Viva Le Tour - Tour de France 2011

[RustyCage]

Been watching the tour for some years, but especially in the last 7 or 8 and getting more and more in to it. This is magnificent. I was trying to temper my hopes knowing how disappointed it's been to see him come short. But once it was his rivals and not him crashing for once things started to look good, when he shut down the dangers in the Galibier I knew though he was now the man to beat. Having a strong team was massive in that regard, keeping him safe, rested and in position to create history. Let's let nobody be in any doubt about who the other heroes are. John Lelangue his team manager who guided the team plans each day, George Hincapie with 9 winning team mates, Brent Bookwalter, Marcus Burghart who did massive amounts of work for him yesterday, Amael Moinard his last ally on most slopes, Steve Morabito, Manuel Quinziato, Ivan Santaromita and Michael Schar.

How awesome would it be to have an Australian team?

There's enough talent around but the sport just doesn't have the foothold here as in Europe, but Mike Turtur and Cadel Evans are changing that fast.

There is an Australian pro team starting up next year

[dedja]

Really ... who?

[mickey]

Geen Edge Cycling, there was a bid by Pegasus Fly V Ausrtalia, but they were denied a license by the UCI.

[Grahaml]

I wouldn't expect Green Edge to be 100% Australian, but no doubt they'll have a strong number of aussies, probably the younger ones. Doubtful that Cadel Evans, Robbie McEwan and Stuart O'Grady would get picked up to ride for them, but maybe guys like Richie Porte and Jack Bobridge. Vitally, it would give an edge to young kids getting rides they wouldn't get on merit just yet with a view to developing them down the track.

[Grahaml]

It's fascinating reading your informed posts, Grahaml. Can you explain a bit more though about it "not being the done thing" to attack on the final stage? I don't quite understand why the final stage is different to all the others....

It's the queen stage for the sprinters. Apart from being perfectly flat, the sprinters would no way let a breakaway happen, they desperately want a bunch sprint. But over the years the GC riders have decided after so many stages, mountains and time trials that they won't attack the overall standings. It's become a gentleman's agreement much like not attacking someone who crashes or has a mechanical. I suspect that started because it was firstly impossible to gain time on a stage like that, but secondly because after 20 days of full on racing, big mountains and the time trials that the GC guys realise they all had their chances to take time. Let the winner soak up the earned glory of riding a stage in yellow.

[Sploosh]

Well that sounds very honourable and gentlemanly. But you're saying the sprinters still go flat out and try to get the stage win. So it's just an understanding between GC riders, but sprinters still try to fight for the stage win (and the green jumper?)

[Grahaml]

Well that sounds very honourable and gentlemanly. But you're saying the sprinters still go flat out and try to get the stage win. So it's just an understanding between GC riders, but sprinters still try to fight for the stage win (and the green jumper?)

Exactly.

[mickey]

Well that sounds very honourable and gentlemanly. But you're saying the sprinters still go flat out and try to get the stage win. So it's just an understanding between GC riders, but sprinters still try to fight for the stage win (and the green jumper?)

They fight to win this stage more than just about any other. The prestige of winning in Paris is huge... I'll be backing Cavendish and HTC to show the power they have and win tonight.

[Sploosh]

Sounds like I'd better keep myself up again half the night for the final stage, then. I was thinking that if it's mainly just a procession, it wouldn't be that interesting, even with Cadel in yellow, and I might get a bit of sleep, but a good sprinting race sounds exciting.

[Grahaml]

The first 30km are slow and boring. But once they hit the Champs Elysees they do 8 laps of the Paris circuit and it is the fastest most furious racing of the whole tour. This stage means so much to the sprinters, it's around the same prestige for them as the green jersey. You can have a shocking tour, no do anything then come up with the win tonight and feel like one of the big winners.

[am Bays]

OK, I'll put this out there and I know it sounds like an holier than thou Australian talking because we don't cheat....

But where the hell has Voeckler come from this year?? I know he has worn the yellow jersey in the past but he has always cracked in the mountains, this year he has survived 5 mountain stages including yesterday's killer. The question has to be asked has he eaten some choice beef in the last 12-6 months???

Seriously I hope he hasn't and it is all legit, but at that level you just don't come from clouds and and put up that level of performance.

Really hope Cadel can grit his teeth and hang tough on tonights 109 km "sprint" up Alp d'Huez with the Schleck bros.

OK, move along, nothing to see here....

Meant to post his yesterday morning after stage 19 when Voeckler cracked.

Still he rode a pretty good TT, only finished 2:07 behind Cadel. So if he hadn't cracked and finished with Cadel on Alpe D'huez, Cadel would be leading the tour by under 20 secs given before stage 19 Cadel trailed Voeckler by 1:54 (I think).

[Brodlach]

Well done to Mickey, Pels and Grahaml (and others) for their input over this race, has been great reading and gives the casual cycling watcher a much better insight.

[mickey]

Cheers brod, its always a good time of year with the giro and le tour. Hopefully more people take an in interest in pro cycling and with Cadel's performance more racing makes its way on to tv.

