does anyone like it or even watch it, I cant see what all the fuss is about

Some sports i can't understand people watching, this is one of them.

It's different if you take part, of course bike riding is good if your on the bike, you know riding.

But to watch it? where is the entertainment value in that?

"Ohh see the way he peddled, class that, great peddler him"

I dont understand this time-trial thing, surely its the bloke who finishes the race first wins the time trial but whats do you add that to your total score on the tour???

Do they not just have different stages and at the end add all their times together and who has the least wins or am I missing something as ive never paid any attention to it?

I used to ride my bike at 6am from my house in king oswy to expamet where i used to work behind tesco in about 8 minutes.

Tour de france my arse, that's fucking biking for yer!

I saw it come through Kent two years ago and have a just bought a great book with photographs from the day. There was a sprint section through Gillingham, win that and you get 6 points towards winning the maillot vert or sprinter's jersey.

I'm very pleased at the moment, I haven't heard on any doping scandals that have ruined this year's tour. 2 years ago there were so many doping scandals it nearly killed off the Tour's credibility.

It's great Lance Armstrong has come back and he's second at the moment for the maillot jaune (yellow jersey - effective winner) behind Alberto Contador of Spain....and there's a British rider in Bradley Wiggins third.

In 2008, Mark Cavendish won three stages and now this year he's won FOUR!

Also
Polka dot jersey - King of the Mountains - quickest time in stages in the mountains.
White jersey - Young sprinter's jersey - quickest time achieved by a competitor below 25.

Each Tour is divided in 20 daily races or etages (stages),a couple of contre-la-montre or time trials.

The race ends with a stage which ends in Paris on the Champs Elysees - the riders have to complete a few circuits of that before sprinting for home. Winners of jerseys and stages agter each stage end up at podium in the town where the finish line is.

Why does that not suprise me, and I though Armstrong was 5th and wiggins 6th

According to the local journalist who wrote the book, he argues it was the biggest thing to happen to the County of Kent since the Great Storm of 1987.

That result was from a couple of stages ago when nobody had made an attack. Since then Contador has attacked, Armstrong and Wiggins had to go with him to keep up with Contador, that's why Armstrong is 2nd and Wiggins is 3rd.

Why would the Tour De France go through Gillingham??? Am i missing something?

Who the hell is the Hartlepool hacker, is that a poolie doing a Kiwi dance

I think that it's something to do with a local golfer.

Two years ago, the Tour de France organisers decided to hold the first two stages of the Tour in the UK - for the last couple of years they've ttried holding stages of the Tour in other countries. This year they've raced from the South of France to Barcelona and the Catalan region to the small principality of Andorra between France and Spain. A couple of days ago they were in Switzerland.

In 2007, the Tour started with a time trial in London on 7th July. Then the next day they held a stage from London to Canterbury, passing throgh Erith, Dartford, Gravesend, Medway, Gillingham, Maidstone, Royal Tunbridge Wells and Ashford before ending in Canterbury.

It just so happened they planned a sprint when the race passed through Gillingham.

The Tour has held a stage in the UK in two other years before - the third stage raced around Plymouth in 1974, the 4th Stage in 1994 was held between Dover and Brighton. The next stage was held in Portsmouth.

I meant to say the infamous hurricane that hit Southern England in 1987.

Well, Chip, the Tour organisers didn't exactly choose the most attractive part of Gillingham to race through, only the quickest for the Sprint.

They would be looking long enough to find a mile stretch that was an attractive part

To be honest, it didn't help when Thatcher closed Chatham Dockyard down in the 80s - it led to mass unemployment down here.

And people seem to think the streets of the South are paved with gold....

Just remember Pok , your a lad from the rough , tough docklands who's come good .I salute you .

Not my cup of tea. Now female naked wrestling mmm

If thats the most exciting thing to happen to kent sod all must happen there.

Apparantly, according to this book I bought, it was the first time that a large amount of people have been gathered together for one event since the Second World War.