Tour De France 2011

EricF · #1 07-01-2011, 02:29 PM

Tomorrow starts another Tour.

No prologue TT start this year, but rather a nearly 200k road stage with an uphill finish that will probably be too much for the pure sprinters, but not enough for the pure climbers. It's hard to bet against Philippe Gilbert for this kind of stage, but you can expect that there will be a lot of hungry guys looking to pull on the first Yellow Jersey. Alexander Vinokourov is the kind of guy that could steal the show.

My top 5 for final GC...
1. Alberto Contador (he's still the best grand tour racer on in the game)
2. Andy Schleck (his TT weakness is hard to make up for)
3. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (time for the young gun to rise)
4. Cadel Evans (he just can't quite hang with the climbing of Contador and Schleck)
5. Chris Horner (he's on the best form of his life, and may just have the consistency to have the best 3 weeks of his racing career)

I'm interested to see how the Radio Shack leadership works out. Horner, Leipheimer, and Kloden all have the potential to be Top 5 guys if they are riding well.

I hope the Schleck Bros. can play some better tactical games against Contador. We still haven't seen Andy and Frank really take turns throwing punches. I want some fireworks, damnit!

CapnSev · #2 07-01-2011, 05:41 PM

I'll be tuning in.

rtcul8 · #3 07-02-2011, 05:51 PM

Shleck bros gonna def make some stuff happen, if Frank can stay in the race. I dont know if everyone has seen todays stage yet, so I won't mention what happened 8 kms from the finish....Radio Shack has a strong team, but BMC is right up there too. Hincappie is the best domestique in the tour I think.
Its going to be a good tour, lots of climbing too...I dont care for Contador too much, so the more he gets dropped, the happier I will be.

EricF · #4 07-02-2011, 10:27 PM

It's going to be interesting to see how things play out after today's little shakeup.

EricF · #5 07-05-2011, 10:36 AM

Since a lot of people don't get to see the race coverage until late in the day, please don't discuss stage results until the following day. No spoilers!

Stage 1 - Phillpe Gilbert!! As the pre-stage favorite, Gilbert had a huge target on his back all day, and despite the attempts from proven winners like Cancellara, Vinokourov, and Evans, Gilbert still blew everyone's doors off. They all knew he was going to go, and could do nothing about it when he did. Cancellara's early jump ahead of Gilbert's expected attack was a good call, but unfortunately - and surprisingly - Cancellara didn't have enough gas to get to the line. Gilbert proved his class as a champion.

In bigger news was the effect of the crash that split the peloton with Contador on the losing end of the gap. It has been said many times that you can't win the Tour in the first week, but you can lose it. Contador may have just lost the Tour on Stage 1. I expect this will inspire a rabid dog-fight in the mountains - Contador desperate to make up time, and his rivals desperate to keep their foot on his throat.

Stage 2 - TTT. It seems the overall strength of Contado's Saxo Bank squad may be a little suspect, and they weren't able to help make up for any of his time loss against his main rivals on Stage 1. We have yet to see if they can help him when things get vertical. Garmin-Cervelo's win says a lot about the squad they've brought to the Tour this year. Mighty Thor Hushovd exchanged his World Champion stripes for Tour yellow - a a truly great moment for a classy rider.

Stage 3 - Tyler Farrar finally gets his win! In the last 10k, it looked to be setting up for another perfect leadout for the HTC train to launch Cavendish to a crushng victory. However, with 2k to go, the wheels started falling off as. With Mighty Thor (in yellow) providing the pilot ship to the front of the pack, Julian Dean excecuted a perfect leadout for Farrar to notch up his first Tour stage win. Last year, we saw Pettachi steal Cavendish's thunder on the first sprint stage, and Cav responded by unleashing the heat like only he can on the next opportunity. Although I would love to see Farrar be the dominant sprinter this year, I won't be surprised if Cav is the first across the line on Stage 5.

spade2you · #6 07-05-2011, 10:41 AM

I haven't seen stage 4 yet.

No clue on the final GC. I kinda see AC pulling it off again, but part of me is a little unsure. I'm horrible with predictions. I'm expecting the unexpected.

It was great to finally see Tyler get his first TdF stage. I was surprised with HTC's organization. That definitely didn't go as planned for them.

So far so good.

aborgman · #7 07-05-2011, 10:55 AM

So what is the over/under on guys that AREN'T doping? 2%?

