The Tour de France Thread

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

There was drama in today's stage. A twelve man breakaway was off and running and had an eight minute lead at 30k to race. George Hincapie was the virtual leader on the road, and it looked like he had a good chance to take the Yellow jersey off Nocentini. Sadly for George, the peloton took off in the last four k's to deliver the sprinters across the line, and he was beaten by 5 seconds. They were sprinting for 13th place which still carries points in the green jersey competition between Cavendish and Hushovd. After the race George was interviewed and he blamed the Astana team for ruining his chances at yellow. Hey George, get a grip, you don't win bike races by other people riding slow! Turns out he was misinformed as it was his own team, Columbia, that sped up the peloton to deliver their sprinter Cavendish to the line.

Well, the whole thing backfired for Team Columbia today anyway as Cavendish as relegated to the end and got no points at all for not staying on his sprint line. All in all a VERY disappointing day for team Columbia.

Tomorrow we go to the mountains, and we'll see who the real contenders are for this year's win. Go Lance!

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

It was no surprise to anyone that Alberto Contador danced on the pedals up the steep slopes of the Verbier to today's stage win and the Yellow leader's jersey. There was plenty of excitement on the last five miles of the course as the riders in contention for the lead attacked one another. Another youngster, Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck came in second on the stage but more amazing than all of that is that Lance finished ninth which put him in second place overall at 1:37. Bradley Wiggins, a former track star sits in third place 1:46 behind Contador.

Tomorrow is a rest day, then two more grueling days in the Alps, a time trial, and then Mt. Ventoux. Hopefully this year's race will be exciting all the way to the last day.

[SKendall]

The Tour de France Thread

I felt badly for George, he is such a good guy, and my husband the ex-bicyle racer interpreted in differently. He thought George was screwed for the yellow jersey because he didn't get the support he was promised. Just a different interpretation.

Thank you for this thread.

My husband was iin Lance's bike team in Plano, Texas before he moved to Austin to get to the "hills".

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

There was a lot of interpretation on George's situation. I did feel badly for him, five seconds is a hell of a loss to take at this stage in his career. Still I thought it was bad form to whine about it on National TV, and make accusations before he knew the whole story. It created a lot of speculation and entertaining reading on the fan sites tho!

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

And another thing about George (sorry to continue on), but it's like, Lance is riding probably his last TdF as well, he was out of the Yellow by what... .22 of a second! So come on George, ride faster!

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

Today's stage didn't win any prizes as far as setting the race on fire but it had some good moments, especially the part where Armstrong stayed back to manage the "best of the rest" on the last climb and once he saw them all fading away, accelerated to bridge a 30 second gap to the leaders. Bad crash on the last descent by Jens Voigt who is one of the more popular riders in the peloton. Word back from the hospital is that he lost consciousness for a few moments, reports vary on which bones are broken and other injuries.

Mikel Astarloza outpaced a four man breakaway to win his first Tour de France stage today and was quite animated about it. Poor Sandy Cesar though, this was his sixth second place finish.

Johan Bruyneel, team manager of Astana announced today he would not be managing for that team next year. Lance then tweeted: "Making a very cool announcement on Thursday re: a new American partner for our team in 2010 (and beyond). Stay tuned!"

Kenny Van Hummel is still holds his lanterne rouge position and with luck will make it all the way to Paris. Here is a nice little video about his ride:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTPKaeFbcA8&feature=player_embedded[/video]]YouTube - MAGAZINE - Stage 12

Go Lance!

[Popeye]

The Tour de France Thread

Great clip Cyclefan.
Thanks for doing this for us.
It's really interesting and such a great sport.

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

I agree it is a great sport! I am so grateful to have been introduced to it seven years ago. Thanks for your post, I have been feeling like I'm talking to myself here.

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

Stage 17, the Queen stage, lived up to its promise of great bike racing. The 169.5km from Bourg Saint Maurice - Le Grand Bornand separated the winners from the losers and today's biggest losers were Carlos Sastre, last year's winner and Cadel Evans, last year's second place finisher, both down over 20 minutes in the GC. Cadel's performance this year has been a complete mystery as he is usually a strong rider.

Another sad note from today's stage, Kenny Van Hummel crashed out and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Kenny was gaining a small bit of notoriety as the lanterne rouge. He just wasn't willing to give up at any point and barely made the time cutoff in several stages this year. This was his first tour, hopefully it won't be his last.

The Schleck brothers, Frank the elder and Andy the younger were the strong men of today's stage. Although Contador did his best to shake them on the last Hour Categorie climb they worked in tandem to stay with him, proving that Contador is not the only young talent who can climb. Young Andy is a real star of the future. Andy currently wears the white jersey of Best Young Rider. This is awarded to the leader in time of the contenders under the age of 25. His weakness is time trialing but that is something he can improve during the off season.

Lance Armstrong played uber domestique today, sitting on Bradley Wiggins wheel all the way up the climb, never letting him get within striking distance of Contador. Wiggins is a big threat because of his time trialing abilities.

The last pass, the Col de Columbiere is the same mountaintop that Lance and Floyd Landis went over in 2004 with rivals Jan Ullrich and Andreas Kloden working to upset the lead of Lance Armstrong. Floyd helped Lance up to the top; when they crossed Lance looked at Floyd and asked "How bad do you want to win a stage in the Tour de France," and Floyd answered "Real Bad." Lance looked at him and said "Well, ride like you stole something then." Floyd took off down the hill, Ullrich and Kloden latched on to him and Lance countered by staying right behind. At the bottom Kloden took off, and it looked like he had the stage win for sure...but did he? Take a look at some history:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dsv_7o3mQno[/video]]YouTube - Tour de France - stage 17 - Lance Armstrong super sprint

Oddly enough, Kloden now rides for team Astana and was working for Contador today in about the same situation as Floyd did for Lance in 2004, with much the same result.

