*** The Official 'Tour De France' Thread ***
Discussion
With the Tour De France fast approaching, I certainly can't wait for the 'main event' of the cycling calender.
The Giro was won by Contador and he showed his superior strength throughout. My predictions are:
1. Contador
2. B. Wiggins
3. A. Schleck - perhaps?
Other chaps capable of a podium are:
Andreas Klöden
Levi Leipheimer - fresh from his Tour De Swiss outright win!
I have to say A. Schleck didn't seem so great in the Tour De Swiss but I feel he has a lot more to give - time will tell.
Wiggins performed well in the Critérium du Dauphiné this year and clinched the victory and with all the pressure off him I am expecting a good show this year.
Also looking forward to some great sprints from Mark Cavendish and the usual suspects.
I believe it all kicks off on the 2nd July. I sincerely hope it's as thrilling as the 2010 Tour which in my opinion goes down as one of the very best Tours.
Dr T
The Giro was won by Contador and he showed his superior strength throughout. My predictions are:
1. Contador
2. B. Wiggins
3. A. Schleck - perhaps?
Other chaps capable of a podium are:
Andreas Klöden
Levi Leipheimer - fresh from his Tour De Swiss outright win!
I have to say A. Schleck didn't seem so great in the Tour De Swiss but I feel he has a lot more to give - time will tell.
Wiggins performed well in the Critérium du Dauphiné this year and clinched the victory and with all the pressure off him I am expecting a good show this year.
Also looking forward to some great sprints from Mark Cavendish and the usual suspects.
I believe it all kicks off on the 2nd July. I sincerely hope it's as thrilling as the 2010 Tour which in my opinion goes down as one of the very best Tours.
Dr T
I think Andy Schleck will be fine come the TDF he still picked up the mountain Jersey in the Tour De Suisse and his sole focus is on the tour, he is also the only one capable of competing with Contador so I hope he's in good form.
Predication
Contador
Schleck
Wiggins
Nibali
Contador will then be found guilty by CAS and stripped of this and last years TDF making Andy Schleck a 2 time tour winner!!
Predication
Contador
Schleck
Wiggins
Nibali
Contador will then be found guilty by CAS and stripped of this and last years TDF making Andy Schleck a 2 time tour winner!!
Bluequay said:
I think Andy Schleck will be fine come the TDF he still picked up the mountain Jersey in the Tour De Suisse and his sole focus is on the tour, he is also the only one capable of competing with Contador so I hope he's in good form.
Predication
Contador
Schleck
Wiggins
Nibali
Contador will then be found guilty by CAS and stripped of this and last years TDF making Andy Schleck a 2 time tour winner!!
Good call on Nibali - he has been doing well recently.Predication
Contador
Schleck
Wiggins
Nibali
Contador will then be found guilty by CAS and stripped of this and last years TDF making Andy Schleck a 2 time tour winner!!
Regarding Contador - I bloody hope they don't ruin the guys career. I am sure the amount found in his system was of no benefit, it was a trace amount afterall. I watched him get booed in the Giro plus there seems to be a lot of Contador bashing going on.. Regardless he is a great sportsman and one of the cycling greats. His record is very impressive and we can expect more to come from him I am sure.
ITs unacceptable and a bit of a cop out that they havent dealt with him yet.It must also be very stressful for him as a rider.But like most Sports Governing Bodies they are so far removed from everyday fans they just dont get our frustration.Look at FIFA the UCI isnt much if any better.
Just hope we get some real battles this year and a few surprises.(good ones).
Just hope we get some real battles this year and a few surprises.(good ones).
Will be more interested in watching the Sprints that the GC this yr, the most interesting questions are to be found there for me.
Have the Peloton worked out what to do with Cavendish yet?
Will Cavendish hit the ground running?
Is Cavendish thinking of the Olympics yet?
Thor v Cavendish for the Green Jersey?
The Tour is all about looking where the main story is that yr for me. Last yr we got a dual Sprint/GC story. This yr whatever happens in the GC will have the "Contador Connundrum" hanging over it which ruins it for me. Last yr was a straight AC/AS fight to the last stage without politics spoiling it.
