Tour De France Results

Results:

Yellow Jersey : Alberto Contador (ESP)

Green Jersey : Tom Boonen (BEL)

Polka Dot Jersey : Juan Soler Hernandez (COL)

White Jersey : Alberto Contador (ESP)

Team Classification : Discovery Channel Team (USA)

It all started over a coffee with my colleagues when we were discussing about Tour de France.No one seemed to know about this and I decided to write a blog and share about this to my colleagues and friends.When I searched for the information and read through it I really got impressed with this game.I wondered how these cyclists can ride for more than 150km's and in few stages it exceeds 200km's at an average speed of more than 45Km/h.Its not only the stamina but also the attitude of these cyclists is quite astonishing and very impressive.Even after riding for such a long time the sprint these guys produce when nearing the 200 meters mark is amazing.Its worth sitting for the whole 4 to 5 hours.The tour itself is quite extraordinary not only coz of the riders but also due to the beautiful outskirts of France and the Paris-Champs Ellysee where the tour ends.

This years tour has been one of the most happening and an eventful one.It was filled with lots and lots of dramas,doping scandals, accidents and rookies ruling the tour.This is the second closest finish in the history of the event, with only 31 seconds seperating the first three riders.Previous being just 8 seconds.

Alberto Contodar (ESP) the winner of the Yellow jersey was just 24 years of age and he was a rookie in this years tour.He won the White Jersey competition too, only the second time this amazing accomplishment has ever happened in the tours history.The first being done by Jan Ulrich in 96.Since he won the most coveted yellow jersey the white jersey goes to the next best placed rider in that category, but Soler Hernandez he being a rookie himself won the king of the mountains (Polka Dot Jersey) to his name so the white jersey was awarded to the third best rider in that category Txurukka(ESP) .So overall the tour was rocked by the introduction of these rookies.

Alexandre Vinokourov (KAZ) , one of the favourites for winning the Yellow jersey was kicked out of the tour after winning the 15th stage due to an illegal blood doping.Remember he won two stages in the tour (13 and 15th stage) , the team he was representing ASTANA pulled out of the tour due to this doping scandal.Remember ASTANA was leading the team classification by over 2 minutes ahead of Discovery Channel.This produced a lot of issues with the other riders and some even delayed the start of next stage race by almost 13 minutes.

The biggest setback of the tour is yet to come, the leader of the general classification and the holder of Yellow Jersey Michael Rasmussen(DEN) was thrown out from the tour since he broke the internal rules of his team RABOBANK.He was accussed of lying about his whereabouts when the official drug test occured.He avoided almost four doping tests prior to the tour.This was totally initiated from his own team and he was also banned from the Denmark national team due to the same reason prior to this.



So I had fun watching this years Tour De France, and have become a big fan of the game.Its really quite worth watching it, and waiting for the next year's tour.

A weekend with my best buddies

WOW ........... Thats how I felt over the last weekend.Its been one of my most eventful and memorable weekend in Bangalore.We are three best buddies and we have know each other for almost seven years now.We always wanted to be together, but as usual we got split and ended up in three corners of India (me being in Bangalore, Yuva in Chennai and Ranjith in Agra).But still occasional conference calls and mails keeps our friendship intact and we are always updated about each others progress in life.

This was a special weekend for me, coz Yuva came to visit me from Chennai.We recently met in Chennai (All three of us) and had planned to have a blast there.But everything got screwed up and we all ended up eating and sleeping all through the day.The funniest part is that we went to a bar (Yuva told that is a bar) which is the size of a marriage hall,and looked like a dining hall and the worst thing is Cricket commentary ws going on in the bar :-), I have never been to such a crappiest place in my life.Credit goes completely to my pal.So we decided that the next time we meet we make sure we live up to the promises and the plans.

So its in Bangalore and my chance to make sure that we have a blast.And it turned out to be the best executed plan I ve ever made.So here it comes....but we misssed Ranjith :(

10AM : Sivaji the BOSS in PVR
Though it was my second time I enjoyed every moment of it.We met our other college buddies also in the theatre and we had a perfect film with whistling and shouting.

2PM: Lunch at China Pearl
China Pearl one of the best chinese restaurants I ve ever been too.We had a nice lunch and took some nice pics of the chicks, not the gals but the chicken we ordered.

