I never thought I'd live to see the day, but there's actually an Englishman who's big favourite for the yellow jersey. In fact if he can stay on his bike it's very hard to see past him. Go Wiggins!
Le Tour de France 2012
- Thread starter Rams
- Start date
It'll be between Wiggins and Evans I guess. But I'd put my money on Wiggins. He's the better time trialer, should be able to follow Evans in the mountains and I also think he has the better team (team time trial and Froome to help him in the mountains).
It'll be interesting to see what happens behind those two. We have a Belgian (Van den Broeck) who has a chance to get on the podium. But he'll have a strong competitor in the Dutch Robert Gesink. He seems to be very strong this year.
It'll be interesting to see what happens behind those two. We have a Belgian (Van den Broeck) who has a chance to get on the podium. But he'll have a strong competitor in the Dutch Robert Gesink. He seems to be very strong this year.
Kicks off tomorrow. Will we get the first British winner and will this thread get some more replies?
Chavanel with the early lead in the prologue. Unfortunate for Martin having a feckup with his bike
And Wiggins snatches the lead by half a second. Wow
Obviously Cancellara winning it meant no one bothered getting in to the thread again... Still, terrific start for Wiggins, he's got a 10 second buffer over Evans. Doesn't mean much right now but still a nice little bonus.
Tomorrow the fun and games start, yes it may be only the first stage, but now we start the racing. What a potential 4 weeks of cycling we have with Le Tour and then the Olympic road race. We could, and I say with fingers crossed end up with a Yellow jersey, Green jersey and Gold medal... That's before the track star's start.
I've not kept too much up to date, how's Nicole Cook's form this year? Double road race gold perhaps??
I've not kept too much up to date, how's Nicole Cook's form this year? Double road race gold perhaps??
Won a lot of money on EBH last year. Sky are riding for him tomorrow. 10/1 freely available for the Stage win.
How are the Schlecks doing this year? Aren't they always amongst the favorites?
They're not having a great year and Andy's out of the Tour anyway through injury.
Hoping Edvald Boasson Hagen can compete for the stage win today, but the competition is strong, and I bet there's plenty of riders longing to show themselves. Gilbert would also be a good bet today.
Again Phil Liggit and Paul Sherwin are easily 2 of the best sporting commentators in the world.
any suspensions yet? if not how long before the first man is pulled?
It only started yesterday, and drugs tests results aren't given so quickly anyway.
Give it time...
Didn't they pull Vinokourov off the day after the stage in 2006?
Boom! Crash
Another one now
Some fecking twat with his camera caused that last one.
Very exciting finish, very impressed with the first three riders that crossed the finish line, they looked very strong. Tomorrow will be a stage for the pure sprinters, like Cavendish.
Unless Wiggins's climbing ability has improved markedly, I think Evans will chew him up in the mountains. Interesting though, none of the really strong climbers are in it this year. Contador is out, Andy Schleck is out, Valverde looks unfit.
It's true that the course is weighted heavily in Wiggins's favour. Only 3 (!) mountaintop finishes...
For the past 2 seasons Wiggins has been climbing with the best. Certainly not any worse then Evans anyway.
Cavendish
I swear I just heard Pual Sherwen say "call it high road, call it HTC, call it what ever the fuc.. what ever you want'
I swear I just heard Pual Sherwen say "call it high road, call it HTC, call it what ever the fuc.. what ever you want'
He's had 2 successful mountain attacks in the Grand Tours that I remember - 2009 in Verbier, 2011 in La Covatilla in the Vuelta. Neither of which he won, and in the latter he was climbing with Chris Froome.
Evans isn't a great climber, it's true, but he's been more consistent than Wiggins over the last 2 or 3 seasons, with considerably less team ability.
Cavendish
I swear I just heard Pual Sherwen say "call it high road, call it HTC, call it what ever the fuc.. what ever you want'
fecking awesome. No lead out train, marked by Goss, and having to mark Greipel, and he still finds the gap and a few yards to squeeze through.
I'll say this - Wiggins's dedication to training and cycling is incredible. In 2009 he was short a few pounds of muscle and didn't quite have the power to weight ratio to take on the likes of Contador and Andy Schleck in the mountains. In 2010 he looked like he'd overcompensated for that a bit, and lost time in the time trials. In 2011 he looked like he'd got it right but then crashed. In 2012 he looks like he's fine tuned that a little bit more. I struggle to lose a few pounds. This guy reshapes his body for each event.
