slidewinder
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Is there anybody online with a better English-language video stage-recap than Versus's 2 minute quickie?
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Official 2009 Le Tour De France Thread
- Thread starter Chris R
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timetokill
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Yeah, I'm a cycling noob, not afraid to admit it 
There's a lot of sports I don't get passionately into until their "big show." Tour de France usually grabs me though, I just don't keep up with it outside of race time.
Also I'm not European so obviously I love Lance and how much he irritates the French :lol
There's a lot of sports I don't get passionately into until their "big show." Tour de France usually grabs me though, I just don't keep up with it outside of race time.Also I'm not European so obviously I love Lance and how much he irritates the French :lol
I watch the other races but I'm not expert, still putting names to faces.
I would say pay attention to menchov, he had a really bad time trial, but he just won the giro too. Could be interesting to see if he peaked too early.
Contador v lance is a pretty obvious one. Levi might be in the mix too, you never know.
Andy schleck- a rising star. Really cool to watch him and his brother frank.
Sastre - defending champ, although lance called last years tour a "joke" so he has his pride to defend. I doubt he will be a threat for the gc but may take a couple mountain stages to decide to blow his engine.
Evans - always second place. /sad trumpet sound. Apparently he is good, but he has never really blown me away.
Cavendish will win every 'sprint' stage, hands down. His team is basically built for him.
Vandevelde- I doubt he will do anything because he got fucked up in the giro but he might be a threat.
I would say pay attention to menchov, he had a really bad time trial, but he just won the giro too. Could be interesting to see if he peaked too early.
Contador v lance is a pretty obvious one. Levi might be in the mix too, you never know.
Andy schleck- a rising star. Really cool to watch him and his brother frank.
Sastre - defending champ, although lance called last years tour a "joke" so he has his pride to defend. I doubt he will be a threat for the gc but may take a couple mountain stages to decide to blow his engine.
Evans - always second place. /sad trumpet sound. Apparently he is good, but he has never really blown me away.
Cavendish will win every 'sprint' stage, hands down. His team is basically built for him.
Vandevelde- I doubt he will do anything because he got fucked up in the giro but he might be a threat.
It's tough to say, the stage certainly lends itself well to an attack. On the other hand, Quickstep, Columbia and various other teams will be trying to ensure that an escape does take place, but of the kind that gets conveniently caught by the peloton some 3km before the finish line. And if Cavendish is still with the peloton just before the finish, and isn't in the rear somewhere just keeping up, he will surely crush the competition. Especially given the fact that Boonen has not been feeling well.subrock said:
I think they're too fast calling it a pure sprint stage. A lot can happen in stages like these. Especially given the fact that it's hot and the roads are narrow. Odds are still massively in favour of a mass sprint won by Cavendish, but it most definitely isn't the certainty you make it out to be.
GC talk:
Sastre will be fantastic in the mountains, certainly a contender for the polka dot jersey, but given the route of this year's TdF and his lacking time trial skills, he's an outsider for the yellow. Certainly wouldn't call last year a joke though like Lance apparently did, Sastre was fantastic last year.
As for Menchov, I don't think he has the greatest of chances. Going on the offensive has never been his strong suit, he pretty much won the Giro by keeping up with the favourites in the mountains, and then taking time in the time trials. Not to mention, he's peaked for so long this year, I'd be surprised if he can peak again in the Tour.
Contador is easily the favourite for the yellow jersey, he has shown formidable form in recent times, clearly holding back in the Dauphiné to let his mate Valverde win, and he was visibly stronger there than for instance Evans. As far as Contador's teammates go, Leipheimer, Armstrong and Klöden will keep close in the GC, but in the end they'll all be riding for Contador, and not for themselves. Armstrong certainly isn't bad, as he has shown in the time trial and showed during the Giro, but nothing indicates him being close to Contador's level. So he will grudgingly have to accept a support role.
Cavendish will of course win most/all of the sprints he participates in, the real question is whether he can make it to Paris this year to take the green jersey. If he can make it through the mountains, he will definitely take it. If not, I'm calling the green jersey for Freire as I expect Boonen to drop out within days provided his stories about his health aren't bullshit.
Schleck brothers, well, Fränk will probably attempt to go for the polka dot jersey as he lacks skill for the GC. Andy Schleck should probably aim for a high position in the GC, but I don't see a win happening for him. Like other young riders such as Nibali and Kreuziger (strong riders which you strangely forgot to mention), he's great, but just not quite great enough to win the Tour de France.
Evans is a great cyclist, but he just doesn't have the punch to make a real difference. He's good in time trials, but Contador is better. He's great in the mountains, but doesn't have the explosivity to really go on the offensive (him trying, and failing, to get away from Valverde in the Dauphiné Libéré is proof enough of this) and his team won't be able to provide much in the way of support, certainly compared to the backup Contador has.
Think that about covers it. Except for maybe outsiders like Kim Kirchen.
GC talk:
Sastre will be fantastic in the mountains, certainly a contender for the polka dot jersey, but given the route of this year's TdF and his lacking time trial skills, he's an outsider for the yellow. Certainly wouldn't call last year a joke though like Lance apparently did, Sastre was fantastic last year.
