Dauphiné Libéré 2012

[Exit Stage Left]

You can get 66 to 1 on Tony Martin winning the Tour, and about 5 to 1 on a top 6 placing.

[citoyen]

Just for your own amusement, check out how some doctors have moved amongst teams over the years and track the relative performances of the riders.

Yeah, OK, I'll give you that. But I still think the doping thing is a bit of a red herring if you're asking how Indurain was able to win both the Dauphiné and the Tour in the same year.

This is an interesting piece, written on the same theme after Brad won the Dauphiné last year...

http://www.irishpeloton.com/2012/06/is-the-dauphinetour-double-a-realistic-possibility/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-the-dauphinetour-double-a-realistic-possibility

d.

[Somnolent]

There's also the question of how much work he has to put in for Cav in the road race...

d.

Methinks there will be a LOT of attacks to cover in that !

[Nuncio]

You can get 66 to 1 on Tony Martin winning the Tour, and about 5 to 1 on a top 6 placing.

They don't look particularly attractive.  He's never done better than 38th in the tour.  Admittedly, in previous tours he's been working for others, but I don't see it being different this year, with Chavanel no 1?  He's just not got enough for the mountains.

[Exit Stage Left]

You can get 66 to 1 on Tony Martin winning the Tour, and about 5 to 1 on a top 6 placing.

They don't look particularly attractive.  He's never done better than 38th in the tour.  Admittedly, in previous tours he's been working for others, but I don't see it being different this year, with Chavanel no 1?  He's just not got enough for the mountains.

Today's Dauphine stage may have a bearing on those odds.
http://blogs.bettor.com/Tony-Martin-came-close-to-an-overall-victory-at-the-Criterium-du-Dauphine-2012-a160832

[citoyen]

They don't look particularly attractive.  He's never done better than 38th in the tour.  Admittedly, in previous tours he's been working for others, but I don't see it being different this year, with Chavanel no 1?  He's just not got enough for the mountains.

Will Chavanel be riding as No.1 for the team in the Tour? I do hope so. I'm a big fan of his. He's always been one of the best domestiques in the game, so it would be nice to see if he can step up to become a genuine GC contender.

d.

[citoyen]

Unbelievably dominant team performance by Sky today. Scarily reminiscent of US Postal. If they can carry that form into the Tour...

d.

[Pip]

Gilbert at 500/1 is a massive price. He may well be working for Cadel, but showed plenty of climbing prowess (and naivety) in the early mountain stages last year after a heavy Spring campaign. His TTing is average, but he is a class act.

[David Martin]

The only two other riders to win both Paris-Nice and the Dauphine in the same year were Anquetil and Mercx. Both went on to win the TdF that year.

No rider has ever won Paris-Nice, Romandie and Dauphine in the same year before Wiggo.

[Pip]

Congrats to Brad.
Putting the Tour aside  for the moment, what a great year he and Team Sky have had so far.

Back to the big one, looking forward to it more than ever in hope and anticipation for Mr. W

[Rhys W]

What are those mutton chops though? More Noddy Holder than Paul Weller.

[mzjo]

You can get 66 to 1 on Tony Martin winning the Tour, and about 5 to 1 on a top 6 placing.

They don't look particularly attractive.  He's never done better than 38th in the tour.  Admittedly, in previous tours he's been working for others, but I don't see it being different this year, with Chavanel no 1?  He's just not got enough for the mountains.

Today's Dauphine stage may have a bearing on those odds.
http://blogs.bettor.com/Tony-Martin-came-close-to-an-overall-victory-at-the-Criterium-du-Dauphine-2012-a160832

I would be wary about trusting this article; they can't even put Chris Froome in the right team!

[aregister]

Unbelievably dominant team performance by Sky today. Scarily reminiscent of US Postal. If they can carry that form into the Tour...

d.

The French have started calling them "UK Postal".

[citoyen]

The French have started calling them "UK Postal".

Nice. Clearly I'm not the only one to have noticed the similarity then.

d.

[Andrew]

It's not just the French calling them that either. The comparison has been made by many.

[Exit Stage Left]

Unbelievably dominant team performance by Sky today. Scarily reminiscent of US Postal. If they can carry that form into the Tour...

d.

The French have started calling them "UK Postal".

There is a direct link, with Sean Yates on the staff at Sky, here's a definitive picture of him in Yellow towing Armstrong during his days as a Motorola 'Super Domestique'.