Chasing The Tour | That’s a Wrap!

July 23, 2012

Another Tour de France done and dusted. Three weeks of intense fanmanship, no sleep and no riding and all of a sudden life is back to normal again (I can assure you I didn't get any sleep or riding in either). A day after the Tour and life seems empty and meaningless.

The UK seems to be entering a time in the sport that Australia has just recently experienced. A World Champion, a Tour de France winner, and the Olympics in their home town (or for Australia the World Championships), all in the span of a very short amount of time. The popularity of cycling at a grassroots level has benefited from this and so has every facet of the industry. There is still lots of room left to grow for both countries and the healthy rivalry between the two will most definitely drive even more success. The Olympic road race is less than a week away and the competition has yet to reach its peak.

If I take a step back and lookat the big picture throughout the past three weeks I can definitely say that I’ve enjoyed this Tour. While in the midst of a Grand tour it’s easy to say that it’s boring but whenever I see the emotion on the Champs-Elysees everything comes together. There have been lots of intense sporting moments: Segan’s incredible performances and crazy victory salutes, Greipel’s powerful sprint finishes, the first glimpse of Froome’s form on La Planche des Belles, Thibaut Pinot’s awesome solo victory, the individual time trial where Wiggins never relinquished the yellow jersey thereafter, Stage 11 where Cadel lost the Tour, Stage 12 where Matty Goss lost the green jersey, Stage 17 where Froome proves his loyalty to Wiggins, Cavendish’s incredible sprinting prowess, and of course today seeing Wiggins make British cycling history.

I’ve had an absolute blast over the past three weeks and I’d like to thank you for reading every day. Your comments are what makes this site interesting to visit and without that interaction it would just be a bunch of pretty pictures. Chapeau to all of you!

: The peloton enters Paris after 3,400km of racing over the past three weeks

: What an incredible sprint by Mark Cavendish. Bradley Wiggins began the leadout (which was awesome in its own right) and Boasson Hagen finished it off at the final corner. As early as Cav began his sprint, nobody could even come off his wheel to try to challenge him. That makes Cavendish the winner on the Champs-Élysées for the past 4 years.

: The Badger (Bernard Hinault) manhandles an gatecrasher off the podium

: Orica-GreenEDGE finishes their lap of honor as the first Australian professional team to compete at the Tour de France

: Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas, Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Bradley Wiggins (GBr) of Sky, Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Europcar, and Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC

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Tom

Thanks CT for another great Tour covered.
Notso Swift

I am glad it is pretty pictures as well as great interaction
Anonymous

Thank you so much for the amazing coverage CT, Vareel and Cor!

Special thanks to Tomo too for hosting “Hard Talk with Matt Goss” after the race. It must be a pleasure to come up to an Australian journalist and the first word out of his mouth is “commiserations”.
- Anonymous
  
  Really wanted a “Tomalaris filter” on my TV remote last night. Positively cringe inducing.
  - Mark
    
    What did the Tominator say? I fell asleep!
  - Anonymous
    
    I have a Mike Filter. I record the TdF and start watching a half hour or so behind. This allows me to ff the ads. And when Mike interviews, say, Scott Sunderland, I ff Mike and listen to Scott.
    
    We are all SBS fans because they’ve adopted cycling, so it seems
    disloyal to criticize Mike Tomalaris, especially since he’s so
    enthusiastic and clearly a really nice guy. But maybe we need to be cruel to be kind..
    
    Perhaps some coaching would help. Perhaps the responsibility not to run out of words weighs on him. But with the experts he has access to he needn’t worry, and should stop supplying so many himself. Instead of inundating Scotty with words after a stage, all he needs to do is to say ‘What did you think of that, Scotty?’ – and then listen to the answer and take it from there. And he should stop gushing – we’re cycling fans already.
    
    Please, Mike…
    - Scott
      
      Sounds like you’re a coach yourself velocite!
      
      Nicely put and I couldn’t agree more. Let the experts do the work and respond from there. It’ll all work out fine.
- Anonymous
  
  Really wanted a “Tomalaris filter” on my TV remote last night. Positively cringe inducing.
- Anonymous
  
  Poor old Tomo got a bit flustered there :-)
- RooBay
  
  Yes great coverage by CT – thank you. Also, chapeau to Wiggins. A true champion.
  
