Anybody watching the Tour de France?

Title says?

I never watched a Tour until last year, and watching Jonas and Tadej battle it out was awesome. Jonas putting on that masterclass at the TT was incredible to watch. So far, he looks like he's in good shape. I'm not sure how serious Tadej's attack yesterday was, but Jonas was right there with him.

I watch as many stages as possible. Love me some TDF! 

I've not watched yet, but will be trying to follow along and hope to watch at least a few of the stages.  The TdF (and some of the other european races) can be quite the spectacle.  It's such an amazing display of atrhleticism and strategy.

I want to, and even reluctantly signed up with Peacock so I could do so. But I don't have 5-6 hours during the work day to watch it (or after work every night). Coverage used to include a 2 or 3 hour condensed version at night that was perfect. But I guess they did away with that?

I used to watch it a lot with my dad when I still lived with my parents–my dad was and still is big into cycling–I might have to tune into a stage or two if one of my streaming apps gets me access to it.

Now I feel like I need to watch Breaking Away again.

I follow live updates while at work, which is fun but I wish I had a tv to follow along occasionally.  I'm also really interested to see the Vingegaard/Pogi/Roglic battle over the coming weeks. 

Also a couple neat storylines developing already, with the first Black tour stage winner today in Girmay!  

Shoutout to Girmay for sure.

I'm rooting for good competition, but I do wonder if Roglic has lost the edge to truly be competitive with the other two. 

I also enjoy the dichotomy of Tadej vs Jonas. Tadej is the super awesome all around cyclist who is aggressive, fast, and will attack often and make you catch him. Jonas seems to be an unflappable tactician who might not be able to blow you away in an attack, seems happy to hang right with you until you exhaust yourself and then he will take over the lead and not give it back. Especially in the high mountains.

I like watching it on TV.  Its OK.    I hate all the want-to-be riders that form packs locally and try and take over the roads for the next 2-3 weeks thinking they are somehow riding in it here in MA.  Really Annoying.  I call them Lance-Want-To-Be's.   You get a pack of them riding 5-6 wide on a state highway and they somehow think it is ok and they have the right of way while doing this.  

While I have never actually called the police it has been considered.  I have seen road rage from both riders in the packs and from drivers trying to get by them.   

Needless to say this has tempered my liking of the actual TDF.  As far as I am concerned It can not be over soon enough to get these idiots off the streets.

Next time I see some of this I will video it and show you all what I mean.  Is this a local thing?  Do other parts of the country / world have this problem?

In reply to dean1484 :

I've never really seen it in 30+ years of road riding or driving in the Philly area... but I also generally road ride alone as I don't really like road riding in groups.   

Years ago I followed the TDF, but these days the extent is watching highlight recap and analysis videos on YouTube.  I used to watch Lance's WEDU videos but lately I've preferred Chris Horner's less rambling videos.  

In reply to dean1484 :

they have the right of way to 2 abreast plus 4 feet in MA, and are entitled to the entire lane.  Cyclists are legally road users.  

In my area group rides will take up the entire lane usually 2-3 abreast but any more then that you are not in 1 lane so people don't.    You are supposed to filter down to single file to facilitate passing, but it is a guideline not the law.   Some cyclists groups push the limitations of what they are legally permitted to do (roll stop signs, ride wider then 2 abreast) but generally when riders are in groups its for protection, and our area is rural enough that they are not actually impeeding or imposing on other road users.  I have seen MANY more car drivers disobeying their legal requirements WRT to cyclists then the other way around.  In my areas 1-2 riders a year a struck and killed by people failing to give adequate clearance to individual single file riders.  I completely understand why a group of riders would take a more assertive posture when on the road to protect themselves.   I know it's annoying to have to delay 20-40 seconds to wait for an opportunity to safely pass a group or individual rider but that is your obligation.  By forcing you to do that they have enusured that you don't attempt to pass them at the speed limit with inadequate clearance.  And remember they are LEGALLY permitted road users allowed to occupy a full lane.  

nocones said:

In reply to dean1484 :

they have the right of way to 2 abreast plus 4 feet in MA, and are entitled to the entire lane.  Cyclists are legally road users.  