Sagan is a powerhouse, and only 22 apparently. For this tour he looks a strong rival to Cavendish for the green jersey. Is he the next big thing?
for the first time in my life i'm watching the tour
i dont understand shit, but i like the landscapes and there's always a chance that someone falls and breaks his legs or something
just a question, do any cyclist ever get laid? they look so geeky ...
i dont understand shit, but i like the landscapes and there's always a chance that someone falls and breaks his legs or something
just a question, do any cyclist ever get laid? they look so geeky ...
He is, especially for the classic races next few years. If Gilbert finds his best form back, we could see some epic battles between those two in the classic races.
And who knows, if he wants to, he could lose some weight, concentrate more on climbing and become a good classification rider as well. Although that would mean he'll lose a lot of his power. He really is enormously talented.
I'm not sure if Cav is really going to go for the green. Good chance he'll leave the Tour before the finish, since the Olympics is much more important to him than the green jersey.
Just got into the tour. My mate is fully into it and I never understood it for 4 or 5 years would pan it but it's so fecking interesting. Having picked up a roadie and doing some riding myself i'm fully into it now!
This Sagan cat! What a beast. Will be interesting in the big climbs though.
Cav has really grown on me. I thought he was a bit of a bell end.
Did you see him in the sprint? He popped off the back of Sagan and sprang through a couple of riders and was looking back having a go at (I think it was Greipel) the rider who went too early. What a classic. Shaking his head as he crossed the line like 'you dick head mate'.
This Sagan cat! What a beast. Will be interesting in the big climbs though.
Cavendish
Cav has really grown on me. I thought he was a bit of a bell end. Did you see him in the sprint? He popped off the back of Sagan and sprang through a couple of riders and was looking back having a go at (I think it was Greipel) the rider who went too early.
What a classic. Shaking his head as he crossed the line like 'you dick head mate'.Sagan only seems to be strong on these intermediate stages. Certainly a strong rider but probably more of a general classification rider. Couldn't live with the true sprinter yesterday.
And just so we're clear, there's absolutely zero chance of what Sherwen and Liggit say the new Eddy Merx. Not these days when the class of rider is so defined.
And just so we're clear, there's absolutely zero chance of what Sherwen and Liggit say the new Eddy Merx. Not these days when the class of rider is so defined.
That was an excellent finish to that last stage. That last sprint was madness.
Who was it that completely missed that final turn onto the home straight?
Who was it that completely missed that final turn onto the home straight?
!!!I just saw that it was Kenny Van Hummels from Vacansoleil!! GOLD
Still sad that both Hushovd and Schleck, my two favourite riders for the last couple of years, are out of it this year. Haven't been following it as intensely as I normally do, but I've watched the two most recent stages and starting to get the feel of it again.
This year more than most it will be the GC and mountain stages that will command most of my interest. The days until the first proper mountain stage always feel like a trailer of some sort!
This year more than most it will be the GC and mountain stages that will command most of my interest. The days until the first proper mountain stage always feel like a trailer of some sort!
True, what Merckx (or some others like Bernard Hinault, Roger De Vlaminck, Fausto Coppi, etc) did will never be done again. The riders in those days were competing the whole year through, on all terrains. Now, everything is more specialized, riders train and peak towards a certain goal.
However, Sagan really is a huge talent that could do almost anything he sets his mind to. He's already one of the best on the 'classic' terrain and if he wants to, he could also become a good classification rider I think.
The only thing he won't be, is a true sprinter like Cavendish, Kittel and Greipel are.
Who was it that completely missed that final turn onto the home straight?
It was the Belgian Kris Boeckmans.
Maarten Tjallingi broke his hip yesterday in a crash at 35km from the finish. Remarkably, he finished the ride with his broken hip. Couldn't stand on it anymore though and they had to carry him from the bus to the hotel afterwards.
Pretty much the same here. Really upset about Andy.
Wow, that's courageous but what I'd like to know, shouldn't he be off to a hospital rather than the hotel first?
Bit of argy bargy after last stage it seems
Big crash
Schleck is fecked. Caught up in it and the delay surely rules him out.
Schleck is fecked. Caught up in it and the delay surely rules him out.
Made me chuckle when Wiggins said you risk detraining a bit in the first week because it's so easy in the peloton.