  Couldn’t agree more with the comments about Tomalaris – I don’t like to be mean but there is no escaping that he is a terrible cycling comentator…and after how many Tours? Must be at least 15 or so by now. Offers very litttle in the way of insight or analysis.
  - Justin
    
    I reckonTommo’s allright he’s been there since the beginning and does a pretty good job allround as the frontman. Remember SBS is now low budget and must struggle in all areas of TV because money is very tight. He speaks well presents well but may lack the insight that even hardened pros can’t or struggle to give. The women they are trialling to camera leave most aussie pros behind. If you really want to change things ,get rid of P&P they are way past it. Or get Sherwen to double with Bob Roll, he becomes coherent insightful and no cliche.
    - Greg
      
      Get Rid of Phil and Paul you must be bonkers :) and you sat Tomo is alright ??!!
  - Sean Doyle
    
    I would put him down as a presenter more than a commentator. His passion is there and I reckon without it SBS’s focus on cycling may have dropped off a bit. I reckon he is there in every meeting banging his fist on the table demanding they keep going.
http://twitter.com/callumdwyer Callum Dwyer

Will people never learn, stay away from the podium when The Badger is near.
Five-55

Great work again CT and great photos as always!

Was great to see Veeral snapping photos behind Mike Tomolaris as he was interviewing Matt Goss!
Karati

Thought Matt Goss handled SBS well! I think i would have have cracked it in a big way if someone said that to me!
- Kevinmc
  
  What did Tomolaris say to Goss? I didn’t catch that bit. Without having heard the comments, can I just say that no one is above criticism. Sure Goss gave his best, but when your best is not good enough that calls for a tactical rethink. Thats not a jibe aimed at Goss, but at his DS.
  - http://twitter.com/cyclist_dave Dave
    
    The first thing he said to Goss was something like “commiserations for your disappointing performance”, to which Goss raised an eyebrow and said “disappointing?!”. Then some backpedaling was done.
    - http://www.facebook.com/pmark1bike pmark1bike
      
      I didnt see last night, but after the time trial Mike had Cadels career as over! Im sure Cadel would be disappointed, but he still finished 7th. I normally like to hear MT speak but perhaps he lost the plot or is venting his own disappointment that GE didnt get a win.
      - Anonymous
        
        I think he really came at it from the wrong attitude for the moment. I mean you can have that conversation with Matt White a few weeks from now because they really would have wanted to target a stage win but hitting Gossy up at the finish line is a bit harsh.
        
        I changed my tune about Goss though, he handled that really well.
Marcus

Love that Baden Cooke is riding with a stubbie on board!
Abdu

Classic shot of Jens and the English knights. That’s another thing the Poms do well, dressing up to watch a sporting event. No manikins or Hawthorn footy jumpers either. Great coverage CT, but I missed not getting the Bora’s again this year…
- Bracks_ashat
  
  Sorry, my bad
Mgunner2006

Agreed. Hincapie gone. But it will be a sad day when Jens announces his retirement.
- jules
  
  how strong was Jens this year? i think he’s actually going to the GC next year.
Anonymous

MT might be a great supporter of the sport but his ‘journalism’ is an embarrassment!

Chappeaux! CT, Veeral, etc. Fantastic coverage. I am very grateful.
Michal

Thanks for great coverage, pictures and comments. Sky was in it’s own league. Greed Edge has done really well. I hope they keep going even if they didn’t “netted” a stage win. Their backstage pass videos were winners for me everytime :)
- http://www.facebook.com/pmark1bike pmark1bike
  
  Just need Baden and Gabriel Gate together for Taste of Le Tour!
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VDl9DAVbww
Abdu

#podiumgirls

Saved the best for last.

So, when is Cav signing with Green Edge? No bidon schlepping for him there. It’d be a great deal for both sides too, build a team around him, help him win MSR etc and all in a Green Edge jersey. Pity he’s a Collingwood fan though…
RayG

Those two team photos make me think Froome is refusing to continue carrying Wiggins already.
http://twitter.com/ankush83 Ankush Agarwal

Thanks for the coverage Wade. I may not have commented on the posts but your blog was the first thing I looked for every morning. Many thanks again.

I don’t know what are we going to do for next one year.
Anonymous

Tomo’s a great guy, major gaffe but they all make them
- Notso Swift
  
  100% agree
  
  Phil and Paul have more than their share of clangers as well
- Notso Swift
  
  100% agree
  
  Phil and Paul have more than their share of clangers as well
- Greg
  
  No they don’t . Im sorry but Tomo is an idiot. Too much Aussie Aussie Aussie. Pro Cycling is more about the teams and individuals. SBS stop all this nationalism and just report on the Cycling
Stephanj

Lest hope we don’t get any more British riders winning the Tour. I couldn’t handle another rendition of God save the Queen by the “fat lady”.

