eeeek

Yeah, saddened by this... but I would agree, being of European descent, African is a state of mind, some people are 50th generation African and still consider themselves Dutch, while others are first generation and have Africa written on their hearts... Froome, by his own admission, is a Brit.

Sorry to be blunt but no surgery in the world will fix that... other than stapling your mouth shut. Deal with that first. Then worry about the weight.

Whaha!!! Guess it coulda been worse though, a woman from a former East Germany territory perhaps?

think svein tuft went down at the circle

What time do you rate it was stolen? Yesterday eve I saw a guy riding a metalic blue bike in Hudson across the Strand street intersection musta been between 17h30 and 17h45... we were 4 cars back from the intersection so too far to see distinct details other than that the bike was blue. If that is the time frame I would def agree with Le Turbo, its in Bo Kaap.

I dunno, if it really is a farm gate the cummulative cost of just 2 or three upgraded parts might actually make it worth your while to replace the bike itself. But if it is nearly a sleek beast, then start wheels, because of the rotational mass element.

And some people see crime and just shrug their shoulders. Forgiveness for not rolling over and playing dead... But SAs criminals thank everyone with a not-my-concern attitude to crime like yours for making their job so easy. Furthermore its called righteous indignation, not negativity. Huge difference.

Seems silly of BMC, they have such an outside chance at the GC, even with Teejay, let alone Cuddles... why not allow Gilbert to give their sponsors a day in the media where he can?

Seems Orica were happy to let the break succeed, Cannondale not so much. Think Sagan has this one earmarked.

Nice find!

They shouldn't only find themselves without sponsors, they should find themselves without entries, the team should be banned from competition. And how, may I ask are potential future sponsors going to know that they are tainted if no formal charges are laid???

I believe it is illegal to name minors in legal proceedings, and they cant name the coach or the club to protect the identity of the minors. But the whole trailer of bikes should have been confiscated and bikes given back one by one if a check against a stolen bike registry for said bike came up clean. Coach should have been arrested for sure though Not sure why the bike owners are so stoked, means the blighters or their buddies will just be there at their next race and the one after that and after that, just eyeing out their top end bikes...

Can be argued 2 ways, he also shouldn't crack under pressure. Best of to mates son, very cool

The ones saying first African born, are wrong for sure, Froome is a tricky situation since his situation was similar to Virenque in that his parents were foreign nationals living in Kenya at the time he was born, the differences start to filter in when you realise that his mother was Kenyan-born, who moved back to the UK, and then later but before Chris was born, back to Kenya with Chris' father, a Brit through and through. Chris then moved to SA while his brothers moved to the UK for schooling. His first international competition was as a Kenyan under a Kenyan passport from a Base in South Africa. I am not sure what his parents movements were, if they returned to the UK, or remained in Africa, but Chris certainly considered himself African and maintained it as his home. And despite now living in Monaco, returns to SA for training every year. Virenque, on the other hand, moved back to the South of France at age 9 and never again gave Africa more than a cursory look. The only reason that Froome moved back to a British passport was for an Olympic berth, same reason as Zola Budd. You may not be able to define him as South African, and it becomes tricky, with that little flag next to his name, to define him as Kenyan... But he is an African for sure. All of which is irrelevant - since he is not the first African in the Maillot Jaune - Impey is! :clap: :clap:

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/riders/2008/interviews/?id=chris_froome_nov08

So would I, grew up in Africa, went to school in Africa, studied in Africa, he maintains residence in Africa, trains in Africa, and I'm fairly certain that he was the holder of a Kenyan passport (anyone can varify?). Not so with Virenque.

VIrenque, was the child of French nationals in Morocco, first generation, They moved back to France when he was nine. He was as much an African as what a person who sleeps in a garage is a car. IMHO

Wasn't impressed that the DS didn't ask some of his team mates to drop back to ride him back into the peleton... seemed an odd call, but seeing the way he loses his temper over teammates, bikes and leadership calls, if I was his DS my attitude would probably be pretty much the same... "You're the star, you fix it!"

IMPEY GONNA TAKE THE YELLOW

I guess that is why I am such a big fan of 'no exceptions', the second you make even one deviation from the rules you open yourself up to arguments about where to draw the line. The rules are the line. On the very dangerous flipside of that, if the riders felt that ASO was being unreasonable or had been inconsistent, they shouldn't have started stage 5. The riders and DSs can't cry foul everytime that they feel ASO race jury getting a little self important, and not actually do anything about creating the culture in the sport as it pertains to how and when the rules are enforced or waived.

Learn something new everyday! Thanks.

Once beyond the flamme rouge, within the final km, if you suffer any technical difficulties or crash or are held up by a crash, you get the same time as the riders you were nearest at the time of the incident.

Yeah, for sure, they need to be consistent about it. If nothing else they have certainly set the cat among the pigeons.

I think I must be the only person who isn't overly sympathetic to King's exclusion... The grand tours are notoriously tough and dangerous, but they are also known for highlighting just how unjust Lady Luck is. Had King's crash come after the TTT, or had the TTT been later on in the schedule, chances are that King would have been able to drag himself up the mountains, or recover enough to use a TT bike with his injuries, but as luck would have it it was not the fact that he sustained an injury that ended his tour or the ASO/UCI, but the perfect storm combination of the exact nature of his injury and the timing of the TTT stage. I feel for him, I really do, and I don't feel like it has detracted at all from how brave he was to head out on the TTT course on a road bike... At the end of the day during the TTT King knew that he was racing the clock, and realistically, the cut-off - he didn't make it, kudos to his effort but you can't fault ASO/UCI for that.

I thought his stage win was in Montpellier? The stage started in Marseilles. Sorry to rain on the parade :/