Biggest news today - as the Tour entered its sixth day - was the rumor that some cyclists had agreed to take a six-month suspension in exchange for their testimony against Lance Armstrong. One version of the story listed four ex-teammates of Armstrong, but as of this evening nothing has been confirmed. Here's a link to one of the latest stories.
That's said, the 2012 Tour de France continues.
In today's action there was a crazy crash near the finish that swept up Peter Sagan and others and made the expected sprint finish even more exciting. In the end, it was André Greipel of Lotto who took the stage win. The crash kept the rest of the peloton together and there was no real change overall...except in how close the Green Jersey race is getting.
Mark Cavendish finished fourth in the stage - a little surprise - maybe because of his injured hand and maybe because of the way the road climbed slightly at the end. Anyway, it was the first time Greipel had handed Cavendish a loss, which makes it significant and might also keep Cavendish away from the stage-win record he's chasing. That's 34 by Eddy Merckx in his stellar career.
Tomorrow is Stage 6, a 207KM ride from Epernay to Metz that drops about 20 meters in elevation over the final four KM. This spells SPRINT to me...unless there's finally a break that gets away from the pack and stays away.
Comments, guest posts, questions - all welcome. Chat again soon!
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Stage 1 Results and Thoughts
As I've told Bob a bunch of times on the BeanCast, the Tour de France is a promotional vehicle. Yes, it's a sporting event (and one I hold near and dear to my heart), but it's also a grand way for companies and brands to get their name out there and connect with a very qualified audience.
Trouble is, the folks using the Tour to market are not really following the first tenet of content or communication - KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
I've seen more ads for stuff that just doesn't fit with a cycling-fan demographic this year and I think we've reached the point where it's now just a 'throw-stuff-at-the-wall' practice. Kinda sad, but was bound to happen as all branding people try to get ahead.
That said, here's the result from Stage 1 and some thoughts on the Tour so far...
1 - The pack is jittery - as happens in the first three or four stages of every Tour de France. Hoping that crashes don't know any of my favorites out of the race. As you saw within 25KM of the finish on today's stage, there were two big crashes. First one had four or five riders down. Second had about 15-20 riders down.
2 - There are really just two teams in the hunt for the Yellow jersey in Paris in a few weeks. These are team BMC and team Sky.
3 - I love how Phil Ligget says 'movie star' when he pronounces Movistar.
4 - At 8KM (after 190KM of a breakaway) the peloton got all back together. Five mere miles from the finish line. When you watch the stages, I urge you to pay attention to the jockeying for postion within the last 3-5 miles of each stage. It really is a chess match.
5 - Amazing finish for this stage - a mad sprint uphill to the finish - AND I'm astonished that Fabian Cancellara of team has kept the Yellow Jersey! Peter Sagan of Liquigas- Cannondale won the stage, but Cancellar came in second and the rest of the peloton was just behind.
Great stuff. I thought the pack would break apart today and once again the Tour de France is a learning process for me.
OH! By the way. If you're DVRing the stages for watching later, do yourself a favor. Add 10-15 minutes to the end of the taping so you don't miss the end of any stage. OR set your DVR to record the second or third broadcast of the stage. As this is a live event, the number of times I've missed the last three minutes of a stage because my DVR stopped is numerous. I'd say it happens at least half a dozen times in the course of a Tour de France.
Thanks for reading. I welcome your thoughts!
Trouble is, the folks using the Tour to market are not really following the first tenet of content or communication - KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
I've seen more ads for stuff that just doesn't fit with a cycling-fan demographic this year and I think we've reached the point where it's now just a 'throw-stuff-at-the-wall' practice. Kinda sad, but was bound to happen as all branding people try to get ahead.
That said, here's the result from Stage 1 and some thoughts on the Tour so far...
1 - The pack is jittery - as happens in the first three or four stages of every Tour de France. Hoping that crashes don't know any of my favorites out of the race. As you saw within 25KM of the finish on today's stage, there were two big crashes. First one had four or five riders down. Second had about 15-20 riders down.
