Running from Saturday July 5th to Sunday July 27th 2008, the 95th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,500 kilometers.

Use this topic to discuss.

I’m having trouble staying interested in the cycling season this year.  So many riders have changed teams, teams have changed managers, and we are still hearing about suspensions every other day (if any one is checking the cycling news).  I’m afraid the doping problem is starting to make my support wane.  Having the Discovery Channel team a distant memory doesn’t help either.  Maybe it will grab my interest when it actually begins.

Trek1500 - 25 June 2008 08:26 PM

I’m having trouble staying interested in the cycling season this year.  So many riders have changed teams, teams have changed managers, and we are still hearing about suspensions every other day (if any one is checking the cycling news).  I’m afraid the doping problem is starting to make my support wane.  Having the Discovery Channel team a distant memory doesn’t help either.  Maybe it will grab my interest when it actually begins.

Yes, my interest in the TdF is nothing like it was when Lance was riding.  I’m not sure who to to follow?  A couple of the heir apparents were dethroned early on and, like you said, the disbanding of the Discovery Channel team makes it difficult to know who to follow.

Still, I’ll try to follow as much as I can.  “Doping” or not, those guys are great cyclists.

~ Randy

With me I like to watch no mater who is winning. It is the sport that I am interested. You never know who is going to ride but when you watch the first few races you get to know the riders and who to watch for.  I can’t even pronounce the names.  The Teams come and go but sometimes you get to see a cyclists that have been trying to win something for years finly make it to the podium. I even like the coverage on TV.

I’m with oldshacker…I have every year since 1980.  I like when an American is in the lead, but it fund just watching what great shape those guys are in.

I hope Versus broadcasts the TdF on its HD channel.  Would be nice to see some of the surrounding scenery in HD.

I have watched the tour ever since ABC world wide sport show on Sat. back in the 70’s. It took a couple of years to fully understand that it actually ran 3 weeks. Love specially since Springfield canceled its crit in sept due to low attendance but they plan on doing it again next year after some replanning to try to get more people downtown.

I would like to add that my kids (adults) enjoy the Tour more than any other sport TV. It would be nice if it could be in HDTV.  I really do not know why I never got interested in the others (cycling racing)  but it must be that sentimental nostalgia. Only one thing I can’t stand is when the cameras show landscape at the time someone is making a move or something. 

The first 2 stages of TdF were pretty interesting.  I was happy to see the new US team, Columbia, up front in both finishes.

It’s also good to see that the 2 US teams are a part of a serious anti-doping program. doing their own testing and publishing the results.  This, in addition to the testing done by the pro-cycling organizations is a great step.

Anyone see anything significant?

~Randy

Oldshacker - 03 July 2008 09:58 PM

I would like to add that my kids (adults) enjoy the Tour more than any other sport TV. It would be nice if it could be in HDTV.  I really do not know why I never got interested in the others (cycling racing)  but it must be that sentimental nostalgia. Only one thing I can’t stand is when the cameras show landscape at the time someone is making a move or something. 

My son-in-law who is a Nascar fan and probably hasn’t been on a bicycle since childhood decided to watch a little of the tour.  He was absolutely blown away by the speeds, the distances and the peloton.  He just couldn’t image riding in such a pack of riders at those speeds.  I think he has a much better appreciation for the cycling sport.

Ok.  The Tour is already grabbing my attention more than I thought it would.  The two new American teams are doing great!  Garmin Chipotle has two riders in the top ten and Columbia has three!  Not a bad start for “new” teams.  I’m not missing Discovery Channel as much as I thought I would, but I am still mourning the absence of Astana.  I’m getting pretty revved up about Columbia though!  Is it too much to hope that an American team could win the whole pie??