As for Menchov, I don't think he has the greatest of chances. Going on the offensive has never been his strong suit, he pretty much won the Giro by keeping up with the favourites in the mountains, and then taking time in the time trials. Not to mention, he's peaked for so long this year, I'd be surprised if he can peak again in the Tour.
Contador is easily the favourite for the yellow jersey, he has shown formidable form in recent times, clearly holding back in the Dauphiné to let his mate Valverde win, and he was visibly stronger there than for instance Evans. As far as Contador's teammates go, Leipheimer, Armstrong and Klöden will keep close in the GC, but in the end they'll all be riding for Contador, and not for themselves. Armstrong certainly isn't bad, as he has shown in the time trial and showed during the Giro, but nothing indicates him being close to Contador's level. So he will grudgingly have to accept a support role.
Cavendish will of course win most/all of the sprints he participates in, the real question is whether he can make it to Paris this year to take the green jersey. If he can make it through the mountains, he will definitely take it. If not, I'm calling the green jersey for Freire as I expect Boonen to drop out within days provided his stories about his health aren't bullshit.
Schleck brothers, well, Fränk will probably attempt to go for the polka dot jersey as he lacks skill for the GC. Andy Schleck should probably aim for a high position in the GC, but I don't see a win happening for him. Like other young riders such as Nibali and Kreuziger (strong riders which you strangely forgot to mention
), he's great, but just not quite great enough to win the Tour de France.Evans is a great cyclist, but he just doesn't have the punch to make a real difference. He's good in time trials, but Contador is better. He's great in the mountains, but doesn't have the explosivity to really go on the offensive (him trying, and failing, to get away from Valverde in the Dauphiné Libéré is proof enough of this) and his team won't be able to provide much in the way of support, certainly compared to the backup Contador has.
Think that about covers it. Except for maybe outsiders like Kim Kirchen.
haha, I didnt mention them because you seem to know A LOT more about this race than I do
nice commentary, it will be awesome to see how this plays out. this is probably the most understanding I have ever had of the tour and I really like the depth of the field this year. it will be an awesome race no matter what.
nice commentary, it will be awesome to see how this plays out. this is probably the most understanding I have ever had of the tour and I really like the depth of the field this year. it will be an awesome race no matter what.
is it as bad as our wank fest about lance? I felt embarrassed that the prerace on versus was pretty much 17 minutes on lance and 2 minutes on the rest of the race.
who is bjarne riis and why should I care?
nvrmnd, wiki'd
I will be watching saxo closely this year. <3 me some voigt
nvrmnd, wiki'd
I will be watching saxo closely this year. <3 me some voigt
Fjolle
Member
Yea.. The prerace is about 2 minutes about lance and the rest about Saxo Bank. They just talked a couple of minutes about how Cancellara will have a yellow bike today :lolsubrock said:
Bjarne won in 1996 or something. The only dane ever to win. Ten years later he finally admitted EPO use. Now he owns Team Saxo Bank.
They certainly have a shot at the team trial (They should with most of their team being time trial specialistssubrock said:
). Other than that, I don't see them winning much.And Boonen...lol. Yesterday on Belgian TV at the finish he still made it seem like he wasn't in the best of ways. But I guess it was all bullshit then. Good to know, Boonen is the only sprinter that even comes close to Cavendish.
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
Cavendish is awesome in the sprints and I loved watching his team help propel him to the win. It was great watching him follow the train as one by one they peeled off and let him go.
I think I need a little time in the saddle myself today.
I think I need a little time in the saddle myself today.
Current Standings:
Stage Three:
Mountain Passes & Hills
Stage looks very very flat :lol , wonder if anyone is going to try to break on the really flat part...
Stage Three:
Mountain Passes & Hills
- Km 56.0 - Côte de Calissanne - 1.3 km climb to 5.5 % - Category 4
- Km 102.0 - Col de la Vayède - 0.7 km climb to 7.4 % - Category 4
Stage looks very very flat :lol , wonder if anyone is going to try to break on the really flat part...
cubicle47b
Member
Kabouter said:
What happened or is happening?
Peloton broke on the flat. Front group has ~30 secs on the peloton.cubicle47b said:
Front group has amongst others: Cancellara, Armstrong, Popovych, Hushovd, most of the Skil-Shimano team and the WHOLE of Team Columbia (including Cavendish)
Edit: And the difference is growing again.
cubicle47b
Member
Kabouter said:
Nice. Can't wait to watch the footage on Versus tonight.
cubicle47b
Member
It's looking like Contador isn't the team leader, then.
What a break in the peloton today. Commentators kept going on about the crosswinds for hours and partner's sister kept asking me what they meant so I told her to just keep watching and it'll most likely happen.
Didn't think it would happen this big though :lol Team Columbia taking a collective dump on every other team, and the day before the team trials too as if that wasn't enough.
Didn't think it would happen this big though :lol Team Columbia taking a collective dump on every other team, and the day before the team trials too as if that wasn't enough.
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