Tour de France 2010

The Tour starts tomorrow......the biggest race of the year. This year will be the best race in my lifetime. With so many protagonists and an incredibly diverse course, its going to be great.

 

The first week(Tuesday) to be specific, will be the day in the early going for the first shakeup. No climbs, just a shitload of cobbles. Its going to be unpredictable with early crashes that could take down a favorite like Contador.

 

One long time trial would have favored everyone but Armstrong in the past, but his timetrialing has been very inconsistent so this actually helps him.

 

Best climber is Contador, but Basso killed it in the GIro.

 

Cant discount Lance since his revival in the Tour de Suisse.

 

Then there is the bad blood between the cyclists which will fuel even more competition.

 

So, my prediction?

 

1st: Contador

2nd: Basso

3rd: Andy Schleck

4th: Lance Armstrong

5th: Bradely Wiggens

 

Bottom line: This is going to be the Tour everyone remembers. There has never been so many great cyclist at one moment in time.

"I totally agree with everything..."

 

Bring it!

Definitely will be a good tour, but I truly believe that the best race/climbing of the year was last month at the Giro. My tips as below.

 

 

1. El Pistolero (no brainer for the overall win, unless something bad happens like a crash, illness, etc. Vino will pace him through the mountains.)

2. Ivan Basso (superb Giro performance that I'm still not certain wasn't influenced by PEDs, but damn that Liquigas team was awesome)

3. Andy Schleck (didn't look on his best form in California, but he may be working toward his peak and you gotta love the Saxo team of Cancellara, Voigt and Frank who each will pull for Andy and decimate the peloton if they're riding on the front)

4. Roman Kreuziger (very decent climber and good all arounder, while the Liquigas team has the horses to drive the train through mountain stages)

5. Brad Wiggins (his team doesn't impress me, but this guy can light it up in the mountains and in the TTs)

6. Cadel Evans (no decent team support other than Hincapie so he'll need to suck Contador's wheel to stay in contention, but his head seems to finally be in the game and his newfound aggression is proving to work with better finishes)

 

Guaranteed to not be on the podium: The Savior of All Things Cancer Related

 

Green Jersey: Cav (as long as he keeps his mouth shut and lets his legs do the talking)

 

Polka Dot: Andy Schleck, with my sentimental favorite being Robert Gesink cuz I drank quite a few beers with his Dutch fan club a couple of months ago at Amstel Gold.

 

Definitely will be a good tour, but I truly believe that the best race/climbing of the year was last month at the Giro. My tips as below.

 

 

1. El Pistolero (no brainer for the overall win, unless something bad happens like a crash, illness, etc. Vino will pace him through the mountains.)

2. Ivan Basso (superb Giro performance that I'm still not certain wasn't influenced by PEDs, but damn that Liquigas team was awesome)

3. Andy Schleck (didn't look on his best form in California, but he may be working toward his peak and you gotta love the Saxo team of Cancellara, Voigt and Frank who each will pull for Andy and decimate the peloton if they're riding on the front)

4. Roman Kreuziger (very decent climber and good all arounder, while the Liquigas team has the horses to drive the train through mountain stages)

5. Brad Wiggins (his team doesn't impress me, but this guy can light it up in the mountains and in the TTs)

6. Cadel Evans (no decent team support other than Hincapie so he'll need to suck Contador's wheel to stay in contention, but his head seems to finally be in the game and his newfound aggression is proving to work with better finishes)

 

Guaranteed to not be on the podium: The Savior of All Things Cancer Related

 

Green Jersey: Cav (as long as he keeps his mouth shut and lets his legs do the talking)

 

Polka Dot: Andy Schleck, with my sentimental favorite being Robert Gesink, cuz I drank quite a few beers with his Dutch fan club a couple of months ago at Amstel Gold.

 

the challenge with picking the green jersey is picking someone who will make it to Paris. Will Cav make it all the way or will he stop after 6 stage wins?

 

We agree on Lance

 

Andy is a good pick for polka dots

 

Liquigas is awesome and united. I was there at the Giro, and Basso was a class act all the way.

