Hello

There are threads for virtually any sport or sport event but I haven't been able to find one for the best sport of them all: cycling. It would be nice with a thread to discuss races, riders, favourites, wagers etc etc if there's any interest.

Is there anything more joyful when the sun is hot in the summer than being a fat PoS and spending 3 weeks in front of the television to watch sweaty skinny men ride bikes through France? I can't think of any. The simplicity and elegance paired with beautiful scenery and just pure suffering is what makes this sport the best of them all in my humble opinion.

The spring classics are soon done, the next huge race, and one of the biggest of the season, is Paris - Roubaix this Sunday. Who will prevail? Wout van Aert is looking very strong and I expect him to do well.

(If there is already a thread I can revive instead point me to it)

Well, there was one for the 2018 season, so it might get merged and used as a catch-all thread

Fell down a cycling rabbit hole and watched the 86-05 TDFs. Curious what the pre race odds were when Lance and Indurain were at the peak of their "powers". I figure Lance was a dog to the field in 2000 (and 1999 obv), but was like -200 from 01-05. Once Indurain eviscerated the field in the 92 ITTs, he probably was there as well. 96 was a bit of a shock, but was one of the more enjoyable ones to sweat. Saw Lance was +400 in his 09 return (second best odds), so he essentially met expectations with 3rd place finish.

In for some TdF, it's been a while since I followed the sport significantly so pretty clueless about current riders and teams.

found part of the answer to my question...

(imagine being a 77% favorite to win a 200 person contest where one bad day can ruin you. fwiw he barely won this year)

are there cobbles

Kind of lol that we didn’t even have a thread before the giro.

Froome out of TDF after breaking his leg in a training ride.

It does open up the TDF possibilities that we'll see a newer up and coming doper win this year.

Meh, doesn’t change much at all. Thomas will be undisputed leader of not-Sky, they control the race as usual, lather, rinse, repeat.

Froome's crash sounds pretty tough. 6 months recovery-to-race time sounds optimistic. But who knows.

The tour is less than 48 hours away and the hype is real. Bernal probably the strongest imo but I think he'll remain loyal assuming GT doesn't die on the climbs/loses time. Hoping fellow Dane Fuglsang will make this tour something special, even though winning is a tall order.

Can't wait for the start

What's your bold predictions?

I'll start:

2 Danish stage victories

Schachmann wins two stages

Mohoric wins a stage

Yates doesn't finish top 5

Porte finishes the race

Alaphilippe wins either the mountains jersey (most likely) or the combativity award but not both

No Cav this year

the yates and ala predictions are not exactly bold

i've obviously got G winning this, but i'm hoping it's at least close

I'm on Kristoff to win/place top 3 tomorrow @ 34/9

Teunissen just joked he is going to focus on the leaderboard now Of course it's just a matter of days before he loses it, but first Dutchman in the yellow jersey in 30 years already makes this a successful TdF for us!

Was at both stages (today & yesterday) as they were 10min away from my house by car.

Great turnout etc. but have to say, it's frustrating as **** to have everybody extend their arms with their cameras to film the riders, completely ruins the experience when it's hard enough to see in the first place.

guess they get to brag about it on instagram though

What % this isn't a snoozefest domination by Ineos? I get invested every year and always end up disappointed

Kruiswijk is my hope.

Not a great chance, unless the others up their PED game. Or develop asthma, of course, as we know having asthma is massively beneficial to dominating le Tour multiple times.

Sagan GÖAT ÖAT!

Mountains tomorrow hype

Uran will take it

Movistar again with the ******o strats making the pace for everybody else for the entire stage. They did the very same thing last year. Whoever is making the decisions for them should be fired.

The year is 2029 and we still have no idea wtf movistar are doing

^^