That was woeful!
http://www.facebook.com/pmark1bike pmark1bike

Good to see Jnr Wiggo has the good sense to go Campy unlike his old man
- http://twitter.com/ralasdair Alasdair
  
  Also good to see he’s got a proper cycling cap, unlike, well…anyone else in the Sky team!
Bracks_ashat

Thanks Wade and Veeral and the others for such great coverage as usual. I’d like to thank Abdu for not picking on me so much this year, particularly because I hadn’t promised anything this year. Perhaps next year, who knows? Hopefully, Cadel will pull through next year. Next year’s bet is probably a Dogma frame if Wiggins wins again, but I’m not confirming it lol.
Anonymous

Hey, can anyone tell me what the significance of the bulls-eye/target image was during the tour? I think it was in relation to Wiggins…
- http://www.cyclingTipsBlog.com cyclingTips
  
  It’s the RAF’s symbol, but I’m not aware of any significance other than it being very British and looking cool as part of Wiggo’s name on the side of his jersey.
  - Dirk Hofman
    
    Its a mod subculture/british thing. I really hope vespa release a limited edition yellow motor pacing equipped scooter with a matching yellow leather satchel to go with it. It will totally top the Cadel BMC SLR01 from last year.
  - Martin
    
    It is the RAF symbol but is also used quite heavily in Mod culture which Wiggins is big fan of.
    - TrickyDicky
      
      Wiggo is a big patron of the armed forces charities – particularly those injured in service. That is also part of why he has taken on the motif (in addition to the mod connotation).
Bennyfrenny

That image of the peloton riding beside the river on approach to the Eiffel tower was brilliant;
can’t imagine the emotion they must going through, particularly guys on their first tour!
Raymosleyuk

Would be interesting what you aussies thought to how Green Edge performed. I thought in stages like the champs it was pretty negative they didn’t put anyone on the front to chase anything down and instead had their whole team on Cav’s wheel.

Goss, Albasini and Weening some highlights on a team that needs to do better. They have the guys in the team who can go on the front to help pull back breaks but it was commented on especially here in UK media how they just didn’t. When interviewed Goss claimed the greenedge team was a 1500m onwards kind of train but guys like Lancaster and O’Grady have done further out than that for years. I know lancaster wasn’t there yesterday but being stuck with eight guys on Cav’s wheel is pretty negative.

Shame about Cadel, proper champ and a great tour winner himself.
- Robert Merkel
  
  They didn’t have a great Tour, but their season overall has been pretty good. National champs, TDU, Milan-San Remo, a Giro stage, Albasini winning the Volta a Catalunya, and a number of other stage wins in smaller races.
  
  So, yes, a little subpar in the Tour (where par would have been one stage win IMO) but overall I think they’ve had a better than expected first year.
http://twitter.com/OliBrookeWhite Oli Brooke-White

Cheers for the awesome photos and words! Loving it! Superb Tour win by Wiggins and Sky…
http://twitter.com/OliBrookeWhite Oli Brooke-White

Cheers for the awesome photos and words! Loving it! Superb Tour win by Wiggins and Sky…
Blaasveld Biker

So Green Edge a first year team, only picks up a few second placings at the TDF. I think there were a few more seasoned team that did a lot less.
As for Cadel, has a crap tour finishes 7th. Seriously class, 13 grand tours 10 top 10 finishes which is a palmeres that most riders would be more than chuffed with.
And finally big ups to the Team Sky mechs for spray painting Riche Porte’s spare bike for Wiggo’s lad : )
Cummquott

Hey W, time to start training buddy….you are in for a very rude shock on the HR next month…..savage!!
Cheers
Cummquott and Little Dawg
D-Man

Loved the coverage and every aspect of the TDF, from Phil and Paul’s banal commentary (although the architectural commentary is fairly insightful), Matt Keenan’s EXCELLENT coverage (big fan of his call), the photos, the armchair critics, the once-a-year followers venting their spleen, Rupert Guiness spitting the dummy live on air when he missed the finishing sprint due to a security check, Tommo’s overly enthusiastic presenting (Bill Lawry/Shane Warne anyone??), Wiggo driving it like a motorbike for Cav on 2 stages, the near misses for Goss, Greipal getting 3 well deserved wins plus being up there for another sprint finish with a broken, er, something, Fabu in yellow, Sagan popping a no-hands wheelie over the finish line, Tibo Pinot Noir showing his class as the youngest rider in the race, I could go on and on. And I will. SBS Tour Tracker. Tommy Voeckler taking 2 stages and the pokla dots. Adam Hansen working hard in the break to ensure that Vino doesn’t get a stage win. Taste le Tour with Gabriel Gate. Gee that’s a great sounding name. Cadel on the attack in the high mountains. Rogers chasing him down for Sky then continues for the rest of the bloody stage. Someone must have forgot to turn him off. Love it! Love it! LOVE IT!

11 months to go. Roll on!!!
http://twitter.com/Faith_and_Rugby Simon Herbert

Great coverage as usual. Fantastic photos and to-the-point commentary. Awesome job!
Robertbb

Thanks for the coverage. This was my first time in France, chasing the tour and it was a trip indeed!

But really, life seems “empty and meaningless” after a bike race? Hmm… there are pills for that.

Chasing The Tour | That’s a Wrap!

July 23, 2012

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