Le Tour starts today

[ATM]

The Tour de France starts in less than 4 hours. I cant decide if I should take a nap and risk missing the start, or just power through and stay up for it.

[Pman]

You need to pace yourself or it will be a long month!

Save the sleep loss days for the mountains.

[emartin10]

3 of my favorite weeks of the year. It's a shame that Contador and Levi can't ride this year. I'm cheering for Cadel to finally win one, but I'm also going to cheer very hard for Garmin-Chipotle (they train right here in my backyard), and Team Columbia (formerly High Road) with Big George. Go USA! Go Cadel!

E

[emartin10]

What a great finish! Man, that last 5k looked brutal, especially with that tight right into a super narrow bridge. Valverde showed another gear there, that was very very impressive.

E

[Mark57]

I didn't get to watch it all, just a few minutes here and there and the finish. Valverde looked awful strong there, wonder if he'll stick it out this year?

I kept meaning to check out Velonews or the Tour site but forgetting, so I wasn't even aware that there was no prologue this year. I wasn't really planning to watch the whole thing cause the prologue TT doesn't really tell you much. I definitely like this better though.

[Pman]

I liked the start this year much better than the prologue TT. It sure made it more of a race to be first to wear the yellow.

I'm with E on rooting for Evans. I would like to see him win it this year.

[ATM]

I've always liked Tom Boonen too, it sucks he was kicked out this year for using recreational drugs, but I guess they have a precedent for that, didn't Jan Ulrich miss a year for testing for extacy? (sp?)

[emartin10]

I think Jan was a big recreational drug user for a while there. I think the main reason they booted Big Tom was that he was using Cocaine for a lot of races, which I'm sure would help a big sprinter like him get that extra boost...

E

[Mark57]

So far this has been a great tour, could be one of the most exciting in recent memory.

That last 1k from Cavendish yesterday was amazing.

[emartin10]

I love that they're climbing now. Boy Cavendish blew up today though, what a great stage...

E

[emartin10]

Wow, eating words from a few days ago. Cavendish just DESTROYED that sprint today, no one else had a chance. No lead out? Meh, who cares, I'll just kill everyone else anyway. What a show.

E

[savg99]

Originally Posted by emartin10

Wow, eating words from a few days ago. Cavendish just DESTROYED that sprint today, no one else had a chance. No lead out? Meh, who cares, I'll just kill everyone else anyway. What a show.

E

The power that these guys demonstrate at the end of a long stage is just incredible. Cavendish was just amazing--saying after the race how he missed his teammate's wheel (can't remember who's) while moving up to the front, and then just stepping on the gas.

Just amazing to watch.

[bigDman]

i think lance will win again...

[Pman]

Riccoh really showed some stuff today! Man did he ever attack that last climb. Too bad he is a big-mouth punk because he sure seems to be a great talent.

Man, do I like the mountain stages!

[Mark57]

Tomorrow looks like fun to watch, but I think it would really suck to be trying to hang onto the back on this one.

[kuri]

There was some real pain going down today - man what a stage!

My guess is that a couple of the guys that didn't do so well today may come back strong in the Alps.

[Mark57]

Can't wait to watch it tonight. From the Velonews live update it sounded like CSC was putting some serious hurt on the rest of the field.

[Mark57]

The last few k today were just insane. 45mph before they put the hammer down. Cavendish is an animal.

I bet Ricco gets a blanket party on the team bus on the way home today. I can't even imagine how pissed off the rest of the team must be right now. Unless of course it's a team issue and that's why they pulled out, before any more got nailed.

[OldGuy]

Looks like the needle is winning this years event.

[Pman]

No one can is faster than Cavendish this year. He makes it look easy.

Ricco is just another disgrace to the sport. You have to give the sport of cycling credit for actively pursuing the dopers unlike other sports we know.

[Mark57]

Originally Posted by OldGuy

Looks like the needle is winning this years event.

That's not true at all, and it seems pretty obvious that the needle is losing. Glib remarks aside, the cheaters are getting caught and are being dealt with.

[Mark57]

Cavendish has joined some pretty select company with the win today. From Velonews:

Most bunch sprint stage wins in a single Tour:
5 – Darrigade (1958), Maertens (1976, 1981)
4 – Cavendish (2008), Cipollini (1999), Graczyk (1960), Hassenforder (1956), Petacchi (2003), Sels (1964), Van Looy (1963), Van Poppel (1988)

[Pman]

What a classic stage in the alps yesterday. All of the contenders trying to crack each other on the final climb. Great stuff. CSC looks like a strong team. I expect the winnner will now be Schleck or Sastre as Evan has no help from his team when the going gets tough.

[Mark57]

What a great race so far, Sunday's stage was awesome. But the next two days...

Tuesday:



Wednesday:



I'm staying home to watch the Wednesday stage.

[Mark57]

Originally Posted by Pman

I expect the winnner will now be Schleck or Sastre as Evan has no help from his team when the going gets tough.

I don't know Pman, still a long ways to Paris. The top six are all within a minute, and there's still the long TT next Saturday on top of the two big Alp stages above. Evans is a fighter, and VandeVelde is still right there too. And both of them are better time trialers than Schleck or Sastre. But that's why I'm going to watch every minute of it.

Overall
1. Frank Schleck (LUX), CSC at 63:57min21sec
2. Bernhard Kohl (AUT), Gerolsteiner at at0:07
3. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto at 0:08
4. Denis Menchov (RUS), Rabobank at 0:38
5. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle at 0:39
6. Carlos Sastre (ESP), CSC at 0:49

[kuri]

Can't wait for these next 2 days- fun race to watch!

[Pman]

Originally Posted by Mark57

I don't know Pman, still a long ways to Paris. The top six are all within a minute, and there's still the long TT next Saturday on top of the two big Alp stages above. Evans is a fighter, and VandeVelde is still right there too. And both of them are better time trialers than Schleck or Sastre. But that's why I'm going to watch every minute of it.

Overall
1. Frank Schleck (LUX), CSC at 63:57min21sec
2. Bernhard Kohl (AUT), Gerolsteiner at at0:07
3. Cadel Evans (AUS), Silence-Lotto at 0:08
4. Denis Menchov (RUS), Rabobank at 0:38
5. Christian Vande Velde (USA), Garmin-Chipotle at 0:39
6. Carlos Sastre (ESP), CSC at 0:49

Agreed! We will find out over the next two days. Team CSC just reminds me of the old USPS days. When they get to he high mountains and there are still 4 CSC guys and all the others are isolated.

I would like nothing more than to see Vande Velde win just to piss off the French.

I have been using the DVR to watch this year when I get home from work. It sure is nice to FF through the commercials.

[kuri]

Brutal day, and it'll be interesting to see how CSC attacks tomorrow - it's basically their last chance.

Surreal footage of the highest climb today - I can put that on a loop and just watch the scenery.

[Mark57]

I can't wait to watch it tonight. I need to invest in a DVR, the commercials on Vs get old and repetitive. (although I don't mind that Mojito ad all that much.)

I'm staying home tomorrow to watch live. I think there's going to be some major cracking by the time they get to the top of l'Alpe.

[Pman]

Definitely a do or die stage today. I fully expect a lot of attacking from the GC guys.