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Hi elle
I hope the weather in London is better than here it hasnt stopped raining at all to day,the athletes arent going to have a good time,I wonder if Mr Bolt will actually run, he is still unsure

Hello, Elle.
I am not as sure as I was, that Froome will win.
He looks so ungainly on a bike it is hard to ascertain how well, or not, he is going.
Someone described him as being the Jim Furyk of cycling. Jim is a golfer, and his swing has been described as looking "like an octopus falling out of a tree"!
Two hard mountains tomorrow, the Col de la Croix de Fer and Alpe d'Huez. Could be an epic stage.
The scenery is superb. Breathtaking!
It will be very orange on Alpe d'Huez too!
The Dutch on their "adopted mountain".
I am looking forward to that!

Hi, Rusty!
The commentator remarked on how unusual it was to see Froome 'out of the saddle'- I saw that he was cycling almost standing on his bike- I'm assuming that he was making unusual additional effort to make time?
You are quite right, he does have a most ungainly style, but it seems highly effective!
I shall try to watch what I can as I'm now fascinated as to how it will all turn out....but my first love is the Athletics! (but I'll try to fit in both if possible)
The athletics events tonight were great, but the weather conditions were dreadful!
Talk about heavy rain!!! It was a torrential downpour! Fell dreich!
The pole-vaulting and the high jump were postponed as it was considered too dangerous - possibly to be carried out tomorrow if the weather improved.
Mo Farah's race was the last , so the evening went out on a great 'high' as he won spectacularly!
Typically, I've just looked out of the window and it is now dry outside!!!!!

I lived in Nottingham the home of the Raleigh bicycle and one of their cycles won the Tour in I think 1980 We went on a tour of the Raleigh works before it stopped producing them and it was fascinating

That is true, Doglet.
Joop Zootemelk won that year, riding for TI Raleigh.
He was Dutch. Another Dutchman, Hennie Kuiper, was second.
Bernard Hinault abandoned, that year, in the Pyrenees.
I "think" this was the year that a rule was instigated to prevent the shenanigans of the previous year, when two riders (forget their names) were involved in a battle to be the last rider in the GC!

Hi rusty

It seems there has always been controversy at the Tour
My first bike was a Raleigh bright metallic purple very glitzy those were the days when everybody cycled into the country for the day

It amazes me how close the spectators are allowed to get to the cyclists!
I was watching the Highlights the other evening when one of the commentators mentioned a competitor having been punched by a spectator in a previous Tour? I think he said that the cyclist then had to
withdraw from the race because of his injuries?
Do you know anything about that? does that sort of thing often happen?

My first bike was a Viking.
Not sure who made it.
My best ever bike was a Flying Scot made by Rattray of Glasgow.
I wonder how many Raleighs were made?
Millions?
I remember hearing the story of Eileen Sheridan, who when she turned professional, had to ride the bike of her sponsors. But, it was not to her liking, so they took her old bike and resprayed it in her new sponsor's livery and everyone was happy!

Yes, Elle, the rider was Eddy Merckx.
The greatest cyclist ever.
Armstrong has been punched. Gianni Bugno was assaulted.
Also, many spectators have had a "friendly" thump from a rider to get out of the way.
Spectators getting close is part of cycling.
You cannot put barriers up everywhere.
Today, on Alpe d'Huez, the crowds on the mountain will be incredible. Impossible to control.
I always say, "it is a long way to Paris, and things can, and do, happen"

There is obviously a lot of luck - as well as skill- involved in such a sport.
But there is a difference between ill luck engendered by such as road conditions, punctures, general malaise, tiredness, etc (I'm not too sure what offsets cyclists!) and interference from the spectators!
I know it's apparently all par for the course , but the spectator element gives me the heebie-jeebies.... the cyclists will never know from whence any interference might come?
it must sometimes put them on edge?