Have the Peloton worked out what to do with Cavendish yet?
Will Cavendish hit the ground running?
Is Cavendish thinking of the Olympics yet?
Thor v Cavendish for the Green Jersey?
The Tour is all about looking where the main story is that yr for me. Last yr we got a dual Sprint/GC story. This yr whatever happens in the GC will have the "Contador Connundrum" hanging over it which ruins it for me. Last yr was a straight AC/AS fight to the last stage without politics spoiling it.
I think its on ITV4 as well.I hate Eurosport Coverage. It may of changed but I owuld set the video to record an event only yo find because of rain the tennis had over run and the cycling was cancelled or running very late .It may of changed but it used to drive me bonkers.
Brad is all about the time trials this year.He lsot so much weight last year in an attempt to do well in th emountains he lost a lot of strength. didnt he get caught out early on as well and lose a shed load of time.
Brad is all about the time trials this year.He lsot so much weight last year in an attempt to do well in th emountains he lost a lot of strength. didnt he get caught out early on as well and lose a shed load of time.
I really like the Eurosport coverage and their commentators are excellent - you are right about the overlapping though. Brad. is looking good I have to say, he looks soild in the mountains as well as the time trials.
It has just been announced that he is in the sqaud for team Sky
I guess he will be the main man in that team.
It has just been announced that he is in the sqaud for team Sky
I guess he will be the main man in that team. Bluequay said:
Nibali
I don't think Nibali is riding the Tour this year, he's doing the Giro and Vuelta. Basso is Liquigas' lead for the Tour. Unfortunately Sagan isn't going from Liquigas either, there are a couple of uphill finishes which would have been good between him and Gilbert.Andy Schleck had one good day in the intermediate mountains in the Suisse after he'd taken a packet the previous days and was allowed in the breakaway. He couldn't even catch de Gendt at the end of that stage. I'm not convinced by him as a winner (either outright or by default), especially by his mediocre time-trialling which he seems to not be improving and we saw that the TT (same route) in the Dauphine could lead to gaps of minutes.
Cadel Evans could do something, he lost out to Wiggins in the Dauphiné pretty much only on the time trial and I don't think showed his hand on the climbs.
Gesink has improved his time trialling and has a strong team and I thought Cunego looked good in the Suisse.
My top 5:
Contador
Evans
Gesink
Wiggins
A Schleck
Dr Imran T said:
I watched him get booed in the Giro plus there seems to be a lot of Contador bashing going on.. Regardless he is a great sportsman and one of the cycling greats. His record is very impressive and we can expect more to come from him I am sure.
I agree.Though if you are talking about the booing as he came home at the top of the foggy Zoncolan, the story I heard was that the fans were not booing at Contador, but at the race organisers and riders who had the Monte Crostis climb taken out of the stage earlier that day. The fans had also mounted a protest on another climb and the organisers took that out as well.
An Italian friend of mine said that Contador got a lot of fans in this year's Giro, especially when he helped Tiralongo win a stage.
Sadly it's likely to be a Contador benefit performance - OK, there's a small chance he'll run out of steam having done the Giro, but it looks like he's got a margin over everyone else. Gilbert could be dark horse - looking at the current odds on him, he's got to be worth an each way/top six punt.
Unless Schleck has really been saving himself, his form looks poor. Wiggins appears much more on top of his game, but can he make it up the steepest stuff alongside the other contenders?
The pity is that the Clenbuterol saga hasn't been closed. There's a very good case that the low levels that Contador registered could be explained by micro-transfusing blood removed earlier in the year when he was allegedly trying to lose a few pounds. All speculation of course, but it's a crazy system where an athlete is first judged by their national body before the sport's governing bodies weigh in. The irony is that France has no say in the matter whatsoever, regardless of the positive test having happened on their soil, in their event.
If he wins in style, and the UCI/WADA appeals succeed the whole thing is going to stink.....
Unless Schleck has really been saving himself, his form looks poor. Wiggins appears much more on top of his game, but can he make it up the steepest stuff alongside the other contenders?
