Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Elle, you are very correct in asking to find out things you don't grasp. Keep it up!
The rider who rides the course in the quickest accumulative time wears the yellow jersey. Incidentally, the colour is yellow because the newspaper who first promoted the idea of Le Tour was published on yellow newspaper.
As I mentioned a day or two ago, crashes feature a lot in a fast moving peloton. There will be crashes tomorrow. I mean today. I am up a bit late!
So, over the years the organisers have developed a system which will not penalise a rider who crashed through no fault of his own. But only in the closing stages of, usually, flat stages. Crashes rarely happen when climbing. This is worked out in advance of the race. When Tony crashed today he was within 4km of the finish, so he would not be penalised, and would be given the same time as the group he was with when he went down. He was pushed to line by team mates and because hes able to finish the stage, he kept the jersey.
He still holds the jersey even though he is in a hospital bed in another country. He is the leader of the Tour, and no one else.
Cancellara was completely different, his crash was 55km from finish and he lost a lot of time (riding with a broken back) and so lost the jersey.
He would not abandon on the road but wanted to honour the jersey by bringing it to the finish.
A man who respects Le Tour.
When Tony does not sign on for the day's stage tomorrow, he is deemed to have abandoned the Tour and the second placed rider, Froome, is awarded the jersey. But, tradition says he should only wear it if he has won it, not had it handed to him. The ideal for all the peloton is for no yellow jersey to be worn today.
But, big bucks will play a part, and we will see what happens.
For a newcomer to "the bike game", Elle you have worked out the situation very well indeed. I am impressed. Chapeau!
If in fact Chapeau can be said to a lady?
I am sure Pigale will keep me right!

Hi Rusty
I complained to the BBC about the fact that Victoria Derbyshire has taken over BBC2 and News24 in the mornings but have been told they are launching her as the new style news programme ignoring the fact I asked why she was on air on different channels,I knew there was little point in writing but the BBC should pay attention to their viewers.Weather fine and dry so cricket should be uninterrupted.Hope the tour is less dramatic today

Good Morning everyone !

A very sunny morning and the day promises to be hot once more - at least 30/32 in this neck of the wood. A bit less along the Normandy/Britany Coast tough.

I wish someone from the Tour would put a nice Livarot Cheese in the post to me ! No better place to get a good one.

YES Rusty, you can say 'Chapeau' to a lady - even though a chapeau is masculin. It's just a genderless expression.

So Chapeau to you Rusty, you know the Rules of the Tour better than I - I am learning quite a bit from you!

I hope that sponsor or no sponsor, Froome refuses to wear the Jersey on the starting line. Matter of principle, respect to the spirit of the Tour, and show of sympathy towards Tony as well.

Any favourite for today? Can't make up my mind really. The stage offers a few small hills, (very small) and a highly possible sprint at arrival. Could be another day like yesterday, with no rider really committing himself.

They might keep their strength for tomorrow's Mur de Bretagne, and then the team time trial on Sunday.
What do you think ?

Hello, Doglet,
I know about Derbyshire. I have watched her show.
Not my cup of tea. Little humour and a bit old-fashioned. I prefer the Sky presenters like Dermot Murnahan, Eamon Holmes, and especially Jane Secker. BBC go their own way.
"A new style news programme", for a brief second I took that to mean they would tell the truth.
Sky have a team of presenters varying from day to day usually, which brings a freshness to their programmes.
Very easy to lose interest in whatever Victoria Derbyshire is saying.
Complaining to the BBC is rarely fruitful.
I think it would be better broken up and sold off.
I don't think their news programmes would last very long.
Hope you enjoy the cricket!
There is always drama on the roads of the Tour de France!

Morning, doglet!
Many thanks for the info about the Diamond League in Lausanne. I hadn't realised that it wasn' t being televised until Sunday. No wonder I couldn't find the reference !
I shall have to record it as I shall be out during the morning - back of course for the Mens' Singles Final in the afternoon!

Pigale, I see you mentioned temperatures in Brittany!
Our daughter and family are going there tomorrow - not sure exactly whereabouts - they are camping. for a week.
Will that be anywhere near where you live? I have no idea what part of France you are in?

Good morning, Pigale!
Froome is Tweeting that he will NOT wear the jersey and wishes Tony Martin a good recovery.
Thank you for the "chapeau" ruling!
I would like to see a break get away and "stick" but it is very hard.
When Dave Duffield did the commentary on Eurosport, he told us all about the local food dishes in the areas Le Tour was passing through. And...who he had dinner with, and what he ate the previous evening!
It all added "flavour" to the race. Which, of the retired riders, do the commentary on French television?
I do not want to get away ahead of myself, but I am looking forward to the team time trial.
Tejay van Garderen is going very nicely. Hope he has a good day!

Hello Elle!

Your family should enjoy nice weather, certainly less warm than here which should make it easier to breathe!

In fact, Brittany is mile away from me - France is a big country - I am about a short hour's drive to the east of Orleans , ie pretty much the center of France; hence we get no sea breeze whatsoever!

I hope the weather remains good for the whole of their stay;

Good to see you take an interest in Le Tour - sorry but I cannot join you in your commitment in Tennis!
But I am looking forward to the Rugby world cup though!
(I know, let us enjoy the summer first!)

Morning, Rusty!
Thank you for explaining that so clearly for me!
Yes, I now understand that aspect.... but I have more questions as a follow- on, please ........
So the race is won by an individual in in the shortest time possible . But it is a "team" event? so how does this work?
I'm gathering that the "team" helps its foremost /'best' rider to attain success?
Is this the main objective of having a "team" or do all team members still compete - against each other and against all cyclists in other teams, too?
If so, how does it work? individual success against team togetherness?
(I'm not grasping this concept.......)
An individual cyclist wins overall, but why is it not a "team" win?
Or is that too?
Have I made this query clear? I hope you an understand where I'm coming from?

And now, I must apologise for misinforming you yesterday when I said that Wawrinka had beaten Gasquet in the Quarter Final match.
It was so up and down, and I took a phone call near the end... I was SURE (wrongly!) that Wawrinka had won! - and was looking forward to the repeat match between him and Djokovi ; Warinka having beaten Novak in the French Open!

Good Morning Jazzy,

I hope you have had a good night sleep, it might help you today.

I had a look at Champniers and found it very interesting; the church looks very old indeed and I see that it has been classified Monument Historique, which is nice.

Did you get to visit Le Cormenier Memorial du Monde Rural ? It is just the sort of museum I would love to see - I am very much involved in gathering all sorts of information about how the country folks lived in the old days (say from late 19th century till after WW1, a era which saw so many changes in the agricultural world, machinery, growing and irrigation techniques etc...)

By the way, just as well you mentioned it is in the Vienne - when I first googled Champniers, it gave me a place in the Charente, so I had to type Vienne as well to get the right one.

On today's stage, the arrival town of Fougeres is particularly interesting. I have been there. It was a walled town, and there is a beautiful Chateau (classed Monument Historique), a Belfry and Notre-Dame gate, part of the old fortification.

If you google Fougeres, Wikipedia will tell you all about it, and even if it is in French, I am sure you can understand it all.

Till later