Le Grande Tour

Begins in London tomorrow. My money is on Valverde, but the race is more open than ever.

5 Brits taking part. Here's hoping for success in the Prologue - Wiggins or Millar, then more into Canterbury where T-Mobile will be working to get Mark Cavendish the stage win in the sprint.

I rode the course London to Canterbury last week - and the last 10 or so miles is a flat out drag with prevailing tail wind. Should be awesome to see the Pro's topping 40mph along this stretch. Expect a couple of riders to perhaps get away on the final cat 4 climb of the day before this, but they'll be reeled in to set-up the sprint.

Gonna be a good 3 weeks!

P.s. Yes, I know they're all on drugs. At least it's a level playing field 😛

Looking forward to the prologue this afternoon! Going to be great, I think Vinoukorov has a great chance to win this tour, go Vino!

Awesome stage today - Millar upfront in a group of 5 with 5mins gap on the Peleton.

Still looks like a group sprint in Canterbury the most likely end. Time for Cavendish to win the sprint! 🙂

i've never watched cycling until this year but after understanding the ideas behind how they ride it is quite fascinating. any of u enter in the thingy to win the cervelo? ;-)

Originally posted by kmac27
i've never watched cycling until this year but after understanding the ideas behind how they ride it is quite fascinating. any of u enter in the thingy to win the cervelo? ;-)

It is great to watch - quite Zen when they're just cruising along on flat stage, then edge of seat shouting stuff when they reach a sprint finish or hit the mountains 🙂

Not entering any competitions to win bikes - I've just ordered a new bike - full Carbon, full Ultegra - I'm not sure if I'll ride it or just sleep with it.

how do they calculate time in the tour? is it the first person from each team? also how are bonus points awarded. again i'm very new to the sport. first time viewer

Originally posted by kmac27
how do they calculate time in the tour? is it the first person from each team? also how are bonus points awarded. again i'm very new to the sport. first time viewer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France

Would take me far too long to type answer myself - happy reading 🙂

Do any of you think Rasmussen can keep the yellow jersey? It's going to be hard for him tommorow to not lose time in the time trial.

And what about the Danish team dropping him from their squad? Isn't this a bit coincidental seeming that he's leading the biggest cycling race in the world?

Originally posted by Ari Brenin Cymru
Do any of you think Rasmussen can keep the yellow jersey? It's going to be hard for him tommorow to not lose time in the time trial.

And what about the Danish team dropping him from their squad? Isn't this a bit coincidental seeming that he's leading the biggest cycling race in the world?

Word is that he's very likely to be outed before the end of the race - velonews.com has an article about it apparently, although I've not had chance to go read it myself. Shame as he'd done well, but was unlikely to be GC overall as he can't TT.

Cancellara will have a good shout tomorrow, he was 6 mins down on the peleton today as he was saving himself for the TT. GC will be won by one of Valverde, Evans or Kloden when they do the final reckoning in Paris. Closest race for years, awesome stuff, despite the shadow the Rasmussen saga looks to be casting.

What a fantastic ride by Vino......never stops fighting that guy - can't see him clawing back another 5 mins though, but you never know!!

And Rasmussen - time trial of his life - can he do that again in the last time trial??

Originally posted by Cityblue
What a fantastic ride by Vino......never stops fighting that guy - can't see him clawing back another 5 mins though, but you never know!!

And Rasmussen - time trial of his life - can he do that again in the last time trial??

The cynics will have both Vino and Rasmussen on drugs for their performances. I'm with the cynics I'm afraid.

Kloden or Evans for GC now.

i always hear gc but don't know what it means. anyone know. all that comes to mind is general captain.

any of you have cycling rollers? if so any suggesions. are kreitler cracked up to what their suppose to be.

Originally posted by kmac27
i always hear gc but don't know what it means. anyone know. all that comes to mind is general captain.

gc = general classification - the overall standings in the race to determine the winner.

Originally posted by rhb
The cynics will have both Vino and Rasmussen on drugs for their performances. I'm with the cynics I'm afraid.

Kloden or Evans for GC now.

With all the happenings over the history of pro cycling, whoever is winning will be considered suspect......

I for one, hope that the drugs culture in cycling can somehow be broken, but it's difficult - especially when you see people like David Millar being allowed to race again after admitting cheating - IMO anyone caught should be banned for life.

I see both Kloden and Evans had a tough time today, but still well in the hunt - will be interesting to see how they cope on the more difficult stage tomorrow!!!

I'd like Kloden to win in now....