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Tour de France - 2010

Frayed Knot Jul 04 2010 09:14 PM

My annual thread, one which I start, if for no other reason than to make Vic Sage say, "WtF"? Anyway, got underway yesterday (Saturday) with the mostly ceremonial 9K (5 mi) prologue. The only "news" there is that Lance Armstrong - back to leading a team instead of (supposedly) playing 2nd fiddle to someone else - finished 4th overall, something that's only a big deal if you believe in psychological edges as he beat 2009 winner Alberto Contador and a host of others. Lance claims this is his last TdF but we've heard that before. Sprint specialist F. Cancellarra won the stage and gets the honor of the yellow jersey for the early stages. In Sunday's first real stage nothing much changed despite a host of huge pile ups during the sprints at the end. Tour started in Rotterdam this year - so the cycling-mad Dutch fans - probably still drunk from their futbol win on Friday - got to sober up while watching the prologue stage. It's a 'clockwise' year this year - so Alps first, Pyrennes later. 20 stages overall with just one individual time trial in the penultimate stage (no team time trials). The early stage everyone is talking about is stage 3 (Tuesday) when the Tour goes old school and does a stage consisting largely of cobblestone roads.

The Second Spitter Jul 04 2010 11:24 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

This year the battle for the green jersey is shaping up to be muchos more interesting than the yellow. Favorite Mark Cavenish crashed 3km from the finish during Stage 1 after a stray dog tried to cross the road which also affected US hopeful Tyler Farrar. Petacchi won it from Renshaw, Hushovd and McEwen. Petacchi rates his chances post-race thus:“I’m not sure that Cavendish could beat me…”

Edgy DC Jul 05 2010 07:12 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

I had no idea Armstrong was still un-retired. A stray dog!

Frayed Knot Jul 05 2010 10:21 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

I think Lance wanted one more go around with a team built around him. Last year his comeback was on too short notice and he wound up being a member of a team which already featured one-time TdF winner and eventual 2009 champion Alberto Contador. This season he has most of last year's team supporting him while Contador is with a new crew. Tough time for the sprinters again today. Stage 2 with some medium-sized climbs towards the end wasn't really going to be a sprinters stage anyway, but another series of wrecks pretty much cemented that. The result was a kind of rider protest over the lay out of the stage (although the biggest problem was really an ill-timed rainstorm) where the pack intentionally finished in a mass indifference with no late attempts at individual breakouts where everyone gets the same time. The only exception was stage winner, Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, who was the only survivor of the early breakout and was miles out ahead when all the carnage occurred. He wound up not only winning the stage but did so by enough time where he takes the leader's Yellow Jersey and will probably hold it for another few days as well.

Frayed Knot Jul 07 2010 07:34 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Tuesday's Stage 3, with numerous treks over cobble-stoned streets in northern France, took an expected toll on the race, including; - yellow jersey wearer Sylvain Chavanel, who had numerous flat tires causing him to lose not only his seemingly safe 3+ minute lead but another minute as well and fall to 5th overall - Lance Armstrong who had a late blowout which was enough to drop him off the pace and from 5th to 18th overall - Frank Schleck whose crash and injuries were enough to make him withdraw from the race entirely. Not only a good rider by himself (won the Tour de Suisse) but he filled a role as a teammate and strong support rider for his brother Andy who was last year's runner-up Out of the expected contenders, Andy Schleck (currently 6th), two-time runner-up Cadel Evans (3rd), and last year's winner Alberto Contador (9th) were the main gainers from yesterday's stage. Also, Swiss rider Fabian Cacellara re-gained the yellow jersey he had lost the previous day and leads by 23 seconds going into today's 153 K mostly flat stage from Pas de Calais heading SE towards central France.

