[Passenger13]

I have seen little coverage of the tour in the local media. Has cyclings scandals and no American favorite turned the country off of this years tour? I will watch it again because I love watching the stratigy and overall competition, no matter who is riding. These guys are simply amazing bike riders.

 

[Stumpy_Steve]

all i know is that boonen is out due to cocaine... other than that, lets hope a frenchman can finally bring it back home!

 

[NoBalance]

I'll probably watch it a bit, but don't be postin about it here. Nobody wants to know the results of a given day before they can get around to watching it.

Best is to just not talk about it.

 

[Bikinfoolferlife]

After they shut out Astana/Bruyneel I lost a lot of interest. The organizers have some serious issues, but that's been the case from the beginning.

 

[Portola Vince]

Enthusiasm

It's too bad though because not only are there some bright young stars emerging but I have noticed some interest in some younger athletes as well. So maybe it's just the last vestiges of this generation that is screwing things up and the next generation will help professional cycling regain some of its prestige.

 

[bradmtb]

Once you're hooked

I must admit with all the doping the past few years, and top riders being yanked it's hard
to stomach watching the TDF....but I've got to watch. Since I've followed Cadel Evans going back to his mtb days, I would like to see him take it this year. Evans takes yellow, and with Boonen out, McEwen takes green.

 

[morganfletcher]

The Tour is always good, no matter how much the ASO ****s it up.

It is a little disappointing to watch the second stringers battle it out. But hey.

Cavendish would totally take green if he could nut it up and get over the mountains. But he won't. I honestly think Zabel has a shot.

My prediction is that we will see one of these young riders blossom and give Valverde, Evans and Menchov a very good fight. Evans will win tho.

Read Will Frischkorn's diary on Velonews. It's good. It'll be fun to cheer for the US team this year, Garmin-Chipotle, even if they don't bring home much. I just hope they can all stay upright and finish the Tour. I wish Zabriskie was racing. (Have you seen the new chamois creme he's selling, "DZ Nuts"? Ha!)

Morgan

 

[Jorgemonkey]

I'll be watching it this year whenever I can. I think the good thing about all the top riders getting the boot (even though it sucks) it gives the younger less known guys to go out and make their names known.

 

[nachomc]

I'll watch it some. We'll see how I feel though - watching cycling events on TV just reminds me of last summer when it was all I could do. Inevitably, I turn it off :\

 

[Ryan G.]

Really enjoy watching the tour so much I wake up early to watch the whole race, and Tivo it at home to watch the condensed coverage with commentary from Roll.

 

[jrm]

Cadel Evans..

I have seen little coverage of the tour in the local media. Has cyclings scandals and no American favorite turned the country off of this years tour? I will watch it again because I love watching the stratigy and overall competition, no matter who is riding. These guys are simply amazing bike riders.

And the 4 mountain stages. But ill probably watch the boring bits too..

 

[MikeU]

Yes, I will watch. I'm not much of a roadie but for some reason really enjoy the TDF, particularly the mountain stages.

While I agree there is no room for doping in the sport, and if caught you should be banned. But I think it is ridiculous that they are not allowing the riders from Team Astana in the race, none of which I believe have done anything wrong. I always thought that the TDF was supposed to be a race of the world's best riders. It would be like watching the superbowl where instead of the two best teams playing each other, the NFL would decide what teams should play. Kinda lame.

 

[grrrah]

Won't be watching it, but only because Dish network basic doesn't include VS.

Really enjoy watching the tour so much I wake up early to watch the whole race, and Tivo it at home to watch the condensed coverage with commentary from Roll.

Maybe I will be watching from Ryan's and drinking his beer, while he is out night riding.

 

[ebeer]

I'll probably keep it on as background noise, and glance up for any exciting bits.

I was thinking the other day about leveling the playing field. Maybe race organizers should force all riders to consume the maximum amount of performance enhancing drugs their body weight will allow. This way everyone is jacked, and no one could possibly cheat for fear of overdose.

I kid, I kid....

 

[Brian B.]

I'll watch the tour because I like hearing Phil Liggett doing the announcing. Not as much interest as before but it is still pretty good.

 

[Gregg K]

Are you kidding! My avatar is Bob Roll from the Tour around 2005. He did some silly ad.

I totally can hardly keep track of many of the riders. But I've been steadily watching whatever coverage since the 80's.

After all, I can't think of anything more symbolic than the Tour. I mean that in a societal way. As in bicycles. I'm partially awake, and should stop here. But I want to comment on what the Tour means in a cultural way. Like the means of transportation that is was, and might be again. And the way Europeans congregate to support it. I long for that kind of appreciation. It's a noble sport. More than just a sport.

 

[Plim]

I'll watch. My wife and I enjoy watching it every year. More of the fun comes from us hanging out than from the race itself anyway.

Doping: All the bannings, extra testing, etc. of the recent past just makes me think cycling is now cleaner than other sports like football, baseball, basketball... So I don't see it as a negative. (And I didn't really give a rat's ass if those guys were doping anyway - I assumed they all did it so it all evened out.)

ASO's shenanigans: This is annoying. Petty grudges leading to the exclusion of competitors I am familiar with and I know have a shot of winning makes watching less fun and the winner less of a champion. It'll make me a little bit less interested, and if they keep it up, a lot less interested.

but don't be postin about it here. Nobody wants to know the results of a given day before they can get around to watching it.

That's right. In years past, people put spoilers in thread titles. I had to stop using mtbr for the whole month of July. It sucked.

 

[Dirt_Diggler]

Just for reference while watching...

 

[bullit71]

Nope.

 

[jerms]

Will watch it because I've got an old classmate on team Garmin-Chipotle and along with their anti-doping stance, they are giving a lot of younger riders their first chance at the big races. I think this will definitely be the year of new faces emerging from the peloton - I look forward to some surprises.