TDF 2013 Stage 12 ***Spoilers*** Fougeres - Tours

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  • tailwindhome
    tailwindhome Posts: 19,310
    goonz wrote:
    Thread rules:

    No arguing
    No rock formation posts
    No local history posts

    :mrgreen:

    I'm a bit bored of the geology posts now and a bit ambivalent towards the chateaus (chateaux?)

    We need more food and drink posts....
    “New York has the haircuts, London has the trousers, but Belfast has the reason!
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    TailWindHome wrote:
    We need more food and drink posts....

    I'm working on it...
    Correlation is not causation.
  • TimB34
    TimB34 Posts: 316
    Apparently the traditional Paris-Tours finish can't be used because of new tram line, which explains the bends near the end.

    Tram looks nice though
    800px-Tram_Tours_Maquette-exterieur1.JPG

    Tours is also the place to go to see stuffed elephants - Fritz, who escaped from the Barnum & Bailey circus in 1902, went mad and had to be shot. The city paid for him to be stuffed and he's still on display:
    fritz-mort.jpg
    Fritz%20empaill%C3%A9.jpg
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    edited July 2013
    13-18 mph crosswinds all day.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,661
    Above The Cows wrote:
    TailWindHome wrote:
    We need more food and drink posts....

    I'm working on it...

    Should be pretty comprehensive today!

    If you don't like the background info posts then just skim over them like a Frenchfighter post
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,562
    ddraver wrote:

    If you don't like the background info posts then just skim over them like a Frenchfighter post

    No objection to background info, idle chat, betting talk or cricket updates - just to the feeling I'm in a school playground.
  • RideOnTime
    RideOnTime Posts: 4,712
    TheBigBean wrote:
    ddraver wrote:

    If you don't like the background info posts then just skim over them like a Frenchfighter post

    No objection to background info, idle chat, betting talk or cricket updates - just to the feeling I'm in a school playground.

    yeah agreed,

    Now can you get out the way while I play hopscotch :)
  • nweststeyn
    nweststeyn Posts: 1,574
    Bit peeved with the prohibition of geology related posts - I'll take my business elsewhere thankyouverymuch.

    *storms off in a huff*
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,661
    Lucklily I got it in before (I saw the post about) the ban!
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • goonz
    goonz Posts: 3,106
    RideOnTime wrote:
    TheBigBean wrote:
    ddraver wrote:

    If you don't like the background info posts then just skim over them like a Frenchfighter post

    No objection to background info, idle chat, betting talk or cricket updates - just to the feeling I'm in a school playground.

    yeah agreed,

    Now can you get out the way while I play hopscotch :)

    Yep I kind of agree too, during the Giro and the ToC the chat was much less childlike and much more about the races.

    Perhaps its just the whole atmosphere of the Tour has swept us all up in a swirl of yellow.
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  • goonz
    goonz Posts: 3,106
    nweststeyn wrote:
    Bit peeved with the prohibition of geology related posts - I'll take my business elsewhere thankyouverymuch.

    *storms off in a huff*

    That was only a little tongue in cheek, I knew they were coming.
    Scott Speedster S20 Roadie for Speed
    Specialized Hardrock MTB for Lumps
    Specialized Langster SS for Ease
    Cinelli Mash Bolt Fixed for Pain
    n+1 is well and truly on track
    Strava http://app.strava.com/athletes/1608875
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    ATC's Guide to the Loire Terroir

    So as our resident geologist has informed us this is chalk country and this means a different terroir to that found further south. We are now in the land of the well known wines of Muscadet, Sancerre, Chenin Blanc and Pouilly-Fumé (interestingly vineyards producing these varieties are also springing up in the chalk regions of southern England but I digress).

    Vineyard_in_the_Loire_Valley_zpsdb65e42c.jpg

    The Loire Valley of course is famous for its wine production and has a long history of winemaking dating back to the 1st Century. In the High Middle Ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from Bordeaux.

