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a écrit :

Lionel wrote:

a écrit :

Lionel wrote:

a écrit :

the latest from Tom Albertz/tom/surf/sam/mr. anderson/pat mabotton
etc., etc., etc.:

sammy-surf speculated:

snipped

hey - I'm thinking about doing a ride in early September.
maybe 150 miles or so.

If you enjoy cycling, I say go for it, Tammy!

any thoughts?

This time of year, cyclists thoughts turn to the Tour de France (TdF).
Here are two pieces of TdF lo

In 1975, Belgian rider Eddy Merckx is in the lead and on his way to a
record breaking sixth TdF victory when he is punched hard in the
kidney/liver/stomach (accounts vary on this) by a French fan who cannot
bear to see a Belgian break a record originally set by a Frenchman.
Although Merckx finished the TdF, he never fully recovered from the
blow and failed to win a sixth TdF.

***Lesson: riding in front of a hostile crowd can be hazardous.

In 1985, French rider Bernard Hinault was on his way to his fifth TdF
win when he crashed and broke his nose. Unable to breathe well, Hinault
slowed considerably in the following days, but still won the TdF with
the help of his American team mate, Greg LeMond.

***Lesson: you can ride with a broken nose if some one helps you along.

So, enjoy the ride. Bring a camera and post some pictures. Do try to
avoid hard punches to the mid-section and broken noses. And bring some
team mates, just in case.

:-)

Nothing like a little "history lesson", eh? :-D

Le Tour de France is a great legend maker. ;-)

Speaking of Le Tour, Lionel, I see it has been 20 years since a French
rider finished with the Yellow Jersey. In the past 19 Tours, there have
been 9 wins by Americans, 6 by Spaniards and one each by an Irishman, a
Dane, a German and an Italian. Are there any up and coming French
riders to give the faithful hope?

It's not a big problem for me since I am a fan of Tour de
France and not fan of riders.
Moreover I like Lance since he won Worldchampionship in '93.
At this time he was already an atypique rider with an
atypique morphology but already a face of winner/leader.
Armstrong has brought a lot to cyclism sport in term of
training, effort management and technic.
He is *the* real grand champion, leader, gentleman who
deserve all his victories.

Concerning French riders in the end '80 a guy named
Jean-François Bernard was a potential winner but... he
wasted his career.

BTW, who is your pick for this Tour?

Lance for an other one...
I just hope others will attack him seriously this time. ;-)