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The 2008 Tour de France - A Photo Recap [PICS]
boston.com — The 2008 Tour de France cycling race is now over, won by Spain's Carlos Sastre, with a time of 87h 52m 52s. Sastre beat second-place finisher Cadel Evans of Australia by only 58 seconds, over a 21 stage course that added up to over 3,500 kilometers (2,175 miles). This entry covers the second half (including mountain stages) of the Tour.
MakiMaki- 538 diggs
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- RxEight, on 07/28/2008, -0/+9http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/07/2008_tour ...
First part of the Tour photos - screamingjoker, on 07/28/2008, -0/+15very excellent photos, beautiful shots really.
- Filipp0, on 07/28/2008, -4/+5Holy crap!
Guy on picture #4 has the most testicle-looking chin I've ever seen!- Caerbannog, on 07/28/2008, -0/+4It doesn't strike me as particularly scrotal. Maybe you just wanted to see testicles.
- Hax0rJimDuggan, on 07/28/2008, -17/+1Tour de... WHO THE ***** CARES!
- dezholling, on 07/28/2008, -1/+6I do.
- Hax0rJimDuggan, on 07/28/2008, -3/+1Shouldn't you be outside? Ya know, riding your bike?
- dasdef, on 07/28/2008, -3/+1shouldnt you be... oh you're doing that right now. Carry on.
- dezholling, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3I wish, but instead I'm wasting away time at work.
- FuckThaMeme, on 07/28/2008, -1/+5Shouldn't you be watching football and drinking beer you mindless *****.
- jseres, on 07/28/2008, -1/+2Tour de... NUMBER ONE ANNUAL SPORTING EVENT.
- Hax0rJimDuggan, on 07/28/2008, -2/+1There's a reason it's only annual.
- jseres, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2So is there a reason that the Superbowl is only Annual and the tour wipes the floor with it on a yearly basis? And don't come back and say that there is more than one game a year in a football season, because there is more than one bicycle race in the pro tour every year. Your just an ignorant ***** it's ok.
- dezholling, on 07/28/2008, -1/+6I do.
- itrancei, on 07/28/2008, -2/+6Fierce competition + amazing scenery= EPIC!!!
- creditslump, on 07/28/2008, -13/+1
- dezholling, on 07/28/2008, -1/+4Prove it. Still waiting on that positive test result...
- Stemp, on 07/28/2008, -1/+11999 : Corticoïdes without medical presciption ?
2004 : L.A. confidential.
23 August 2005 : 6 samples from 1999 of L.A. contains EPO.
Don't forget MD Michele Ferrari.
If you want a real US champ go for Greg Lemon.
The Armstrong I admired was a cheater. - ZHEStorm, on 07/29/2008, -0/+2Wrong. Lance was (and still holds the record) for the most tested athlete in the sport. He was never once caught with a doping product in his blood... ever. I understand the jealousy that a man could be so dominate in a sport... but you'll just have to deal with it. Lance was clean.
Oh, and btw, it's Greg Lemond, not Lemon. - dezholling, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1"Armstrong has continually denied having used performance-enhancing drugs and has described himself as "the most tested athlete in the world".[17] Throughout his career only one test showed indications of the presence of doping products: in 1999, a urine sample showed traces of corticosteroids, but the amount was not in the positive test range. He later produced a medical certificate showing he used an approved cream for saddle sores which contained the substance.[18]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_armstrong
Don't you just love wikipedia?
- Stemp, on 07/28/2008, -1/+11999 : Corticoïdes without medical presciption ?
- jamesmon01, on 07/28/2008, -0/+4Um, im pretty sure that two of the three busted this year were from SPAIN... Bertran and Duenas. So don't try and act like it's an american epidemic. That said, congrats to Sastre and team CSC. They certainly deserved the victory, their team was incredible.
- ericdano, on 07/28/2008, -0/+6Funny, wasn't the first guy thrown out for doping a Spanish rider, Manuel Beltran?
- ZHEStorm, on 07/29/2008, -0/+2Yup!
- dezholling, on 07/28/2008, -1/+4Prove it. Still waiting on that positive test result...
- sgtbutterscotch, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3There's so many people there that a lot of people have never heard of, but it must be pretty cool to say that you're one of the hundred best cyclists in the world.
- dawei213, on 07/28/2008, -0/+4Definitely some great photog capture!
- nobleexperiment, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3Would be nice to have a picture of Carlos Barredo's reaction after losing to the peek-a-boo sprint to the finish on stage 18 to Markus Burghardt. That would be the cherry on top of this amazingly great photo gallery of an awesome Tour de France.
- jamesmon01, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2That was a great finish. You could just feel his frustration, and after spending so much time together in the front. Great racing this year.
- Kanele, on 07/28/2008, -6/+1lacks some needle shots :V
- bluehouse, on 07/28/2008, -4/+8I thought this was going to be a bunch of pics of the cyclists lined up for drug tests
- M80mayhem, on 07/28/2008, -6/+1The last image should be an American Family on the couch watching ANYTHING BUT the Tour de France...because that's what happened.
Or Lance Armstrong yawning on line at Starbuck's during the event... - defenswens26, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2Great photos. But I honestly had no idea this already happened, I hadn't heard anything about it until now...
- cslawren, on 07/28/2008, -2/+7I've always been a fan of the Tour, but in recent years, especially since Lance retired, there hasn't seemed to be the same level of excitement. And with the doping scandals and the seemingly French bias towards foreign cyclists (from any country but their own) in the drug tests, the sport needs to get its act together and try to polish their image. I want to be able to get excited about the sport again, but the fact is, I find it hard to do so, and as a result, barely watched any of it this year. I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks this.
