str8 outta Rotterdam, it's the TOUR DE FRANCE 2010 thread

it's about that time, people!

boonen and haussler both out with knee dramas

oscar pereiro has missed the astana squad. michael barry has made the sky squad!

some chuckleheads were offering odds of 25/1 on victory for michael rasmussen

can basso back up after the giro? can the schleck tag-team give saxo bank one last hurrah? is wiggo a flash in the pan? will cadel ever catch a break? can lance [CONTROVERSIAL MODERATOR EDIT]? how many time trial bikes will the UCI ban on the eve of the event? can cav ride in a staight line? what bone will vande velde break next? which unfancied domestique from bbox or whoever will sneak off in a break and be in yellow for a couple days??

http://reviews.roadbikereview.com/files/2010/01/scaled_e1262200244.jpg

HE'S READY

I'm pretty pumped for this.

http://davidavery.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/didi-the-devil-riding-to-the-tour.jpg

HE'S READY.

these guys, jesus.

love the tour

Radioshack are old men. Sky aren't near ready yet, although Boasson Hagen looks a really good future prospect. No idea what sort of form the Schlecks are in, but Contador for once looked human at the Dauphine, wonder how much he was holding back. Nibali & Basso are going to be a great double act.

some amazing stages in the tour this year though!
stage 1 : cycling across the islands of Zeeland, expect some wicked crosswinds.
stage 3 : huge stretches of cobbles, Contador expected to lose a lot of time.
stage 7 : first mountain stage, with six progressively harder climbs.
stage 17 : last mountain stage, finishing on the Tourmalet.

Stage 17 will be amazing if it's still tight in the GC.

I think this is going to be a really competitive race, not much let up. Some predictions:

1) Days one and three are really going to break up the field, I expect some GC riders to be out of contention before the alps. Fabian Cancellara will try his solo to win stuff and probably pull it off. If he isn't in yellow after the prologue he will be after Arenberg.

2) Wiggins seems to have become the ultimate mantis physically and Sky has shaped up into a really nice squad, hoping for big things, maybe not this year, but if not this year then when, (Flecha and Boassen Hagen, I hope will do great things and Geriant Thomas coming wearing the British Jersey is good)

3) Cav will be petulant and will not be in green on the champs elysee, I don't think HTC will be allowed to drive things in the same way as as year and there are too many moyenne mountain and barrodeur stages where someone else will hoover up intermediates.

4) I think the winner will come from someone who is good in the north, so it could be Cadel, but not if he blows up like he did in the Giro and I'm wondering if he isn't more focussed on retaining the rainbow jersey at home.

5) Not going to discount Contador, not yet.

6) Liquigas have had a great build up, not sure if Basso or Nibali can win it but I expect a big move from anyone in green on a mountain stage to provoke a response.

7) Schlecks, Andy's crash and any bad feeling about leaving Saxobank has me wondering, also if Fabian is in Yellow going into the alps, is Rjiis going to try and defend that rather than use that to build a position for the Schlecks. Saxobank were looking good to do great things this year until all the nonsense started.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Sport/Pix/columnists/2010/6/25/1277488818146/Bradley-Wiggins-006.jpg

HE'S READY

(but would like someone to give him a powerbar)

so fricken psyched

very very psyched for this - will be in France for first week, unfortunately without TV or (much) internet. This stage:
http://www.letour.fr/PHOTOS/TDF/2010/400/CARTE.gif

runs about 5 miles from where we'll be staying though, so we'll get to catch some live - any hints (Ed - you've been fwir?) for getting most of it? The stage is a flat one so unless it's windy it'll be a sprinters paradise - shame Rheims is a ways away and will most likely be rammed as it's ideal for Cav action.

I'd head for the finish on a stage like that. Get their early, scope out a spot, eat lunch and then return for the wait. Around 200m to go is a good spot. It'll be a long wait for the caravan then 30seconds of excitement, but it will be a good 30 seconds.

problem with the wait = 2yr 11month old..... :(

vino imo

5) Not going to discount Contador, not yet

That seems a strange way to put it when he's the overwhelming favourite.

Porkpie, where are you staying?

doctor are you prescribing wine for the 3 y/o?

we're on a little campsite in a village just south of St Quentin that we go to for a week or so every year, did thing Guise may be a good option, especially as there's a Le Creuset factory shop there too...... Would like to go to Arenberg too but we try not to drive about too much when we're there.

Arenberg would be more crazy with a little one IMO, I guess the climb is the place to be on stage four, the field may break up a little but its so early in the day. Caravan is due at 13:15 so I'd be looking to be there by 11:30 at the latest, the close the road pretty early. Trucks will be along to sell you things before long, but take food and water.