Frayed Knot Jul 11 2010 06:23 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Stick a fork in Lance cuz he's done! Already a minute or two behind several of the other heavy hitters due to tire blowouts on the cobblestones in Stage 3, in today's 8th stage, the first one in the Alps where the climbers and best all-around riders start to wrest the tour and leaders jerseys away from the sprint specialists and separate the contenders from the pretenders, none of the big names could afford to lose any ground and Lance lost a ton of it. First, in part due to becoming a domino in three separate crashes early in the stage, he had to burn energy just to get back to the main pack but then (due either to the crashes or to advancing age) couldn't hang with the big boys when they picked up the pace going up this year first major hills. As a result he's some 13 minutes behind the main potential winners and is virtually assured of not even being a factor in this his last race except as a helper to his highest ranking teammate, American Levi Leipheimer (there's a name for you). He could even win a stage or two to grab a last shot at glory but no way is he making up that gap. Aussie Cadel Evans is the current leader and is fully capable of winning it all Last year's runner-up Andy Schleck - winner of today's stage - is in 2nd overall, 20 seconds back Last year's winner Alberto Contador is in 3rd 1:01 back Leipheimer's 8th, 2:14 behind Between Lance, Tiger, and Roger Federer, some big trees are falling this year.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Jul 11 2010 07:08 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Good. Now he can come back the USA and be a full-time fraud like his Texas buddies Clemens and Pettitte.

The Second Spitter Jul 11 2010 09:40 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Interesting that Chris Horner was doing the domestique duties for Lance after he got dropped but then disappeared up the road for some reason. He ended up down 4:05 on the stage (vs Lance @~12). I guess Bruyneel pulled the plug on Lance's 2010 campaign mid-stage. Horner gives an interview post-Stage 8 here: http://www.versus.com/cycling/videos/in ... t-stage-8/

The Second Spitter Jul 15 2010 08:10 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

So Lance crashes out of the Tour and the thread dies? Fickle, fickle, fickle. Cavendish wins Stage 11 in a sprint over Petacchi - his 3rd stage win in this year's Tour and 13th all-time (the most TdF wins stages of any active sprinter). Meanwhile Aussie Mark Penshaw (and team-mate of Cavendish) gets chucked out of the Tour for using his head -- literally -- after head-butting Kiwi rival Julian Dean during the final sprint (glad to see the ANZAC spirit is alive and well). The green jersey leader-board is as follows: 1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 161 pts 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 157 3 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha 138 4 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia 132 And if the battle for the green jersey isn't enough to keep your interest in this year's Tour, allow me present the following photographs from Stage 11. (May the Lawgiver bless those red and white polka dots.)

The Second Spitter Jul 15 2010 09:43 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Here's a video of the Renshaw headbutt ... he headbutts Dean three times. On a bike, that takes some skill. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cycling/ ... utostart=1

Frayed Knot Jul 16 2010 06:39 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

[quote="The Second Spitter"]Here's a video of the Renshaw headbutt ... he headbutts Dean three times. On a bike, that takes some skill.

Especially at what was probably 35 mph or more at that point.

So Lance crashes out of the Tour and the thread dies?

Nah, just hadn't gotten around to things for a while.

The race for the Yellow is looking for all the world like a two-man race.
I last left off with Aussie Cadel Evans in the lead and suggested that could last for a while. Well it lasted about half a stage as he was dropped badly mid-way through the next day. The names remaining near the top are last year's 1 & 2 only in reverse order as Luxembourg's Andy Schleck holds a 41 second edge over defending champ Alberto Contador. Schleck's been more aggressive so far, spending one climb testing breakaways from the head of the pack but Contador matched him at each try so that mano-a-mano show-down will probably be revived in a few days.

The Alps stages were somewhat less this year as the biggest test is expected to come when they hit the Pyrenees. Two more stages remain of hilly, though not mountainous, days before then. Probably not much change before then barring something weird.

