Tour De France 2010

[rudemedic]

OK since it starts tomorrow and as I don't think I'm the only one on here interested I thought I'd start a Tour de France thread

1.) Is anyone going to beat Contador? Personally I doubt it

2.) Will Wiggins get on to the podium? I'd like to think so but can't see it happening, but he's a top 10 contender for sure.

3.) Will Cav get the green jersey (at the finish)? I think this is definately possible, since he is still the best sprinter and he's actually going for it this time

4.) Any other surprises? I don't know why but I fancy Charlie Wegalius to do something, either be in a successful breakaway or challenge for the polka-dot jersey.

[martjs]

OK since it starts tomorrow and as I don't think I'm the only one on here interested I thought I'd start a Tour de France thread

1.) Is anyone going to beat Contador? Personally I doubt it

2.) Will Wiggins get on to the podium? I'd like to think so but can't see it happening, but he's a top 10 contender for sure.

3.) Will Cav get the green jersey (at the finish)? I think this is definately possible, since he is still the best sprinter and he's actually going for it this time

4.) Any other surprises? I don't know why but I fancy Charlie Wegalius to do something, either be in a successful breakaway or challenge for the polka-dot jersey.

 

 

Is it true all the participants take drugs and it's just a matter of who gets caught?

 

We lived in France when Lance Armsrong was dominating the Tour and the French just dismissed his success as "performance-enhanced"... Typical of the francais...

[rudemedic]

Is it true all the participants take drugs and it's just a matter of who gets caught?

 

We lived in France when Lance Armsrong was dominating the Tour and the French just dismissed his success as "performance-enhanced"... Typical of the francais...

 

Well nowadays I'm not so certain but in the past most of the good ones were doing it. I'd be very interested to see what happens in x number of years time with some of the ones who were towards the top from about 5 years ago backwards. What is quite clear is Armstrong did performance enhancing drugs when he had cancer for legitimate reasons. Loads of the riders he beat have been found to be doing performance enhancing drugs but Armstrong beat them... I think you may be able to see the conclusion I'm making (but note to any lawyers I've not actually made it).

[Hometownclub]

OK since it starts tomorrow and as I don't think I'm the only one on here interested I thought I'd start a Tour de France thread

 

1.) Is anyone going to beat Contador? Personally I doubt it. No, he is easily the strongest rider currently on the tour, he looks a certainty barring accidents.

 

2.) Will Wiggins get on to the podium? I'd like to think so but can't see it happening, but he's a top 10 contender for sure. Top 10 yes, podium no, he will again be found out in the mountains, he can't consistently climb with Contador and the Schleck brothers

 

3.) Will Cav get the green jersey (at the finish)? I think this is definately possible, since he is still the best sprinter and he's actually going for it this time.

I think he will win the green jersey this year, he would have won last year barring his disqualification on one stage, clearly the best sprinter in the race and with a very strong team to set the sprints up for him.

 

4.) Any other surprises? I don't know why but I fancy Charlie Wegalius to do something, either be in a successful breakaway or challenge for the polka-dot jersey.

Can't wait for it to start, a great sporting event.

 

[Hometownclub]

Is it true all the participants take drugs and it's just a matter of who gets caught?

 

We lived in France when Lance Armsrong was dominating the Tour and the French just dismissed his success as "performance-enhanced"... Typical of the francais...

Sour grapes, as usual.

[OldhamSheridan]

yay, like baseball, I appear not to be the only one watching dull sports for the 'Who's that coming out of the mist, it's Stephen Roche' moment on La Plagne.

 

I'd be surprised if Contador didn't win (barring injury). Cycling is generally one of those sports which the best wins and he is that. I'd go with Schleck and Cadel Evans on the podium, but Basso and Armstrong could be there along with the wishful thinking around Wiggins.

 

I'm not sure about Cavendish winning the green jersey. The flat stages are not exactly lined up. A late hill, cobbled roads, open stages (in terms of no hills and therefore wind). It's not great, but he is the best sprinter. It's getting those mid-stage points that may be important this time (and finishing the race), well they always are though.

[leeslover]

I haven't had the channels to follow it properly for a few years but am hoping to be able to catch more of it this year, albeit without the benefit of commentary that doesn;t make your ears bleed. Contador has to be a strong favourite, but it might be time for one or two younger riders to make a push on - as drug taking declines among the established ones some of the newer ones who don;t do it might start to come into it. Surely an extra year will have taken something out of Armstrong, I doubt he will challenge right at the top.

[deyres42]

I haven't had the channels to follow it properly for a few years but am hoping to be able to catch more of it this year, albeit without the benefit of commentary that doesn;t make your ears bleed. Contador has to be a strong favourite, but it might be time for one or two younger riders to make a push on - as drug taking declines among the established ones some of the newer ones who don;t do it might start to come into it. Surely an extra year will have taken something out of Armstrong, I doubt he will challenge right at the top.

 

Andy Schleck must be a great each way bet at 7/1.

 

Will be interesting to see how Basso gets on, looked pretty strong in the Giro but winners of that don't have the best record in this.