Nibali & Basso are going to be a great double act.

might have to sub kreuziger in there!

Liquigas for Tour de France: Ivan Basso (ITA); Roman Kreuziger (CZE); Sylwester Szmyd (POL); Franco Bellotti (ITA); Kristjan Koren (SLO); Aliaksandr Kuchynski (BLR); Daniel Oss (ITA); Manuel Quinziato (ITA); Brian Vandborg (DEN).

oops

awwwww, he was great in the Giro.

think he's targeting the vuelta now

if kreuziger ever learns to attack at the appropriate moment he'll be right up there

doctor are you prescribing wine for the 3 y/o?

that is precisely what I am doing

j/k I am not a doctor, safety takes no holiday, etc

doctor are you prescribing wine for the 3 y/o?

that is precisely what I am doing

good, because vino can not win this thing

PROvisional start list

I really like the chances of Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (ESP) from Euskaltel-Euskadi.

Any time a non-Basque rider gets to ride on Euskadi you know it's a big deal.

So put my prediction in for Sr. Sammy Sanchez for teh win.

gentlemen, start your fridges

What would be a good resource for someone watching this for the first time? Aside from Wikipedia, that is?

yeah I am determined to actually pay attn the whole time this year

This should be pretty handy:
http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html

Any predictions for the British hopes?

Cavendish has been having a nightmare season and still doesn't seem to be at full fitness. I can't see him matching last year's incredible six stages. I know he's planning to focus on the green jersey this year, but I think he might be disappointed. He'll definitely win it at some point, but maybe not this year.

Wiggins has been staking everything on this race and treating everything else as preparation. He hasn't really done that much to impress so far this year, but then the only time he's really gone for it was the Giro prologue and he won that. I don't think he'll be a one-season-wonder in as much as I'm pretty sure he'll finish top ten again, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if he can improve on last year's fourth place.

Thomas did well at the Dauphine recently and has just won the National Championships. He'll just be supporting Wiggins, but might get a respectable placing in the prologue. Millar has put in some good performances and will probably grab himself 5th or 6th in one of the time trials.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/33182131

so badass

That's insane

(Cav)'ll definitely win it at some point, but maybe not this year.

I have mad respect for you NB+S but this is crazytalk.

the winning or not winning?

think he meant the green, not the yellow

oh haha, that makes 1000% more sense. for shame shasta.

Cav's a vile little cunt. This year I think I'll anti-support him for the first time. Charlie Wegelius ftw!

is there a fantasy TdF we can all do?

I think Cav's great, and I usually hate arrogant little buggers (such as Ronaldo)

yeah wtf. i love cav.

(xp)There should be one here soon: http://www.velogames.com/

Some of us did this for the Giro. It was a bit frustrating coz the bloke only updated it about twice a week.

is one here too:

http://road.cc/fantasy-tour-de-france

I've created la ligue du mantis gros on there - league reference 1439

yeah wtf. i love cav.

yeah this

mehhhh, not me.

he's a cock, an arrogant cock but still he's the guy you hate but respect at the same time.

tho i can't wait til Phinney starts power-domming him tbqfh.

hope Millar goes on one of his crazy long solo breaks again.

...and this time doesn't get caught within sight of the line.

do not like the cavendish. i dont know if i even can get to "respect," its more like "freely admit his clear superiority."

^^much better stated^^

every sport needs a cavendish, otherwise you're stuck watching federer vs. nadal

not nearly as fun an a-hole as mcewen.

SInce the riders weren't wearing the regular kit, they could be disqualified and removed from the race, the jury said.

So all of the riders had to pick up regular jerseys from the Team car. What did they do? Just slipped them over the black jerseys.

And the jury had something to say about that, too! The numbers must be visible, or else -- you guessed it -- disqualification!

So far they haven't re-pinned their numbers. And Armstrong has very much of a "We are not amused" look on his face.

wasnt there a hooha about saeco green "peace" jersey's like 10 years ago along these lines

lol, chain drop part deux while they're mucking around for the cameras!

Saeco were always getting into trouble for their kit choices iirc

Blooming heck, ITV appears not to be streaming on the website for some reason. Aerial not good enough to pick up ITV4 through the telly (and no Eurosport, obv). Anyone else know where a person in the UK can watch it live without downloading a load of stuff? I know it's only the last stage, but I've set the afternoon aside for one last hit of sport.

It's OK, I got it working (just in time for what I suspect will be the first of many ad breaks).