2 - There are really just two teams in the hunt for the Yellow jersey in Paris in a few weeks. These are team BMC and team Sky.
3 - I love how Phil Ligget says 'movie star' when he pronounces Movistar.
4 - At 8KM (after 190KM of a breakaway) the peloton got all back together. Five mere miles from the finish line. When you watch the stages, I urge you to pay attention to the jockeying for postion within the last 3-5 miles of each stage. It really is a chess match.
5 - Amazing finish for this stage - a mad sprint uphill to the finish - AND I'm astonished that Fabian Cancellara of team has kept the Yellow Jersey! Peter Sagan of Liquigas- Cannondale won the stage, but Cancellar came in second and the rest of the peloton was just behind.
Great stuff. I thought the pack would break apart today and once again the Tour de France is a learning process for me.
OH! By the way. If you're DVRing the stages for watching later, do yourself a favor. Add 10-15 minutes to the end of the taping so you don't miss the end of any stage. OR set your DVR to record the second or third broadcast of the stage. As this is a live event, the number of times I've missed the last three minutes of a stage because my DVR stopped is numerous. I'd say it happens at least half a dozen times in the course of a Tour de France.
Thanks for reading. I welcome your thoughts!
Saturday, June 30, 2012
New Media - New Style - New Tour de France
Just wanted to share with you a quick comment on social media tools, journalism and spoilers. From this point forward - as the 2012 Tour de France begins - I'm leaving it up to the audience to accept responsibility.
Responsibility for knowing or keeping themselves insulated from Tour results.
Responsibility for either sharing or keeping the results of the Tour secret from others.
And responsibility for enjoying the Tour de France in their own special way.
For eight years, I've written about and shared Tour de France results and other information. During this period, I've taken it upon myself to keep results secret until a sufficient time had passed (at least hours and sometimes a full day) so I didn't create a 'spoiler' moment for readers.
That's out the window. Social tools make it far too easy for anyone who wants to be connected to find out what's going on. Nobody online obeys the unwritten rule of 'no spoilers' and I'm not going to swim against that tide.
If you don't want to know what happened until you get home and watch it NBC Sports or the DVR feed of Eurosport, then unplug. It will be a good test for you.
So, let's get this party started. I'm typing this as I watch my taped version of the Prologue. I don't know the results, but will know soon enough. By the way, if you watch the Twitter feed on this very blog, it probably is rife with results info already.
I hope you can enjoy the Tour as much as I do - even knowing that results might not be hidden from your eyes at all times.
Responsibility for knowing or keeping themselves insulated from Tour results.
Responsibility for either sharing or keeping the results of the Tour secret from others.
And responsibility for enjoying the Tour de France in their own special way.
For eight years, I've written about and shared Tour de France results and other information. During this period, I've taken it upon myself to keep results secret until a sufficient time had passed (at least hours and sometimes a full day) so I didn't create a 'spoiler' moment for readers.
That's out the window. Social tools make it far too easy for anyone who wants to be connected to find out what's going on. Nobody online obeys the unwritten rule of 'no spoilers' and I'm not going to swim against that tide.
If you don't want to know what happened until you get home and watch it NBC Sports or the DVR feed of Eurosport, then unplug. It will be a good test for you.
So, let's get this party started. I'm typing this as I watch my taped version of the Prologue. I don't know the results, but will know soon enough. By the way, if you watch the Twitter feed on this very blog, it probably is rife with results info already.
I hope you can enjoy the Tour as much as I do - even knowing that results might not be hidden from your eyes at all times.
Friday, June 29, 2012
2012 Tour de France - TOMORROW
And so it begins again. This year with a first stage in Liege, the Tour de France will travel clockwise from Belgium into France and then around the country. Stage 17 is where the race will be won (or cemented) with a 143.5KM ride finishing at the Hautes-Pyrenees ski station on the Plateau de Peyragudes.
