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The Pro Cycling Thread
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swingaleg
05-07-2012
On that note I think I'll get my afternoon nap in now before the last 25K...............
tso
05-07-2012
Back again.

Which of these should i keep stages 6 to 9

Evans
Hesjedal
Cancellar
Wiggins
Brajkovic
Grabsch
Sagan
Nibali
Griepel

Sky
Radioshack
tso
05-07-2012
Griepel does it again
Electra
05-07-2012
Wonder if Sagan's wishing he hadn't showboated yesterday
Denley
05-07-2012
Originally Posted by swingaleg:
“Thursday - stage 5 - Rouen to Saint-Quentin

196K and flat.......they couldn't even find a Cat 4 hill to go over - there's no categorised climbs at all

Should be similar to today.........let's hope we get a good breakaway group who have a real go

Let's cheer for the hares !.........to add a bit of interest

if the breakaway get caught it should be another sprint finish”

they so nearly did it too. gutsy ride from them today.

.
Denley
05-07-2012
Originally Posted by Electra:
“Wonder if Sagan's wishing he hadn't showboated yesterday ”

karma indeed crashes galore in the sprint finishes this year.
swingaleg
05-07-2012
Originally Posted by tso:
“Back again.

Which of these should i keep stages 6 to 9

Evans
Hesjedal
Cancellar
Wiggins
Brajkovic
Grabsch
Sagan
Nibali
Griepel

Sky
Radioshack”

not quite sure you mean..........do you mean you can swap them for others ?

Greipel looks ok for tomorrow (stage 6).........it's the last sprinter stage for a while

then you wouldn't want him for 7,8 or 9

Bert Grabsch used to be a good time triallist (stage 9) but he's 37 now and his best days are behind him, probably ! You've got Cancelara, Wiggins who should go well in the time trial

Sagan could be suited by stage 8 which is up and down all day but no really huge climbs.........it should be hard enough to lose the sprinters before the finish. But it also looks a good chance for a breakaway to stay away all day.........someone like Voeckler ? if you can pick a new one. Trying to pick who might get away in a break is a pot luck job

stage 7 is a mountain top finish.........it's a fairly short final climb (9K) but it's pretty steep and as it's the first test for the yellow jersey contenders they'll probably all just watch each other and someone else will nip off and win the stage, but those GC contenders in your list should be thereabouts. Schleck is probably the main one you've missed out but you've got him in the Radioshack team

Anyone else have any views on those stages ?
tso
05-07-2012
Yeah i can do changes in that one then again before Stages 10-12.

i can bring in Voeckler for Grabsch
borodave
05-07-2012
Agree with Griepel for tomorrow, Wiggins/Canc will be fine for the time trial,..Interesting you say 8 for the breakaway and Voeckler to take the win, this is exactly what I was thinking, but can you see Voeckler nipping away, especially after last year? I think he will be marked pretty well but who knows..

Stage 7 - Nibali??
swingaleg
05-07-2012
Originally Posted by borodave:
“Agree with Griepel for tomorrow, Wiggins/Canc will be fine for the time trial,..Interesting you say 8 for the breakaway and Voeckler to take the win, this is exactly what I was thinking, but can you see Voeckler nipping away, especially after last year? I think he will be marked pretty well but who knows..

Stage 7 - Nibali??”

I did look Voeckler up on the GC before posting and he's already managed to lose 8 minutes so he probably won't be viewed as a danger man and anyway they all know he'll have at least one bad day in the mountains. He doesn't look to be in the same form as last year

But predicting who might get in a breakaway, particularly on a day that might give them a chance, is a bit of a lottery.........there's probably 50 guys who'll try and get away and half a dozen will succeed
borodave
05-07-2012
8 minutes down already? Damn, I know he has had some knee problems but I thought that was history, damn shame. I know hes not a popular rider in the peloton, but im a fan!
Electra
05-07-2012
In other news......