Two great days of racing left, with the time trial tomorrow and Mt. Ventoux on Saturday. While Contador has a pretty good lock on first place, it still could be anybody's race and podium step two and three are big question marks as well.

[tawnyfrog]

The Tour de France Thread

The headline on our evening news was "Pain in the Alps". LOL

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

LOL tawnyfrog. As I've said before anyone who completes the Tour de France is a winner in my book.

Alberto Contador cemented his Tour de France lead in today's time trial. Barring injury or a severe bonking on Mt. Vontoux there is no way anyone will make up the time difference. Andy Schleck sits 4:11 back and Lance Armstrong, in third at 5:25. The race now will be for the second and third podium spots and any of the top seven riders could end up there, the time gaps are not significant. Tomorrow's stage is a transitional stage, 178km from Bourgoin-Jallieu - Aubenas. There will be some rolling hills but nothing so difficult the sprinters can't get over and should give them a chance for another exciting sprint stage. The other possibility is for a breakaway to give one of the minor teams a chance for a stage win. Either way, it will be a nice break for the GC riders to save their energy up for Saturday.

The big news in cycling today is Lance Armstrong's announcement that he is partnering with Radio Shack to form a new team for the 2010 season. No details yet on riders or management, however the possibility of a third American pro cycling team is mindblowing. What planet are we on again? LOL

Here's a video announcement from Lance:

RadioShack and Lance to Form New Cycling Team in 2010 | LIVESTRONG.COM

Roll on!

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

It's all over but for the roll into Paris and with no great changes expected on the GC or the jerseys, this year's Tour de France was one of the more enjoyable in recent years. Alberto Contador took the win as expected; Andy Schleck in second is almost his equal. A few more years under Andy's belt and he will be a first class GC contender. The big surprise to many is the third podium place of Lance Armstrong. It was rough being a Lance fan this year. People are rarely neutral on the subject of the Texan, this year there was much negativity and derision from the serious cycling community. However at the end of today's stage there was a glimmer of respect for the "old" man. Vontoux is a brutal climb and he crossed the line with the top two in this year's tour.

Mark Cavendish has a shot at winning on the Champs d' Elysees tomorrow and if he does that will make six stage wins in this tour for the wily Manxman. I don't follow statistics and records too much but surely that must be one. The other surprise this year from Great Britain was Bradley Wiggins. A former track star, he spend the off season honing his climbing skills and ended up in fourth position overall. It has been a great year for British cycling.

Tomorrow will be a great day of celebration on the road to Paris. Riders will pose for the press, drink champagne, and kiss and make up for transgressions real and perceived. After six circuits around the fabled Champs d Elysees, the podium ceremonies will take place. It's never an exciting stage until the last five minutes or so, but one worth watching.

[tawnyfrog]

The Tour de France Thread

Well, I cried.

Cycle, please give us your final report.

[cyclefan]

The Tour de France Thread

Mark Cavendish crossed the finish line on the Champs d' Elysees not one, not two but 10 bike lengths ahead of everyone else, making that his sixth stage win of this year's Tour de France. There was no one who could get around him. While many called him arrogant, he never failed to thank his teammates in interviews after the stage.


Cavendish's best win of the year

In the jersey competition, Franco Pellozotti took the mountains jersey, Thor Hushovd the points jersey and Andy Schleck the young rider's jersey. Alberto Contador won the yellow jersey by 4:11 minutes over Andy Schleck.

The final podium was Alberto Contador in first, Andy Schleck in second and Lance Armstrong in third.

There is always drama in the Tour de France and this year was no different. There was lots of tension between Contador and Armstrong, and it showed on the course. Today there are still many accusations, allegations and misinterpretations of what went on between them. Both have admitted there is no love lost. I am a fan of both of them and while many are vehemently taking one side or the other I am stuck as usual in between, wondering what really went on between them. Rivalries such as these are rarely one sided. It did make for a more interesting race in some aspects and where Alberto may have at one time expected an easy win, it did not prove to be the case and he had to work hard for it.

On the upside there were no suspensions for dopage (so far) in the tour but some of the tests now take a couple of months for true results. Pierre Bordry of the French national anti-doping agency said that samples from the 2008 Tour would be re-tested for new substances, and that 2009 samples would also be tested for experimental new drugs, including:

Hematide, a peptide-based molecule that stimulates erythropoeisis and stabilizes hemoglobin levels, which could make it invaluable for fooling the bio-passport

AICAR, a pill that stimulates the body to burn fat instead of muscle glycogen stores, resulting in weight loss without sacrificing skeletal muscle"

However, if any dopage occurred, at least it did not mar the running of the race this year. After the shakeup from the past few years, I have a lot of faith that most of the cyclists are now riding clean.

It was a great tour. The best man won. I'm looking forward to watching Andy Schleck develop and his future battles on the bike with Alberto Contador. And Lance? Well, he's coming back next year to do battle with the young kids. "GET OFF MY LAWN!" LOL Lance said in a post race interview that now he knows he cannot accelerate like he used to, he will have to train smarter and ride smarter. Does he have another win in him? I guess we'll wait until next year to find out.

Thanks for reading! xo Beth Attached files [img]/converted_files/979278=5084-attachment.jpg[/img]