Laurent Fignon will not be enjoying this. He doesn’t think it’s the done thing for rivals to be friends, at least during their careers. “What we’ve seen on this Tour between the two favourites is inconceivable,” Fignon told L’Equipe this morning. “Cycling can’t be a thing between friends. The competition has to be merciless, especially once the race is started. Nothing should then stop it. I never fell into Bernard Hinault or Greg LeMond’s arms! When you’re rivals, you can’t like each other, you mustn’t like each other. It’s not healthy.”

Fignon always offers an interesting and forthright opinion on the Tour, and his take on this year’s race and the dynamics of the Contador-Schleck relationship is fascinating. “Contador manipulated Schleck by playing with him on a psychological level. He compensated for his bad spells with great mental strength and by bigging up their friendship. Over the course of the Tour, he succeeded in making his rival switch off."

1. fignon has had a tough go of it, so props, (but he'll always be that frenchy dbag from when i was an ignorant teen bike fan)
2. merciless?! like how you were merciless against lemond lol? dont tell us about merciless, you are not hinault- that's MERCILESS
3. i think this rivals cant be friends is not necessarily so
4. i think he's right about contador pwning schleck in this case
5. i like a translator who uses the phrase "bigging up"- is that really the equivalent of the french expression?!

(frenchies u know i <3 u and sorry for having been ignorant teen. u_u)

Can I hear a ... vuvuzela?

cofidis rocking those new LOOK frames with the mondrian colourscheme. so fly.

i kinda feel like too much is being made of the contador-schleck relationship. i mean, schleck basically lost because of a poor prologue and a dropped chain on what was looking like his big move in the pyrenees. dat's how i break it down to an extent.

Congrats to cav, one crash away from the green jersey.

Agree on the look bikes

really glad i followed so closely this year

one crash away from the green jersey.

Or one sit-up because youre not going to win this stage (4?)

This was a really great TDF - I thoroughly enjoyed it. My life is going to feel pretty empty now.

Or one sit-up because youre not going to win this stage (4?)

Well, he finished 11 points behind Petacchi in the end. On stage 4 he picked up 14 points for finishing 12th, to get the 'missing' points he would have needed to overhaul Petacchi he would have needed to come third that day. If he hadn't sat up he would have come higher than 12th, but I don't think he would have got third.

fully expect cav in green within the month or whenever the petacchi investigation concludes

Cav startlingly humble during his interview on highlights: Boulting asking him if he's aware of his place in history, Cav saying his haul is different from the other people with similar stage totals, cos he's just the guy who finishes off the work of nine men, plus: "People were saying about when I passed Erik Zabel, who has 12, but he's been part of 10 of mine, so it's like he's had 22, y'know?"

Holy shit at his finish today, that acceleration was just unreal.

Cav startlingly humble during his interview on highlights

To be fair to him, he's always very humble in post-victory interviews and always bigs up his team mates. He's also very level-headed and reasonable in out-of-competition interviews (normally). He just comes across really badly when he's interviewed in the heat of the moment after something's gone wrong.

Anyway, after 20 stages, the endless crashes, the oily Belgian hill, the Roubaix cobbles, the seeming end of Cavendish followed by the rebirth of Cavendish, the Alps finishing off Armstrong forever, Chavannel attacking all the bloody time, dodgy Vino returning with style, savage Pyrenees, a dropped chain and an unsportsmanlike attack, the Tourmalet in the fog, the surprisingly close time trial....after all this the final classification tells no lies: I top the ILX fantasy tour league with 1,383, Ed plays the role of Schleck with 1,246, and WBS is a distant third with 754. Haitch takes the lanterne rouge.

Also, let's revisit those Brit predictions:

Cavendish has been having a nightmare season and still doesn't seem to be at full fitness. I can't see him matching last year's incredible six stages. I know he's planning to focus on the green jersey this year, but I think he might be disappointed. He'll definitely win it at some point, but maybe not this year.

Well, he did a lot better than expected, especially considering how bleak it looked after the first four stages. He looks right back on top of his game. Given that he finished ahead of Hushovd in the end, and given that Petacchi is under investigation, I'd say he's got to be favourite for the green jersey next year.

Wiggins has been staking everything on this race and treating everything else as preparation. He hasn't really done that much to impress so far this year, but then the only time he's really gone for it was the Giro prologue and he won that. I don't think he'll be a one-season-wonder in as much as I'm pretty sure he'll finish top ten again, but I'll be pleasantly surprised if he can improve on last year's fourth place.