    Particularly around Tours, the Touraine Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée, we see some of the most diverse planting with reds, whites and rosés. The main white grape is the Chenin Blanc but Sauvignon Blanc is also a popular variety. Vouvray is also from the Touraine region, made famous in the 19th Century by Balzac. For the red wines we have Cabernet franc as the most popular variety with some smaller vineyards of Cabernet Sauvignon, Gamay and Malbec. The rosé wines are made from an assortment of Gamay, Pineau d'aunis, Pinot gris and Pinot noir (which from experience is want to give you an awful hangover). The wines can vary in sweetness from, Cav will be pleased to note, bone dry (often appearing as sec on the wine label) to very sweet moelleux wines that are often infected by noble rot. The reds in the Touraine are rich in tannins.

    534px-Chenin_blanc_grapes_zps3a2c28da.jpg

    And to add a little competition to proceedings for years the Touraine region would compete with the Beaujolais region for the release of an early bottling of Gamay that would rival the Beaujolais nouveau.

    Explore them on the "Route touristique des vignobles", a marked route that winds along the 800 km span of the Loire Valley. You can explore the vineyards by bicycle using the Loire cycling route (Loire à vélo). In the race region today there is a 20km stretch that takes in the hillsides between Amboise and Montlouis-sur-Loire (AOC Touraine and Montlouis-sur-Loire), and another 30km stretch that takes in Chinon and the Véron peninsula (AOC Chinon).
    Correlation is not causation.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    RideOnTime wrote:
    Now can you get out the way while I play hopscotch :)

    Love it! :mrgreen:
  • Crankbrother
    Crankbrother Posts: 1,695
    edited July 2013
    How about just posting links to 'things of interest' rather than filling up the thread with whatever you can google?

    These threads are supposed to be about the racing and are just getting filled up with people posting any old rubbish because the racing hasn't started yet ...

    As for those bickering ... there always seems to be a fulcrum of those responsible ... They know who they are so should knock it on the head ... Also, if everyone could try and be a little less British(ish)-centric in taking offence at the opinion of others we might get a better thread ...

    I'll be back around 1pm when the racing starts ...

    EDIT: In the time I typed that look what happened ... ffs ...
  • FoldingJoe
    FoldingJoe Posts: 1,327
    What time are the fellow forumers descending on Peleton in Spittalfields?
    Little boy to Obama: "My Dad says that you read all our emails"
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  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    What speed should the crosswinds be to create anything interesting? It's crosswinds all day with 13-18mph.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,661
    edited July 2013
    Using the mighty Leiden Swift Medium fast group as a basis, usually Echelons start happening at about 25-30kph or so

    Mind you they re Dutch so they know in their DNA how to slice through wind like it's not there...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • above_the_cows
    above_the_cows Posts: 11,406
    Crankbrother wrote:
    How about just posting links to 'things of interest' rather than filling up the thread with whatever you can google?

    These threads are supposed to be about the racing and are just getting filled up with people posting any old rubbish because the racing hasn't started yet ...

    As for those bickering ... there always seems to be a fulcrum of those responsible ... They know who they are so should knock it on the head ... Also, if everyone could try and be a little less British(ish)-centric in taking offence at the opinion of others we might get a better thread ...

    I'll be back around 1pm when the racing starts ...

    EDIT: In the time I typed that look what happened ... ffs ...

    You know what, I don't complain when you post and subject us all to your misanthropic world view. Ignore it if it doesn't interest you instead of having a passive aggressive winge and attempting to police what other people do.

    This is the Tour de France, some of us enjoy the whole spectacle. Apologies if this bothers you in your trash can of misery.
    Correlation is not causation.
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    edited July 2013
    ddraver wrote:
    Using the mighty Leiden Swift Medium fast group as a basis, usually Echelons start happening at about 25-30kph or so

    Could get interesting then. If I remember correctly, this was also the stage where HTC split the peloton - as can be seen in 'Chasing Legends'.
  • ddraver
    ddraver Posts: 26,661
    True but then we (Ok They, I ve not been for ages now :( ) average 35kph whereas these bad bois will be doing 45-50...
    We're in danger of confusing passion with incompetence
    - @ddraver
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    ThomThom wrote:
    Could get interesting then. If I remember correctly, this was also the stage where HTC split the peloton - as can be seen in 'Chasing Legends'.