The pity is that the Clenbuterol saga hasn't been closed. There's a very good case that the low levels that Contador registered could be explained by micro-transfusing blood removed earlier in the year when he was allegedly trying to lose a few pounds. All speculation of course, but it's a crazy system where an athlete is first judged by their national body before the sport's governing bodies weigh in. The irony is that France has no say in the matter whatsoever, regardless of the positive test having happened on their soil, in their event.
If he wins in style, and the UCI/WADA appeals succeed the whole thing is going to stink.....
Highway Star said:
I agree.
Though if you are talking about the booing as he came home at the top of the foggy Zoncolan, the story I heard was that the fans were not booing at Contador, but at the race organisers and riders who had the Monte Crostis climb taken out of the stage earlier that day. The fans had also mounted a protest on another climb and the organisers took that out as well.
An Italian friend of mine said that Contador got a lot of fans in this year's Giro, especially when he helped Tiralongo win a stage.
Indeed I was refering tp that incident. Glad to hear the booing was for another reason afterall, although I did not notice any booing for any other riders.. Though if you are talking about the booing as he came home at the top of the foggy Zoncolan, the story I heard was that the fans were not booing at Contador, but at the race organisers and riders who had the Monte Crostis climb taken out of the stage earlier that day. The fans had also mounted a protest on another climb and the organisers took that out as well.
An Italian friend of mine said that Contador got a lot of fans in this year's Giro, especially when he helped Tiralongo win a stage.
The French Police recently stopped Contador when he was about to cycle through a tunnel. The police would not allow him to ride through the tunnel with his support car behind him unless he had lights on his bike!
He argued that the support car would follow close behind and illuminate the road for him, They had non of it and made him jump off his bike and stick it in the boot whilst they went through the tunnel. Quite an amusing story if not a litte silly
Perhaps it is sour grapes as I can't see any French riders heading for the top spot in the GC.
johnxjsc1985 said:
ITs unacceptable and a bit of a cop out that they havent dealt with him yet.
Which way do you think the 'dealing-with' should have gone, John, exonerated him or nailed him?Personally I cannot understand for the life of me what the case is against him. If a doping rule for a particular proscribed substance is based on a detected presence of that substance exceeding a defined threshold level, then any detected concentration below that level is, by definition, a negative result. If the amount is 400x below the threshold then it's not even worthy of a conversation.
In terms of the overall GC race, it should be super-close. Only one individual TT (disappointment), no prologue (massive disappointment) might help Andy Schleck. Certainly won't help Wiggins. The TTT will obviously play a role but, other than that, it's all about the mountains. I hope Wiggins makes the podium but it only takes one bad day and that's gone as messrs Contador & Schleck don't do bad days so the top two steps are locked out.
(and as a Freesat user I'm bloody gutted that ITV4 HD is only available on f
ing SKY.) I am not one of those people who shudder at the thought of people taking drugs the effect of which are quite often blown out of all proportion. A simple over the counter cold remedy would render a positive drug offense.
Its more a case of who is right his own Governing body or the UCI he is caught in the middle. Either the drug testing is inadequate or these lads are clean or the drug testing is inadequate and these lads are very very clever.
Cycled all my life and let me tell you no amount of drugs would get me near to any of the Tour riders and I could do a 10 mile TT at 30mph at my best. The way I understand the "drug issue" is it allows you to recover quicker. I personally think that the whole Drug myth should be "outed" as most people dont have a clue what its all about.
Its more a case of who is right his own Governing body or the UCI he is caught in the middle. Either the drug testing is inadequate or these lads are clean or the drug testing is inadequate and these lads are very very clever.
Cycled all my life and let me tell you no amount of drugs would get me near to any of the Tour riders and I could do a 10 mile TT at 30mph at my best. The way I understand the "drug issue" is it allows you to recover quicker. I personally think that the whole Drug myth should be "outed" as most people dont have a clue what its all about.
Dr Imran T said:
Indeed I was refering tp that incident. Glad to hear the booing was for another reason afterall, although I did not notice any booing for any other riders..
It was booing around him because he finished first.He got a pretty good reception for the rest of the Giro. Apart from the guy who ran up the road on the Zoncolan (I think) in front of him with a steak hanging from a fishing rod
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