[rudemedic]

Contador's chances have improved dramatically after today's stage. I think quite a few would have predicted him to have lost time today but aside from A. Schleck he gained time. A. Schleck is now going to struggle to ride far enough away from Contador in the mountains since his brother is now out. Wiggins may have a better chance of getting on to the podium now. I think Cav is going to struggle to win the green jersey now he's already 62 points behind Hushovd, I did hear a cheeky suggestion by Phil Liggett on who might be a good e/w bet and I'm going to wait a bit and then see what his odds are by saturday.

[OldhamSheridan]

Bad loss today for Cav. Looked like he had no juice in those legs.

 

What does anyone know of this Welsh lad, Wiki is too hard for me to look up at this point?

[rudemedic]

Bad loss today for Cav. Looked like he had no juice in those legs.

 

What does anyone know of this Welsh lad, Wiki is too hard for me to look up at this point?

 

He's a bit like Bradley Wiggins minus a few years. He is a gold medal winning cyclist (in the team pursuit) from Beijing.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraint_Thomas

[rudemedic]

OK so its done- and it was an interesting race. We had the cobbles where Andy Schleck left his brother lying on the ground with a nasty fracture to his collarbone, (and what looked at the time to be potentially more serious than that). He gets a bundle of time from that. Then on stage 4 when Cav realised he wasn't going to win the stage sits up and that has cost him the green jersey. We had Sylvan Chavenal succeed on two different breakaways and get the yellow jersey twice (been a while since that's happened).

 

The Alps was a bit Meh- but that was to be expected as the Pyrennes was where it was at this year- the most significant thing was Armstrong being so far off the pace his tour was done (and it was easily a tour too far for him). We had the stage to Mende (which is one of my favourite finshes ever since I saw Jalabert succeed on a breakaway there about 15 years ago) where IMO Contador tried his hardest not to go until the point he wasn't going to catch Vino but got his timing wrong- (although I think Rodriguez might have caught Vino anyway). Then having been so close to winning Vino wins one- he's gone up a whole bunch in my estimation for this tour but since I didn't like him it wasn't hard.

 

We've had the twoing and throwing between Hushovld and Petacchi for the green jersey all the while Cav was catching them having given away a 60 point start. We had a bit of a battle for the polka-dot but Charteau looked like he was going to win that for a while- since he was much better at getting over the really big mountains than Pineau.

 

Then in the Pyrenees it all happened. We had the most significant incident of the tour- Andy Schleck goes off on an attack and Contador looks like he is going to struggle to catch him- I don't think he actually needed to catch him due to the finish being at the bottom of the mountain. Andy Schleck's chain comes off and Contador keeps going (he knew what he was doing) and ends up making the time on that stage that wins him the tour. I've not made my mind up about that- in some ways it was the wrong thing to do, and Contador has apologised for doing it, but if every time one of the leaders (or potential winners) has a problem, the racing stopped it would get very boring. Andy Schleck didn't stop to wait for Contador on the cobbles stage, despite Contador waiting for him the day before. It has become the incident of the tour because Andy's brother wasn't there (and he would have been if fit), if Frank is there he gives Andy his bike and the time loss is less (if at all). Plus we had the stage where Armstrong who some say was saving himself for a breakaway win (and I believe didn't have it) was in a breakaway which was always going to succeed but he didn't win

 

Then we have the mano-e-mano fight up the Tourmalet in the mist and fog (which some how made it more dramatic), the experts were all saying Andy needed time to stay ahead of Contador in the time trial but try as hard as he could Andy couldn't ride Contador off his wheel and they crossed the line together. I think again if Frank had been there it might have been different but who knows.

 

Then the time trial- and Andy Schleck shows what he is capable of- OK Contador didn't have the best time trial but it wasn't that bad but Andy's was the best time trial of his career and fate, karma whoever decides that they should be separated by the same amount of time Andy lossed when his chain came of.

 

So the final day in Paris is another procession in terms of the yellow jersey and Cav wins again with ease but not by enough to get the green jersey.

[24hoursfromtulsehill]

OK so its done- and it was an interesting race. We had the cobbles where Andy Schleck left his brother lying on the ground with a nasty fracture to his collarbone, (and what looked at the time to be potentially more serious than that). He gets a bundle of time from that. Then on stage 4 when Cav realised he wasn't going to win the stage sits up and that has cost him the green jersey. We had Sylvan Chavenal succeed on two different breakaways and get the yellow jersey twice (been a while since that's happened).

 

The Alps was a bit Meh- but that was to be expected as the Pyrennes was where it was at this year- the most significant thing was Armstrong being so far off the pace his tour was done (and it was easily a tour too far for him). We had the stage to Mende (which is one of my favourite finshes ever since I saw Jalabert succeed on a breakaway there about 15 years ago) where IMO Contador tried his hardest not to go until the point he wasn't going to catch Vino but got his timing wrong- (although I think Rodriguez might have caught Vino anyway). Then having been so close to winning Vino wins one- he's gone up a whole bunch in my estimation for this tour but since I didn't like him it wasn't hard.

 

We've had the twoing and throwing between Hushovld and Petacchi for the green jersey all the while Cav was catching them having given away a 60 point start. We had a bit of a battle for the polka-dot but Charteau looked like he was going to win that for a while- since he was much better at getting over the really big mountains than Pineau.

