Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/22/2012 - Finale

Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky confirmed his overall victory, and even helped his teammate the world champion Mark Cavendish win his 3rd stage at the Tour and his 4th victory on the Champs-Elysees. While much is made of the bikes getting all sorts of detailing for the jersey holders on the last day, Team Sky prepared overnight all the team vehicles and even staff members to highlight the yellow jersey.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/21/2012

Wiggo!

Bradley Wiggins emphatic on his time trial victory and his overall victory at the Tour de France. He just needs to finish in Paris at this point to make it official.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/20/2012

Philippe Gilbert was more than upset after crashing as several riders tried to avoid a large dog that had slipped its harness, and scolded the family as his director John Lelangue tried to calm him down.



Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

I've seen dogs cause carnage in the Tour before, most noticeably in the 2007 edition where there were two dramatic crashes caught by the broadcast pictures. However, I've never seen the aftermath where one of the riders confronted the owners. The differences between this crash and the ones from 2007 were that the dog was not struck, and it happened in the peloton, instead of a small breakaway, where the injuries and number of riders involved would have been more severe. This close to the end of the Tour, and with the Olympics starting next week, most riders are just worried about finishing and not getting any more hurt than they might be already.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/19/2012

I posted last year about the the trophies the jersey holders get to carry at the podium presentations in addition to the flowers they receive from the podium girls, but that post neglected the Team Classification. This year's sponsor, Group Digital, a kind of French RadioShack or Best Buy, decided on teddy bears.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/18/2012

Usually, it's only in the first few stages of the Tour that one of the riders will get to stand on the stage multiple times for the presentation of the jerseys and stage prizes. For example, Fabian Cancellara, after winning the prologue, had to stand up 3 times to accept the stage trophy and to put on the yellow jersey and the green jersey. After that, the most anyone got up on stage again was twice, and it was usually a jersey wearer either winning a stage or receiving the most aggressive rider prize (like Voeckler or Sagan). Today's huge mountain stage saw Thomas Voeckler winning another stage, grabbing the mountains jersey, and receiving the most aggressive rider prize. His tired legs got more of a workout by standing on stage 3 times in the final week of the Tour.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/17/2012 - Rest Day

It looks like Peter Sagan has sewn up all the points he needs to keep the green jersey, as the other teams no longer contest intermediate sprint points, and all he has to do is make it to Paris. Apparently, a new Porsche will be waiting for him there, since he won a bet with Team Liquigas president Paolo Zani. The conditions for the bet were: win two stages and the green jersey. With three wins already, plus the points classification already conceded, that new Porsche is almost won. There was no indication which model it would be, but I have a suggestion for the color. Green.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/16/2012

According to the official Tour website, as we head into the 2nd rest day after 15 stages, the 156 remaining riders have rolled through 2751.5 kms (1709.7 miles) of Belgian and French roads (2757.9 km / 1713.7 mi including the prologue).

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/15/2012

Fans of cycling like to see attacks on the road, but tacks? When there were reports of 30 riders suffering punctures when the main group crossed over the peak of the Mur de Péguère on Stage 14, broadcasters started looking for a reason. Sure enough, as the riders and team cars finally made it down to the finish line in Foix, pictures of traded bikes with tacks in their tires started showing up. Indeed, the official motorcycles were also showing the tacks stuck in their treads.  Take a look at what OmegaPharma-Quickstep found on their bikes.

Our own proof of the tacks in the road today. Luckily no injuries! Crazy person...no other words twitter.com/AleTegner/stat…
— Alessandro Tegner (@AleTegner) July 15, 2012

Nice eh???!! How somebody can do something like this?? twitter.com/AleTegner/stat…
— Alessandro Tegner (@AleTegner) July 15, 2012

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/14/2012

One of the benefits for the Tour de France starting in Belgium this year was that Philippe Gilbert of BMC could visit with his family in his home town at the start of Stage 2. His son Alan thought the brief visit was a little too thrilling:

Photo: Chris Case | VeloNews.com

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/13/2012

bidon collé  - literally sticky bottle, a race infraction for holding onto a drink bottle from a team car for too long, effectively allowing the car to pull a rider or impart momentum for a slingshot effect. Also, an infraction that gets called out a lot on the stage after the queen stage.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/12/2012

One of the fixtures of the Tour is Didi the Devil (Dieter Senft of Germany) who can usually be seen in his red outfit and pitchfork running alongside the riders as they go up the steeper climbs. Unfortunately, Didi is recuperating from surgery and will miss the 2012 edition. So beloved is he, even by the journalists, that he was included in an injury update report today. Although Didi won't be at the Tour in person, fans can still carry him around, if they so wish, with Tour inspired fingernail designs.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/11/2012

On a stage made for a breakaway to succeed, Thomas Voeckler reminded the French public that yes, he still can win in style, and take a jersey for good measure, the polka-dot one for getting over the above category Grand Columbier first. However, the big story of the day was how the oldest man in the whole Tour almost got away with another crazy breakaway. Jens Voigt, turning 42 years old later this September, of RadioShack-Nissan placed third, after rejoining the four man group of Voeckler that got away from the original 25 man break on the slopes of the Grand Columbier. RSNT also has the second oldest in Chris Horner, born only a month later than Jens. Asked at the end of the stage if he wished more people raced like he did, he answered truthfully:

No, no, no, for sure not, otherwise I would never have a chance. Fortunately, most people try to have it easier and not so many do crazy, stupid tactics like me. So, that's good for me, that's my image, and I try to stick to that.

