Anyone keeping up with the Tour de France?

[valerie]

I watch some but I guess I don't really understand how
it works... how the first stage Lance won was yesterday
yet he is ahead?

And his "team" do these guys hang back and LET him win or
what? I do know they like to have someone a little ahead
of them to stay in their drift or whatever but the rest of it I can't figure out!

[BabyRider]

Val, I don't usually follow this sport, but to think Armstrong is going to win #7 is amazing. There's records in sports people thought would never be broken and have been, but Lance's wins, I think, will go down in history and never be touched. This guy is a true miracle, in my opinion.
Yep, I'll be following it.

Originally Posted by BabyRider

Val, I don't usually follow this sport, but to think Armstrong is going to win #7 is amazing. There's records in sports people thought would never be broken and have been, but Lance's wins, I think, will go down in history and never be touched. This guy is a true miracle, in my opinion.
Yep, I'll be following it.

Lance is amazing! It's great to see when someone finds their perfect work and performs it to the best of ones ability.

I checked yesterday and he had a 2+ minute lead, and Im not sure how it works either, but it's a TEAM effort and you have to admire the way they function as a unit and the lesser knowns on the team keep doing their jobs and let Lance get most of the accolades.

[CARLA]

What a guy amazing athlete bar none.. He knows when to step down, and give a new face a chance. It was awesome watching him over the pas seven years..

Now he will be known for what he really wants to be know for "A CANCER SURVIVOR..!!" You rock Lance Armstorng, if the sports world only produced more athletes like you they all would be role models for out children to look up to.

Understanding the Tour de France and the Strategies

Condensed to its basic premise, the Tour de France is a simple athletic contest: The cyclist who completes a strenuous and often perilous course of more than 2,000 miles in the lowest total time wins.Yet, the event is so much more. Steeped in history, tradition, and racing lore, the Tour defines endurance and global sportsmanship. Unlike professional sports played in stadiums and arenas filled with fans who've paid for tickets, the Tour stands alone in the sports world. Its arena extends past countries' borders, and for fans, it's the best bargain in sports, because it's free.

For riders, it's a job with an equally simple equation. While progressing along the course like chess pieces on wheels, riders face the limits of endurance. They battle inclement weather and attempt to outwit and outrace each other while using the same strategy — conserve energy as much as possible for the times when it's needed most.

Working together
Riders participating in the Tour compete at the top of the sport. The Tour is the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, World Series, Winston Cup, and NBA Championship of bicycle racing. Functioning as a team sport, the race features teams of nine cyclists selected from a larger group of teammates. Reaping the benefits of synergy, teams work as units, and each rider has varying responsibilities. As riders make their way around France and into neighboring countries, teams that use sound racing strategies tend to have the most success — for the group and for the team captain.


Winning individually
Individuals win stages and one rider claims the overall title. Winning a Tour de France stage is the career highlight for many cyclists. Every day, one rider is victorious, and he climbs onto the finish podium after a stage win and hears fans' cheers and receives various accolades. But a rider's individual triumph, at least to some degree, is the result of selfless teammates. It's rare for a cyclist to win a stage without acknowledging teammates who've put him in a position to ride to a triumph.

Understanding those colored jerseys
Riders on each team are required to wear the same color jersey. Each team's jersey features logos of sponsors who pay the riders' salaries. The result is a kaleidoscope of moving billboards on wheels. Some teams' uniforms feature subtle colors; other teams opt for brighter colors. Some teams' uniforms look surprisingly similar, further adding to the blur of the often fast-moving peloton (the main pack of riders).


A few riders wear special jerseys. Throughout the race, the reigning World Champion wears his team colors, but on a special jersey with horizontal stripes. National current road champions wear team jerseys featuring their country's colors.

Four other cyclists also wear different colored jerseys each day.

The yellow jersey represents the race leader.
The green jersey represents the race's best sprinter.
The polka dot jersey designates the race's finest climber.
The white jersey designates the highest-ranked rider in the overall competition age 25 or younger.
In most instances, cyclists wearing specialty jerseys like to wear them as long as they can during the race. But the colored jerseys of the Tour change often, and the anticipation of those costume changes each day helps make the Tour a race of many races.

[abbey]

I've followed the tour since 94, apart from Armstrong my favourites have been Greg Lemond (American) who i think won it 5 times & Miquel Indurain who's won it 5 or 6 times.
The times are worked out on a team effort basis, im sure that Lance will win again this, his last year before retiring.
Did anyone see the bike American Chopper made him?
that was really cool.

[abbey]

Lance Armstrong has won the Tour De France, his 7th.
WELL DONE.