 

Then in the Pyrenees it all happened. We had the most significant incident of the tour- Andy Schleck goes off on an attack and Contador looks like he is going to struggle to catch him- I don't think he actually needed to catch him due to the finish being at the bottom of the mountain. Andy Schleck's chain comes off and Contador keeps going (he knew what he was doing) and ends up making the time on that stage that wins him the tour. I've not made my mind up about that- in some ways it was the wrong thing to do, and Contador has apologised for doing it, but if every time one of the leaders (or potential winners) has a problem, the racing stopped it would get very boring. Andy Schleck didn't stop to wait for Contador on the cobbles stage, despite Contador waiting for him the day before. It has become the incident of the tour because Andy's brother wasn't there (and he would have been if fit), if Frank is there he gives Andy his bike and the time loss is less (if at all). Plus we had the stage where Armstrong who some say was saving himself for a breakaway win (and I believe didn't have it) was in a breakaway which was always going to succeed but he didn't win

 

Then we have the mano-e-mano fight up the Tourmalet in the mist and fog (which some how made it more dramatic), the experts were all saying Andy needed time to stay ahead of Contador in the time trial but try as hard as he could Andy couldn't ride Contador off his wheel and they crossed the line together. I think again if Frank had been there it might have been different but who knows.

 

Then the time trial- and Andy Schleck shows what he is capable of- OK Contador didn't have the best time trial but it wasn't that bad but Andy's was the best time trial of his career and fate, karma whoever decides that they should be separated by the same amount of time Andy lossed when his chain came of.

 

So the final day in Paris is another procession in terms of the yellow jersey and Cav wins again with ease but not by enough to get the green jersey.

 

Good summary. There's something everyone seems to have missed though. The day before Schleck's chain came off, he put his hand up on (I think) the final climb, which is the signal for a mechanical fault, and Contador waited, but instead of getting his bike fixed, Schleck merely collected food. The football equivalent would be feigning a hit in the face when no contact was made. Contador probably felt well within his rights to ride off the next day because of that. I don't agree, but Schleck wasn't entirely blameless. Schleck should cruise it next year, but it doesn't always work like that. Classic tour this year.

 

[Hometownclub]

An excellent and exciting tour this year and the promise of some good battles to come in the next few years between Contador and Schleck.

 

This year might have brought a different result if Franck Schleck hadn't crashed out in the first week, next year should be an intriguing battle.

 

Cavendish again proved himself to be the worlds best sprinter by some way and yet failed again to win the Green Jersey, he's going to need to contest some of the intermediate sprints and not stop riding on the very rare occasions that he isn't going to win the sprint.

He was alittle unfortunate as having given 60 points start he still beat Hushovd and that is the first time that Petacchi has got to Paris in quite a few attempts.

 

Can't wait for next year.

[rudemedic]

Good summary. There's something everyone seems to have missed though. The day before Schleck's chain came off, he put his hand up on (I think) the final climb, which is the signal for a mechanical fault, and Contador waited, but instead of getting his bike fixed, Schleck merely collected food. The football equivalent would be feigning a hit in the face when no contact was made. Contador probably felt well within his rights to ride off the next day because of that. I don't agree, but Schleck wasn't entirely blameless. Schleck should cruise it next year, but it doesn't always work like that. Classic tour this year.

 

I didn't see that or if I did I don't remember. I don't think Schleck was entirely blameless either but it will be interesting to see what happens if the reverse happens in a future tour (as you know those two are going to be there again next year and for a few years after unless injury gets in the way). I'm a bit unsure if Schleck is going to cruise it next year for numerous reasons.

1.) Contador will probably have a much better team I can't see him staying with Astana next year and rumour has it Alonso is going to get involved.

2.) I can't see Contador letting himself be a minute down for the final time trial next year (which he was probably quite happy to be this year) so will attack more- remember he left Schleck at Mende.

3.) Next year's tour is going to be less mountain heavy I reckon, for a start it starts in the Vendee (so the first week is going to be flat without any cobbles or slopes ala the Spa non-stage) and it will probably include Alpe-D'Huez (since its a couple of years since the tour was up there) which is a bit more Contador friendly.

4.) There have also been rumours going around that Contador slowed up during the time-trial to get the gap to 39 secs.

 

However- there will be a team time trial next year (only a short one though) and unless Contador gets a better team Schleck could take a bit of time from him there (more than he lost by this time).

[rudemedic]

It seems the tour may not be over yet, Contador has been found to have had clenbuterol (something which strips fat, increases muscle size and has a short-term stimulant effect- so a very good doping drug) in his system during the Tour.

 

However, the level Contador has in his system is below the level needed for doping and he says it came from contaminated meat that his team ate during the rest day in the Pyrennes. The meat was transported from Spain.

 

As a cycling fan I hope he hasn't been cheating but somethings don't add up.

[24hoursfromtulsehill]

Very fishy is this Contador business - but I'm not sure I care too much about drugs in sport. Performance enhancing medication is sort of traditional in the TDF. If that's what's happened in this case.