just curious, but is kissena more a phil/paul or a dave/sean/carlton group?

I like the Belgian and French feeds the best. No idea what they are saying, but the Flemish with the hoog-ily oogily talk all the time makes me think of cyclocross...

I used to like Phil & Paul, but in the last 10 years they have become a bit off the pace with their commentary, especially Phil, who still can't figure out that it's Nicolas Roche riding these days and not Stephen.
I've never liked the uniballer and they seem to adore him so that turned me off them too.
Hence they are bad enough when commentating for UK TV, but the last time I saw their US show it also included Bob Roll, who as trying to explain drafting. That sealed their fate and I've never watched them since.

Eurosport it is.

Eurosport all the way. Far too many commercials on NBC.

^ Yup. ^

Plus, as Ian said, Phil and Paul have gotten really bad.  I used to like them too, but it seems they're doing a few things differently in the last decade, not all of which are intentional though:  Dumbing things down, constantly misidentifying riders (repeatedly) and the phase of the race, using the same phrases relentlessly, lack of any of the interesting inside info you get from Harmon/Kelley's team.....it reminds me of when John Madden and Pat Summerall started losing it.  It's actually a bit sad.

RAI, or anything with Bobke. (I'll forgive him his uniball-love because of the 'carbon tidbits')

Marc, 

Parkin's second book, by most accounts, lacked just about everything the first had.  I haven't gotten to it yet.

Yeah, I saw those tests and they look great if you're moving. When the road tilts up then we'll see who's aero and who's venting. My guess is they all go for vents in the hills. It will be a fred mainstay as soon as they hit the shelves. I would however, really want one this winter...

 they are actually just as cool because they have an inner suspension system that lifts them up off the riders' heads and allows air to flow through. 

If they allow air to flow through, then I think that contradicts the physical basis for increased aerodynamics. Probably NBC is anticipating a new physical reality inspired by the discovery of the Higgs boson.

WOAH!

seems like a strange leak since a Dutch newspaper got the scoop. It would suggest this isn't a USADA leak but a plant from some other source to discredit those riders.

Yeah pretty huge news. 6 month suspension starting after the Vuelta.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-hincapie-leipheimer-vande-velde-zabriskie-vaughters-give-evidence-against-armstrong

Vaughters is emphatically denying on TV that anyone connected to Garmin has been issued a suspension, telling reporters, "if you don't believe me, contact USADA." But they're not denying the the cutting a deal part. 

Good move on the part of the guys who don't want to retire.  Take the hit after the tour and still potentially have a career in 2013.

Before the tidal wave of Lance news hits, how sad is this?

OUEN, France (AFP) — Belgian rider Rob Goris, in France with Flemish Televison (VRT) for the Tour de France, died of a heart attack in his hotel room Wednesday night, Belga reported Thursday.

Goris (Accent Jobs-Willems Veranda’s) was a guest of VRT for one of its programs on the Tour for the fourth stage, which finished in Rouen.

Goris was 30 years old and began his sporting career in ice hockey, and was the captain of the Belgian National Team, before devoting himself to cycling in 2009.

@Jules - that is cool - the KCC method is a ride to the coffee shop - active recovery. I liked the ice bath (blow up wadding pool) with Levi in it in what looked like the luggage compartment of the bus.

I think Levi was in the compartment of the Mechanics van. He may be small but not small enough to stand upright in a bus luggage compartment.

Charlie has us doing an active recovery cool-down by insisting on no riding backwards in the park, after we finish we have to roll around for a lap after crossing the line.

i thought about riding backwards in the park after the race, but i refuse to do it without my ukelele.  

Tyler's Fault. All the way.

^ Yeah, it's pretty obvious. He's trying to force his way into the Shimano-Argos train. Veelers just doesn't want to give up his teammates wheel. Then even when Petacchi starts closing the door on him, Tyler still wants that space and rather than concede it to Veelers he leans in harder. If he wanted to go after anyone it should be Petacchi but really its all his own fault.

OMG big crash, putting big names in the hurt, taking some of the serious contenders in bad situations. Frank is going to have to learn to TT today.

Frank is done, RH is done.  Sagan is the new Merckx and Farrar has gone from Buddhist to Goombah.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3ZOKDmorj0

How well will Sagan do in the mountains?  Can he climb?  

He was able to hang with the bunch in  ToC, but ToF is a different matter.
He'll keep the green jersey and probably win more sprints in the last week (if there are any). But end up joining the laughing group in the mountains.

anyone have find report on why Garmin totally threw in the towel yesterday?  Vande Velde lost two minutes a few days ago, but 2min isn't much in Paris, yet they had him wait for Hesjedal.  Same with Dan Martin.  They should have had those guys go off with Schleck, Scarponi, et al to minimize damage.  If he had ridden in with them, he would have lost another two minutes and still an outside shot at the top 10.