Bad News For Dentists

In a world were dentists are already 5.45 times more likely to commit suicide than the general population, we really don't need to give them more ammunition, do we?

The molecule has been called 'Keep 32' - after the 32 teeth in a human mouth.

The chemical was designed by dentists in Chile, and wipes out all the bacteria that cause cavities in just 60 seconds in tests.

The chemical could be added to any current dental care product, turning toothpaste, mouthwash and chewing gum into 'super cleansers' that could get rid of the underlying cause of tooth decay.

One small concern I have is the connection to all the use of anti-bacterials that have left us with super resistant strains of microbes and weaker immune systems and more allergies: will there soon be cases of super cavities?

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/10/2012 - Rest Day

Rest days on the Tour means time to do all the things the team and staff members could not do during race day: laundry, correspondence, napping, visiting with friends and family, and several hours of riding. Yup, most riders will still ride 2 to 4 hours, although at a much relaxed pace, to make sure the body still knows that it is expected to expend a couple thousand calories during a large fraction of the day. But since the "recovery rides" are relaxed, sometimes visiting with family can make a combined activity out of them. Like the Velits twins on Omega-Pharma Quickstep, they got to say hi to the family dog Foster.

Meet Foster, pet of the Velits brothers! #TDF12 #OPQSinstagr.am/p/M5pVAHtEPw/
— OPQS Cycling Team (@opqscyclingteam) July 10, 2012

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/9/2012

The Individual Time Trial's finish line today is in a very fitting location, from Arc-et-Senans to the city of Besançon. The Tour's first long race against the clock ends in the historically reputed capital of the French watch industry.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/8/2012

Fabian Cancellara, the Swiss time trial specialist and classics rider on RadioShack Nissan Trek, gave up the yellow jersey he pulled on after the prologue to Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky on yesterday's stage to La Planche des Belles Filles. He wore it for 7 days, adding to his total of 28 career yellow jerseys. This number gives Fabian the record for most jerseys worn by a rider never to have won the overall in the Tour. Also, he has the most yellow jerseys among currently active professional riders, the next most going to Thomas Voeckler with 20.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/7/2012

It's the first mountain stage of the Tour, there's no way to contest a sprint, and if you're world champion Mark Cavendish, do you take it easy and let the mountain guys do all the work? Nope, it's time to become Super Domestique!

Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/6/2012

Peter Sagan, who won his third stage today in the group sprint at Metz, has a few nicknames given him by his Liquigas-Cannondale teammates: Terminator, Rambo, and Cannibal. But there is really only one "Cannibal" in the sport of cycling, and that is the legendary Eddy Merckx, who in his first Tour de France in 1969 won the yellow jersey, the green jersey, and the polka-dot jersey all at the same Tour, and remains the only rider to do so in Tour history. So, instead of Cannibal, the Liquigas bike mechanics decided on another name after Sagan won his first stage: Tourminator.

Photo: © James Huang

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/5/2012

Bernhard Eisel of Team Sky looks over his wounds from the Stage 4 crash after he's been cleaned off, stitched up, and bandaged:



Photo by Scott Mitchell

Check out more pictures of the Stage 4 aftermath at Team Sky's official website.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/4/2012

Just like the French riders like to win a stage in the Tour on Bastille Day on July 14, Americans hope to win a stage on July 4th. The last American to win on Independence Day was Tyler Farrar last year in a group sprint at Redon, which was also his first ever Tour stage win. No such luck this year, as Farrar was caught behind a huge crash near the end of today's stage in the run-up to Rouen, which was taken by Lotto Belisol's Andre Greipel.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/3/2012

The first week of the Tour de France is usually filled with crashes, as we saw today's carnage having the first abandons of the three week stage race. This is just a list of the people the doctors attended to, not all the people hurt or affected by all the crashing:

Crash at 70km: Yury Krivtsov (Lampre-ISD), cuts to knee, elbow, hip
Dimitry Fofonov (Astana), cuts to left knee
Janez Brajkovic (Astana), cuts to left elbow and hip
Crash at 140km: Kanstantsin Sivtsou (Sky), broken left tibula
Dominik Nerz (Liquigas), cuts and scrapes
Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel), queasiness
Crash at 168km: JJ Rojas (Movistar), fractured left clavicle
Gianpaolo Caruso (Katusha), blow to chest
Crash at 300m to go: Marco Marcato (Vacansoleil-DCM), cuts to left knee

We know that Sivtsou and Rojas were the first abandons, but there might be more over night, as several other riders were taken to local hospitals for x-rays. What's bad about the crashing, if you keep on with the Tour, is there is no time to rest and heal, there's always another 100 mile race to do the next day. On Stage 1, several riders went down and injured their left arms trying to break their falls.

