Tour de France stage 2 York-Sheffield *Spoiler*

Lanterne_Rogue

frenchfighter wrote:

I really do not understand these fans that travel all the way to their spot, wait all day for the riders to come, then instead of looking at the riders and enjoying a rare moment of joy, they are looking through the screens of their cameras, tablets and phones. And for what? Some crappy, blurred shot no doubt.

Of course you're right. Do they not realise that they could sit at home on their computer and post - uncredited - other people's photos instead?

mulletmaster

Interesting that Nibali was allowed a bit of rope. I can't help thinking neither Froome or Berto would have been allowed away like that. Not sure if that means that the big boys are just letting him fight for scraps thinking he isn't a credible long term threat?
That's to take nothing away from Nibs though, classy win and pulls that horrendous Italian jersey off as well as could be expected. GC kicking off on stage two...brilliant for almost everyone.

gsk82

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

I really do not understand these fans that travel all the way to their spot, wait all day for the riders to come, then instead of looking at the riders and enjoying a rare moment of joy, they are looking through the screens of their cameras, tablets and phones. And for what? Some crappy, blurred shot no doubt.

Your lack of understanding appears to simply reflect that you are a narrow minded, miserable, whining so-and-so and also not privy to the capabilities of a smart phone on burst mode!

Two cracking days out, with around 30s of seeing riders in total, but the riders are but a tiny part of the experience. Wrestling with strangers for packets of Haribos thrown from the publicity cars is great fun!!

i agree with 100% of him on that one. i spent the weekend telling my girlfriend to stop it. if you want pics look at professional ones after watching the race with your eyes.

mulletmaster

I agree to some extent but I have some great photos (for an amateur and in my humble opinion) of the TTT Stage 1, the break forming at the start of stage 2 and kittel crossing the line arms aloft at the end of stage 2 from this years Giro. I've had them professionally printed and plan on framing them. It's a pretty great memento because I took them and one that I'm unlikely to see repeated on my own streets 400m from my front door, in my lifetime. As long as it doesn't get in the way of anybody else or the riders, let people make their own mementos and try not to be too aloof.

Macaloon

Thanks for the Froome dossiers I missed it live and it just seemed odd straight after such a strong day. Editing magic. Nibali in yellow is perfect.

Lanterne_Rogue

mulletmaster wrote:

Interesting that Nibali was allowed a bit of rope. I can't help thinking neither Froome or Berto would have been allowed away like that. Not sure if that means that the big boys are just letting him fight for scraps thinking he isn't a credible long term threat?
That's to take nothing away from Nibs though, classy win and pulls that horrendous Italian jersey off as well as could be expected. GC kicking off on stage two...brilliant for almost everyone.

The other GC contenders kept him within a couple of seconds and don't have to worry about defending the yellow jersey for the next few days. Probably not a bad result? The cleverness was realising Sagan was isolated and catching him in a moment of indecision.

wallace_and_gromit

gsk82 wrote:

If you want pics look at professional ones after watching the race with your eyes.

If you can find a pro photo of Geraint Thomas's arse, albeit slightly blurred, just near Green Hammerton then send me the details, please. Otherwise I will continue to take photos of any event I attend as I experienced it.

frenchfighter

Wallace and Gromit wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

I really do not understand these fans that travel all the way to their spot, wait all day for the riders to come, then instead of looking at the riders and enjoying a rare moment of joy, they are looking through the screens of their cameras, tablets and phones. And for what? Some crappy, blurred shot no doubt.

Your lack of understanding appears to simply reflect that you are a narrow minded, miserable, whining so-and-so and also not privy to the capabilities of a smart phone on burst mode!

Two cracking days out, with around 30s of seeing riders in total, but the riders are but a tiny part of the experience. Wrestling with strangers for packets of Haribos thrown from the publicity cars is great fun!!

Well you can suck on your opinion.

The last time I was at a publicity caravan (Voeckler's TdF win in Bellegarde sur Valserine) I witnessed quite a few grown men push little children out the way to get a 10p packet of Haribos.

frenchfighter

underlayunderlay wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

I really do not understand these fans that travel all the way to their spot, wait all day for the riders to come, then instead of looking at the riders and enjoying a rare moment of joy, they are looking through the screens of their cameras, tablets and phones. And for what? Some crappy, blurred shot no doubt.

