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guv001guv001 Posts: 227
What a good opening TT, if the suspence at the end of the prologue is anything to go by its going to be a good year. Excellent coverage on ITV3, with highlights tonight on ITV4.
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Comments

  • RobRob Posts: 209
    Yeh, & with all of the DQ's because of the drugs scandal it leaves things wide open this year. Should be a good race. I read somewhere that these boys average 26mph....... for three weeks!
  • pacrfishpacrfish Posts: 266
    I'm totally addicted - can't wait till the mountain stages.



    Just reading about a stage which had a climb of 5k at 7%, 1k flatish, then 5k at an ave of 13%. can you imagine 5k of that hill after Morebath on the 70.3?????



  • RobRob Posts: 209
    And I thought a 300m (or whatever it was) climb at 14% was tough on the 70.3! Thing is they're probably using a 21 tooth rear sprocket too!
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    As much as Lance is a hero of mine, isn't it nice to be on day 4 of the tour & still no idea who'll win? - this could be the best in recent years.

    My outside bet is for Jose Azevedo to eclipse Hincape when it all gets a bit lumpy
  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    a touch of reminisence fo the lance posse then



    http://www.youtube.com/results?search=lance+armstrong+2005+stage+1&search_type=search_videos&search=Search



    gets me well in the mood to give the bike a damned hard thrashing



    mad [:D]
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    Time to nail my colours to the mast then, I'm going for a Hincapie win. All those years sitting behind Lance must have taught him a thing or two about how to ride.
  • pacrfishpacrfish Posts: 266
    I agree, Rob. I'd really like to see Hincapie win, and to see that Disco can still work without Lance.



    Haven't heard much about Floyd Landis, and David Millar seems to have gone a bit quiet too.



    Shame about Valverde, though. And cycling those distances in the heat must be a real killer.
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    I agree about Valverde, that's gutting the sport needs the best guys in it til the end.

    Is anybody else irratated by McEwan??
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    What's McEwan done to upset you Cenzo?
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    Actually not a huge amount, he's just not my cup of tea & then keeps popping up with the win....grr

    Although I do remember he had a go at O'Grady last year without too much reason!

    Nice to see my Azevedo prophecy coming up trumps eh? Good job I don't bet!
  • guv001guv001 Posts: 227
    McEwan is apparently really popular with the cycling press, something to do with the interviews he gives, his talent and his attitude. I personally think that Landis has a really good chance of winning or Popovych or David Zabriskie but it all seems so open at the moment and a few teams are looking really strong. Good for us viewers.
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    How about that TT yesterday? 53k in 1:01 - scary!
  • madnursemadnurse Posts: 782
    i'd like to see Zabraskie do something this year now the feild has opened up a little .. poor guy has had to sit back behind the likes of Armstrong Ulrich & the a few others maybe this tme he'll come through
  • guv001guv001 Posts: 227
    Cenzo I too thought the TT was very slow 1:01 for 53km thats the kind of time that I would do..............................In my dreams. I've seen the motorcycle following the leaders at times last week and the speedo was at 60 kph and that wasn't downhill.
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    Cenzo, you might not like McEwan but have you seen the aerial views of his finishes? He gains about 2-3 bike lengths in 2-3 bike lengths!!! He's got incredible power. Did you see yesterday's stage? Close.



    What about Knees? What was he playing at yesterday? Those three could have taken a win if he hadn't p!ssed around.



    Bring on the Pyrenees!
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    I agree with McEwan's talent, he is an awesome finisher, just seems a bit smug to me, but no doubting he's the king of the sprinters right now.



    Completely missed the ITV show last night & will tonight & tomorrow due to training, but fortunately I have TV on my mobile which carries Eurosport - Wont be doing too much this afternoon again then!!

    Don't understand what happened with the breakaway yesterday, very strange. but trying to understand a pro bike riders brain.......hmmmm
  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    Cenzo you flash harry - is that with 3? how much are you paying if you don't mind me asking



    have the live running at work and can tell anyone who cares that they are about a 1/3 the way up the hors cat climb after 90km...

  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    Loon,

    Just watching it now, worked like a dog to clear the backlog of quotes on my desk a.m. Now I'm on the beach!!

    I've got mobile TV with vodafone, costs £10 a month & gives Eurosport, ch4, sky one, news & sky sports news amongst others. very useful for whiling away traffic jams in the mornings!

    Added bonus, I get all the England cricket matches too :-)
  • loonytoonloonytoon Posts: 673
    nice just been looking at 3's offering and no eurosport or any sport as far as I can see.. :(



    9.99 for 19 channels and nowt worth watching :( - i'll hold off signing up for a while...

