TdF 2010 - Comments and possible spoilers

[mr magnolia]

do we have one of these threads yet for this years race?

I watched a little of the Grand Depart team intros, and was quite taken with Mr Armstrongs approach and attitude as displayed.   I'd been expecting him to be very defensive, in light of the current UCI / testing / Landis / 'Armstrongs last tour' - surely no connection (ha ha) type stuff thats going around.

Mr Wiggins seemed cool, and the Schleck Stormtroopers seemed a little bit like Armstrong and Contador were last year - not quite sure of how or what to say regarding their thoughts and tactics.

Didn't get to see Mr Cancellara's motor bike though!

Greatly looking forward to the next 3 weeks, especially given that maison magnolia has Eurosport now, courtesy of our Virgin TV thing.  

[pcolbeck]

Well done Lance. I find it hard to like the man but have to admire his grit and determination. Mind you you could say the same about many great sportsman. David Millar did really well too.

[Rig of Jarkness]

Didn't get to see Mr Cancellara's motor bike though!

I assume by now that we'd have heard if the post race airport scanner devices had spotted anything untoward in the bike itself, so I can only assume that he's now gone a step further and implanted the motors in his thighs.  That would also explain why they're so big    Still, I still don't understand the funny 'button pressing' motions of his hands on the brake hoods in the Spring Classics.

[Barnsdale]

I'm not sure what Sky's strategy was - could this be inexperience of Grand Tours at the team management level?

If Wiggo is targeting the Yellow jersey, then why did he gamble on the weather for the Prologue?  This suggests a lack of focus. 

In sailing, there is a widely practiced strategy which is to "follow the fleet" unless you are so far down that a gamble is worthwhile and so you take a different route and hope that the weather favours you over the fleet.  The idea is that everyone will be disadvantaged or will benefit from the shifts in the winds.  If this was the last TT of the race (and this is hypothetical because they wouldn't be allowed to choose the start order then) and Wiggo was nearly out of the running for a good GC place, then a gamble like this would have been worthwhile. 

As it happens, if Wiggo had gone at his alloted time, he would have had the better weather that Contador et al benefited from.  Had they got the weather right, Sky would only have lost to non-serious GC contenders such as Tony Martin and David Millar. 

[LEE]

Agreed.  Stupid tactic to go it alone like that, he's lucky the roads didn't dry out even more than they did.

Those lost 30 seconds could haunt him for the entire tour.

[Exit Stage Left]

Looking beyond Wiggins, Sky had two riders in the Top Ten in the prologue, as did Garmin. Last year's pivotal moment was a break in crosswind conditions. A combined Sky/Garmin break in similar conditions would be interesting, but the whole peleton is watching out for that I suppose, but if it comes down to echelons there won't be any stopping them. I don't know how they would be able to isolate Armstrong in order to put Millar in yellow.

[citoyen]

Wiggo bottled it yesterday. Played it slightly too safe.

When Millar was interviewed after the ride, he made a point of saying the course "wasn't too technical, even in the wet" - a very thinly veiled dig at his ex-team-mate, I thought.  

Great ride by Geraint Thomas.

And by Tony Martin. Whose girlfriend is hot. The jammy beggar. Great cyclist and top totty magnet too. Curse him.

d.

[Gus]

Danish tv2 have a camera in HTC Columbias wagon.
Comments between Brian Holm to Adam Hansen shows how tough these guys are

Adam says he think the collar bone is broken and he's having problems sitting in the rear of the peloton.
Brian : Go to the front and work until you can't any more, it's better than being dumped behind.

And the bloody rider goes straight to the front and works his A**e off trying to catch the 3 in front. 

[mattc]

Agreed.  Stupid tactic to go it alone like that, he's lucky the roads didn't dry out even more than they did.

Those lost 30 seconds could haunt him for the entire tour.

But if the roads were just as likely to get wetter, then he made as good a gamble as anyone. Surely?

I don't know what the procedure is here - were the riders just picking from the 9 slots allocated to their team? Could they check what "the fleet" were doing before picking their slot?

We know how fickle forecasts are in GB - I can't imagine Dutch ones are much better at predicting summer rain +/- 1 hour.