Frayed Knot Jul 19 2010 03:06 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Alberto Contador takes yellow jersey in stage 15 On the 2nd day in the Pyrenees today, race leader Andy Schleck tries to attack on the way up the mountain in order to increase his slim (31 seconds) lead. But just seconds into his run his chain jumps off causing him about a half-minute or so on the side of the road fixing it. That time gave Contador a chance to pass him and reach the top first, eventually making up not only the 31 second deficit but 8 seconds more. There's some question among TdF enthusiasts whether what Contador did - taking advantage of the rival's mechanical problem - was dirty pool or not, although Schleck also continued to lose time to him during the descent to the end of the race long after the problem had been fixed. But, either way, two-time winner (2007 & 2009) Contador now has an 8 second lead with two more mountain stages left in the Pyrenees. Schleck, who can't be happy after today even if he is willing to cut Contador's tactics some slack, needs to make up maybe 2 minutes total over the next two stages as he'll need the buffer in advance of the time-trial stage as Schleck is considered certain to lose some time when that stage arrives later in the week.

Frayed Knot Jul 20 2010 03:27 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

A mere 200K ride today with four monster climbs. Lance was part of a 10-man breakaway in a last attempt at winning a stage but he couldn't out-sprint the younger boys at the end and finished 6th. He and the group gained a handful of minutes on the overall leaders but none of them were close enough to make a dent in the main standings. The 8-second lead Contador has over Schleck stayed the same. Rest day on Wednesday, then one more mountain stage on Thursday - one where the day ends at the top of the mountain. That stage, plus the individual time trial on Saturday, are the ones where the two leaders will fight it out.

Edgy DC Jul 20 2010 05:49 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

So that South African with the goofy name won this, right?

Frayed Knot Jul 20 2010 06:24 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

[quote="Edgy DC":1ajroq1g]So that South African with the goofy name won this, right?[/quote:1ajroq1g] No, but now that you bring it up, after a month-plus of watching various parts of the World Cup, the British Open, and the TdF, I came back from the All-Star break wondering why none of the announcers in the baseball games I was watching had British accents. I had gotten used to listening to all those chaps.

Frayed Knot Jul 23 2010 07:12 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Thursday's final mountain stage came down to a head-to-head between the two top riders as they left the rest of the field behind ... and then nothing much happened. Oh they each took brief turns trying to sprint away from the other as they neared the finish line at the top of Col de Tourmalet, but neither could shake his opponent so they pretty much put those ideas away and just struggled to the top together. That Schleck got the official victory by the length of a wheel hardly matters as his 8 second deficit still stands and Contador's expected advantage in Saturday's time trial stage (probably a minute or two) means that, barring a disaster, this year's tour is almost certain to wind up in the same 1-2 order as last year's. Other than Saturday's individual TT, it's a mostly flat day today plus Sunday's largely flat and largely ceremonial trek into Paris. both of which will give the sprinters a couple more chances to wrangle over that title.

Edgy DC Jul 23 2010 07:16 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

[quote="Frayed Knot":oyhkayvs][quote="Edgy DC":oyhkayvs]So that South African with the goofy name won this, right?[/quote:oyhkayvs] No, but now that you bring it up, after a month-plus of watching various parts of the World Cup, the British Open, and the TdF, I came back from the All-Star break wondering why none of the announcers in the baseball games I was watching had British accents. I had gotten used to listening to all those chaps.[/quote:oyhkayvs] I thought, occurring concurrently with the British Open, it was funny that Americans completely lost interest in both events once their disgraced representative fell out of contention. They each became such small blips on the American radar that they were hard to distinguish.

The Second Spitter Jul 23 2010 07:21 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Great now that the mountain stages are over, I'll resume posting in this thread (yeah, I'm fickle too) -- to quote the Great Mario Cipollini (my favorite cyclist of all-time) -- "This year I'll quit before the mountains to have sex with a beautiful girl on a beach in Tuscany" -- after that comment his team wasn't invited back to the TdF for 3 years.