- jamesmon01, on 07/28/2008, -0/+3Hopefully nothing will come out after the fact, but overall i thought this year was a step in the right direction. They busted three at the get-go (two spaniards and an italian), but overall it appears that the sport is cleaning up. Sponsors are dictating contracts that are incredibly harsh (rightfully so) on doping, and the teams are paying attention.
- Stemp, on 07/28/2008, -1/+1French bias towards foreign cyclists ?
Are you kidding ?
Did you heard about Richard Virenque ?
Cheaters are just cheaters !- cainpitt, on 07/28/2008, -1/+2isn't he welcomed as a hero nowadays. The french seem to forgive their own very easily meanwhile Armstrong who never tested positive is vilified.
- Stemp, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1@cainpitt : Armstrong was tested positive in 1999.
And I don't know why you think Virenque is welcomed as a hero.
But I understand you don't trust nor like the French so :
http://www.lexpress.fr/actualite/sport/les-coureur ...
Sorry it's in French, but I bet you know about http://translate.google.com/ ;)
- Herrohkitteh, on 07/28/2008, -0/+8I almost had no interest in this, almost.
Then I took an overview of the photos
Pretty colors.. Check
Nice scenery.. Check
Guy laying on his back in pain.. Check!
It's the third one that makes it interesting. It's all fun and games when somebody gets hurt. ^^ - dasdef, on 07/28/2008, -1/+4i want a road bike damnit!
- fuqqer, on 07/28/2008, -3/+1Can some knowledgeable photographer look at #9 in the series and explain if the shot is possible? How is the foreground plant in focus , and just a small section of the peloton at a different distance also in focus?
I think this thing is photochopped.- jamesmon01, on 07/28/2008, -1/+3its actually a whole strip in the middle that is in focus. I dont know enough to tell you the type of lens, but its a function of the focal depth setting on that lens. Rather than working radially, it works vertically
- 0biKwiet, on 07/28/2008, -0/+2He was using a special lens called a tilt shift lens which allows for a great deal of control over the depth of field and make shots like that one possible. Very cool stuff, definitely worth looking up if you are interested in photography.
- sharkoman, on 07/28/2008, -0/+1It's called tilt and shift photography. Not photoshopped in the least and done with a special type of lens which you can change the plane of focus...all done in camera.
- jamesmon01, on 07/28/2008, -1/+3its actually a whole strip in the middle that is in focus. I dont know enough to tell you the type of lens, but its a function of the focal depth setting on that lens. Rather than working radially, it works vertically
- dronshaw, on 07/28/2008, -1/+6France is so badass, i wish i could go back
- guarruda, on 07/28/2008, -1/+7What these guys accomplish is unbelievable (I am talking about the clean ones)
- FuckThaMeme, on 07/28/2008, -0/+6IMO The tour this year was amazing. We had such an open field and even at the final Time Trial, we stil had no idea who was going to take the final Yellow Jersey.
I'm not a big fan of Cadel Evans, but I respect what he almost pulled off considering he had next to no help from his team on the climbs.
Mark Cavendish was amazing - You cannot deny that.
Not many scandals, all were caught and thrown off the tour pretty promptly.
A deserving, dignified rider won, riding for an exceptional team.- DestroyFascism, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1Cadel Evans was the team and the only reason Silence Lotto got so much air time. Popovich (spelling) played a cameo appearance on day 14 IRC, but the "team" was always at the back of the peloton. (Spelling)
- ZHEStorm, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1Silence-Lotto is typically a sprinters team. So that's why Cadel was alone most of the time in the mountains. Yaroslav Popovych was a major pickup for them (as he usually does well in the mountains) and he did finish 24th and only 36:24 behind Sastre. That really isn't all that bad! Then at 31 they had Mario Aerts at 48:58. After that... it's a huge drop-off as you get down to the sprinters.... the next guy is at 83rd Dario Cioni at 2:20:49. Ouch! Compared to CSC-Saxo, there was no competition.
If Cadel wants better, he needs to join a team with some climbers. Perhaps one of the American teams would be a better fit for him?
- ZHEStorm, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1Silence-Lotto is typically a sprinters team. So that's why Cadel was alone most of the time in the mountains. Yaroslav Popovych was a major pickup for them (as he usually does well in the mountains) and he did finish 24th and only 36:24 behind Sastre. That really isn't all that bad! Then at 31 they had Mario Aerts at 48:58. After that... it's a huge drop-off as you get down to the sprinters.... the next guy is at 83rd Dario Cioni at 2:20:49. Ouch! Compared to CSC-Saxo, there was no competition.
- ZHEStorm, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1I agree! Sastre is a good guy and I was glad to see him win.
Too bad Team Astana wasn't allowed though. It would've been interesting to see Contador defend his title. Not to mention that Leipheimer and Klöden were also potential podium finishers. I think it kinda sucks that the current team is banished for something previous cheaters of the team did. Oh well, at least they are taking the cheating head-on.
- DestroyFascism, on 07/29/2008, -0/+1Cadel Evans was the team and the only reason Silence Lotto got so much air time. Popovich (spelling) played a cameo appearance on day 14 IRC, but the "team" was always at the back of the peloton. (Spelling)
- Rotzooi, on 07/28/2008, -1/+2Superb photography, and all on one page!!
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