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The Official 98th Tour de France, thread, 2011.



1066familyman

Radio User
Jan 15, 2008
15,233
Nice to see you giving Movistar a mention there SB. I've been particularly impressed by them and really pleased they've got themselves a stage win. Good shout on Vacansoleil too.
 






Lady Whistledown

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 7, 2003
47,639


Stoichkov

The Miserable Bulgarian
Jul 26, 2004
1,335
Brighton
Yellow

Contador's moaning about his knee. If he's bluffing, he's giving it the full works. I was sure he was bluffing, now I'm less confident. Lets see what happens Thursday...

Cadel looks alright but I think he'll have a bad day although it might be the year you can get away with it.

Andy & Franck - Nothing to suggest they've moved on from being wheel-suckers

I can't see anyone else in contention really?

Green

Gilbert - what a week!

Thor - As above!

Cav - the fastest sprinter out there as it seems Farrar doesn't have the stomach for a scrap now that he's bagged his win

Polka Dot

Lets hope a GC contender takes this jersey as it deserves to be worn at the front of the race

A great first week buts it's a pity so many GC contenders are out. History might look back on this year as being a very cheap win if Contador is shagged / injured. We'll never know about Wiggins but remember on the only climb of note - he got dropped.
 






Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,888
West west west Sussex
Not one to call today, all I will say is someone you've never heard of, from a team you didn't realise was riding.

Cue Lance comeback riding for Motorola! :lol:
 




black & white seagull

Active member
Aug 29, 2003
460
Brighton
Mr Black & White Seagull (AKA Horton's Halftime Iceberg) and I were on the Tourmalet last year when Kolobnev ditched his gilet right in front of us. My gallant husband hurled himself into the road (fortunately there were no France TV cars in the vicinity) to retrieve it. It's easily our best Tour prize ever - although I could probably be accused of tampering with evidence as the first thing I did when we got home was to put it through the washing machine!

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1310457575.025449.jpg
 




Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
Blimey, he's going to get hammered financially by Katusha, 'the clause' is massive.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/cycling/14116083.stm

Good, hopefully he will be the last on this years Tour.

On to today, it is pretty hilly but not hilly enough to stop the sprinters. So a small break will get away (max 5 riders) but they will be hauled in on the climb up the last Cat 4 then Cav will be carried to the line leading to win number 3 of this years Tour.

The breakaway will include a Katusha rider trying to get some good publicity for the team. Voeckler will hold on to yellow too.
 


Woodchip

It's all about the bikes
Aug 28, 2004
14,460
Shaky Town, NZ
Good, hopefully he will be the last on this years Tour.

On to today, it is pretty hilly but not hilly enough to stop the sprinters. So a small break will get away (max 5 riders) but they will be hauled in on the climb up the last Cat 4 then Cav will be carried to the line leading to win number 3 of this years Tour.

The breakaway will include a Katusha rider trying to get some good publicity for the team. Voeckler will hold on to yellow too.

Agree with everything there. I'd like to see Ben Swift take the sprint to make up (a little) for the attempted murder of Flecha on Sunday.
 


Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
Just back from todays ride, I nearly had a Nicki Sorensen moment with some bell end who thought that mopeds are allowed in cycle lanes. It really is quite unpleasant when you are flying along at 30mph with a tail wind and someone pulls in front of you from a queue of traffic. Still he claimed he wasn't bothering anyone so what is the problem? :angry:

I have also learnt that my legs were stiff after the rest day, so expect one of the big names* to suffer a bit, they will not lose time as they will catch up on the final descent but still.

*By big names I don't mean the biggest but the next level, Basso, Gesink, Sanchez etc. Tell what I'll give you an actual selection, I think it will be Basso who will suffer today.
 




Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
They've just said on Eurosport that Hoogerland had more than 30 stitches and loads of glue to hold the other cuts together.

AND, this morning he was woken up at 7am for a dope test. I'll be amazed if he finishes today's stage.
 


Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
Just noticed that the intermediate sprint is early, before any of the categorised climbs. So the break will probably not be allowed away until after that.
 


1066familyman

Radio User
Jan 15, 2008
15,233
Bit of a surprise to see Cav beaten on the linetoday - I thought he had it. I suppose it just goes to show how important his lead out train is (even though I know he's won stages without them before). The pace Gilbert set up that cat 4 didn't help Cav at all...which of course was precisely the intention. Although long term Gilbert hasn't done himself any favours either today.

Think Cav will almost certainly be back tomorrow to avenge that 2nd place today.

P.S Get well soon Stat Brother junior.
 




Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,888
West west west Sussex
Cheers, 1066, Jnr is on the mend. (I've run away from the NHS thread, it's not quite what I had in mind when heaping praise on it)

Cav obviously had a lovely rest day, forgot he was angry at everyone, and lost.
I bet that really pi$$ed him off, so therefore today it's a Cav win.
 


Pantani

Il Pirata
Dec 3, 2008
5,445
Newcastle
Cav for me too. I'm expecting a really slow pace today too. Nothing to gain for the GC contenders and HTC not bothering to chase the break until they have to means a recovery ride for the majority of the peloton.
 




mlg57

Well-known member
Oct 20, 2006
1,036
Milton Keynes
So 10 days in and we have lost 20 riders, is that a record and 8 of those were on stage 9, only a mid mountain stage. I know we tend to lose a few of the high mountains but so many so soon??
 




les dynam

New member
Oct 10, 2008
1,640
Hove
reckon we might see a group of non-cg contenders being allowed to go out and stay out today. usually get one of these per tour, and this could be one of the last chances. a group of guys building up a 10 mins plus lead, which isn't chased down. the peleton having a collective rest before the mountain stages start. so on that basis, somebody french from one of the french teams will win today.
 




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