95th Tour de France - Australia's year!

[nomore4s]

Riders have won without a strong team many a time, like Lemond. But the trend recently has been to build a team for the Tour. At some stage Cadel will be in yellow and thats when we will see how strong the team is.

Team aside there was no one else that looked that comfortable other than Cadel. Although it was only a small mountain stage it was still looks good.

I agree, we will find out how strong Cadels team is when he actually needs them. I think they will ride their @rses off for him when it is required, no need to ride themselves into the ground too early, especially before the big mountains, will do Cadel no good if they blow up too early.

Cadel is looking very strong, can't really see anyone being able to beat him atm, but there is still a long way to go and 1 bad stage is all it takes to lose the tour.

I hope Cadel wins a stage but I actually think he could win the tour without winning a stage.
One of the things I don't like about Cadel is the fact he doesn't attack and try to win a stage and take control of the race, but if he wins the tour riding the way he does good on him, I'll still be cheering for him. He is more about limiting his losses, maybe he'd make a good trader.

 

[2BAD4U]

I think Silence-Lotto did a good job last night. Caisse d'Epargne were doing all the work and there where 2 Silence-Lotto riders with Cadel sitting behind Caisse d'Epargne until the last climb. As nomore4s said, there is no point in blowing apart in the first week, riders actually ride into form during the tour not at the start.

As for Cadel winning a stage, I don't think it will happen as it's not his style. He's a tactical rider who knows he only has to finish in the group to get the same time now that there are no time bonus'.

 

[justjohn]

Finding it hard to get into this year.Tour seems to be lacking personalities and without Discovery & Team - Mobile ,it's just rolling along with Cadel in control just happy finishing in the top 1/2 dozen

 

[nomore4s]

CSC are blowing the race apart atm, group of about 20 have got a breakaway going. A few of the big names in it as well.

With about 85 km to go and a decent climb it could be a very interesting night.

 

[2BAD4U]

And we have our first drug cheat of the tour. Manuel Beltran of Liquigas has tested positive for EPO. When will these W$@%#'s learn that they are destroying the image of a great sport.

 

[Trembling Hand]

Here we go. First bad luck to strike. Evans crashes may have a injured shoulder going into tonight's big mountain stage.

Tonight will be an important one.

 

[Aussiejeff]

Here we go. First bad luck to strike. Evans crashes may have a injured shoulder going into tonight's big mountain stage.

Tonight will be an important one.

..... they didn't even have camera footage! Were prolly showing some pathetic Frenchman's backside at the rear of the field at the time..... LOL.

Mind you, it WOULD be nice to see ALL our Aussies performing in an AUSSIE backed AUSSIE ONLY team rather than having their collective talents frittered away within a mass of Euro backed Teams.

Oh yeah, and send some AUSSIE camera crew(s) to focus on OUR lads a bit more....

Then again, I suppose OUR fickle media is more interested in Il Papa....
:aus:

 

[Trembling Hand]

WOW!!. GOT IT.

Very nice ride considering he was flat on his back yesterday.

Hopefully not to soon.

Boy was CSC strong though. Cadels going to be attacked to all hell in the Alps.

 

[nomore4s]

WOW!!. GOT IT.

Very nice ride considering he was flat on his back yesterday.

Hopefully not to soon.

Boy was CSC strong though. Cadels going to be attacked to all hell in the Alps.

CSC is looking strong so is Saunier Duval who have won the last 2 mountain stages, they now have 2 riders within 2min 30sec of Cadel, will be interesting to see how they ride in the Alps as they can both climb, especially Ricco.
Now we find out how strong Cadels team is and how much they are willing to work for him.

If Cadel is in front or within a min leading up to the final T/T I'd be backing him to win the tour, his T/T is far surperior to any of the other top riders.

The only thing I dislike about Cadel is inability to win a stage (this is probably due to his reluctance to truly attack the other riders), if he wins the tour this year he will do it without winning a stage imo.
Oh how I miss Armstrong and his ability to take hold of the tour when it mattered.

 

[Aussiejeff]

CSC is looking strong so is Saunier Duval who have won the last 2 mountain stages, they now have 2 riders within 2min 30sec of Cadel, will be interesting to see how they ride in the Alps as they can both climb, especially Ricco.
Now we find out how strong Cadels team is and how much they are willing to work for him.

If Cadel is in front or within a min leading up to the final T/T I'd be backing him to win the tour, his T/T is far surperior to any of the other top riders.

The only thing I dislike about Cadel is inability to win a stage (this is probably due to his reluctance to truly attack the other riders), if he wins the tour this year he will do it without winning a stage imo.
Oh how I miss Armstrong and his ability to take hold of the tour when it mattered.