My prediction(s) for this year's race? It's up in the air. Last year shuffled like a deck of cards and I haven't honestly watched enough of the early-season classics to see who's in form for this year's battle. But I will take a flyer.
I see the podium this way - 1st to 3rd - with Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans standing proud.
How do you think it will end up?
[EDIT - 5:41PM June 29]
Just got a tweet that Andy Schleck has a broken pelvis. Stupidly, I missed that news because I've been doing my other writing and am not fully ramped up for tomorrow. BUT, in light of that, I put Sammy Sanchez on the podium with Bradley winning and Cadel in second.
YIKES!
My prediction(s) for this year's race? It's up in the air. Last year shuffled like a deck of cards and I haven't honestly watched enough of the early-season classics to see who's in form for this year's battle. But I will take a flyer.
I see the podium this way - 1st to 3rd - with Andy Schleck, Bradley Wiggins and Cadel Evans standing proud.
How do you think it will end up?
[EDIT - 5:41PM June 29]
Just got a tweet that Andy Schleck has a broken pelvis. Stupidly, I missed that news because I've been doing my other writing and am not fully ramped up for tomorrow. BUT, in light of that, I put Sammy Sanchez on the podium with Bradley winning and Cadel in second.
YIKES!
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Two Different Directions on Drugs - Contador and Armstrong
Within the last month or so, we in the cycling world have witnessed two things...
Alberto Contador was finally taken to task for his doping in the 2010 Tour de France and has been suspended for two years retroactively. He'll be able to compete this summer if he doesn't delay things with even more legal machinations.
Lance Armstrong was let loose by the US Department of Justice and it seems that all American investigations into any doping allegations will cease.
My take on these two things...GREAT. Let's stop running witch hunts and goose chases when there's little to no evidence. Let's also act swiftly and decisively in the future. It's not like we don't have the technology to find out if people are taking drugs in sports. It's not as if protracted investigations help anyone.
Instead of taking more than a year to find someone guilty and more than a few years to exonerate (or at least declare no findings), let's get this stuff done fast. So much for the poor shmoe (Andy Schleck) who will now go down as the winner of the 2010 Tour de France. So much for the fans who are tired of this circus and just want to watch some cycling. And so much for the sponsors who make much of the sport possible.
I want us to start looking ahead to the 2012 racing season with a clean slate. No Contador this season in the big races. Lance is off preventing cancer and raising awareness. Let's get back on track and focus on the riders and teams who are still gearing up.
For one, I'm excited about this year's Tour. I can't wait to watch Paris Roubaix. And I'm hoping to see some cool action in the Olympics in London.
What have recent events done to whet or quell your appetite for our favorite sport?
Alberto Contador was finally taken to task for his doping in the 2010 Tour de France and has been suspended for two years retroactively. He'll be able to compete this summer if he doesn't delay things with even more legal machinations.
Lance Armstrong was let loose by the US Department of Justice and it seems that all American investigations into any doping allegations will cease.
My take on these two things...GREAT. Let's stop running witch hunts and goose chases when there's little to no evidence. Let's also act swiftly and decisively in the future. It's not like we don't have the technology to find out if people are taking drugs in sports. It's not as if protracted investigations help anyone.
Instead of taking more than a year to find someone guilty and more than a few years to exonerate (or at least declare no findings), let's get this stuff done fast. So much for the poor shmoe (Andy Schleck) who will now go down as the winner of the 2010 Tour de France. So much for the fans who are tired of this circus and just want to watch some cycling. And so much for the sponsors who make much of the sport possible.
I want us to start looking ahead to the 2012 racing season with a clean slate. No Contador this season in the big races. Lance is off preventing cancer and raising awareness. Let's get back on track and focus on the riders and teams who are still gearing up.
For one, I'm excited about this year's Tour. I can't wait to watch Paris Roubaix. And I'm hoping to see some cool action in the Olympics in London.
What have recent events done to whet or quell your appetite for our favorite sport?
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