anybody been watching the Tour de France?

[ScottyB]

after seeing today's stage my legs were hurting just sitting there watching it on tv. team discovery had been written off to a degree and now they are back and taking control. Valverde was amazing to beat Lance out at the end too.

anybody been watching this last tour for Lance? i'm pretty hopeful he'll take this tour too, which would be incredible.

[Myuki]

I've glanced at it here and there. Haven't watched much tv lately.

[Mike]

i wish i watched tv. i'll probably pick up the video when it comes out.

[Evan]

I had been keeping up until the past couple of days. Ironically when most of the action has happened...... (although the TTT was awesome)

OLN plays it from 10-11 every night, so its pretty easy to catch

[JohnC]

Someone explain the scoring to me. Here's my basic understanding: Riders in the same group (what makes a group, exactly?) get the same time, so the way to win is to always be in the first group, except make a breakaway in a couple of key places so that you are your own group? But why do people always sprint at the finish, regardless of whether they are in a group or not? Some sort of super bonus points for being the line leader? The OLN coverage (at least the couple of hours I've glanced at) just assumes that the viewer knows how it works...

[Evan]

Someone explain the scoring to me. Here's my basic understanding: Riders in the same group (what makes a group, exactly?) get the same time,

yes, to prevent riders at the back of the group from trying to push through to the front, creating a clusterfuck and wrecks.
(btw the main group is called the peloton)

But why do people always sprint at the finish, regardless of whether they are in a group or not? Some sort of super bonus points for being the line leader? The OLN coverage (at least the couple of hours I've glanced at) just assumes that the viewer knows how it works...

To get a stage win, and/or points for the various other jerseys like sprinters jersey and king of the mountain. The guys who are sprinting arent generally in the hunt for the GC (general classification) overall lead.

OLN does do a decent job explaining it, the info is just thinly interspersed in coverage, so if you only watch it once or twice you wont pick it up.

[ScottyB]

Evan pretty much explained it all.

there is also a small cash bonus for the podium finishers i believe, so it makes some of the sprinter/climber specialists go for it a little harder at the end.

most of the riders who are looking for the overall win will not contest the sprinters on the flat stages because those riders are only out to win the stages they specialize in. once they do that, they just hang back and chill in the peleton. the climbs and time trials are where alot of the battles for the overall win are fought.

[bimmerboodle]

Crazy...Those French