4PM:Bowling at Amoeba
The best place to be on a saturday evening.It was full and we had to wait for almost 1:30 hrs to get our chance to roll the ball.In the mean time we went to the video games section and played basket ball.It reminded us the good old days in college where we used to play daily.

8PM: Boozing at Styx
Its the first time im going to Styx.Though I didnt know most of the songs they were playing and not being a big fan of rock music, didnt enjoy it that much.But once we started boozing we all started getting tuned to the music.We even started head banging ....
The ride back home in a bike after boozing is very thrilling.First thing you have to look out for police mama's, next riding it safely on the road.I managed both very well and we reached home safely.

Sunday:
Though it was not that energetic and eventful we managed to meet all our college buddies in Bangalore.Had nice fun in my friends room, usual college stuff.....teasing, beating (Podhu maathu) and pulling each others leg.It was fun and the day went like that.Later I dropped my friend in the bus stop and the fun filled weekend came to an end.

I felt so happy and enjoyed each and evry moment of it.Hope we get to meet each other so often, waiting for the next time guys.

Be the reason for someone's happiness, never a part of it
Be a part of someone's sadness, never the reason for it.

Argentina Lost :(

Final Result:
Argentina 0 - 3 Brazil

No more comments.....the pic says it all........

Copa America 2007 - The Dream Final

The Copa América is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONMEBOL, the South American football confederation. It is the oldest international tournament in the world starting in 1916. It is important to note that usually two or three CONCACAF teams get an invitation to participate. Mexico has been a regular since they were invited for the first time in 1993. The participating nations are Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Two invited teams from other confederations complete the 12-team field. As CONMEBOL only has the 10 members mentioned above, there is no qualification tournament, neither is there a qualification tournament for invitees; they are invited on their own merits, such as by winning matches in World Cup finals or from qualification stages in their confederations. Mexico and USA are the two invitees for the 2007 Cup.

Semifinal Results:

Semifinal 1:
Uruguay 2 - 2 Brazil (Brazil win 5-4 on penalties)

Semifinal 2:
Mexico 0 - 3 Argentina

It has come down to the decisive moment.Its the most awaited and anticipated finals of the year and a what a final it is going to be.Its between the archrivals Argentina and Brazil, Argentina holding the record for most number of Copa America titles with 14 wins alongside Uruguay and Brazil having won it 7 times.Can Argentina break the record for most number of wins or Brazil can stop Argentinians from breaking the record and win their second consecutive title???? We have to wait and see......

Being a hard core,die hard fan of Argentina I personally feel that they should thrash Brazil.I feel Argentina is the most underachieved team in the world in the past decade.They play the most sexiest and beautiful football of any teams, yet they have not won any silverware since 1993.I being a footballer myself (Represent SAP Labs in inter corporate tournaments :)) I know this is the kind of game every footballer loves to see, the short passes, one touch game, brilliant solo runs ...etc etc.This is the perfect team to beat Brazil with the likes of Messi,Tevez,Riquelme and Crespo.I wish my dream comes true and would love to see Argentina winning the title after a long time.

Not to metion Brazil with having entered the tournament with second fiddle squad they managed to enter the finals with ease.Robinho the only known star in the squad produced a sensational hatrick against Chile, they are still a team to be feared.They know the secret of winning the finals and they hold the record for most number of wins in the finals of any tournament.

So two best known teams in action and its sure a dream final for all football lovers.

Fixture:
Argentina Vs Brazil
July 16th Monday, 2:30 AM IST , Live on TenSports.

Le Tour De France

The Tour de France is the world's best-known cycling race, a three week long road race that covers a circuit of most areas around France, and sometimes neighbouring countries. The race is broken into stages from one town to another, each of which is an individual race. The time taken by cyclists to complete each stage becomes a cumulative total in order to decide the outright winner at the end of the Tour.

Together with the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) and Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), the Tour de France is one of the three major stage races and the longest of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) calendar at three weeks each. While the other two European Grand Tours are well-known in Europe, they are relatively unknown outside the continent.