  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    Gotta say, the vodafone service is very good.



    How about that descent through the clouds at 50km/h - awesome, these hills are making me feel bad about my near 4hr bike at 70.3!
  • peterparkypeterparky Posts: 59
    Hi All

    Caught this thread and thought i would give the tour a watch. Only trouble is i haven't got the foggiest what is going on - can someone enlighten me. and are these guys really doing those distances up mountains!? are they racing as a team etc.

    Cheers



    Ian



    Anyone doing the esfrs sprint in brighton 23rd?



    Another quick - one does anyone know of any open water swimming in the sussex area? if not any websites to have a look possibly book on - looking at next years races really but info would be good.



    Regards
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    Hi Ian,



    The ITV shows will explain this better than i, but here goes.



    The Teams are made up of different types of riders, including sprinters, climbers, time trial specialists, domestiques & the team leader, some teams will have all but most have a selection.

    Throughout the tour the team will try to look after it's leader by covering breakaways hiding him in the pack for an easier ride on the flatter sections & fetching & carrying drink etc, you'll see that if a team leader gets a punture he will often jump on a team mates bike & leave the domestique to wait for the team car & assistance.

    Curiously, since the retirement of Armstrong (discovery) and the suspension of Ullrich (t-mobile) these two teams seem to have potentially 2 or 3 leaders and are riding as units, although I think that by the time the Alps are over it will all be a lot clearer.

    Throughout ther tour there are various competitions taking place, some of which suit different types of riders.

    Yellow jersey, worn by the race leader & ultimatley the overall winner (The gut whos aggregate time is lower than everybody else)

    Green Jersey - Points competition, this is the sprinters domain, during each stage there are intermediate sprints where points can be gained & also at each stage end

    Polka dot - King of the mountains, there are ponts available at the summit of each climb during the tour

    White Jersey - Highest place young rider, I'm not sure what the ager limit is for this, hopefully somebody can confirm.



    For 180 guys on bikes it is incredibly tactical with teams / riders not wanting to show their hands too early, Armstrong was a master of this, not taking the Yellow jersey until almost 1/2 way through and knowing at tis point he wasn't going to be caught.



    Anyway, happy viewing. It's addictive
  • peterparkypeterparky Posts: 59
    Hi cenzo

    many thanks for that - how tactical is all that! I bet the sprinters love those climbs. So in theory the 'leader' of the team is the best rider? and if the team do their job well he should win or be in there.

    I saw the time trialling that looked amazing - shame about the crappy bikes they are all on!

    Thanks again i will look forward to it tomorrow.
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    yeah basically the team leader is the guy with no, or very few weaknesses, Armstrong, although possibly unfair to judge others by his standars could outclimb, out time-trial & if needed out sprint anybody on the planet, fair to say he also had the best team around him, not suprising that some of his formers helpers are now leaders in teir own right.

    Have a look further up this thread, Madnurse put a link on to last years Individual time trial & it shows Armstrong at his best, absolutley awesome footage.
  • DOtriHarderDOtriHarder Posts: 307
    Peter - I am looking to do the Esporta sprint in Brighton next w/end. Lovely bike route up Ditchling!

    Maybe see you there

    David
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    wow- is anybody watching todays stage?

    Is Kloden emerging as the tour favourite, especially as the lead group dropped my man Azevedo?



    There's some stunning climbing going on today!
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    Hopefully some non TDF viwers will read this, if so I emplore you to watch either Eurosport on Tuesday afternoon or ITV2 from 7-8pm.

    It's the mountain top finish at Alp d'huez, you'll see some of the worlds finest athletes taking it beyond the max.
  • RobRob Posts: 209
    Well, looks like my man Hincapie is history for this year. I thought Landis was in with a shout until today, he completely cracked! Still wouldn't like to put my house on who's going to win, it's still wide open. First climb today was 42km long! Watch it if you can tonight on ITV4 or Eurosport.
  • CenzoCenzo Posts: 91
    Rob,

    What is going on? This is the most open Tour I can remember. Is Kloden going to try & win it on just 1 mountain stage & a time trial? Although I though T-Mob tripped themselves up a little yesterday when they chased down that breakaway on the final climb which included Rogers!



    Saturdays TT should be an absolute nail-biter
  • guv001guv001 Posts: 227
    It just gets better and better Floyd Landis' performance today was a bit special after his turn for the worse yesterday. He deserves to win it as he has very little team support.
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