The Annual Lanterne Rouge Thread
Welcome! Grab yourselves a mug of tea and a pile of cakes and settle down to watch the finest race in history.
It's that time of year again- the time to honour those brave and noble men who actually spend more time riding their bicycles around France than the ones wearing fancy jerseys and spraying champagne from the podium. Our heroes have to battle climbing huge mountains as fans pack up, team buses that may have left by the time they reach the finish, and, worse of all, the daily possibility of elimination. Heavily weighted towards the sprinters, the injured and the young, the Lanterne competition is frequently more absorbing than the GC.
So...........Lanterne fans will be thrilled by the inclusion this year of Kenny van Hummel, a man who has displayed the finest qualities of a Lanterne in recent times, but who has yet to reach Paris. Still, there are always new stars in the making and who knows if this year is the one that a future Wim Vanseverent emerges.
I was going to draw up a Monkey style PTP guessing game, but the technology defeats me. I will though, attempt to bring a daily report to this thread.
In true Lanterne fashion, this may well be some time after the actual finish of the race.
It's that time of year again- the time to honour those brave and noble men who actually spend more time riding their bicycles around France than the ones wearing fancy jerseys and spraying champagne from the podium. Our heroes have to battle climbing huge mountains as fans pack up, team buses that may have left by the time they reach the finish, and, worse of all, the daily possibility of elimination. Heavily weighted towards the sprinters, the injured and the young, the Lanterne competition is frequently more absorbing than the GC.
So...........Lanterne fans will be thrilled by the inclusion this year of Kenny van Hummel, a man who has displayed the finest qualities of a Lanterne in recent times, but who has yet to reach Paris. Still, there are always new stars in the making and who knows if this year is the one that a future Wim Vanseverent emerges.
I was going to draw up a Monkey style PTP guessing game, but the technology defeats me. I will though, attempt to bring a daily report to this thread.
In true Lanterne fashion, this may well be some time after the actual finish of the race.
0
Comments
-
Tusher wrote:Welcome! Grab yourselves a mug of tea and a pile of cakes and settle down to watch the finest race in history.
It's that time of year again- the time to honour those brave and noble men who actually spend more time riding their bicycles around France than the ones wearing fancy jerseys and spraying champagne from the podium. Our heroes have to battle climbing huge mountains as fans pack up, team buses that may have left by the time they reach the finish, and, worse of all, the daily possibility of elimination. Heavily weighted towards the sprinters, the injured and the young, the Lanterne competition is frequently more absorbing than the GC.
So...........Lanterne fans will be thrilled by the inclusion this year of Kenny van Hummel, a man who has displayed the finest qualities of a Lanterne in recent times, but who has yet to reach Paris. Still, there are always new stars in the making and who knows if this year is the one that a future Wim Vanseverent emerges.
I was going to draw up a Monkey style PTP guessing game, but the technology defeats me. I will though, attempt to bring a daily report to this thread.
In true Lanterne fashion, this may well be some time after the actual finish of the race.
looking forward to the reports on this much maligned group(etto)! 'Do not compare your bike to others, for always there will be greater and lesser bikes'0 -
enjoyed your reports last year, and was reminded of them during the Giro as Amaroy (sp?) had a good ride.0
-
You gotta think if KVH can finish, he's got it sewn up. Although the Eytalians have form coming into this, going for the threepeat.It's a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you're tired. You quit when the gorilla is tired.0
-
RichN95 wrote:I'm looking for Bert Grabsch
No, with the amount of flat TTing in this year's race I think Bert Grabsch is a good shout for a top 10 finish overall."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
Just to whet our appetites-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chFwY6dpVs
Gotta love the Skil-Shimano top, wish I'd bought one now.0 -
0
-
inkyfingers wrote:RichN95 wrote:I'm looking for Bert Grabsch
No, with the amount of flat TTing in this year's race I think Bert Grabsch is a good shout for a top 10 finish overall.
Have you been smoking something of dubious origin?0 -
Rick Chasey wrote:inkyfingers wrote:RichN95 wrote:I'm looking for Bert Grabsch
No, with the amount of flat TTing in this year's race I think Bert Grabsch is a good shout for a top 10 finish overall.
Have you been smoking something of dubious origin?
Ha Ha, I was hoping somebody would bite at that little spratling!
He might not be lanterne rouge though, that will likely be somebody who will soft pedal round the TTs."I have a lovely photo of a Camargue horse but will not post it now" (Frenchfighter - July 2013)0 -
Tusher wrote:
Remember watching that in '09.
That's why the Tour is so good. You get people like that in all the GC's, but only the Tour do you know about it - let alone get it filmed and produced into a little 5 minute section.0 -
They need to clean their bidons, really having trouble with them sticking!You live and learn. At any rate, you live0
-
Tusher wrote:
Yes, some beautiful (hmm, perhaps emotional) moments indeed. Who is the Euskatel rider 3:00 min in?0 -
Tusher wrote:Just to whet our appetites-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3chFwY6dpVs
Gotta love the Skil-Shimano top, wish I'd bought one now.
1min20 in, Kenny is cheekily asked "Kenny, you don't seem to enjoy riding in a bunch very much?" To which his reply is: "Yes I do, but it is so damn difficult to stick with them".0 -
Kenny's got to be the favourite.
