What a shambles. Some knobhead driving a coach managed to get it stuck under a gantry right on the finishing line with a few minutes to go of stage one. So they moved the finish to 3km out. Just as the riders had committed to the all out effort of the earlier finish they moved the coach and reverted to the proper finish line. Then a massive pile up took out Cav. and all the other favourites to win. Madness.
That's why I can't resist watching it whenever I can. Some of those guys are immune to pain because they go sliding along the floor getting a hefty dose of gravel rash then ride next to the team car while the doctor patches them up. I can't think how they manage it :wink:
I watched it last year for the first time & really got hooked on it. I always imagined it was a rather gentlemanly affair even though I knew it was one of the toughest sporting events in the world. I was wrong, it is brutal! A few years ago we were in the Pyrenees after the tour & drove up a stage that they had ridden, it was almost vertical and first gear in the car. How they managed it on a bicycle I can't imagine. Massive respect to those guys especially compared with those overpaid, winging prima-donnas that ponce about on a football field for (some of the) 90 minutes.
Coach driver was at least the first wearer of the sprinters points jersey-first across the line..... wonder if we will see el diabolo this year ! They go up alp d'huez twice this year ..... Once would kill me. Although to be frank, just looking at the stage on a map kills me! Its a cracking programme over the course of three weeks, providing a snap shot into some nice French scenery and usually has some amusing moments-usually the crashes and downhill descents. well worth watching. why is it I can't see Sundays highlights show on itv player yet-anyone know?
Nothing to do with the bus driver - not at all his fault. The gantry is moveable to ALLOW all the team buses through, there was a fault with the system or the operator, all the other team buses had already gone through. TBF it did take them ages to extricate the bus, they presumably thought it would collapse once the support was removed. Difficult decision to make on the fly, moving the finishing line to 3K out. The crash wasn't really caused by this, it might have happened (and does happen) anyway. Anyway the times were neutralised as a result. HTH
sprint points weren't though- you could argue they should also have been given the shenanigans over moving the finish point back and forth so close to the end of the race P.s. was there not the point made that the coach driver was later than the other buses arriving, which may have contributed, albeit he was being waved through-avance, avance!! Le crunch!!
yeah but he would only have taken any directions offered to him - he may (and should) know the height of his own vehicle but the boom operator is in charge..................
So, after today's masterclass, a Brit. to win Le Tour three years running then. Chris Froome this year, back to Sir Brad. next year. Get your bets placed...............now.
have we had a drug scandal yet this year? Come one someone, get with the program..... what's in vogue this year....?
