Raceblogging
Since I’m cycling this year I find myself more interested in the ins and outs of the Tour de France than previously. I barely understand it – couldn’t tell you how it’s scored – stage races are almost as big a puzzle to me as cricket. But I do know that 34+ MPH on a bike is pretty goddamn fast. The big news is Lance coming in second, which, since short time trials are not supposed to be his strength, is pretty impressive. (Short? Yes. 12 miles on a bike is the aerobic equivalent of a three mile run.)
UPDATE: See Nadezhda’s handy list o’ links in the first comment to this post for your Education de Tour.
Comment by nadezhda —
July 3, 2005 @ 1:05 am
Good stuff today, not least because the winner, a young rider from the US, broke the time trial speed record for the Tour, held by Greg LeMond when he won on the final day into Paris. Lance was only 2″ behind today, and the other top riders were almost a minute or more back. That’s simply huge.
If you want to get into the Tour it’s actually pretty easy even for the uninitiated. The internets have revolutionized following the race from the US — pretty much everything you wanted to know about every km of every stage and then some.
The English version of the official Tour site is first rate. Best entry point to the site is the “Live” page for a recap of the most recent action. For the equivalent of “live blogging” the race, in English there’s DailyPeleton.com and cyclingnews.com.
A brief investment of time in checking out a few pages and you’ll find it’s all a lot easier to get a handle on than cricket. About the only obscure stuff in the rules is when and how much they add bonus points for various items (first five over a mountain, sprints etc.) and when points count toward the “general classification” (overall rider standings) or just for the jersey competitions (King of the Mountains — polkadot; sprints — green). I just take that stuff on faith.
The intricacies of team strategies get a great deal more coverage than they used to, so again it’s a lot easier now to be a casual follower and still appreciate some of the race-within-the-race stories. The role of Armstrong’s team in blowing out competing teams in the mountains last year was awesome, though at some point the man himself puts the hammer down and puts the other guys away.
Now for another story I know is near and dear to your heart. Check out the most recent wrinkle in Italo-American relations, via Laura Rozen.