Tour de France
Discussion
Stage maps and profiles published today
http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/#summary
My hotel in Nice appears to be about 200m from the stage finish, off to buy some chalk and practice the ph smiley!...
http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/#summary
My hotel in Nice appears to be about 200m from the stage finish, off to buy some chalk and practice the ph smiley!...
Already looking forward to the Tour. Stage finish at St Malo looks like a good day out as it's less than 50 miles as the crow flies from where I live, but we're spending 2 weeks in Alpe d'huez to watch the queen stage. The race itself hopefully will be a vast improvement on last year's snooze fest with so many more attacking riders in contention for GC.
It should be fantastic, right from stage 2 there is the possibility for anything to happen.
Its a tough old stage and there will be a number of people who will fancy their chances of topping that climb then try a mad dash to make it home before the peloton catch them...
Some key stages.
Stage 8 - attack-tastic!
Stage 9 - Final stage before first rest day
Stage 15
242kms and a summit finish on Mt Ventoux!...
Stage 18
It wont be decided until the end of stage 19 though
Its a tough old stage and there will be a number of people who will fancy their chances of topping that climb then try a mad dash to make it home before the peloton catch them...
Some key stages.
Stage 8 - attack-tastic!
Stage 9 - Final stage before first rest day
Stage 15
242kms and a summit finish on Mt Ventoux!...
Stage 18
It wont be decided until the end of stage 19 though
tweets from Jens Voigt today, referring to stage 8
"In the trainig camp to see some of the moutnain stages from this years Tdf and we had to abandon our mission today, not even in the car could we reach the top of this climb. it was 2 degrees and snowstorm when we went in the car. First moutnain stage this year, Col de Pailhieres and finish in Aix 3 Domains. Pyrenees. Ouch. After seeing that stage live, I am sure I could pretty much say who will be on the podium in Paris. There is no holding back or hidingg here!"
"In the trainig camp to see some of the moutnain stages from this years Tdf and we had to abandon our mission today, not even in the car could we reach the top of this climb. it was 2 degrees and snowstorm when we went in the car. First moutnain stage this year, Col de Pailhieres and finish in Aix 3 Domains. Pyrenees. Ouch. After seeing that stage live, I am sure I could pretty much say who will be on the podium in Paris. There is no holding back or hidingg here!"
Having seen the route in a bit more detail, this is a good course, not a great one. Still not enough climbing in my opinion. I know the 2nd individual time trial is quite a hilly one but really this race is crying out for a mountain TT. They're using Ventoux this year - surely they could have made that the mountain TT. Who remembers '87 anyone? Fantastic stuff. Good to see the team time trial and other individual time trials quite short, so there won't be any huge time margins. For the GC if I were to put my neck on the line right now, definitely Froome and Contador, once they lay their s
t down, no-one will stay with them, but I can't decide on what order on the podium. 3rd place who know at the moment. As for the green jersey, Cav can potentially win 8 or 9 stages taking him close to EM's record amount of stage wins, but I think Sagan will push him very hard on the transitional stages where Cav won't be so strong.
Roll on Corsica!
t down, no-one will stay with them, but I can't decide on what order on the podium. 3rd place who know at the moment. As for the green jersey, Cav can potentially win 8 or 9 stages taking him close to EM's record amount of stage wins, but I think Sagan will push him very hard on the transitional stages where Cav won't be so strong.Roll on Corsica!
Edited by mcelliott on Wednesday 29th May 20:06
ewenm said:
Ray Luxury-Yacht said:
I thought there was a stage in the UK again this year, no? Or did I dream it??
Not this centenary year. Starts in Yorkshire next year.I'm hoping to see some of stages 18, 19 and/or 20 live this summer
Despite what a few posters have said about this year's tour - I don't care, it looks a blinder, and I am looking forward to it
And it would be great if the earlier poster DID manage to draw a huge PH smiley on the route!!
JuniorD said:
Evans Nibali Froome Contadope in no particular order.
Stage win for Dan Martin hopefully.
Evans faded dramatically in the Giro and I cant see him lasting long on some of those climbs. The French will be gunning hard for stage wins so the likes of Rolland, Pinot and Voeckler will feature on the medium to high mountains. Uran could well be a dark horse for Sky, they will be supporting Froome but he is a great climber and will hold his own whilst being the team player. Roche should get a top ten finish too... I cant wait...Stage win for Dan Martin hopefully.