Bradley who? Bit of a mare: started with a bad prologue and got worse every time they went up a mountain. Even if he'd been at last year's level he wouldn't have got fourth, but he was nowhere near last year's level. Giro prologue aside, he's basically wasted most of his season gambling it all on a decent tour. Hopefully next season he'll try focusing on more than one race and have a go at some of the classics, or have a proper go at the Giro/Vuelta instead of the Tour.

Thomas did well at the Dauphine recently and has just won the National Championships. He'll just be supporting Wiggins, but might get a respectable placing in the prologue. Millar has put in some good performances and will probably grab himself 5th or 6th in one of the time trials.

I thought Geraint Thomas did very well in the opening week. Millar was struck down by the Garmin curse this year (see VDV and Farrar) and was in a world of pain from what I could tell.

yeah, thomas and ebh did esp well in the opening week

hard to feel sorry for britpopley wiggins but I kinda do

hushovd just didn't look 'right' throughout - despite winning a stage and scoring lots of sprint points - he looked like he still had a niggly clavicle and lacked sprint training

q: does cav ever aspire to contend for the yellow, or is that just never going to be in the cards for a rider of his strengths?

That would never happen in a million years

ok!

I don't think that Cav has even ever intentionally put time into another rider on the Tour?

I don't think that Cav has even ever intentionally put time into another rider on the Tour?

Haitch takes the lanterne rouge.

lol, i kinda set and forget my team. i wonder if they all finished??

I feel sorry for Wiggins for having gambled badly on the weather for the prologue. If he'd taken the start time originally allocated to him (about 10th from last iirc) he'd have been riding in almost dry conditions -- which was what he'd hoped to be doing by taking an early start, in what the forecast had predicted would be the dry part of the race. It just all seemed to get wronger and wronger for him from there and his confidence was clearly bust to bits by the end of the first week. Having said that, he wasn't on the same form as last year either.

Also, am I imagining it, or is his time trialling weaker now that he's lost all the weight?

he's definitely lost some of his TT speed. the weather on the second TT didn't help him either, he & Thomas would have been a lot closer to Fabian if it weren't for that pesky headwind.
missing the way Sean Kelly said "cooked" already :(

the prologue weather also screwed Team Sky as well iirc. they went out when it was nastiest.

But Geraint Thomas went out in the worst of the weather and posted a really good time, so Wiggins can't really use that as the excuse. (In fact, he didn't, he more or less said that he'd been taking it easy and playing it safe in the prologue as he didn't want to crash and that losing a few seconds in the prologue didn't matter when people would losing whole minutes in the mountains - ironic, really, given that a)Wiggins himself lost minutes on every mountain stage & b)in the end the GC *was* settled by mere seconds).

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2010/7/25/1280087157267/Bradley-Wiggins-021.jpg

latfh

"Daddy, your legs are as smooth as Mummy's!"

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/136275056.jpg

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/136275056.jpg

bah
http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/large/136275056.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=0ZRYP5X5F6FSMBCCSE82&Expires=1280235502&Signature=dYzaIqncT1QMW4%2FQGh43Fdtliic%3D

Catching up on some Basque media saying that Sammy Sanchez indeed fractured his right wrist and suffered chips in his right knee and elbow from his crash early in Stage 17.

He also mentioned that the 2010 tour was a heartbreak because it was so closely contested, noting that being only 3:40 down on Contador in Paris netted him 4th and pointing out that last year Schleck the younger was 4:10 down to earn 2nd.

Having TdF withdrawal, Tour of Poland is going to be particularly ineffective Methadone

MADRID (AP) -- A spokesman for three-time Tour de France winner Alberto Contador says the cyclist tested positive for a banned steroid during this year's race.

Contador's publicist released a statement Wednesday saying the substance, identified as clenbuterol, was found in a test taken on July 21. Contador has blamed food contamination as the only possible explanation for the positive test.

Contador will hold a news conference on Thursday in Pinto, Spain.

The statement said Contador was first made aware of the result on Aug. 24.

Well, whodathunkit.

"the amount was 400 times less than the benchmark measurement that anti-doping laboratories accredited by Wada must be able to detect"

this doesn't sound like doping to me with such a miniscule amount. maybe i want to think the best of Alberto though.

Congratulations to 2010 Tour de France winner Andy Schleck, I guess.

welp

I hope WADA raise it to two years

I'll say it again: '10 runner-up Menchov and '08 champ black-balled in favor of some quick-to-abandon French pro-ams is sommmmmmmme bullshit.

1 year is the worst possible outcome. This will be in the CAS for longer than that. 2 years would at least seem like obeying he rules.

And in fact two.

Yeah, some muttering about it here