Also, maybe Wiggo knows damn well he's not the favourite, so any gamble is worth taking, at least until he is in a healthy lead.

[citoyen]

Was Cav at fault in the first crash, the one at the hairpin? Looked like it to me. He overcooked it and ran wide, taking three other riders with him, including Freire. Silly boy.

d.

[TimO]

It was a bit crash central of the final few kms today.  Crashing early may have saved Cav a worse crash further on!

[Goldcrank]

Looks that way.

[Rig of Jarkness]

Was Cav at fault in the first crash, the one at the hairpin? Looked like it to me. He overcooked it and ran wide, taking three other riders with him, including Freire. Silly boy.

d.

Chris B has just voiced the same opinion..

[TimO]

The ITV4 bods seemed to think it was Cav's fault as well, although they couldn't work out who caused the crash at 500m, something seems to have happened in the middle of the pack.

[giropaul]

I read an interview recently, where someone said that a couple of teams had worked out home to beat Cav. I'm guseeing that could involve a lot of rough-housing a couple of k's out, either pushing him into a compromising position, or getting him rattled. Just a thought.

[SpaceBadger]

Not exactly a triumph of course design today, was it?

TdF course designer: "I know, let's have a needless, almost 180 degree hairpin right before the final sprint. That should cause some crashes. And I know what else. How about some barriers with feet that stick out into the road. Oh, and hang on a minute. Check this one out, mon ami. Let's reduce the width of the course as it nears the finish line."

Other TdF person: "Oui. Tres bien."

 

[Biff]

Tee Hee

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/CI7T2iuGjjc&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/CI7T2iuGjjc&rel=1</a>

[Exit Stage Left]

Not exactly a triumph of course design today, was it?

TdF course designer: "I know, let's have a needless, almost 180 degree hairpin right before the final sprint. That should cause some crashes. And I know what else. How about some barriers with feet that stick out into the road. Oh, and hang on a minute. Check this one out, mon ami. Let's reduce the width of the course as it nears the finish line."

Other TdF person: "Oui. Tres bien."

 

It's the finish they use in the Paris Brussels, these first few days are a nod to the classics, as a counterweight to the '100 Years of the Pyrenees'. They perhaps need to temper symbolism and nostalgia with a long cold look at modern road conditions, especially traffic calming. It proved Sherwin's oft-stated adage about riding in the first 15 though.

[Jules]

I only caught the highlights. Did Phil come up with his regular line about how its "not safe to be at the back of the peleton" (he was right today)?

I  though I might keep count of how many times he utters this this tour

[Ivo]

I read an interview recently, where someone said that a couple of teams had worked out home to beat Cav. I'm guseeing that could involve a lot of rough-housing a couple of k's out, either pushing him into a compromising position, or getting him rattled. Just a thought.

I think we can expect a few Cervelo breakaways just before intermediate sprints, especially when Cavendish needs those points.
Watched the stage just north of Meise today. Great atmosphere. Will watch it tomorrow on some of the Ardennes hills and tuesday near Namur and the penultimate cobbles stretch.

[Exit Stage Left]

    Lance Armstrong reveals secret weapon in Tour de France - Liverpool Echo - A Cyclist's Life

    

[Rig of Jarkness]

    Lance Armstrong reveals secret weapon in Tour de France - Liverpool Echo - A Cyclist's Life

    

Excellent ! 

[IanDG]

WTF was happening today.

Too dangerous? Did they ease up after the Passage de Gois in 1999 or after the cobbles in 2004? No the contenders got on with it and put the hammer down.

Deprived the green jersey contenders and sprinters of their moment of glory (and the fans who waited of the excitement)

IMO Cancellara abused the authority of the yellow jersey to protect Saxo's GC contender, Shleck, who was one of the riders affected by the mele.

[Rig of Jarkness]

The big beneficiary of Spartacus today was Cav. I bet Hushovd was well p'd off.

[Martin]

I've unticked Racing from my ignore boards preferences (as I don't want to know the result before I catch up) to post this but is there a quicker way of watching the nightly synopsis than waiting for itv player to schedule it ?

Martin

(Freeview outcast)