 

And then there is Landis with the Wall Street Journal.

Americans did extremely well today. I have to say that Armstrong did well, and Cancellera was the obvious favorite.

 

Tuesday will be the next big day........cobbles.

I think Armstrong stands on a step, just not sure which one.

 

Andy Schlek will piss it all away in the big individual TT.

 

Evans just doesn't have the mind for it. I like him a lot, would love to see him do it, but his attitude and self confidence suck.

 

Wiggo and Krueziger, not a chance. Brad lost big time today making a stupid decision. Yeah, he says he stands by it, but what else could he say. He was hoping to cheat the weather to gain time on guys that will drop him like a hot rock in the mountains. Giro showed it pretty well.

 

Contador is the favorite, no doubt. I think the Schlecks will perform, they will attack Contador all the way to Paris, but that TT could really hurt Andy's chance at a big race. We will see.

 

I really like Basso. I don't know if he has his stair climbing shoes on, but I would like to see him come back to the Tour and have a great showing.

 

The cobbles will be a big day. They will be bad, getting on to them in good position and not crashing will be the tell tale. Look for Vande Velde to just shy of kill himself crashing.

 

As for Green, I see Cav in it. He finished the Tour last year, won the final stage on the Champs Elysses. I am bullish on him. Tyler will give him his biggest challenge. I think Petacchi will pull off a win. I will also be watching for opportunist sprinters McKewen and Freire to be up there. I think that HTC will have a hard time holding together their leadout train in a few of the stages which will set it up for the guys that don't need a leadout.

Funny how they are x-raying bikes for motors after Casani's accusations from the Giro.

 

Wiggins has a good team, which will help later

Frank is looking better than Andy

Forget VdV

 

Lance has a great team, Contador doesn't. Contador can out-climb everyone.

 

Hatred will fuel the fire of this Tour. Teams will align themselves accordingly.

While AC should still be the favorite, I don't think his head is on right. First thing he did when he crossed the finish line was look back at the time. Shouldn't have even been an issue at that point, nor should he have even been worried by a few seconds. He went through a ton of mind games last year no doubt, but I'm not sure if he'll be able to take the pressure this year.

 

LA looked good, but I can't tell if he has been playing possum all this time, or if he just had a great TT today. Not sure how that will translate in the mountains.

 

I'd like to see Basso do well and I'd like to see Levi get on the podium.

 

I guess I'm still figuring AC for the overall win, but I genuinely feel like he dopes and that he won't be able to do so this year so that will have an impact on his overall performance. If LA is doping, he has never been caught before, and it stands to reason that he won't be caught this year, so IF that is going on, he'll likely continue to skate right by it. AC may not be as fortunate.

 

In any event, this looks like it will be a great tour and I hope all of the big riders manage to stay in it for the entire race, i.e. no race ending crashes, especially on the cobles.

And i wish this thread could have stayed in off topic...LOL!

Lance sure took the wind out of the little Pistolero's sails yesterday.

 

Lance on the top step at the end. The guy has determination and to finish his TDF run on a high note and that's all he needs to accomplish it. This is a team sport and Lance has the team to support him.

DOG!

 

Not the dogs fault, someone needs to kick the crap out of the owner though.

In the news here they are saying that apparently it was a dog that caused Hansen crash early in the stage. Bloody ridiculous!

In the news here they are saying that apparently it was a dog that caused Hansen crash early in the stage. Bloody ridiculous!

yup

Took out Hansen, crashed David Millar and Ivan Basso also. Just like when I ride around my house and everyone in the country disobeys the "leash law" set up by the counties for things just like this. Dogs come ambushing out of the bushes and from the porch. Havoc.

Another rough day with crashes. VdV is questionable.

It all started when Lampre rider Francesco Gavazzi crashed out of the breakaway on the Stockeu. A TV motorcycle then crashed while avoiding hitting Gavazzi, and the bike spilled oil on the road. The oil had time to run down the hill by the time the peloton came through a few minutes later, setting off a dangerous domino effect that saw over 60 riders sliding across the road.

