On the mountain summits the crowd dictate where the side of the road is. If the riders move to the middle the crowd follow them.

Back in 1934, ANtonin Magne was the leader of the national team, and one day the chain of his bicycle broke - René Vietto then rode back to him and gave him his own bicycle.

Who would do such a thing nowadays ? ;)

I always wondered why the police allows all these people to stand on the road. I understand they can't control the whole route, but more security measures wouldn't hurt anybody. Sometimes spectators suddenly jump in front of a cycler to give him a cheer or whatever, but the cycler could just as easy go down because of such an action. I never understood why people do these things, first of all you make a fool of yourself, and second, i doubt it really helps the cyclers. I think if i were a cycler it would annoy the living daylight out of me.

about the sportsmanship among the riders, it's a beautiful thing of course, but i don't really understand it. I think it's a little naive to be honest. From what i understand from some interviews, a lot of the guys don't even like Armstrong, some even openly throw mud at each other in the press. There's a lot of rivalry in the sport (which is good of course) but some go beyond that.

So if the man in the yellow jersey goes down, due to his own fault, why shouldn't there be taken advantage of ? It's all part of the game if you ask me. When someone who's NOT wearing yellow goes down, do they also wait for him ? I don't think so.

Let me put it like this, if during a footballmatch a player is dribbling the ball, and he trips, should the opposite team wait until he's back on his feet and can continue his dribble ? Hell no, they take control over the ball and seize the momentum. You make a mistake, you pay the price. And as far as i'm concerned, the same goes for the cycling sport. Accidents WILL happen, that's also the charm of any sport. If Sjeng Schalken wasn't injured, he might have won Wimbledon this year. But should his opponent have said "look, i won't play you unless you're healthy, i wanna be fair" ?

On the mountain summits the crowd dictate where the side of the road is. If the riders move to the middle the crowd follow them. </font>[/QUOTE]well, imo opinion it shouldn't be allowed. They need to get more security along the route, if that's possible (financially). It's dangerous, for both the spectators and the cyclers. When i'm in a stadium, and i have the nerves to step on the pitch, the police will beat me up. Fans don't belong on the playground, it's bound to go wrong sooner or later.

I believe it still happens on occasion that when the captain of the team has material problems or a flat tire, and there's no replacement bicycle nearby, one of his lesser teammates will give him his own bicycle wheel or even his entire bike. And it also still happens on occasion that lesser teammates are slowing down or even turning around to go and help their team captain. The turning around bit is getting less and less frequent, though; nowadays, most cyclists all have communication devices which enables them to talk to the leader of the team who's surveying the entire situation from his car; and it's easier to anticipate and deal with possible problems a lot faster.

[ 07-24-2003, 05:38 AM: Message edited by: Grojlach ]

And we have a winner !!!

finally, i thought we couldn't do it anymore. Every Dutchy practically grows up on a bicycle, we should dominate the whole friggin thing. :D

Pity most Dutchies replace their bicycle with frellin' scooters once they're sixteen, those spoilt brats...

Well Jan wasn't wearing yellow when Lance stopped when he had a flat tyre (I think?). The peloton always slows down when people stop to relieve themselves. At the time as well, Jan and co couldn't have known it was his own fault (if indeed it was - I don't think it was). That's a good point about the 'side' of the road Donut. On that very stage there were pictures of the leading guys going over the summit and being engulfed by the crowd. You could barely see the riders the people were closing in so much.

I think it's a matter of perspective. Some people feel that to win is everything. And I definitely think that is a driving force. But some people feel that to win with honour is better. There's a lot of talk in cricket for instance, that the modern day players should go back to the old way of walking when they think they're out, instead of waiting for the umpire and hoping he didn't hear or notice or have a good enough view of the play. They are going by the idea that winning is the most important thing, and besides, everyone gets poor decisions and lucky breaks so it all evens out. So too could you argue that everyone in the tour has fallen or had a problem with their machine and it would all even out for their opponents to seize on the advantage whenever it happens. But the way they do it, it all evens out as well, because everyone observes the protocol of waiting while they recover, but they can do it with honour, and when you win, you know it was because you were the best, not because your opponent had a flat tyre. Naive to be sportsmanlike while playing sport? When else?

Btw I just wanted to ask that if people are going to mention stuff that's happened in the tour could you put a spoiler tag on it? We don't get the tour live here (and it would be the middle of the night anyway), so I watch the highlights show which is on about 12 hours after the stage has ended. I like to not know the result when I watch it [img]smile.gif[/img]

Considder it done Aelia, and you Do have a valid point. However, i think i have a valid point as well. It's a matter of how you see things. Sure, the overall appreciation Jan must have felt, will make him feel good about himself, no doubt. But the feeling would be even better if climbed the stage at the champs Elysee as number one.

Being considdered a good, fair and straight forward sportsman, wouldn't give me the satisfaction i was looking for, IF i were a competitor who'd end his career emptyhanded.

It's nice to see that honor is still around.No real athelete would take a cheap shot to win,especially take advantage of a mishap regarding the yellow jersey!No class in that!Jan Ulrick is as great a sportsman as Lance is.neither would take an advantage like that.Can't wait to see Sat time trial!!