At least the foregone result is totally up in the air at this point. With Armstrong, the race was over before it even started... :wreath

 

[Damuzzdu]

Re: Tour de France

Cadel now wearing the Maillot Jaune

Watch Cadel pulling on the Yellow Jersey here:

http://player.sbs.com.au/tdf#/tdf_0...highlights/playlist/STAGE-10-Cadel-in-Yellow/

Thought Cadel struggled slightly today, maybe feeling the effects of his crash during stage 9, but dug deep no doubt. Cadel is the 5th Ausralian to wear Yellow.

It was good to see him attack a few times, once he really got out of the saddle and looked like he was "really going for it" but got reeled in or he stopped racing.

Here are the standings are stage 10:

http://tdf.sbs.com.au/tdf2008/standings/

Real dangers to Cadel are now clearly Frank Schleck
(CSC), Christian Vandevelde(TSL), Denis Menchov(RAB), Carlos Sastre(CSC) and Riccardo Ricco(SDV) the others are prob too far back now. Of all the remaining leading contenders Cadel is the best time trialer, so it is looking ok, but big challenges remain.

Rest day today (Tuesday) with medium mountains day after and then 3 flat stages until the riders hit the Alps, with July 23 being the highlight when the riders tackle the stage up L’Alpe-d’Huez. If you only watch one stage on the TV (apart from the final stage into Paris), then this should be the stage to watch, can be very exciting.

Cheers
Muzz

 

[2BAD4U]

And we have another (Spanish) drug cheat with EPO, Moises Duenas Nevado of Barloworld this time.

Back to the race....

Stage 10 was a great ride, CSC and Jens Voigt are just machines. Wouldn't be surprised to see Cadel lose the yellow jersy by a couple of seconds over the next couple of days as this will suit him. Silence-Lotto are not a strong enough team to defend it imo (and by their own admission). Yaroslav Popovych has been a disappointment so far and he will need to lift to help Cadel in the next mountain stages, especially stage 17's L'Alpe-d'Huez. That's when we will see who the likely winner is.

As for Saunier Duval and Ricco / Piepoli, have they peaked too soon?? Time will tell.

 

[chops_a_must]

Cadel Evans... I could ride you right about now.

 

[Agentm]

will be a fantastic race tonight, wont miss it for anything..

what cadel did to get the yellow was a huge effort, and carrying an injury is hard enough when cycling, let alone riding against the worlds best and getting yellow!!

seeing this guy go from junior cross country to this is a joy to watch..

there is a long road ahead, i hope the team puts everything they have behind him!

 

[Agentm]

cadel maintains the yellow, and i maintain this sleep deprevation is going to have some cause and effect

 

[2BAD4U]

Riccardo Ricco aka the Cobra, has now tested positive for EPO. I really had high hopes that this year would be different.

 

[Aussiejeff]

All "contaminated" water under the bridge..... now lets sit back and enjoy the next three *MONSTER* stages and scenery in the French Alps, with our lad Cadel still wearing the Yellow Canary ... woo-hoo!

If any stages were going to show up any remaining drug zombies, these three most certainly will shake them out.... I'm exhausted just "imagining" what it is going to be like for the riders climbing these dizzy heights!

Go, go Cadel :aus:

 

[tech/a]

How do they work out the leader margin.

I notice Cadel has had a 1 second lead for the last 3 stages.
Surely he has either increased it a bit or the other guy has slipped back further?

To ride 150K and maintain a 1 second lead over 3 seperate days?
Me no understand?

 

[chops_a_must]

How do they work out the leader margin.

I notice Cadel has had a 1 second lead for the last 3 stages.
Surely he has either increased it a bit or the other guy has slipped back further?

To ride 150K and maintain a 1 second lead over 3 seperate days?
Me no understand?

They generally give people who finish in the same pack the same time. They can give them placings, but to seperate times is too hard.

So then you get all the leaders trying to finish in the lead pack, without going for the win, to keep in touch, and not lose time. Cadel is riding for position in the packs perfectly right now.

 

[Robb]

The clock doesn't start counting until there has been a split in the peleton/group of a few meters. So as long as they finish within the same group, Cadel could finish 1st in the group, and Schleck could finish last in the group, but they would be recorded as finishing with the same time. Its to avoid carnage within the last 300meters of the race.
There are also rules surrounding a fall within the last 3kms as well, where if the finish is flat, the riders will be awarded the same time.

This year, there is also no time bonus' for placing in the top 5~.