I love cycling - but it and big league sprinting are so dirty the question isn't who is doping, but who ISN'T.

EricF · #8 07-05-2011, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aborgman

So what is the over/under on guys that AREN'T doping? 2%?

I love cycling - but it and big league sprinting are so dirty the question isn't who is doping, but who ISN'T.

Can we try to keep this thread about the race, and not get spun off into a rant about doping and how all cyclists (or 98%, in your esitmation) are dirty juicers?

MJ5150 · #9 07-05-2011, 11:16 AM

Some dude from Washington State won on Monday, marking the first time someone from the USA won a stage on July 4th.

-Mike

EricF · #10 07-05-2011, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

Some dude from Washington State won on Monday, marking the first time someone from the USA won a stage on July 4th.

-Mike

Tyler Farrar. He's a fast dude!

I thought Lance Armstrong had won a Prologue TT on July 4th before, but I could be wrong.

aborgman · #11 07-05-2011, 11:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricF

Can we try to keep this thread about the race, and not get spun off into a rant about doping and how all cyclists (or 98%, in your esitmation) are dirty juicers?

You can choose to ignore the elephant in the corner, or we can talk about the race - and yes, doping absolutely is part of that conversation.

...just like it is whenever you talk about track and field, just like it was when you talked about the home run race in the early 2000's.

Doping is so prevalent talking about the race without considering it is like talking about pro wrestling while ignoring it's scripted - it's part of the story.

MJ5150 · #12 07-05-2011, 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricF

I thought Lance Armstrong had won a Prologue TT on July 4th before, but I could be wrong.

You may be right. I am only repeating what my local TV news sports anchor said last night.

-Mike

Buster Mudd · #13 07-05-2011, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricF

Since a lot of people don't get to see the race coverage until late in the day, please don't discuss stage results until the following day. No spoilers!

Thank you.

spade2you · #14 07-05-2011, 12:21 PM

I think Lance won a stage during the 4th of July. I have all of his DVDs at home. It would have to be a prologue or TTT since the 1st week is generally devoid of mountain top finishes and full scale ITTs.

DerHoggz · #15 07-05-2011, 12:24 PM

I really liked those farmers that made the bike out of tractors and such on stage 3.

EricF · #16 07-05-2011, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aborgman

You can choose to ignore the elephant in the corner, or we can talk about the race - and yes, doping absolutely is part of that conversation.

...just like it is whenever you talk about track and field, just like it was when you talked about the home run race in the early 2000's.

Doping is so prevalent talking about the race without considering it is like talking about pro wrestling while ignoring it's scripted - it's part of the story.

All right then...

THEY'RE ALL ON DOPE!!!!

Well, now that we have a level playing field again, let's get back to racing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJ5150

You may be right. I am only repeating what my local TV news sports anchor said last night.

-Mike

They're probably right. I'm pretty sure Lance wore the yellow jersey on July 4th, but it might have been from a Prologue TT win the day before.

spade2you · #17 07-05-2011, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aborgman

You can choose to ignore the elephant in the corner, or we can talk about the race - and yes, doping absolutely is part of that conversation.

...just like it is whenever you talk about track and field, just like it was when you talked about the home run race in the early 2000's.

Doping is so prevalent talking about the race without considering it is like talking about pro wrestling while ignoring it's scripted - it's part of the story.

It's not that we're ignoring it. Eric used to race and I currently race. That's all we care about. It's not that we're ignoring it, but we're ignoring you.

EricF · #18 07-05-2011, 12:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spade2you

It's not that we're ignoring it. Eric used to race and I currently race. That's all we care about. It's not that we're ignoring it, but we're ignoring you.

Be nice, spade.

Doping is, obviously, a huge issue with the sport, and has turned a lot of people away from it. There's a long way to go to recover some form of credibility in a lot of people's minds. It saddens me that the sport I enjoy so much is tainted in the eyes of so many people to the point that they refuse to look any further than "they're all dopers".

spade2you · #19 07-05-2011, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricF

Be nice, spade.

Noooooooooooooooooooooo.

DerHoggz · #20 07-05-2011, 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricF

Doping is, obviously, a huge issue with the sport, and has turned a lot of people away from it. There's a long way to go to recover some form of credibility in a lot of people's minds. It saddens me that the sport I enjoy so much is tainted in the eyes of so many people to the point that they refuse to look any further than "they're all dopers".

I was really, really surprised by the prevalence after a wikipedia excursion reading all about it.