posted Aug 31, 2008

hey guys, i really got into watching cycling (and will take it up soon hopefully) since watching this year tour de france.

however im confused, with there there being two tours on the moment (and hte british tour coming up soon), do all riders (schleck, cancellara, evans, schumacher etc) take part in the same races (so theres a set calender for the top riders) or do these riders pick and choose which tours they go on, so are some riders riding the german tour, and some the spanish?

and is there anywhere on the net where i could watch one of these tours?

cheers for any help.

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posted Aug 31, 2008

Basically, there are numerous pro cycling events that go on throughout the season so there will always be clashes. Team managers select teams to compete in races for various reasons so, no, riders don't always compete in the same tours (for example, the CSC team competing the Vuelta is completely different from the one that helped sastre win the tour). There will often be teams competing in two events simultaniously.

Most teams have squads of over 20 so will select teams based on form, suitability for the course, fatigue, training priorities etc.

There's good live updates for the Vuelta on velonews.com and there is a cycling tv website but I've forgotten what it is (I moved from England to Spain and they show loads of cycling here so don't need it)!

Welcome to cycling.

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posted Sep 1, 2008

If you have eurosport, they show it daily.
Pro tour teams 'opt-into' the continental races so to speak, but they have to race all the UCI Pro Tour races. You can follow every race imaginable on cycling news.

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posted Sep 1, 2008

cheers for the responses guys. much aprriciated.

i don't have eurosport, im at uni at the moment, and of course freeview doesn't have eurosport ( i think uk is the only country that doesn't have it on terrestial or for free). cheers for the links anyhow!

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posted Sep 1, 2008

try this link for updates:
http://www.lavuelta.com/08/ingles/resultados/etapa2.html?e=2&ts=1220260183476

Great to see Zabel 7th on the stage !!

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posted Sep 1, 2008

Tommeke, Tommeke, wa doede gij nu?!
That's what the commentator was yelling when Tom Boonen won the world championship, and I think of it everytime I see Tom crossing the finish line before everyone else.
Imagine if we had had a TdF with Cav AND Tom this year. How awesome would that've been?

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posted Sep 1, 2008

Haha, I heard that commentary.

I also heard the French version of the Belgian commentary where they actually thought it was Gilbert until he was just about to cross the finish line.

Tom looked awesome today, got himself in a great position behind Bennati.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SlF_uF7Rro&feature=related

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posted Sep 1, 2008

Yeah, that was terrible. I'd like to point out that the guy who actually saw it was Boonen (except for the jersey they look nothing alike!) was Flemish

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posted Sep 2, 2008

Felt a bit sorry for Bennati yesterday but he went too early. He looked really strong and his efforts made for a really intersting finish although was pleased for Boonen (is it just me or has he been on the weights in July? He looked really bulky), no problems identifying from the spanish commentators by the way. Was impressed with Ortega's efforts throughout the day too.

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posted Sep 2, 2008

contador set to show why he is the nest rider in the world

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