stick to team orders?
I'm assuming yes.

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No, would have been every man for himself in the TT, no team orders. Froome waiting on the last mountain stage was all about gaining the most time for both him and Wiggins over Nibali and, the best way to do that, was to stay together. Nothing to be gained by issuing team orders on a TT. That was the joy for Sky of having one and two in the standings, they had a fall back if Wiggins had of had a bad day.

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Originally Posted by noel

It seems natural to me to assume that someone who beats a load of drug cheats is probably a drug cheat himself.

This has been established wisdom over the last few years. But I see that now it's a Brit, most people on here think he's clean.

I'm very impressed that he's on the brink of winning and it's a wonderful acheivement, as it was for the previous winners. But I suspect he's cheating like the rest of them.

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Fancied some fun on a Sunday morning Noel? :w00t:

I doubt he's a cheat, the whole of British Cycling's reputation is at stake not just his. People say the tour has become boring, but I think it's just more human because it's cleaner.

In fact the whole of cycling is cleaner now, but because the odd person is being caught and prosecuted people say it's riddled with drugs!

It's a shame when people with little knowledge of the sport cast aspersions on a rider, their only justification being the mistakes of the past.

The best riposte to Noel I could find.

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Originally Posted by stevefoster

Sad ending for his father, I'm sure he's looking down with pride though.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/other-...of-how-1152656
No Wiggins whinge from me, well done to the first Brit to ever win the biggest bike race in the world.

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Another victim of alcohol - sad.

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Originally Posted by Dynamo Dan

The best riposte to Noel I could find.

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Your link doesn't work. Is this what you were trying to link to?

how does phil liggett keep a straight face as paul sherwin reads out yet another pre-prepared tourbook nugget about a local castle or village? anyone?

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Originally Posted by shadbolt

Your link doesn't work. Is this what you were trying to link to?

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That's it.

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Originally Posted by mudclawed

how does phil liggett keep a straight face as paul sherwin reads out yet another pre-prepared tourbook nugget about a local castle or village? anyone?

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I am enjoying the tourist bits! Their castles are in better nick than ours :D

Come on Colonel Wiggo :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Alf

I am enjoying the tourist bits! Their castles are in better nick than ours :D

Come on Colonel Wiggo :thumbup:

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True, but our riders are in better nick! Allez Colonel Wiggo! :-)

Allez Rosbifs!

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Originally Posted by Dynamo Dan

I doubt he's a cheat, the whole of British Cycling's reputation is at stake not just his.

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You could say about any rider. Him being British doesn't make any difference to my argument.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dynamo Dan

In fact the whole of cycling is cleaner now, but because the odd person is being caught and prosecuted people say it's riddled with drugs!

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I think the "odd" person being caught proves that many more are cheating. Are you suggesting that only the cheats are being caught?

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Originally Posted by Dynamo Dan

It's a shame when people with little knowledge of the sport...

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What is a shame is that the riders of the past (and those who still currently cheat) have tainted their sport. I don't have an axe to grind against cycling and would love to think that it's clean. But experience has taught me otherwise.

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Originally Posted by Dynamo Dan

...the mistakes of the past.

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Mistakes? "Oops, I must have fallen over and accidentally injected a litre of my own blood from 6 weeks ago, used EPO and small amounts of testosterone, and a range of other illegal drugs and then used a cocktail of other drugs to mask their effects."

I'm afraid they get all the scepticism they deserve.

That doesn't take away from what I also said, which is: well done to Bradley Wiggins. Fantastic achievement.

Looking at my previous post, it looks like one of CL's. :o