Tour De France

[tuftman]

Sorry, but I just dont get it as a sport.

The fastest man to Paris wins... what's not to get?

Such a simple yet true explanation......Can't wait until tonights stage though, its HC time.

 

[Mariner Girl]

Think I need a nanna nap this afternoon and recharge the batteries for tonight. Getting to bed at 1.30 each night is catching up. 

 

[Omni]

Won't be surprised to see Cadel lose the Mailot Jaune in the Alps, but he's the best Time Trialist in the field so I think he'll be wearing it on the Champs Elysees, then again I said that last year, we'll see what happens, I think Cadel is the best out there purely for the Time Trial, noone else up there has such a good time trial, and he's got the luxury of not needing to attack anymore.

 

[tuftman]

Won't be surprised to see Cadel lose the Mailot Jaune in the Alps, but he's the best Time Trialist in the field so I think he'll be wearing it on the Champs Elysees, then again I said that last year, we'll see what happens, I think Cadel is the best out there purely for the Time Trial, noone else up there has such a good time trial, and he's got the luxury of not needing to attack anymore.

Depends on what Schleck and CSC decide to do. Dont discount Oscar Perrerio, the most attacking rider in the field now that De La Fuente is out. He made 30 minutes on Floyd Landis on one stage alone in 2006. But all Cadel has to do is stay in touch or preferably in yellow out of the Alps and he has the time trial to win. I disagree with Cadel being the best TT rider, he is in the top half dozen, but Cancellara from CSC and Stefan Schumacher from Gerolsteiner(won the TT earlier on) are the best. Its a shame Michael Rogers isnt in the race as he would have been a serious contender for yellow in the Alps and he is a 3 time TT world champion.

 

[Omni]

Well that 30 minutes would NEVER happen again!

Would have been great to have Rogers there, poor guy doesn't get any luck, imagine Cadel v Rogers for the Mailot Jaune!

I don't think that Cancellara or Schumacher have a real chance of yellow though, they'll be good for Stage 20 but not for yellow you'd imagine although Cancellara could be there or there abouts, the Alps is where we see the winners come through, Cadel can't just sit back the whole time, he'll no doubt have to attack again at some stage, but it was great to see him attack to get yellow

 

[dibo]

my picks for the top 3

1. evans
2. menchov
3. frank schleck

that said, i wouldn't be that surprised if the maillot jaune changes hands in the alps, only to be returned to evans in the TT. menchov is the real threat - about as strong as evand in the mountains and in the TT. if schleck goes mental on one of the big mountain stages, he might nick the whole shebang, but i have a feeling he'll do well on one day and lose that time the following day.

 

[Omni]

Oscar Perrerio, hopefully he's doing OK and he can recover from those injuries, poor guy, not the first or the last to have a crash like that, he's probably a bit lucky that it wasn't more serious by the sounds of it.

 

[tuftman]

Great,so the first stage I dont watch all tour and Cadel loses the Maillot Jaune, albeit only by 8 seconds. Not really any significant time though when u look at the next 2 stages which will, im betting, break a contender

 

[Tassiemariner]

Rest Days Suck!

 

[dibo]

Rest Days Suck!

i'd agree with you, but i need a decent sleep!

 

[Mariner Girl]

Rest Days Suck!

i'd agree with you, but i need a decent sleep!

Same, this slack of sleep is so tiring (pardon the play on words)
Cadel will be happy for the rest day

 

[Mariner Girl]

Great,so the first stage I dont watch all tour and Cadel loses the Maillot Jaune, albeit only by 8 seconds. Not really any significant time though when u look at the next 2 stages which will, im betting, break a contender

Have no fear. If Cadel can stick within 60-90secs of the leaders into the Time Trial, he will have them. Nobody is better in the Time Trial than Cadel. He needs his team to help out over the next 2 mountain stages. CSC are pounding him at the moment, they are like sharks around a dingy.

