the tour de france... (Read 43259 times)

chappers · June 23, 2009, 08:48:28 pm

anyone know this vital piece of info: are the roads open the day before the tour rolls over them? (i assume they are but...)
planning the trip and i need to ride up the ventoux!

if all goes to plan, the following roads will be ticked off:
alpe d'huez
croix de fer
telegraphe
galibier
d'lzoard
aravis
colombiere

and other less well know cols...

fatkid2000 · June 23, 2009, 08:58:17 pm

What an awesome set of climbs you're going to ride - I'm well jealous.

Good luck.

One of my mates went out last year to watch some of the Alps sections - and rode some of climbs the day before le tour rolled over.

neil h · June 23, 2009, 08:59:29 pm

yes the roads are open the day before, I will down south for the kick off

Palomides · July 03, 2009, 01:46:01 pm

OMFG.

Boonen is in. The French Olympic Commitee have apparently given him the OK to start, less than 24hours before the opening time trial.

He is the luckiest Belgian in the world. Unlike Allan Davies, who is the unluckiest Australian in the world, poor bugger.

Joepicalli · July 03, 2009, 02:39:15 pm

Fuck I cannot believe it the 1st road stage is practically going past the front door of my flat and I'm not going to be there arse arse arse.

Palomides · July 03, 2009, 02:47:58 pm

No keyrings and mini-saucisson for you then (or me either this year)

GraemeA · July 03, 2009, 06:02:07 pm

Tour de France, as performed last night by Kraftwerk was very goo with 4 of Team GBR giving it some around the Velodrome

Palomides · July 03, 2009, 09:36:32 pm

Where they wearing these?

chappers · July 04, 2009, 11:10:43 am

16:30 till 19:00 itv4 boys and girls.
excited!!

Duma · July 04, 2009, 12:46:35 pm

Check here for streams as well.
http://www.steephill.tv/tour-de-france/#live

chappers · July 05, 2009, 04:32:40 pm

ha ha, not even close.

lay down your predictions for tomorrow...this is mine: cav is going to win.

Duma · July 05, 2009, 05:48:22 pm

Looked easy didn't it? Farrar was in about as good a spot as he's going to get and couldn't touch him. I reckon he could do another four this year. I'm with you for La Grande-Motte tommorrow.

for those who missed it:
http://www.steephill.tv/players/youtube/?title=tdf-09-st2-last-km&id=qoHKAM4y2oE&w=560

Dr T · July 05, 2009, 06:03:19 pm

what money Cav doing what he said he'd do in the pre-tour interviews and winning the final sprint down the Champs Elysees???

Duma · July 05, 2009, 07:57:54 pm

Not much. He's not finished a GT before and I reckon the third week with Mont Ventoux the day before will take too much out of him. No money against it though!

Duma · July 06, 2009, 05:11:36 pm

And again. Thor got a bit closer, but still no real worries. Astana polotics more interesting I think - no one pulling AC up to the Columbia break was there? Too early to write of Carlos and the Schlecks, but a miss all the same.
Reckon Columbia have knobbed their chances for the TTT tommorrow though - still, maybe they were trying to teach the other sprint teams a lesson in load sharing...

Duma · July 06, 2009, 05:13:29 pm

Quote from: Duma on July 05, 2009, 07:57:54 pm

Not much. He's not finished a GT before and I reckon the third week with Mont Ventoux the day before will take too much out of him. No money against it though!

Apologies, just realised he finished the Giro last year. Still reckon he'll be knackered by then though.

squeek · July 06, 2009, 09:28:47 pm

2/3rds of the wins so far, not bad.

chappers · July 07, 2009, 08:14:15 am

i wonder if HTC pay extra for a celebration like that too??
what a twist to an otherwise boring stage, columbia are monsters, and we may have just seen the rift in astana exposed.
i wouldnt count them out today either.

cavs bike...

chappers · July 07, 2009, 09:01:15 pm

now that was exciting today eh? would have loved it for armstrong to take the yellow jersey that would shake it up.
what do you think of the chances for evans et al 3mins off the pace.

i personally think that contador and the astana team will put more time into them in the mountains.
out on a limb as it stands at the moment its not unlikely for an astana 1-2-3, is it?? surely not!!!

fatkid2000 · July 08, 2009, 07:54:04 am

Well it looks like the Livestrong drs have got the man back in shape - the French must be praying for him to crash, get an injury or fail a drugs test.

Palomides · July 08, 2009, 08:02:54 am

Armstrongs not exactly the image of someone working humbly for the team leader is he? In interviews I can't decide if Armstrong/Gallopin/Contador are playing a big game, or just trying to cover up internal team tensions.

I guess that the mountains will make some big gaps, and we'll quickly see who the real contenders are.

Today should be interesting too. Really flat finish, and it's always windy around Perpignan. I bet the other teams keep a really close watch on Columbia!

As for the French - the airport bookshops seem to be wall-to-wall with "Armstrong is a cheaty cheater" books. I also suspect that the current desire for no radios is partly a reaction to his comeback. I think that the riders won't have radios on two stages this year as an experiment? Anyone know which ones?

fatkid2000 · July 08, 2009, 08:17:48 am

Stages 10 & 13 are radio free.

Did anyone else see those Trek TT bike on ITV4 last night with the cables running inside the frames and the brakes built into the front forks and behind the bottom bracket / chainstays OMG - those must cost a shed load.

SA Chris · July 08, 2009, 08:32:14 am

The mind boggles. Are there any pics online?

Plattsy · July 08, 2009, 09:00:52 am

Voila!

Rear brake seen (or not seen as the case is) here.

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bikerumor.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/contador-trek-ttx-brake2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bikerumor.com/2009/06/11/alberto-contador-downplays-armstrong-rides-prototype-trek-tt-bicycle/&usg=__apC-R_3m6vtwYXORtpD8knseGvQ=&h=600&w=467&sz=55&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=vjkS5d8o-5GJZM:&tbnh=135&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dlatest%2Btrek%2Btt%2Bbike%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Dactive%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1

squeek · July 08, 2009, 09:19:10 am

Quote from: chappers on July 07, 2009, 09:01:15 pm

now that was exciting today eh? would have loved it for armstrong to take the yellow jersey that would shake it up.
what do you think of the chances for evans et al 3mins off the pace.

i personally think that contador and the astana team will put more time into them in the mountains.
out on a limb as it stands at the moment its not unlikely for an astana 1-2-3, is it?? surely not!!!

If he wanted yellow he shouldn't have sat up and started messing with his gears before crossing the line in 5th.

They could get 1-2-3-4, Contador, Kloden, Leipheimer, Armstrong. Hopefully Evans will lose even more time early on so I don't have to watch any of him on TV.

I think it'll be interesting to see what happens with Astana when one of their big two starts struggling and needs support, and the other doesn't.