As with most cycling races, competitors enter as part of a team. The race normally consists of 20-22 teams of 9 riders each. Traditionally, entry in the Tour de France is extended to teams by invitation only, with invitations being granted only to the best of the world's professional teams.Some of the teams being US Postal services (with whom Lance Armstrong won many titles),Discovery channel team, CSC, T-mobile and the recent title holders Phonak Hearing Systems (Floyd Landis).

An important fact about Tour De France is that the race alternates each year between clockwise and counter-clockwise circuits of France. For example, 2005 was a clockwise direction Tour while the 2006 race went in the opposite direction.

Classification Jerseys: Unlike other sport events in Tour de France the leaders are awarded distinctive coloured Jerseys.The different coloured jerseys are Yellow, Green, Polka dot Jersey and the white jersey.

Yellow Jersey: It is the most prestigious and the most coveted jersey of all.It is awarded to the rider with the lowest time taken to complete the tour at the end.

Green Jersey: It is awarded for sprint points (ie) it is awarded to the rider with the lowest time taken to complete all the sprint stages of the tour.There are few sprint races otherwise called as time trials in between various stages, where the rider can show his racing talents in covering minimum distances with minimal time.

Polka Dot Jersey: It is a white jersey with red dots and awarded to "King of the Mountains" , the rider who gained maximum points in stages involving hills and mountain steeps.

White Jersey: This is for the best-placed rider less than 25 years old on January 1 of the year the Tour is ridden.

Some Important Facts:

Lance Armstrong holds the record for most number of wins in Tour de France (Record Seven Times) that too in consecutive years between 1999 and 2005.He retired from the sport after winning his final title.Another important fact about Lance is he survived testicular cancer in early 90's.His athletic success and dramatic recovery from cancer inspired him to commemorate his accomplishments, with Nike, through the Lance
Armstrong Foundation, a charity founded in 1997. The foundation's yellow rubber "Livestrong" wristbands, first launched in 2004, have been a major success, netting the foundation tens of millions of dollars in the fight against cancer.I can proudly say that I contributed to this foundation by getting a yellow wrist band.

Floyd Landis the defending champion has been accused of using a banned steroid during the 2006 tour de france and he was banned from the sport for two years.But still he was not officially stripped of the title yet.

Nokia N72

My new mobile.Got it as a birthday gift from my Dad.Though I gotit very late after my birthday its worth holding this mobile in your hand.Looks sexy and loaded with hell a lot of features.The keypad feels little smaller compared to the lower end phones and im finding difficulty in typing messages.Still there are many things to explore.......

The Feeling - Worth the wait

The Feeling - Talk about being hooked on The Feeling. This U.K. band delivers an amalgam of harmonic melodies and catchy choruses that reaches full fruition on its Cherrytree/Interscope debut, Twelve Stops and Home, which has already produced a pair of Top 10 international hit singles in "Sewn" and "Fill My Little World."
The quintet's sonic touchstones range from the classic (the Beatles, the Stones, the Kinks, Queen, The Carpenters and the Beach Boys) to the more esoteric (10cc, Abba, the Human League and the Pet Shop Boys) to the timeless (Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen).

I was all alone in Germany for a month, wondering how to kill time during the week days.Luckily there was a music channel coming in the TV which telecasts english songs too.I heard the song SEWN from this band, I just fell in love with the song at the first time itself.

Everyday I heard the song in the same channel and my love for the song increased day by day.I usually download the songs which I listen in my favourite channel VH1 often (coutesy http://www.emp3finder.com/). But I could not find any of their songs.I browsed the web for hours, but all the time I left disappointed.

I came back to India after one month of boring stay in Germany.I watched the same song in VH1 and again I started haunting for the song, but still couldnt find it.Even searched in all music stores in Chennai, Bangalore and Coimbatore, still cudnt find the bloody album.I almost searched for a year and finally got the album.I could nt control myself seeing the album in Landmark.I wanted the album for the single song SEWN, but listening to the other songs in the album I felt lost in their lovely music.They ve become one of my favourite artists and waiting for their next album.

Its definitely worth the wait :).

First Crap :)

Here is my first blog.What do I write, being new to blogging not getting anything to my mind.
I feel the title is apt for this, im writing nothing but crap.
Hope I ll be able to write something good in the near future.