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Tour De France 2010 (1 Viewer)

Turenne

Turenne

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Ignore all that over-hyped subversive soccer nonsense - a proper sporting competition built around suffering and history is about to start in France.

I have Andy Schleck for the yellow jersey.
 
I have Greg Lemond. :mrgreen:
 
Better Greg then Lance anyway. ;)
 
ludahai said:
Nothing matters until they get to the first set of mountain stages. Everyone knows that...
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The time trails matter to be fair( Andy Schleck already half a minute behind Armstrong after today for example) and a breakaway allowed away on a flat course can do damage. But yeah it all about the mountains.
 
Turenne said:
The time trails matter to be fair( Andy Schleck already half a minute behind Armstrong after today for example) and a breakaway allowed away on a flat course can do damage. But yeah it all about the mountains.
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The time trials count, but thirty seconds at this stage of the tour is nothing. Ten times that can EASILY be made up in a single mountain stage...
 
Soccer and cycling. Why not just complete the gay trifecta and discuss who wins the next tennis tournament?
 
Gipper said:
Soccer and cycling. Why not just complete the gay trifecta and discuss who wins the next tennis tournament?
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Moderator's Warning:
Stop trolling threads you have no interest in.
 
Gipper said:
Soccer and cycling. Why not just complete the gay trifecta and discuss who wins the next tennis tournament?
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I'm afriad you know nothing - professional cycling is one of the most brutal and unrelenting sports in the history of the world. The Tour De France is three weeks of suffering and pain of the highest order.
 
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Turenne said:
I'm afriad you know nothing - professional cycling is one of the most brutal and unrelenting sports in the history of the world. The Tour De France is three weeks of suffering and pain of the highest order.
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And I think after the carnage of the past two stages, the peloton will look forward to a comparatively pedestrian stage four today...
 
Good to see a thread on this event. I started watching years ago and got my racing knowledge from Versus (originally Outdoor Life Network) and Velonews magazine. Of course it didn't hurt that I started riding myself and bought my first Trek back in 1999. (gee, what happened then? lol) I feel like its a hard sport to grasp unless you really watch it and listen to the discussions. Most US press is either about doping (which is being policed fairly sternly and has improved the sport) or Lance Armstrong who is only one of many Americans who now compete. Not to mention that the US now has 4 teams to root for with Team BMC, Garmin-Transitions, HTC-Columbia and of course Radio Shack. Let's say to understand the sport, it really helps if you understand how riding in teams blocks wind resistance. The TdF is the longest tour and has some of the toughest climbs. The goal is usually to design a tour that tests many different skills of biking such as speed, endurance, climbing/downhill, bike handling and involves team strategies to best use members of teams. The tour also recognizes leaders by providing different color leader jerseys. The yellow is for the overall leader, green is for most consistent rider, polka dot for King of the Mountain (climbing) and White for best young rider. It can be a great sport as it has exciting moments, but many of these moments won't mean anything unless you know the sport. I have to admit that Versus coverage involves many shots of the riders just going across beautiful countryside. Not really exciting to watch all the time. But it can be enjoyable. :)

Ludahai, the few first stages were pretty crazy. Crashes on stage two and the cobblestones on three creating havoc on three were not like anything I'd seen at the ToF. The last two days have been flat courses set up for sprinters and no real surprises. I have to admit I was happy to see Cavendish takes today's stage. He actually cried on the podium after the win. The announcers said something about relief after all the pressure as well as his grandmother recently passing away.
 
Another three-man breakaway from the beginning of the stage, just like yesterday. Lead is almost six minutes. Yesterday's nearly held on until the end... but as always, the power of the peloton prevailed... Wonder how long this breakaway will hold out... Long stage today (227.5km), but not quite as hot as yesterday...
 
Ziggae_6 said:
Versus network announcers think its going to be another sprinter type race today. Some good climbs tomorrow!
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I tend to agree. Once the breakaway gets brought in, and considering that the last few km of this stage are generally slightly downhill, looks well poised for the fitter sprinters who can still bring it after riding 220+ km.... Eurosport hasn't mentioned this yet, but they will talk about it sooner or later.... they usually wait until the last 20km before focusing on the dynamics of the final sprint...
 
Cavendish wins another stage... his HTC-Columbia teammates really set him up well around that last corner...

Tomorrow, first taste of the mountains heading into the Alps. Three cat 2 climbs in the last half of tomorrow's stage before the first true mountain stage on Sunday....
 
ludahai said:
Cavendish wins another stage... his HTC-Columbia teammates really set him up well around that last corner...

Tomorrow, first taste of the mountains heading into the Alps. Three cat 2 climbs in the last half of tomorrow's stage before the first true mountain stage on Sunday....
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HTC really has that down. Renshaw sets him up perfectly. Neat to watch and analyze on the replays. I think tomorrow the yellow will be up for grabs. Cadel Evans has been doing extremely well. Never liked that guy before, but I think he's learning to relax a little and be a better racer. I'd like to think Hincapie has that influence on a team (he's my fav) , but regardless Evans is in a better place in being on Team BMC than his previous team.
 
Ziggae_6 said:
Dang, I left right after the finish to go for a ride myself and missed this. Cyclists make terrible fighters. :2razz: videozone
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I missed that too as I went to bed right after the stage... I can't believe he attacked him with a $1000 wheel like that...
 
Ziggae_6 said:
HTC really has that down. Renshaw sets him up perfectly. Neat to watch and analyze on the replays. I think tomorrow the yellow will be up for grabs. Cadel Evans has been doing extremely well. Never liked that guy before, but I think he's learning to relax a little and be a better racer. I'd like to think Hincapie has that influence on a team (he's my fav) , but regardless Evans is in a better place in being on Team BMC than his previous team.
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Yeah, HTC really does have it down. The fact that Renshaw is a strong finisher in his own right really does help set up Cavendish....

Yeah, I think the yellow will change hands after today... The climbers will start to take control, if not today then tomorrow for sure. I don't see Cancellara holding the yellow after today... Lance should also move up the standings from his current 18th, but he will need something special to make up the time he lost on the cobbles... but, he does have a stronger team than Contador and Schleck lost one of his strongest domestiques on the cobbles... the GC will sort itself out the next three days... should be interesting...
 
Stage 7 -- and into the Alps we go...

Not considered a full-fledged mountain stage, there is a cat 4 sandwiched by two cat 3 climbs before three cat 2 climbs including one to finish the stage. Normally, I think the GC contenders would wait until tomorrow's stage to make a move, but I would not be surprised if one of the GC contenders made a move today. If any of them do, I think there are two leading contenders to make a surprise, if pre-planned move on the last climb today.

1. Lance Armstrong -- he needs to make up some time. He lost a lot on the cobbles and he has the team to support him both up the hill and in terms of peloton management. Radio Shack has riders who can control the pace up hills while Lance goes off.

2. Cadel Evans -- Of the GC contenders, he is in the best shape, but not many people are taking him seriously yet (so it seems). If he could make a break and take the yellow (out of Lance's reach today, but in Cadel's), that could mark him as a contender for the race.

I think Contador and Schleck will wait until a true mountain stage. Contador has an overall weaker team, though he is the world's best climber. I don't know what is going through Schleck's mind after losing his brother and arguably his best domestique (especially for the hills). It will be interesting to see how he reacts if their is an Armstrong or Evans breakout on the last cat 2.

Should be an interesting stage which unfortunately I won't watch until the end because I have a combined bike/run training session early tomorrow morning.
 
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