TDF Discussion - here be spoilers

**tan1a** · 07-25-2009, 04:08 PM

my 10 cents worth from down here in Kiwiland - have loved seeing Hayden Roulston in a couple of breakaways, he's done an awesome job in his first tour. Watch out for him next year

**tulip** · 07-25-2009, 05:18 PM

I've been watching on both Versus and Eurosport (UK and France). So glad I have some other options to get more well-rounded coverage.

**Zen** · 07-25-2009, 06:22 PM

Watching the Versus rebroadcast someone interviewing Prince Lance just called AC a "loose cannon"

Biased much?

**redrhodie** · 07-25-2009, 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by Zen

Watching the Versus rebroadcast someone interviewing Prince Lance just called AC a "loose cannon"

Biased much?

Pretty sure that was Robbie Ventura, not Lance.

It's definitely interesting to ponder where AC will end up. I think if he ends up at Garmin, it's going to be really bad for Tyler Farrar, because the team won't work for the sprints with a great GC contender like Contador. Remember Robbie McEwen with Cadel? Not good.

I think he'd be perfect on Caisse d'Epargne. Rabobank could use him, too.

edit, misread Zen.

**Trekhawk** · 07-25-2009, 06:41 PM

What a great stage. I really enjoyed watching the tousel between the top GC guys. I think Bradley Wiggins did a great job and will be one to watch at the next tour. When he started the tour he was hoping to make it into the top 20 so he must be beside himself with his result.

Enjoyed watching Franco Pellizotti during this tour and glad he held his polka dot jersey.

Yay for Lance! I was never a big fan but he seems to be growing on me. Lots of the press over here before the Tour said that he was past it and would not be a threat to the top guys. I guess that made me want to see him prove them wrong.

Sure does make for an interesting Tour.
Looking forward to 2010.

**endurancerider** · 07-25-2009, 07:26 PM

slam dunk for Contador. But we do have some people to watch--definitely Wiggins, and Lance (again), plus Andy Schleck...

**Zen** · 07-25-2009, 08:15 PM

And Tony Martin.

**papaver** · 07-25-2009, 10:45 PM

Originally Posted by Zen

And Tony Martin.

especially him.

**cylegoddess** · 07-26-2009, 03:09 AM

Ladies your giving our commentators here in Oz a run for their money! I wish I had you all live when the tour was on

'That Andy Schleck ,if only I was 19 years old...'
Me too, and anyone else... still
As in earlier, Ill fight you for him!

__________________
I think I may have posted this but BF said," ... schlecks ; I love them and want to have their babies!" I'll fight HIM for them!!

**chutch** · 07-26-2009, 06:30 AM

When Lance was being interviewed yesterday, he said something to the effect of he'd ride his race and Alberto can ride his race... if any of Lance's teammates from his 7 victories had said something like that they'd be totally reprimanded for not supporting the team leader.

I have been a big Lance fan in the past. But my feelings about him have totally changed this year. He came into the Tour with a big chip on his shoulder. It's frustrating because I expected him to be a bigger person.

**BabyBlueNTulsa** · 07-26-2009, 06:36 AM

Originally Posted by chutch

He came into the Tour with a big chip on his shoulder.

I'm sorry.. what chip is that?

**jobob** · 07-26-2009, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by endurancerider

slam dunk for Contador. But we do have some people to watch--definitely Wiggins, and Lance (again), plus Andy Schleck...

Originally Posted by Zen

And Tony Martin.

Yes, lots of new & old faces to root for. It'll be excellent.

And "Chicago's Christian VanDeVelde" (I didn't know VDV changed his name

) -- hopefully he returns to top form.

It was interesting to watch the dynamics of the various teams and how they varied depending on the types of contenders they had in the race.

Columbia clearly put its top priority into the sprinter's/green jersey race and had no significant GC contenders.

And Astana had no sprinters, it was all about the GC for them. As with Saxo Bank, as far as I could tell.

The teams that tried to do both had a rough go of it - I'm thinking of Garmin and Cervelo in that regard, among others of course (though Thor smash lucked out with the relegation of Cavendish). It seems to be really successful in either the GC or the green nowadays, a team has to be speciallized for either one or the other.

**spazzdog** · 07-26-2009, 12:59 PM

With the past "enhancement" contoversies and this years LeMond pissiness re: Contador, I got to thinking (always dangerous)... so I pulled out my stats from past tours and looked at distance/time (total) of each champion's last win compared to this year. Here's what I got - tell me what you think (be nice

. I have a little trouble with math & time )

Lance 2005 3608 km/86:15:02 2009 3459.5 km/85:53:59
He was about 21min 2sec faster this yr over a course 148.5 km shorter

Contador 2007 3550 km/91:00:23 2009 3459.5 km/85:48:35
He was about 5hr 12min faster this yr over a course 90.5 km shorter

Sastre 2008 3558.5 km/87:52:52 2009 3459.5 km/86:14:56
He was about 1hr 38 min faster this yr over a course 99 km shorter

Now I know I didn't include "difficulty" in this - I don't know how. That aside, do any of these look "interesting" in the "improvement" category?

I'm just sayin'...

your ever-lovin' spazzdog

**papaver** · 07-26-2009, 01:07 PM

spazzdog, you really can't compare those. This tour was not as hard as previous years.

**Jones** · 07-26-2009, 04:29 PM

[QUOTE=Running Mommy;449321]I am so on the fence here...

Back when Contador won I was happy for the team, but he came across to me as being a bit arrogant. I actually thought maybe it was a cultural thing, and that maybe I was just not accustomed to his mannerisms.

When Astana was excluded from the tour last year I was livid. I actually boycotted it and couldn't tell you who won. I felt bad for both Alberto and Levi. I thought it was a shiesty move by the tour officials.

When Lance announced he was coming back I wasn't all that happy. I loved watching him back in the day. But I just wanted to remember him the way he was, and was concerned that he would have lost some of his luster.
I was also not pleased to see him wedge his way back on to Astana. They were already a cohesive team, and I knew it was going to end up the way it did.
As the tour unfolded I was not happy with Contador. His lack of deference for the team seemed very selfish to me. But after reading some of the posts here I realized that all wasn't as it seemed, and that I needed to look at it from a wider view.

But as I sit here now I have very mixed emotions. While I can't deny that AC is a huge talent, I'm still not all that fond of him. I can't pin it down, but it really has nothing to do with Lance. And I'm very curious as to what team colors he will be wearing next year. I think a spanish team like Euskatel would be a good fit for him. Perhaps a team that doesn't already have a gc contender.
It will be interesting to see the roster for radio shack, and also whether or not they get a tour bid. You never know, it's not a guarantee.
QUOTE]

I couldn't agree more and I absolutely hate the pistol shooting thing when AC wins a stage.

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