Prudhomme called him the worst climber ever to have started the TdF.
That montage above is a lot of Kenny saying "...then I got dropped..."0 -
Like this a lot - cheers for postingTusher wrote:0 -
KVH is 8/1 favourite. Surely that's some sort of value?0
-
Got to be a good price that, he's got a compact chainset on for TT. Gotta love him.0
-
Rick Chasey wrote:Kenny's got to be the favourite.
Prudhomme called him the worst climber ever to have started the TdF.
That montage above is a lot of Kenny saying "...then I got dropped..."
He did indeed, although I have a sneaking suspicion that there was probably a telephone conversation between M. Prudhomme and Vacansoleil Towers which went somewhere along the lines of-
(bad French accent) "And so, you are a Pro-Tour team, so I 'ave to invite you to Le Tour, but will you be bringing your star sprinter, M. Van Hummel"
Jean-Paul Van Poppel: "S'ok Christian, we know he cannot ride over a railway bridge, we'll not embarrass you by bringing him. One day, I'll bring my Boy though."
Prudhomme: "Ah, mon ami, but we were 'oping you would bring Kenny this year"
Van Poppe:l "Eh?"
Prudhomme: "Mais oui, 'e ees a now a beeg star and we may need to focus the TV cameras on the back of the race in case the front of the race sends people to sleep this year. I will make sure 'e will be followed by a TV car at all times. Just think of 'ow 'appy your sponsors will be!"
Van Poppel: "Not a France TV2 car, I hope?"
Prudhomme: "Didn't do Hoogerland any 'arm, mon ami."
Van Poppel: "Er, I think Johnny may have a different view on that, but I see where you're coming from. Yes, yes, I can see it now, a household name, the star of the 2012 Tour!"
Prudhomme: "And we could 'ave a leetle presentation for 'im in Paris. A formal one, not the Sporza-back-of-the-team-bus-one"
Van Poppel: "It's a deal. Fancy a sunny holiday with the family in August?"0 -
FlipFlopper wrote:KVH is 8/1 favourite. Surely that's some sort of value?
Where did you get those odds?0 -
Someone from Greenedge0
-
Sportingbet.comRick Chasey wrote:FlipFlopper wrote:KVH is 8/1 favourite. Surely that's some sort of value?
Where did you get those odds?0 -
And they're off......
A short prologue can be difficult for the aspiring Lanterne, but I note spectacular progress from today's podium-
in third place, Matt Lloyd, Lampre's tame Aussie, at 1minute 5 seconds, whilst we have joint winners 1 second ahead of him- AG2R's Mikael Cherel(French) and Argos-Shimano's Roy Curvers (Dutch).
Plenty of time for the Italians to show their hand though.0 -
Sivtsov ? he will be seriously worked.... I know he wasn't slow today tho"I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
--Jens Voight0 -
-
After stage 1, the Lanterne Rouge has gone from Dutchman Curvers to Frenchman Levarlet.
Levarlet was in a crash 25 km before the finish, and lost additional time (compared to others in the crash) because he gave his bike to team-mate Simon, who was also in the crash and whose bike was damaged. Levarlet had to wait until a replacement arrived. So he has a clear 'lead' of about 2 mins.
But he’s not expected to keep the Lanterne Rouge, because he’s a pretty good climber - as he showed in the 'Tour of Castile and Leon'.0 -
Stage 2- Brice Feillu came in 9' 55" today. Well, as sprinters struggle in the high mountains, then perhaps this is a climber struggling on a pan flat stage. But I suspect that there is another reason, possibly mechanical reason for his win today.
Of greater surprise was today's second place- Marcel Kitten-Kittel- the new German sprinting superstar, who must have fancied his chances of crossing the line first. It appears that he was suffering from an 'upset tummy'. And the poor soul had to wear white shorts as well. He crossed the line at 6' 33", along with Sebastian Langeveld, Yann Huguet and Matthieu Sprick. Although Huguet and Sprick are only in this position as domestiques to Kitten-Kittel.
In the GC, Brucey still has it, at 13' 37", but the Kitten is just waiting in the wings at 11' 17". A spectacular match ahead- a pure sprinter and a pure climber battling it out.0 -
Tusher wrote:Stage 2- Brice Feillu came in 9' 55" today. Well, as sprinters struggle in the high mountains, then perhaps this is a climber struggling on a pan flat stage. But I suspect that there is another reason, possibly mechanical reason for his win today.
Of greater surprise was today's second place- Marcel Kitten-Kittel- the new German sprinting superstar, who must have fancied his chances of crossing the line first. It appears that he was suffering from an 'upset tummy'. And the poor soul had to wear white shorts as well. He crossed the line at 6' 33", along with Sebastian Langeveld, Yann Huguet and Matthieu Sprick. Although Huguet and Sprick are only in this position as domestiques to Kitten-Kittel.
In the GC, Brucey still has it, at 13' 37", but the Kitten is just waiting in the wings at 11' 17". A spectacular match ahead- a pure sprinter and a pure climber battling it out.
Ah, was wondering what happened to Kittel. I'd tipped him for today.
I'll just keep quiet about it being for the stage rather than the Lanterne Rouge.0 -
Menchov's Stabilisers- What a brilliant name!!
I would put money on the Kitten winning a stage this year though- he is supremely talented.0