[pels]

Cheers brod, its always a good time of year with the giro and le tour. Hopefully more people take an in interest in pro cycling and with Cadel's performance more racing makes its way on to tv.

Exactly right, the more people watching and interested in road cycling, hopefully means SBS will show more.
All the one-day classics and all 3 Grand tours live would awesome. I know SBS has the rights to the world championships in October.

[mickey]

Cheers brod, its always a good time of year with the giro and le tour. Hopefully more people take an in interest in pro cycling and with Cadel's performance more racing makes its way on to tv.

Exactly right, the more people watching and interested in road cycling, hopefully means SBS will show more.
All the one-day classics and all 3 Grand tours live would awesome. I know SBS has the rights to the world championships in October.

The Paris-Roubaix would be a nice start... and seeing SBS have been advertising a dvd on it (which im gonna get) hopefully that gets an airing soon

[pels]

Cheers brod, its always a good time of year with the giro and le tour. Hopefully more people take an in interest in pro cycling and with Cadel's performance more racing makes its way on to tv.

Exactly right, the more people watching and interested in road cycling, hopefully means SBS will show more.
All the one-day classics and all 3 Grand tours live would awesome. I know SBS has the rights to the world championships in October.

The Paris-Roubaix would be a nice start... and seeing SBS have been advertising a dvd on it (which im gonna get) hopefully that gets an airing soon

They actually do show Paris-Roubaix live, I will need to let people know on the froum when SBS show other Cycling races.
But that is crazy one day race.

[mickey]

STAGE 21: CRETEIL - PARIS Champs-Elysees

This is the 1 that we have all been waiting for.. The rolling start, the celebrating slowly building up until we hit the Champs and then 3 laps and then its the sprint point of the stage then 4 more laps until the big bunch sprint to glory!

JEAN-FRANÇOIS PESCHEUX’S ANALYSIS : A sprint by tradition

“It has been the tradition since 1975 for the Tour de France to end with a prestigious stage finish on the Champs-Élysées. At the start in Créteil, we will remember Laurent Fignon, who held a licence with the local club. In 1989, his duel with Greg LeMond maintained the suspense right to the finish, where Fignon was sure that he would be the winner. That was the only occasion that the final stage was run as a time trial. Every other time, it has been a road stage that has been decided in a bunch sprint, except on four occasions. Those exceptions were the victories taken by Alain Meslet in 1977, Bernard Hinault in 1979, Eddy Seigneur in 1994 and Alexandre Vinokourov in 2005. It is incredibly hard to get a telling gap on this stage when breakaway riders are always within sight of the peloton.”

[mickey]

Cheers brod, its always a good time of year with the giro and le tour. Hopefully more people take an in interest in pro cycling and with Cadel's performance more racing makes its way on to tv.

Exactly right, the more people watching and interested in road cycling, hopefully means SBS will show more.
All the one-day classics and all 3 Grand tours live would awesome. I know SBS has the rights to the world championships in October.

The Paris-Roubaix would be a nice start... and seeing SBS have been advertising a dvd on it (which im gonna get) hopefully that gets an airing soon

They actually do show Paris-Roubaix live, I will need to let people know on the froum when SBS show other Cycling races.
But that is crazy one day race.

Shows how much i watch SBS... usually just for the tour, soccer and the giro stages they show... That stage this year up Mt Etna was ridiculously insane

[am Bays]

Cheers brod, its always a good time of year with the giro and le tour. Hopefully more people take an in interest in pro cycling and with Cadel's performance more racing makes its way on to tv.

Exactly right, the more people watching and interested in road cycling, hopefully means SBS will show more.
All the one-day classics and all 3 Grand tours live would awesome. I know SBS has the rights to the world championships in October.

The Paris-Roubaix would be a nice start... and seeing SBS have been advertising a dvd on it (which im gonna get) hopefully that gets an airing soon

Mate get EuroSports Ch 511 on FOX, it has had them all this year, Paris Roubaix, Tour des Flandres, The Giro, Paris Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège - Bastogne - Liège, and Critérium du Dauphiné.

The Voultre will be on in late August.

Been a lot of late nights this year....

[pels]

Cheers brod, its always a good time of year with the giro and le tour. Hopefully more people take an in interest in pro cycling and with Cadel's performance more racing makes its way on to tv.

Exactly right, the more people watching and interested in road cycling, hopefully means SBS will show more.
All the one-day classics and all 3 Grand tours live would awesome. I know SBS has the rights to the world championships in October.

The Paris-Roubaix would be a nice start... and seeing SBS have been advertising a dvd on it (which im gonna get) hopefully that gets an airing soon

Mate get EuroSports Ch 511 on FOX, it has had them all this year, Paris Roubaix, Tour des Flandres, The Giro, Paris Nice, Tirreno-Adriatico, Milano-Sanremo, La Flèche Wallonne, Liège - Bastogne - Liège, and Critérium du Dauphiné.

The Voultre will be on in late August.

Been a lot of late nights this year....

Mate if I get fox I will not move from the couch.That will be trouble
I will stick to SBS and what they show us, but the more cycling they show is awesome.