You'll all be pleased to know I have given up on Lars Boom as the next big thing so expect him to have a great tour!....
mcelliott said:
Nibbles is not ridiing the tour.
I'm still surprised by this but only because he is all Astana have. Without Nibbles they are left with Iglinksy, Flugstag? or Kessiakof to lead them in le tour, none of whom will feature in the top 20 though I guess they will argue that they just won the Giro so who cares!....
pablo said:
mcelliott said:
Nibbles is not ridiing the tour.
I'm still surprised by this but only because he is all Astana have. Without Nibbles they are left with Iglinksy, Flugstag? or Kessiakof to lead them in le tour, none of whom will feature in the top 20 though I guess they will argue that they just won the Giro so who cares!....
Rouleur said:
I'm going to go with Contador - Froome - Nibali/Rodriguez
I think Wiggins will reluctantly work for Froome and give up trying before the end.
You might be right, Froome has been looking very good in all the early season races. He beat AC in the tour of Oman IIRC. I think Wiggins will reluctantly work for Froome and give up trying before the end.
I would love to see a wild card challenge for the overall. When was it when Voeckler had the superb run in yellow?? - was great to see that
Well this Sunday signifies the start of the Criterium du Dauphine - always a very good indicator to who's got the form for the Tour. This promises to be an absolute cracker with Bertie going head to head with Froome and Valverde. It's a proper mini Tour de France, with stage 7 going up Alpe d'Huez as a dress rehearsal (although not finishing at the top). The only downside to me is that Valverde's wingman - Nairo Quintana, won't be riding as he's training in Columbia for the Tour. Now this guy is really going to light up the Tour de France - a genuine podium contender.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/may/31/bradle...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-wiggins-to-...
Knee injury? Not serious. But enough to keep him from doing the really hard training, so he's out of the Dauphiné and the Tour. Riiiiiiight.
Of course, Sky couldn't be seen to be dropping Sir Braddo of Sideburn And Wig. It would be unpopular - and also heap pressure on Froome that in the absence of the big dog he'd have to do the business. But an injury? Oh dear. Poor Brad, so keen to defend his crown and unable to. Shame.
I hereby predict a succession of puff pieces about Froome's personality from the Sky machine. (Does he have one?)
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-wiggins-to-...
Knee injury? Not serious. But enough to keep him from doing the really hard training, so he's out of the Dauphiné and the Tour. Riiiiiiight.
Of course, Sky couldn't be seen to be dropping Sir Braddo of Sideburn And Wig. It would be unpopular - and also heap pressure on Froome that in the absence of the big dog he'd have to do the business. But an injury? Oh dear. Poor Brad, so keen to defend his crown and unable to. Shame.
I hereby predict a succession of puff pieces about Froome's personality from the Sky machine. (Does he have one?)
Gizmoish said:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/may/31/bradle...
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-wiggins-to-...
Knee injury? Not serious. But enough to keep him from doing the really hard training, so he's out of the Dauphiné and the Tour. Riiiiiiight.
Of course, Sky couldn't be seen to be dropping Sir Braddo of Sideburn And Wig. It would be unpopular - and also heap pressure on Froome that in the absence of the big dog he'd have to do the business. But an injury? Oh dear. Poor Brad, so keen to defend his crown and unable to. Shame.
I hereby predict a succession of puff pieces about Froome's personality from the Sky machine. (Does he have one?)
I've just read that. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/report-wiggins-to-...
Knee injury? Not serious. But enough to keep him from doing the really hard training, so he's out of the Dauphiné and the Tour. Riiiiiiight.
Of course, Sky couldn't be seen to be dropping Sir Braddo of Sideburn And Wig. It would be unpopular - and also heap pressure on Froome that in the absence of the big dog he'd have to do the business. But an injury? Oh dear. Poor Brad, so keen to defend his crown and unable to. Shame.
I hereby predict a succession of puff pieces about Froome's personality from the Sky machine. (Does he have one?)
Makes life a lot easier if he isn't doing the Tour.
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