Any Tour de France followers?

[Mr Info]

The Tour started July 1 and an American will still hold the top mountain climber at least through day 5. Some controversy with people throwing thumbtacks on the roads.
On Peacock, USA, and NBC. Some beautiful scenery even if you do not like cycling. 

[BuffaloBud]

Follow it 👍.  The reports have been that the Basques have been supporting this well, but this is now shedding a whole new light on things.  Will be interesting on how the reception is in France based on current event and rioting.

[Augie]

I’ve watched a bit for years. Not for the cycling so much as the travel aspect. It can be absolutely beautiful!  I used to like Paul Sherwen’s stories about the little towns and regions they passed thru.  RIP

 

 

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Edited July 4, 2023 by Augie

[Nextmanup]

Years ago, an ex-girlfriend was really into cycling in a big way, and she got me hooked on following professional cycling and watching the Tour.  I usually keep up with it on a hit or miss basis these days. 

 

If nothing else, it is wonderful to watch the French countryside unfold in front of you, during hours of live TV.  I always love how they go out of their way to stick with the helicopter shots of anything noteworthy, like a lovely church, cathedral, palace, estate, castle, you name it.  

 

What a gorgeous country France is.

 

Everyone of those people is doping; I think it's just accepted as how the sport is done, and no one seems to really care.  They have a big purge of cyclists every now and again to maintain the illusion of legitimacy, but man, they are all cheating.  A human being can't ride like that THAT many days in a row.  It's absurd.

 

 

[CowgirlsFan]

Me.

 

I'll watch it now and then. The scenery is out of this world!

 

The race isn't the same to me ever since my fellow Texan Lance Armstrong days.

[T&C]

They do piss on the streets in France so that's something...  "in France"... look up the FZ version on youtube for a laugh.

[ExiledInIllinois]

14 minutes ago, CowgirlsFan said:

Me.

 

I'll watch it now and then. The scenery is out of this world!

 

The race isn't the same to me ever since my fellow Texan Lance Armstrong days.

I find the Lance Armstrong nod fascinating. Isn't he a disgrace?

 

Yeah, the sport isn't the same. Honestly... No offense, but isn't the sport cleaner? Less cheaters. 

 

From 2012:

 

https://newrepublic.com/article/109212/cyclings-secret-it-may-be-the-worlds-cleanest-sport

 

"...But the head-shakers and finger-waggers have it exactly wrong. Yes, the Armstrong scandal revealed systemic cheating in a sport that was corrupt to its core—a decade ago. In the landscape of professional sport right now, cycling may actually be one of the cleaner sports around.

 

No, really; stop laughing. And notice that I didn’t say “clean,” just cleaner. Because while cycling has a long, colorful history of cheating, it also pioneered the modern practice of drug-testing athletes. After the British cyclist Tom Simpson died of amphetamine-fueled heatstroke on the slopes of Mont Ventoux in 1967, riders have been subject to organized testing that been getting better and better, even during Armstrong’s reign of fraud between 1999 and 2005.  ..."

[Teddy KGB]

Nope, spinning pedals with your feet over and over doesn’t seem exciting 

[Augie]

4 minutes ago, Teddy KGB said:

Nope, spinning pedals with your feet over and over doesn’t seem exciting 

 

You may be looking at the wrong thing. Just sayin’.  🤷‍♂️