The Second Spitter Jul 24 2010 01:29 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Cavendish, sans his favorite lead-out man (and new WWE performer) Mark Renshaw, takes Stage 18 after a fugly sprint over Dean and Petacchi to claim his 5th stage win in this year's Tour. Cavendish leeched off Petacchi's team in the last 2km, including Petacchi himself, in a textbook example of how to win a sprint stage without a supporting team. The kid is a freak and IMO the greatest sprinter since Super Mario. Petacchi actually reclaimed the green jersey after Hushovd committed harakiri by trying to lead a breakaway into the wind. Cavendish, who crashed in an earlier stage before the final sprint, thereby getting zero points, must have the psychological edge for the final sprint stage into Paris, in what promises to be a thrilling finish. Stage 18 : Jul 23, Salies-de-Bearn - Bordeaux, 198 km 1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia 4.37.09 2 Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions 3 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini 4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha Top 5 on Points table with previous in parens: 1 Alessandro Petacchi 213 (was 2nd with 187 points) 2 Thor Hushovd 203 (was 1st with 191 points) 3 Mark Cavendish 197 (was 3rd with 162 points) 4 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil 167 (was 4th with 149 points) 5 Robbie McEwen 162 (was 5th with 138 points) Stage 19 will be the time-trial -- expected the above the Top 3 to job big-time.

Frayed Knot Jul 25 2010 07:09 PM Re: Tour de France - 2010

Cavendish is just a ridiculous sprinter. Even matched up against the other best sprinters in the world there's no one who can touch him over the last 100 meters or so of a race. The TT provided a few surprises - mainly that, possibly due to an increasing wind as the day wore on, most of the top riders finished well down the list on the 52K stage. Contador & Schleck had a big enough buffer to make themselves safe enough, although there was some shuffling in the top 10 including a swap of #s 3 & 4 as Denis Menchov claiming the final honor on the podium at the expense of Samuel Sanchez. Pettacchi held onto the Green Jersey holding off Cavendish & Hushvold. Lance goes out in his final tour in 23rd place and did help his team to the overall team win. Top American was Chris Horner in 10th. Leipheimer was one of those who didn't have a good TT and dropped to 13th by the end.

The Second Spitter Jul 27 2010 12:48 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

[quote="Frayed Knot"]Cavendish is just a ridiculous sprinter. Even matched up against the other best sprinters in the world there's no one who can touch him over the last 100 meters or so of a race.

He's 25 and he has already won more TdF stages than Cipollini, Zabel and Indurain. At the rate he's winning stages, he'll smash Eddy Merckx's all-time record before he turns 30. You'd also back him to beat Zabel's six green jersey wins and 4 Milan-San Remo's* (Cavendish already has one). I also like the fact Cavendish refuses to identify himself as English, but rather as a Manx (a person from the Isle of Man).


* The Milan-San Remo is a Spring classic held every March -- the course is as flat as Kate Moss and regarded the most prestigious one-day race for sprinters.

Pettacchi held onto the Green Jersey holding off Cavendish & Hushvold.

I can't remember as less deserving green jersey winner. Oh wait, I can: Erik Zabel x 6.

What's sorta interesting is that Cavendish is Zabel's protégé, but is much more like Cipollini , whereas Petacchi who is Cipollini's protégé, is more like Zabel. (Zabel and Cipollini were the big two sprint rivals from the late 80/90's, Zabel was much more successful in the TdF and M-SR but is also a self-confessed drug cheat (I think he used the Gary Sheffield excuse) and cycled on a team filled with drug cheats, whereas there was never, even the slightest rumour that Cipo was doping, throughout his career)

Frayed Knot Jul 27 2010 08:07 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

I also like the fact Cavendish refuses to identify himself as English, but rather as a Manx (a person from the Isle of Man). I learned only recently that the Isle of Man is not technically part of the UK (or the EU) but is a semi-autonomous entity of it's own. Besides, 'The Manx Missile' makes for a cool nickname.

The Second Spitter Jul 29 2010 03:09 AM Re: Tour de France - 2010

How would you rate participation in this thread compared to last year? This year we got 4 contributors and averaged better than a post for each stage. Importantly, there were no negative comments, like, "how can you follow a sport with men wearing brightly-colored tights?". Granted we resorted to a cheap publicity stunt by posting photos of hot French chicks in bikinis, but I'm calling it a success. Who knows, next year we may even get a female to post here.