    I love that movie! I have it on DVD and watch it on the TT. I always get out of the saddle for a sprint on the Champs Elyesees segment and dream! :mrgreen:
  • RideOnTime
    RideOnTime Posts: 4,712
    Crankbrother wrote:
    How about just posting links to 'things of interest' rather than filling up the thread with whatever you can google?

    These threads are supposed to be about the racing and are just getting filled up with people posting any old rubbish because the racing hasn't started yet ...

    As for those bickering ... there always seems to be a fulcrum of those responsible ... They know who they are so should knock it on the head ... Also, if everyone could try and be a little less British(ish)-centric in taking offence at the opinion of others we might get a better thread ...

    I'll be back around 1pm when the racing starts ...

    EDIT: In the time I typed that look what happened ... ffs ...

    See U later.

    Missing U already. :oops: :oops:
  • TheBigBean
    TheBigBean Posts: 21,562
    ThomThom wrote:
    ddraver wrote:
    Using the mighty Leiden Swift Medium fast group as a basis, usually Echelons start happening at about 25-30kph or so

    Could get interesting then. If I remember correctly, this was also the stage where HTC split the peloton - as can be seen in 'Chasing Legends'.

    The problem is that it came at a great cost - the whole HTC team was completely spent by the end, so unless there are several GC teams ahead and one behind (unlikely due to echelon paranoia), I can't see it happening again.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    TheBigBean wrote:
    The problem is that it came at a great cost - the whole HTC team was completely spent by the end, so unless there are several GC teams ahead and one behind (unlikely due to echelon paranoia), I can't see it happening again.

    A sprint team could do it, but I think the Peleton is alive to that possibility now. Especially if a high placed GC contender makes the break, I can see all hell breaking loose!
  • UncleMonty
    UncleMonty Posts: 385
    That last corner is only 250 / 300m to the line, the final leads outs will be fighting hard for position going into it, first one out wins is my guess.
  • thomthom
    thomthom Posts: 3,574
    TheBigBean wrote:
    ThomThom wrote:
    ddraver wrote:
    Using the mighty Leiden Swift Medium fast group as a basis, usually Echelons start happening at about 25-30kph or so

    Could get interesting then. If I remember correctly, this was also the stage where HTC split the peloton - as can be seen in 'Chasing Legends'.

    The problem is that it came at a great cost - the whole HTC team was completely spent by the end, so unless there are several GC teams ahead and one behind (unlikely due to echelon paranoia), I can't see it happening again.

    No, nothing big will happen I'm sure. But Froome's team is not that great this time and the rest of the competitors will have to be innovative in order to gain anyting on Froome. But I think Menchov is really the only GC contender to be stupid enough to be caught in echelons.
  • TMR
    TMR Posts: 3,986
    ThomThom wrote:
    But I think Menchov is really the only GC contender to be stupid enough to be caught in echelons.

    *Cough* Contador *Cough*
  • hammerite
    hammerite Posts: 3,408
    I quite like the transport, food/drink and geological posts. Keep them up guys. It's a bit like having David Duffield on the thread.

    There's not a lot to talk about for the race today - at least until the race gets going and there's an incident. Who will win the sprint? How long will the break be allowed to gain? Will a team attempt to split the field (if anyone goes for it I think it will be Belkin)? That's about it isn't it?
  • hammerite
    hammerite Posts: 3,408
    Anyway..... 20km gone, break of 5 (Flecha, Gavazzi, Sicard, Mori and Delaplace) has 4 mins on the bunch. Gavazzi is highest placed at 50 mins down.
  • RichN95.
    RichN95. Posts: 27,241
    The Mad Rapper wrote:
    ThomThom wrote:
    But I think Menchov is really the only GC contender to be stupid enough to be caught in echelons.

    *Cough* Contador *Cough*
    You could have put Iban Mayo at the front of the front echelon when they formed and he still would have ended up in the third one.
    Twitter: @RichN95

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