My favorite 3 weeks of the year starts in less than 18 hours! Thought I'd start a topic for Tour de France talk over the duration of the grand tour.

If you haven't looked, here is this year's route: https://www.letour.fr/en/overall-route

NBC Sports Network will cover every minute of it, so check with your provider or buy the app.

As always, plenty of excitement to come. Looks like Froome is in after all, can't wait for the drama as I'm sure he'll have something to prove while others will have extra motivation to beat him.

Also, my favorite pro cyclist Peter Sagan is ready to go - most talented and entertaining rider on tour, maybe ever.
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The opening stage yesterday was surprisingly eventful towards the end. Some of the GC contenders (Froome, Porte, etc.) crashed towards the end and lost nearly a minute. Also, I was disappointed to see that Sagan couldn't pull the sprint out at the finish.

I love cycling for the landscapes, the strategy, etc. However, my suggestion would be that if you are really not in it but feel like you should learn a little, record each day and then fast forward to the final 10KM or about 5 miles. On non-mountain stages, this is where the bulk of the action occurs: e.g. the peloton pulls back the attackers, the teams form lines to lead their top rider to the finish, sprint at the end with bumping, drafting, and a stretch finish. If you are overall bored by cycling or just not into it this much, taking 15 minutes to watch the end of the race each day will be well worth the investment.

What you say about a struggle against the course is absolutely true, definitely for my personal riding. There is a lot wrong within the politics of cycling (the governing bodies, the teams’ honesty and openness, and the riders themselves), and you are correct in that it greatly takes away from the sport. However, I find myself going back and forth. I think they should probably loosen the restrictions a little, but then again there will still be cheaters looking for an advantage. I know that just taking PEDs does not make you an elite athlete without the work, skill, and natural ability. Like in the Lance years, I tell myself that the competition is equal as I know that most all of the elite riders are doing something outside of the rules.

Even still, I can’t help but appreciate what these guys do on the bike in a 3 week time span. The endurance, putting serious injury on the line everyday, the strategy, the finish, the attacks, etc. I just can’t get enough of it.

Loved the finish today, and Peter showed his power, skill, and intelligence on the bike. Starting last year, I've also noticed that Greipel & Kittel have seemed to lose some of their kick. I don't know if they are just getting old, if they were previously doping and have stopped (I have no evidence of this), or just not conditioned as well as they once where. For whatever reason, they both just don't seem to be as world-class as they once were, at least in the TDF sprint finishes.

Funny, I can’t stand the guy due to “nothing is ever my failt” attitude. So many different personalities definitely makes the pro tour more interesting.

TTT is awesome and glad they brought it back. USA BMC had a greate race, and very positive for Porte.

Darn, I missed yesterday's stage, now I've got 2 queued up on the DVR. TDF is not the easiest thing to binge watch given the length of the races.

Man, Peter is killing it so far, and I think that the green jersey is a lock again for him. Wish he could have pulled the stage out a couple of days ago, but nevertheless, he's still awesome.

Also, where did that Columbian (Fernando Rendon) sprinter come from? Seems like out of nowhere, but I haven't been following too many races this year until now.

Oh yes, the French "mankini" is one of a kind.

Not pure nonsense. My point is that there is no way that Lance was the only one taking PEDs. To just focus on him is short-sided and shows partiality, even if the light was mostly on him for winning. Were those races tainted, absolutely they were. To vacate 7 years with no tour winner as if it never happened - stupid. Stick an asterisk on the races if you want, but you can't tell me that Lance/USPS was competing against an otherwise 100% clean field. There are plenty of other tours where winners were later caught cheating, but their prior wins were not vacated. Heck, there are still riders today who seem to be fan and media favorites that were proven to be past dopers (e.g. Alberto Contador).

My point about loosing restrictions is the ridiculousness of some of the offenses, not significant PEDs. If a rider takes an extra snort of nasal allergy medicine to clear his sinuses or stave off a cold then he can be DQ'd. That's to the point of ridiculous in my mind. Personally, I'd rather my competitors have open nasal passages rather than me having to dodge them hurling snot rockets all ride long.

With the above, you have no argument from me. I have seen the documentary, and it is definitely worth the watch for those who have not.

And you are also correct in that our attitudes towards PEDs is somewhat different given the challenges that our major sports leagues have gone through in recent times.

I guess for me, it comes down to the entire sport was dirty, so why vacate the wins (he was never proven to be dirty during/shortly after the events)? We watched those races with our own eyes, and they did happen. Not sure which is more impactful as history moves on: 1) there were no winners for those years or 2) Lance Armstrong, who was eventually proven to be cheating and admitted to being on PEDs, was the winner of those dirty tours.

Now that I actually type it, the latter option does not reflect very positively on the tour officials/organizers as future generations take a look back - always political.

So, history aside, yesterday's race was again a great stage with a surprising end (at least for me). Man, I wish I had a fraction of the power and endurance that Dan Martin exhibited over the entire final incline to the finish.

Ahh, Sagan went way too soon. A rare mistake for him, but exciting finish.

Gaviria tried to take the inside (a supposed unspoken "no" in the sprint), but that headbutt was ridiculous. You kick Sagan out of the tour last year for no contact, and nothing for this? Not unique to cycling, but inconsistency of officials is quite frustrating.

Cobbles left their mark on a multitude of riders, and decimated BMC today. Looking forward to the mountains now.