That was really quite exciting, eh? I thought for sure Kirchen had it. WTF were they thinking, running the route through that little bridge at 50 mph? I thought for sure somebody was going in the water.
Did I catch that right? There are no time bonuses this year for finishing first, second or third? That seems like it will really cut down on both the excitement, the incentive for the riders to go all out at the end, and the tactics.
Finally caught the first two stages on the DVR tonight. I'm liking the vibe of the broadcasts. Especially the "HD" version of Versus. Have no idea who will be wearing Yellow a week from now, but that's part of what makes it interesting.
yeah that was one solid breakway, they had a 14 minute lead at one point. The chipotle team is getting a lot of love from the various U.S media outlets. I like them because I like burritos.
Don't look now, but the two American teams are 1 and 2 in the overall standings. Great ride by David Millar today. Who would have thought the Schumacher dude had THAT in him?
I was watching the time trials this morning, and they had the most awesome interview with Jens Voigt, where he was essentially talking about how it is all in the mind. When he is in a TT, this is what his mind is telling his body. <thick german accent> Shutup body, do what I am telling you to do </thick german accent>
Did you also notice that Jonathan Vaughters said "f**k" when they were interviewing him in the team car as he road behind David Millar? The reporter guy asked him something like "What's going through your mind right now?" And Vaughters said "f**k, man ...." The interviewer's jaw just dropped to the bottom of the car floorboard. Such are the hazards of trying to interview a team manager when his star time trialist is in the middle of a time trial in the TDF. I laughed my head off.
No! I missed that, I need to catch the rerun this evening. I remember thinking when they started the interview, this can not end well.
Who is the new host on the announcing crew for Versus? And who had that role in the past? The show seems so different, not sure if I like the new guy. He doesn't seem to know many details about the riders.
Sheesh - the Frenchy lead over 200M today to get swept up and beat with probably less than 5M to go. Amazing how well the pursuants always time these things.
The new announcer is Craig Hummer who apparently replaced Al Trautwig. Al had done it for several years and I don't know why he was replaced. I thought Al did a good job.
Al was worse than this new guy. I'm glad he's gone. Of course, I'd prefer they just stick Phil and Paul in the booth and let them talk. Those other guys talking is just filler.
Yes, Al Trautwig, that's who I couldn't remember-liked him better. But agreed, Phil and Paul should be the only ones doing the announcing, with Bobke as the color commentator.
a great sprint today. Well done Cavendish. That was an excellent race. Trautwig and Hummer are harmless. Not great and not bad, I appreciate their effort. Liggett and Sherwen are the voices of cycling as I'm concerned. Bob Roll, I hated him the first couple years he was on, adds his own silliness. I've grown to like his take on the races
Hummer knows nothing about cycling, and his experience consists of being a competitive swimmer and professional lifeguard, and announcing bull riding for Versus. He can't pronounce any of the names or places in the event, and he sounds vaguely like the school of fart joke radio announcers on Austin sports talk radio these days.
And by the way, could you post spoiler alerts before giving out the results of a day's stage, as some of us do not view the stage until the evening's replay. Thank you for your support.
SPOILER ALERT Right now there are about 30 miles left and the escapees are only 2 minutes ahead of the peloton. I think with this being the first mountain state the riders are trying to keep from losing the race rather than winning it. It is probably good strategy. Still somoene might break away again but I think they will catch these three escapees.
Brutal crash. Hitting a tree head on. That's gotta hurt. TELL me this isn't the world's toughest sport.
Anyone know the deal with the newspaper at the top of the longest climb? The crowd was handing some of the riders newspapers as they went over the top.
I thought it was so that they could read yesterday's stock quotes as they make their way down the descent. Today's stage was brutal in that rain. Good to see another win for Colombia.
Craig is very astute. In the competition between him, Paul, Phil and Bob he was the leader before Stage 8 today with 9 points, Bob had 7, Paul 5 and Phil 1. Plus he predicted today's stage winner.
