Welcome to the TDF team! This has indeed been a good race this year; next year being an Olympic year, it will be less dramatic as riders get extra cautious to avoid injury so they can try to go for the gold. To me that’s dumb because the Tour de France is considered the biggest event in cycling, but a gold medal is a gold medal.
As for the announcers trying to eliminate Lance from the race history, Phil remains supportive of Lance and has even had him do some guest commentating during the race in recent years. But his wins are void in the eyes of the race, so yeah he doesn’t get the mention in moments where he used to shine (those long, treacherous mountain climbs, for instance). In terms of the doping, it’s always going to be an element of cycling, both the potentiality and the actuality. I’ve joked here and elsewhere that there’s simply no way a normal human can ascend multiple Alps in record times over the course of a few days without some degree of performance enhancement. So either the doping is happening, or the cyclists ain’t human. They’ve made a big deal of having access to the team radios this year, but whenever they broadcast it, it is underwhelming. I guess I expected more discussion of strategy, but it’s mostly guys saying “you’re doing great”. Time trials are Tuesday after the rest day. It’s a very different vibe than the traditional stages, so I’ll be interested in your perception of that day. On Sun, Jul 16, 2023 at 10:13 PM PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks to the Netflix show, I finally have a (very) basic understanding of > the structure and strategy of the TDF. I was otherwise committed the first > week, but had not heard any spoilers, so last Saturday I started watching > the first leg. I got hooked, and have watched almost all of every stage > (about 85-90% - I find there are periods when you can tell that nothing > much is going to change for like 30 or 60 minutes, then I FF, and if > nothing has changed I might FF a little more, if something has changed I go > back). I just caught up today, and can now take a well earned day off from > the Tour tomorrow. > > I gather not every year is quite as magnificent as this one has been, so I > guess I am spoiled now and will be bummed when future Tours don’t match up. > But I am really digging it. > > It is interesting to see how the commentators (I watch on Peacock) have > completely erased Lance Armstrong from the history of the event. They have > gotten in a Greg LeMond reference at least once a day, but even when > discussing the decline in popularity of cycling in the US in the last 10 or > 15 years they don’t acknowledge Armstrong or the whole doping scandal. They > have had segments on breakthroughs in technology and nutrition and training > which allow increases in performance, which without saying as much I take > it are attempts to allay suspicions of people like me that part of the > explanation for the amazing performances we are seeing is doping. It is > only kind of working. > > > On Sat, 8 Jul 2023 at 9:37 AM Adam Bowie <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Kevin is not the only person in this group gutted by the Cavendish news. >> Still, the overall race is going so strongly that it's almost as though it >> was being scripted for the next series of the Tour de France Netflix >> documentary! >> >> My side hustle is being one of the producers on this podcast: >> https://thecyclingpodcast.com/ >> >> I'm currently in France, and tomorrow will be riding the route of Stage >> 15 of this year's Tour in an event called L'Étape du Tour, alongside 16,000 >> other amateur riders. The weather is currently forecast to reach 34C (93F) >> which should be fun for 100m route that covers around half the height of >> Everest in altitude - 4,200m. >> >> On Sat, 8 Jul 2023, 18:03 'Bob Jersey' via TVorNotTV, < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> No live viewing, even on weekends? Guess he doesn't get up early... I >>> don't either... B >>> >>> Kevin M, to moi, July 8th: >>> >>> Dude, spoilers… it’s literally the only sports event I watch all year >>> >>> -- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "TVorNotTV" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to [email protected]. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/5792241c-31ef-47c1-8263-7fac43198005n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/5792241c-31ef-47c1-8263-7fac43198005n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "TVorNotTV" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected]. >> To view this discussion on the web visit >> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGDfJ7c29P1_akgxzHggngzMV3tjMpKCg8o%2BFAPwu%3DZAEg%40mail.gmail.com >> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAD_sJGDfJ7c29P1_akgxzHggngzMV3tjMpKCg8o%2BFAPwu%3DZAEg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >> . >> > -- > Sent from Gmail Mobile > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BPgzUMm5ieqZ0uG-7OKrQwx8zhdBBg-VGMcvJ5CktFyw%40mail.gmail.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKGtkY%2BPgzUMm5ieqZ0uG-7OKrQwx8zhdBBg-VGMcvJ5CktFyw%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- Kevin M. (RPCV) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/tvornottv/CAKgmY4CtBAnMR%2B4O9duWrHwM8BW67mi1bgjhnUtK3CejdE%2BmsA%40mail.gmail.com.