In my area group rides will take up the entire lane usually 2-3 abreast but any more then that you are not in 1 lane so people don't.    You are supposed to filter down to single file to facilitate passing, but it is a guideline not the law.   Some cyclists groups push the limitations of what they are legally permitted to do (roll stop signs, ride wider then 2 abreast) but generally when riders are in groups its for protection, and our area is rural enough that they are not actually impeeding or imposing on other road users.  I have seen MANY more car drivers disobeying their legal requirements WRT to cyclists then the other way around.  In my areas 1-2 riders a year a struck and killed by people failing to give adequate clearance to individual single file riders.  I completely understand why a group of riders would take a more assertive posture when on the road to protect themselves.   I know it's annoying to have to delay 20-40 seconds to wait for an opportunity to safely pass a group or individual rider but that is your obligation.  By forcing you to do that they have enusured that you don't attempt to pass them at the speed limit with inadequate clearance.  And remember they are LEGALLY permitted road users allowed to occupy a full lane.  

Quoted for emphasis.  

In regard to the original post complaining about cyclists, I have not seen any correlation between the Tour de France and increased cycle traffic in all my years of driving and riding.  Although, this is the good weather part of the year in parts of the US, so more causal riders are likely to be out in the summer anyway.  Also, this is the middle of the season of actual events.  I actually kind of wonder if you found yourself in the midst of an actual event at some point.  Here in Michigan, there are many cycling events spring-fall that draw pretty big numbers of riders and can really fill up the roads.  It's worth noting that the roads are NOT otherwise closed to traffic during most cycling events here.  I recommend you deal with it by chilling out and riding a bicycle.  ;)

Can we stick to discussing the TdF and not make this a debate on how random cyclists behave on random roads?

dyintorace said:

Can we stick to discussing the TdF and not make this a debate on how random cyclists behave on random roads?

I second this motion. If you need to rant, please use the rant thread.

In reply to Gary :

And I assume you have six-pack abs, Fabio?

No, but you won't see me in spandex.

Following the tour with daily YouTube NBC sports updates (about 20-25 minutes typically) and listening to The Move podcast daily  as well. Interested to see how it unfolds in stage four today and also curious to see if old man Cavendish can break the tie . 

fusion66 said:

Following the tour with daily YouTube NBC sports updates (about 20-25 minutes typically) and listening to The Move podcast daily  as well. Interested to see how it unfolds in stage four today and also curious to see if old man Cavendish can break the tie . 

I'm hoping Cav gets a stage win this year. After watching the documentary about him, I'm pulling for him!

Speaking of documentaries, season 2 of Unchained came out not long ago and is fantastic!

In reply to dyintorace :

So much of sprinting is positioning and Cav had some bad luck yesterday getting caught behind that late crash.   But I agree it would be cool if he can get one more win.

Still... the finish of Stage 3 was something to remember. 

Stage 4 today should be entertaining.  Can pretty much guarantee Pog will attack. How many will be able to follow him.  Vingegaard almost certainly, but how many of the others can should make it fun to watch. 

I'm  curious about the attrition  rate due to the heat? Who has been training for it?

Pogi takes 50s on Vingegaard early, the tone has been set!  Looked to me like both had the legs, but Tadej was a monster on the descent while Jonas was a little more measured. 

Can't fault him too much, it's a miracle he's in this Tour after that terrible crash he had descending earlier this year.

budget_bandit said:

Can't fault him too much, it's a miracle he's in this Tour after that terrible crash he had descending earlier this year.

Ooooh!  There's crashes?!  I'm an avid cyclist, I do wear spandex, but I don't watch bike races.  But if there were more gnarly crashes, I bet viewership would go up!

It's the Tour de France.  There's always at least one gnarly crash somewhere on most flat stages.   Unfortunately, many are race-ending, if not career ending.  These guys aren't swapping paint, they're wagering skin and bone on the chance of gaining a few seconds.