Of course you're right. Do they not realise that they could sit at home on their computer and post - uncredited - other people's photos instead?

Go and check the video I posted to see what the pros think about it and how many swipes at phones they made today. They would agree with me.

I'm glad you enjoyed your day out and I would have done had I lived in one of those villages. I would have enjoyed the experience without interferring with the professional racers and then gone home and revelled in the proper cycling photos.

Look out for me tomorrow holding up my 'Contador is the Greatest banner' when they pass through London.

frenchfighter

mulletmaster wrote:

I agree to some extent but I have some great photos (for an amateur and in my humble opinion) of the TTT Stage 1, the break forming at the start of stage 2 and kittel crossing the line arms aloft at the end of stage 2 from this years Giro. I've had them professionally printed and plan on framing them. It's a pretty great memento because I took them and one that I'm unlikely to see repeated on my own streets 400m from my front door, in my lifetime. As long as it doesn't get in the way of anybody else or the riders, let people make their own mementos and try not to be too aloof.

Oh I completely agree about the warmth and memories those photos would give you and I have seen a lot of superb amateur photos from along the route. Standing halfway into the road and waving your iphone in the face of a pro is not the way to go about it, and what I was referring to.

Lanterne_Rogue

Macaloon wrote:

Thanks for the Froome dossiers I missed it live and it just seemed odd straight after such a strong day. Editing magic. Nibali in yellow is perfect.

Don't get me wrong - he might have been being a cock! It just struck me at the time that the editing was a little odd - I presumed that it was due to time constraints, rather than nefarious purposes.

mulletmaster

frenchfighter wrote:

Oh I completely agree about the warmth and memories those photos would give you and I have seen a lot of superb amateur photos from along the route. Standing halfway into the road and waving your iphone in the face of a pro is not the way to go about it, and what I was referring to.

Agreed, nobody wants to be that douche who got nailed by a rider because he was dreaming down the end of a view finder!

frenchfighter

Ahem...

"It's the new pain in the arse that's for sure," said Team Sky rider Geraint Thomas when he was asked if selfies were the new problem for the peloton. Thomas is just the latest of many to comment on the problem, with many taking to Twitter to express their annoyances.

"They obviously don't see us coming," Thomas told the press at the finish of stage 2. "If somebody's stood in the road taking a picture, they don't see us coming. If you're on the front then you can see it, but if you're two back then suddenly switches around them and you nearly hit them."

While Thomas didn't begrudge the fans a chance to snap a picture of themselves with their heroes, he did ask that they be a bit more considerate when doing so. "I think if everyone realises that we take up the whole road, they can do it if they want, but go and sit in a tree or something," he said.

"There's not much racing on British roads, and I don't think that people understand how fast we go and how close we get," he said. "There's been too many big accidents recently with riders hitting spectators and you don't want to see that but it could quite easily happen at the moment."


There are about 25 other riders saying similar things which I could post as well.

Once again, the pros and I have the same opinion.

frenchfighter

Friends in pro cycling matter.

"I wanted to win and do better than fourth but when I got away in a small group, nobody wanted to work and come with me in the group. When you're strong, your rivals always ride against you. That makes it harder for me to win and nobody will do a turn with you when you attack," Sagan said.

"I'm happy. I perhaps made a mistake in the last three but I'm happy for Vincenzo, very happy. I didn’t follow him when he attacked. I also knew that if I chased him down, somebody else would have attacked, so I'm happy he won."

Sagan and Nibali raced together at the Liquigas team before Nibali moved to Astana. They have swapped favours as teammates and on rival teams. Cannondale could prove to be a useful ally for Nibali later in the Tour de France, too.

"He's helped a lot of times in the past, at Tirreno-Adriatico when I won and I can remember at the Tour of Oman too. We're friends. I'm happy for him," Sagan said.

Macaloon

Imlach: "If not an appeal to a higher power, at least a deity able to draw a larger crowd on a Sunday."

Superb broadcaster.

tom3

Let's be honest, the police were no help. One turned his back on two riders and was lucky he didn't get knocked over.

