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So if you pluralize the English Tour de France you get Tour de Frances. N’est-ce pas?
Wouldn't it be Tour of Frances?
I am not sure how a team salary cap would work? Katusha and BMC are not far off, it isn't just money buying results.
Where do you stop, Sagan is one of the highest paid, but to the detriment of the rest of the team and the fact that they don't have a lot left to pay the remaining Bora-Hansgrove riders, so do you cap team as a whole or cap individual riders salaries too?
Then don't you endanger teams like Lotto NL Jumbo who turned up with 8 riders for this years Tour but really tried to have both a sprinter and a GC contender and actually did pretty well with both?
I think these figures were last years?
Tour de France team budgets (estimated)
Team Sky – €35m
Katusha – €32m
BMC – €28m
Tinkoff – €25m
Astana – €20m
Etixx-Quick Step – €18m
Movistar – €15m
Lotto-Soudal – €14m
LottoNL-Jumbo – €14m
Dimension Data – €13.5m
Orica-BikeExchange – €13m
Giant-Alpecin – €12.5m
Trek-Segafredo – €12m
Ag2r La Mondiale – €12m
Cofidis – €11m
IAM Cycling – €10.5m
FDJ – €10m
Cannondale – €10m
Lampre-Merida – €7m
Direct Energie – €6m
Bora-Argon 18 – €4.5m
Fortuneo-Vital Concept – €3.5m
Wanty - £1,000
+1 thanks to lunge from all the silent majority of lurkers on this thread.
I always prefer to watch Eurosport. While Millar, Boardman and Co are more informative, Kirkby and Yates are comedy gold. Carlton with his mispronounced French and oft-repeated ignorance - based opinions on a wide variety of irrelevant subjects. I also love to play Kirkby - bingo, where he will on cue repeat some nonsense every time a rider or situation comes up. Sean is much better on tactics etc but makes up words ('performant') if he can muster enough words to form a sentence. For me the highlight of the Tour this year was hearing Sean say, when Alaphillipe attacked "if on a big mountain like this you attack too early and get the big legs and lactate, then you are in trouble". The image of Alaphillipe jumping out of a group only to find milk spurting from his nipples will (hopefully ) stay with me forever.
lactate, then you are in trouble”. The image of Alaphillipe jumping out of a group only to find milk spurting from his nipples will (hopefully ) stay with me forever.
Have you confused lactate and lactose??? Or do you not know what lactate means in this context?
The confusion is between lactate and lactation.
The confusion is between lactate and lactation.
Oh right, of course. Kelly is still correct though and the poster just doesnt understand.
Very much so. After so many years of what if, and his history of major crashes, I wonder if there’s something that a sports psychologist could help him with.
The only one who seems to have seen what happened this year in the thread has fans the wrong side of a barrier getting in the way causing a big pile up, he landed on his shoulder not sure what a psychologist could do there.
I hope he gets a good run in Spain, should be in contention there. Office discussion was he could have pushed Sky properly.
Predictions, Froome will ride himself into form in week 4......
Highlights TD and Roglich pushing all the way
Good to see GvA hold yellow there
Negatives still the fans who don't know how to behave, they should have the flares shoved where the sun doesn't shine
Downhill finishes? Not really a fan
Sprinters getting the chop, either a bigger margin for the cut off or something different if you want them to race for 3 weeks
The police having no clue at times
and having sat through ITV I'll be finding a way for the SBS Australia coverage next year
Hels, what do you think of Boardman's nothingks?
Makes me cringe but I still think I'll miss him!
Carlton Kirby is horrific, a babbling, know-nothing, cacophony of meaningless cliches and fake hysteria.
Erm, disagree to some extent. Carlton has over the years become more involved in cycling, and he is a commercial commentator who covers other sports not just cycling.
When Carlton took over from the immortal David Harmon i’ll admit I hated Carlton at first. The Harmon/Kelly narrative and interaction was joyous, comedy gold. At points during races they’d be in fits of laughter and that translated well into the action on the road. I really miss Harmon, but illness and a personal issue made him leave... he still runs a PR Company but does less work these days.