Lance Armstrong
about an hour ago
So let me get this straight....come in and tell USADA exactly what they wanted to hear in exchange for immunity, anonymity and the opportunity to continue to race the biggest event in cycling. This isn't about USADA wanting to clean up cycling rather its just plain ol' selective prosecution that reeks of vendetta


Lance on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/lancearmstrong
swingaleg
05-07-2012
Not sure if this is the same story that David and Sean were talking about on Eurosport today...........that was that the Dutch press had reported that several former team-mates of Lance who were still riding - Liepheimer, Van der velde, Hincapie etc - had agreed to appear before USADA to spill the beans and would get away with 6 month bans for their co-operation

The story was denied by all the relevant parties, including it seems, USADA itself

I can't get excited by drug stories from 10 years ago. To be honest, I'm not really interested in current drug stories
culttvfan
05-07-2012
Originally Posted by swingaleg:
“the Dutch press had reported that several former team-mates of Lance who were still riding - Liepheimer, Van der velde, Hincapie etc - had agreed to appear before USADA to spill the beans and would get away with 6 month bans for their co-operation

I can't get excited by drug stories from 10 years ago. To be honest, I'm not really interested in current drug stories”

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/repo...-case-unmasked

It'll be interesting to see how Armstrong attempts to get out of this one. He can no longer claim it's just the word of an embittered proven liar and cheat (Landis). Personally I think it's hard to think of a more exciting story - the most successful rider in tour history about to be brought to justice.

Also loved Chris Boardman's reason for believing this year's tour is clean - because the racing is close. Dream on Chris. Clearly the conspiracy of silence extends to ex riders.
afx237vi
05-07-2012
Farrar not a happy bunny: http://vimeo.com/45265842
swingaleg
06-07-2012
Friday - stage 6 - Eperney to Metz

207K, gently undulating, probably another bunch sprint

Thank God we get to the end of the first week of basically flat stages. This has ben a right blast from the past...........day after day of flat stages, breakaways getting caught, bunch sprints. This is what it always used to be like when I first started watching. Over the last few years Monsieur Proudhon has been experimenting with the first week to try and make it more interesting. Last year I remember we were saying what a fantastic first week it was !

I suppose it partly just reflects the route.......where the race starts. Northern France is pretty flat..........but as it's the National Tour they have to go to Northern France every now and then.................

The big bunch sprints are great telly..........but the preceeding 200 kilometres can be fairly dull viewing

Should start getting more interesting from Saturday
Cissy Fairfax
06-07-2012
The way this tour is laid out, on any given stage in week one or week 3 it looks a doddle to pick 5 or 6 of the top 10.

Almost every stage of the next week looks a.complete lottery. Even the TT on Weds, you don't really know who'll be trying to win it and who'll be saving themselves for mountain duties. You havent even got Casar to guarantee one stage win.

Suppose the KOM guys will come out from tomorrow an the stage racers. Fancy the Irish boys will be prominent, as will green edge, Europcar & Vacansoleil leaders who won't have a chance at the overall but will win stages.
afx237vi
06-07-2012
Sagan has a bell on his bike for today
Electra
06-07-2012
Originally Posted by afx237vi:
“Sagan has a bell on his bike for today ”

Could maybe do with stabilisers too
swingaleg
06-07-2012
Goss pips Cav for the minor points in the intermediate sprint

Griepel didn't even go for it
swingaleg
06-07-2012
We've now got 65K to go............the breakaway has 2 minutes

Not sure what's going on here.........an hour ago the breakaway had nearly 7 minutes

At this rate they're going to pull them back with 40K to go.........seems far too early !

Jens Voight is on the front giving it hammer as only Jens can............

They've taken another 20 seconds while I've typed this.........maybe there's some GC contender struggling at the back of the peloton ?
afx237vi
06-07-2012
Originally Posted by swingaleg:
“We've now got 65K to go............the breakaway has 2 minutes

Not sure what's going on here.........an hour ago the breakaway had nearly 7 minutes

At this rate they're going to pull them back with 40K to go.........seems far too early !

Jens Voight is on the front giving it hammer as only Jens can............

They've taken another 20 seconds while I've typed this.........maybe there's some GC contender struggling at the back of the peloton ?”

Dave "stool pigeon" Zabriskie is in the break. Lance has probably been on the phone to the Radioshack team car and told them to up the pace. He has form with Simeoni, remember?
swingaleg
06-07-2012
Crash in the peloton as the road narrows on the small climb

Before that Jens had come off the front and the pace had slowed...........

Maybe Jens just wanted to stretch his legs..........

After the crash there's now a split in the peloton but the front group don't appear to be trying to take advantage
tso
06-07-2012
Another crash involving 30 odd riders
swingaleg
06-07-2012
another huge crash in the peloton............

Schleck and Hesjedal caught up in it............amongst dozens of others

Only 20 odd K to go............the peloton are not waiting for them

Couple of GC contenders could lose time here..........
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