Luis Leon Sanchez sprained his wrist.

Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

Wearing a brace seems okay before you start riding, but it is not comfortable at all while trying to handle a bike surrounded by 190 other guys, besides feeling every single bump in the road.  Tony Martin opted for one hand during most of Stage 2, suffering from a broken wrist.

Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com

But what if you're in the breakaway, you've got a dislocated pinky, and the final climb is on steep cobblestones? If you're Anthony Roux of FDJ, you suck it up, and climb one-handed.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/2/2012

Young Peter Sagan rode his first Tour de France road stage yesterday, and won his first Tour de France road stage, and became the youngest rider to win a Tour stage in almost 20 years.

It turns out that Sagan is the youngest rider – he is 22 years and 157 days old – to win a stage in the Tour de France since Lance Armstrong won the stage in Verdun at the tender age of 21 and 296 days back in 1993. There are some within the Liquigas set-up who believe Sagan can follow in the American’s footsteps. “Did they say that? I would love to but I’m still at the beginning of my career. It’s too early to tell what’s possible and we’ll see if I can get a career like him.”

The youngest rider to win the Tour overall was Henri Comet at 19 years old in 1904 at the second cheating-marred Tour, where the first 4 finishers were thrown out for getting caught riding trains.

Twitterbots Need To Try Harder

I don't engage much on Twitter, mainly because it feels like the only parts of MySpace that people actually liked: quick reactions to anonymous posts. Twitter is fast replacing RSS feeds for pushing links to web sites, so now I have to keep track of both. Facebook's mission is for real people to share real things. Twitter, not so much, though nothing is stopping you from keeping it real there, it's just too easy to be fake. Plus, Twitter makes it very easy for search bots to contact you, even though what you posted may have no bearing on what they're trying to sell you.

Case in point: I reacted to the Euro 2012 headline of Germany trouncing Greece, and kept the original headline:

If that ain't a metaphor for the Euro Zone, I don't know what is. | Offshore Drilling, Euro 2012: Germany 4, Greece 2 bit.ly/KSh6LX
— Joseph Morris (@joeschmo1of3) June 22, 2012

Over a week later, because the headline had the phrase "offshore drilling" in it, some twitter bot attached to the blog of a retired offshore oil drilling engineer found me, and followed me. At least it was unintrusive, unlike the twitter spam of "ladies" who just happen to want to share pictures of themselves with you, just like those messenger "ladies." I guess spam evolves with the social media niche. With email, before the spambots automated everything, you had those stupid chainletters asking you to forward them, otherwise you would have bad luck. Now Facebook has the same thing, except it's pictures of the text that used to be in those chainletters, and they ask you to post these pictures for an hour or whatever. Hopefully Facebook will keep a tight rein on that crap, so spambots never get involved unlike how almost all email is redirected spam. On Twitter, there's the lonely ladies spam, but there's also the less annoying follow-you-follow-me spam. But twitter search bots need to do better than a two word phrase to try to get people to follow them back.

Tour Tidbit du Jour - 7/1/2012

The leaders of the different classifications in the Tour de France get to wear different colored jerseys on the very next race day, so you'll see a yellow jersey, a green jersey, a polka-dot jersey, and a white jersey somewhere in the peloton. The most combative rider, chosen by a jury for style or aggressive riding, gets to wear a red bib number (other stage races may hand out a jersey for this designation as well). There's also the team classification, where the best three riders' time for each team for each stage are added up, and the shortest cumulative time from day to day determines the best team. That team gets to wear yellow bib numbers. With how well Team Sky did in the prologue, they get to be the first team wear the yellow numbers.

However, it's pretty hard to pick out the team prize leaders from watching television when the peloton is all scrunched up. So this year, the Tour organizers, ASO, came up with a solution to all that, as Team Sky explained in a tweet:

For people asking about the yellow helmets. It's a new rule brought in this year by the ASO to mark out the team prize leaders #TDF12
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 1, 2012

So how do they look? Team Sky tweeted a picture of the riders milling about before the race:

The team and our new helmets ready to roll out. What do you think? #TDF12 twitter.com/TeamSky/status…
— Team Sky (@TeamSky) July 1, 2012

You can see Mick Rogers in the background with his yellow bib numbers and his yellow helmet. It will be interesting to see how the other teams have done up their helmets, or whether pure block yellow was the official mandate from ASO.