Both Harmon and Carlton are commercial commentators, both commentating on LeMans and motorsport in general and have quite in depth knowledge in aspects of the sports. But they aren’t there for the knowledge, that’s what Kelly and Millar are there for.... to provide the support SME knowledge. That’s why Kelly often pops out during the stages to go seek out someone or fetch coffee.
But I have warmed to Carlton, took a couple of years I’ll admit and he has calmed down on the hysteria angle and his continual “EddieBoss” references. Carlton has matured nicely into the role, and I do enjoy his mellow tone when he’s not all uppity and excitable.
But Harmon and Kelly were comedy gold, and I miss that team.
Stockholm Syndrome by telly... 🙂
he is a commercial commentator who covers other sports not just cycling
Pathetic excuse. Both Ned Boulting and Rob Hatch cover other sports too but they actually bother to learn about the riders and the places that the races go. CK is embarrassingly clueless about so many aspects of the sport and it's his ACTUAL JOB to know that stuff.
Anyway, ITV did a great job this year as usual. Will miss Boardman's segments as well as his nightly 'Who has the droopiest eyelid' contest with Gary Imlach.
I predict Bardet will win the Tour next year.
Pathetic excuse. Both Ned Boulting and Rob Hatch cover other sports too but they actually bother to learn about the riders and the places that the races go. CK is embarrassingly clueless about so many aspects of the sport and it’s his ACTUAL JOB to know that stuff.
Pathetic excuse for what, for being more entertaining? I don't get the hate, he provides some of the best commentary out there in my opinion. Sean Kelly I'm convinced is sat at home drinking a beer, while an algorithm fires out random pre-recorded quotes. Ned and Rob I just can't gel with (I like Ned when he's not in the commentary box, but the commentary is dull). David Millar is interesting, but he needs someone like CK next to him just to talk shit and lighten the mood a bit.
Ned and Rob I just can’t gel with (I like Ned when he’s not in the commentary box, but the commentary is dull). David Millar is interesting, but he needs someone like CK next to him just to talk shit and lighten the mood a bit.
This. I've grown up listening to Test Match Special, there's a lot to be said for someone who can ramble for hours on end when very little is happening, Kirby does this better than anyone.
Millar provides great insight but I find him very dower. i also think he's slowly disappearing up his own derriere but that's another discussion for another day...
I predict Bardet will never win a GT with that physique. The poor boy needs a good square meal.
i think essentially Bardet simply isn't good enough. He's not quick enough up the mountains regularly and not quick enough in the TT... .so the odds of him winning a GT.... pretty low.
I'm happy that other people like Carlton Kirby, but I find him viscerally painful to listen to. I look at it like this: the role of a commentator or journalist is to convey information and comment without his or her own voice and verbal antics getting in the way of the content. I'd rather just have someone bland but informative than his intrusive made-up stuff, repeated cliches and hysterics.
But it's personal taste and everyone has their own opinion. YMMV etc.
the role of a commentator or journalist is to convey information and comment without his or her own voice and verbal antics getting in the way of the content
Not a fan of TMS then
Lol, the Aussie version includes a cooking segment, highlights of the previous day, a great bit of mix tape and stories while talking about chateaus. It's brilliant
Basically due to time zones nothing happens from 9pm when they go on air until about 12:30am
Not a fan of TMS then
Actually yes. You think Carlton Kirby has anything in common with TMS? The thing that defines those guys is that they actually know what they're talking about. The thing that defines CK is that he has no idea what he's talking about, he's mostly just talking.
Can we just agree that some of us don't like him and leave it at that?
(I know this is a bit behind the discussion, I'm just an occasional lurker) Lactate, used as a verb (i.e. as Sean used it) means to produce milk. Lactate is also used as a noun in chemistry to mean a compound containing lactic acid.
“if on a big mountain like this you attack too early and get the big legs and lactate, then you are in trouble”
Whilst I've no idea what "big legs" means his use of lactate is correct in this context.