However, it is not limited to us Brits and something needs to be done e.g the garmin rider earlier in the year.

The uci and aso have the duty of care to everyone, amplified today because of the sheer number of supporters.

Stewards and police need to be highly visible, areas roped off, fans moved away from severe pinch points.

Macaloon

Duplicate

Lanterne_Rogue

Macaloon wrote:

Duplicate

Good enough for you?

frenchfighter

In case you thought Froome had attacked, he said afterwards he was worried about the descent so he wanted to get ahead. Incidentally this is exactly what the French commentators said at the time he did it.

"It wasn't necessarily to let them know that I was there. I knew that the descent was very tricky. I preferred to take that at my own pace at the front of the race," said Froome, after his daily warm down.

Squaggles

2 brilliant days in Yorkshire , well done to all concerned

FF with millions of people out to watch of course not all of them are 'real fans' or understand that much about cycling , yes the idiots who get in the way of the race annoy me as well but it happens everywhere even in Belgium and France

I must say I was most impressed with Alberto at the signing on his English was very good and he seemed genuinely happy to be there and talk to people

RichN95.

frenchfighter wrote:

In case you thought Froome had attacked, he said afterwards he was worried about the descent so he wanted to get ahead. Incidentally this is exactly what the French commentators said at the time he did it.

He did exactly the same thing in Corsica last year.

mike6

TMR wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

“I dedicate this jersey to the public of England because they have been so amazing and gave us great support. The support was incredible. I have been blessed because I am one of the riders who could wear the leader’s jersey from the Giro d’Italia, Vuelta a Espana and Tour de France and very few people can say they have won all three jerseys.”-Nibali

Nibali - Certified Heavyweight.

Thats true, but he is being a trifle premature, he hasn't won it yet. Worn it but not won it.

mulletmaster

His elbows pointing out like that look ridonkulous but make me feel better as I do the same. Amazed the Skybots haven't had him in the tunnel to point out that it's costing him 10W though and had that bit programmed out of him.

frenchfighter

Sep V coming in 15mins down - he should have shown himself on this route and been there to protect Mollema.

Majka 15mins down along with three other Tinkoff (admittedly flat land riders). Majka needs to sort himself out. If he rides like a douche bag on purpose then I hope he loses his contract and doesn't get picked to ride the Vuelta. He better be there in the mountains burying himself for the greatest stage racer of his generation.

Lanterne_Rogue

On the selfie thing, I agree it's insane and I don't really see the appeal. I'm not quite sure what can be done though - it's not practical to fence off the entire course (although I suspect even a tape cordon would probably work in the UK for the hills) and idiots will pop up anywhere.

I suspect that the root causes of the encroachment on the hills and of individual people stepping out into the path of the peloton are different, however, and solving one may not impact on the other.

Macaloon

underlayunderlay wrote:

Macaloon wrote:

Duplicate

Good enough for you?

8) Nibali's timing was exquisite. Sagan on the front looking for a breather and everybody else looking for Sagan.

mulletmaster

frenchfighter wrote:

the greatest stage racer of his generation.

You need to get that trademarked in case it catches on.

Macaloon

mulletmaster wrote:

His elbows pointing out like that look ridonkulous but make me feel better as I do the same. Amazed the Skybots haven't had him in the tunnel to point out that it's costing him 10W though and had that bit programmed out of him.

He's got a virus.

mike6

mulletmaster wrote:

frenchfighter wrote:

the greatest stage racer of his generation.

You need to get that trademarked in case it catches on.

+1 Its a laugh is it not???? :roll:

We will find out how good he is during the next three weeks.

Lanterne_Rogue

Macaloon wrote:

Nibali's timing was exquisite. Sagan on the front looking for a breather and everybody else looking for Sagan.

I don't think Sagan quite knew how to solve the problem he'd given himself. I'm not sure that putting on an unconvincing disguise in the manner of a Scooby Doo villain was quite the answer ("No - sprinting? Why would I do that? I'm just here for the GC. Look, here I am just sitting on Froome's wheel in case he does something interesting. Ok, I admit it, I was just after that lovely jersey - and I would have got away with it if it wasn't for that pesky, meddling Nibs...")