 

[dibo]

Great,so the first stage I dont watch all tour and Cadel loses the Maillot Jaune, albeit only by 8 seconds. Not really any significant time though when u look at the next 2 stages which will, im betting, break a contender

Have no fear. If Cadel can stick within 60-90secs of the leaders into the Time Trial, he will have them. Nobody is better in the Time Trial than Cadel. He needs his team to help out over the next 2 mountain stages. SCS are pounding him at the moment, they are like sharks around a dingy.

world champion fabian cancellara for one, probably david millar too, and neither vande velde nor menchov are slouches in la bataille contre le montre... *whistles*

 

[Mariner Girl]

Great,so the first stage I dont watch all tour and Cadel loses the Maillot Jaune, albeit only by 8 seconds. Not really any significant time though when u look at the next 2 stages which will, im betting, break a contender

Have no fear. If Cadel can stick within 60-90secs of the leaders into the Time Trial, he will have them. Nobody is better in the Time Trial than Cadel. He needs his team to help out over the next 2 mountain stages. SCS are pounding him at the moment, they are like sharks around a dingy.

world champion fabian cancellara for one, probably david millar too, and neither vande velde nor menchov are slouches in la bataille contre le montre... *whistles*

Ummmmm, *snap*, but what I said came out wrong. Can I have another go?
What I meant to say was - Out of the remaining contenders ie within 5 mins of the leader at the moment, no one is better than Cadel in the Time Trial.
Ok, you can keep whistling now.

 

[Atomic]

Uphill finishes are without doubt the best. Sprint finishes are exciting and action packed but for pure drama, one cannot surpass a tough uphill battle at the end of an insane mountain stage.

CSC... awesome. I wish I took more notice of Team Discovery in Lance Armstrong's hey day as I'm told they were even more ruthless than CSC are this year. If Cadel can pull this Tour off, then it must rank amongst the greatest individual sporting achievements in Australian sporting history.

 

[Mariner Girl]

Uphill finishes are without doubt the best. Sprint finishes are exciting and action packed but for pure drama, one cannot surpass a tough uphill battle at the end of an insane mountain stage.

CSC... awesome. I wish I took more notice of Team Discovery in Lance Armstrong's hey day as I'm told they were even more ruthless than CSC are this year. If Cadel can pull this Tour off, then it must rank amongst the greatest individual sporting achievements in Australian sporting history.

Yeah, I remember that team would pounce the second anyone attacked Lance Armstrong.

 

[Omni]

Amazing work from Cadel! He probably could have gone for the Mailot Jaune if he really wanted to tonight, tomorrow is the tough one though, L'Alpe de Huez is where Cadel lost le tour last year so he's going to need to be aware.

Feel sorry for that young South African bloke though, wow what a spill, very very lucky boy!

As for DSC/USP when Armstrong was there a lot of those tours it should have been Armstrong against some of his team mates, it must have been difficult to slow down on a mountain stage when Armstrong told you to, knowing you had it in you to just kick on and beat him. And then we don't even mention the drug allegations surrounding both teams.

 

[T]

Feel sorry for that young South African bloke though, wow what a spill, very very lucky boy!

I wonder if they will ever find his bike

 

[Mariner Girl]

Oh my God - is it morning already? I've had 4 hours sleeeep.
That was a great stage for Cadel where the top 3 places and time differences have not changed.  The big surprise was Menchov dropping off the pace after lossing a further 30 secs and is now over a 1 min behind. He was expected to really fight it out during these Alpine stages.

For once, Cadel had some help last night with his teammate Popovych in the lead group right till the end and eventually finished 4th behind a Frenchman. Your right, Omni. Cadel does need to be aware, but I think he is a better rider this year and would have spent many hours training on this climb to L'Alpe-D'Huez with Popovych attacking him like we can expect the CSC guys to do tonight. They are like a bloody dog with a bone - will not give up!

Umm, that bike is.....I couldn't believe the guy was able to get up, that was some fall. (ouch)

Someone may have to slap me on Sunday to keep me awake during the football   

 

[Sean]

last night was great to watch and am glad i stayed up for it.

i wish i had the $$$ to go over next year and be one of those lads cheering them on up the top of those bloody high mountains.