 

 

Tomorrow will be another crash-fest with positioning key going into the cobbles. So, crashes before and during. If you crash before, and lose time, good luck catching the peloton. Exponentially, time will be lost.

Look for Vande Velde to just shy of kill himself crashing.

nice call

Broken ribs crack Vande Velde’s Tour dream

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/broken-rib...ldes-tour-dream

 

gone

Dang, hate to see CVV out so soon, although with the time loss he would have had a rough time making up ground to get into contention. I hope they all take it easy tomorrow and that no one gets hurt. If it rains, forgetaboutit!

Dang, hate to see CVV out so soon, although with the time loss he would have had a rough time making up ground to get into contention. I hope they all take it easy tomorrow and that no one gets hurt. If it rains, forgetaboutit!

 

That guy has a serious problem keeping the rubber side down.

That guy has a serious problem keeping the rubber side down.

 

Yea, this year he's had some problems with that for sure!

 

Great race today, though! Can't believe the crappy luck that LA had, but he did well to make up the ground he did. In fact, that push poses interesting scenario in the mountains I think. Crappy luck for AC too, but he was lucky he was so close to the finish. Another kilo out and he would have been screwed a la Lance. And good 'ol Vino pushing hard at the end, trying to eat up time for his leader...only his leader wasn't there, lol!

 

Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck and Cancellara...what great rides for all and putting some time to the other GC hopefuls.

 

Great race!

Yea, this year he's had some problems with that for sure!

 

Great race today, though! Can't believe the crappy luck that LA had, but he did well to make up the ground he did. In fact, that push poses interesting scenario in the mountains I think. Crappy luck for AC too, but he was lucky he was so close to the finish. Another kilo out and he would have been screwed a la Lance. And good 'ol Vino pushing hard at the end, trying to eat up time for his leader...only his leader wasn't there, lol!

 

Cadel Evans and Andy Schleck and Cancellara...what great rides for all and putting some time to the other GC hopefuls.

 

Great race!

praise for everyone except Thor. What gives? He had a great ride and won the stage.

praise for everyone except Thor. What gives? He had a great ride and won the stage.

 

Maybe due to all the pulls he skipped out on... LA had Contador on the ropes today until he flatted. Worst part was they abolished the radios so RadioShack didn't know that Lance had four teammates 15 seconds behind him. Goes to show that with no radios, the race is much more exciting and you can never sit up and roll in when you have a potential tour winner on your team.

 

I called the Schelck brothers taking some carnage, thought it would be both of them not just one though. Frank screwed himself up pretty good, that is sad though as he and his brother seriously animate the race in the mountains. It will change the dynamic of the climbing stages for sure.

 

One thing I loved, and I have a soft spot for him, was that not only did Evans make the selection but when he got there he drove the break with Fabian. That was class! I saw some of that fighting spirit that he had in the Giro before it all went pear shaped for him.

 

How classic was it when Vino dropped Contador with the flat tire! He was driving the train at the front like his hair was on fire and AC was just fading to black in the back. If he was paying attention, he would have seen it and given up his bike or wheel. That was a classic mistake/misfire. I will say though, he truly lived up to his word and played the super domestique today. I am a "little" suspect of his final pull as he did not look back after crossing the line to make sure AC was there. Hope he has no ulterior motives for moving himself up the classification, although that would make the race super interesting.

 

All in all, it was a death march today as everyone predicted it would be. There was a lot of heart and a lot of guts left on the battle field today. Guys had to ride for themselves, hell even LA had to take up the pacemaking and drop Popovych and ride himself up to the next group. That was an epic race.

well, classic sprinter tactic.........don't see the wind until the last 200 meters. He gets a pass and a free ride because of his role. Nothing wrong with it.

praise for everyone except Thor. What gives? He had a great ride and won the stage.

 

Just an oversight...all jail the god of Thunder!

adding to the solid performances:

 

Vino and Menchov