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Despite all the drug taking, & the sport's inability to rid its self of scandal, I'm still looking forward to this "Greatest" of all sporting events!
I'm hoping to get to London to watch the opening Time Trial. Ideally I'd love to spend a week in the Alps when the Tour passes through  :)
Favourite this year seems to be Alexander Vinokourov, my outside bets would be with Cadel Evans or Michael Rogers, one day an Aussie will win this.

Any other Tour fans out there?

I loved watching this on Channel 4 in the days of Indurain, etc.  Nowadays I tend to miss most of the highlights shows but I'll watch it if I catch it.

The drugs thing slightly taints everything but I work on the assumption nowadays that they're all using them - some are just better at not being caught than others.

The mountain stages are always the highlights for me, especially Alpe d'Huez.  Having been up that road in a coach on a skiing trip I'd have to say you need to be on mind-bending drugs to want to attempt it!

i will be sat watching the tour live on eurosport as i have done for years

valverde is my tip for winning it although he is a little inexperianced i think

he has the abilty to control the tour for the next 4 or 5 years

Me too.

Went up that road this year and the coach takes about 5mins longer than a TDF competitor. Id still rather ride up it than down though. very scary.........

BTW anyone fancy a blonde trip over to watch the alps next year

my brother went and saw the final stage a couple of years back that would be impressive

but the alps would be unreal

not to far up though as i hear you have to park at the bottom and walk up

and i might need a push

coming down would be fun!

I can't get down to London, my kids need taxi-ing around this weekend :(

I think theirs coverage on ITV4. I used to enjoy the old CH4 highlights programmes, with Phil Ligget & Paul Sherwin.

Lumped a bit of cash on the two Aussies for the win.

How tough is Robbie McEwen, crashed 20K from the finish, & reappears from nowhere to take the sprint win, awsome.

Yep, awesome stuff.  I would like to see Andreas Kloden win overall, but it will be tough

moreau but it depends if he goes for it or not

i think valaverde could put enought time on vino today to make it very difficult for him

Rasmussen now 2nd favourite, Pyrennes are really tough this year, he's riding well enough to gain a lot of time over the other main contenders, & his team seems to be pretty strong enough to control the race.

i quote like the look of mayo and moreau

mayo was tipped as the next induran about 6 years back but hasnt delivered always falling back one stage and reluctant to attack the leaders he isnt a bad time trialist
moreau showed a little bit off aggression today but didnt seem to want to go full out i think he has plenty in reserve

the problem with rasmussen is that he wont get the full team support as his team has a good time trialist not too far back and although he will have freedom to take mountain points i think he will be kept back to work for his team leader

but if he hasa good TT next week and his leader doesnt over take him i think he might get the nod to go for yellow

The 66-1 i took for rasmussen is looking good!

nice one snasher but to be safe i would lay it off before saturday to ensure you get your stake back and let the rest ride

Cyclists shouldn't do drugs

http://www.cyclinglogue.com/about-cycling/robert-millar-is-no-longer-a-man.html

Vinokourov  ;hattip; that guy is one of the toughest riders ever.

Really needs someone to beat the cheating Rassmussen, looks like Contador is the only one likely now.

that would be some result is Contador could manage an upset here. Rasmussen isn't very good at time trials so I wouldn't back him at the moment.

I don't think Contador is much of a time trialist either, he is natural climber though reminds a bit of Pantani with those sudden bursts of speed on the mountains. I think Rasmussen has enough time to hold off Evans, Cloden and Leipheimer in the final time trial now. Also we still have one big mountain stage left on Wednesday, where Contador will no doubt attack again and Rasmussen seems to be the only one capable of following.

I have enjoyed this years tour and to be honest doping or no doping its great sporting event. Its alot more interesting now we don't have Lance dominating every tour.

Yeah, good on Vinokourov - he'll show that cheat Rasmussen who's boss!!

Ooops.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/6914301.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/6914301.stm)

Oh dear it neverends. Lets face it just about all of them are on something or the other and accusing each other of cheating is hypocrisy at its best.

It's a farce. They all cheat. It's as much a matter as who can avoid being caught as it is about cycling.

Damn, my hopes for a clean & uncontroversial race were never going to happen  :(

It's such a shame.

It's a really good event that is spoiled by cheating.
Difficult to see how they will ever stop this.  Vinikourov was in his last Tour, had a crash and then thought that they only way to compete at the top level was to take drugs (if he wasn't taking them already)

Agreed.  The sport is riddled with cheats and has no credibility left.

They shoudl just let them take absoulutely anything, then they could be on a level playing field and we'd get to see the whole of the tour in about a week!

It's amazingly sad really. Years ago I watched guys like Joop Zoetemelk, Bernard Hinault and the likes riding fantastic races and the tour was an event I could spend my entire summer holiday watching. These days I can't be botherede with it anymore because of crap like this.

Rasmussen out as well now.  Total farce of a sport. 

Tour De Drugs - RIP Cycling

If I'd turned up to the Prologue in London with my BMX I might have been able to hold on for a podium finish at this rate.

It seems he was never in Mexico, as he claimed, but in Italy. I cant believe the team has JUST found this out. I suspect the team has kicked him out after pressure from the cycling authorities, who never wanted him in the Tour at the start.
The doctors (I assume they are doctors) who provide the riders with the drugs & the medical knowledge to try & mask doping need to be caught, & locked up.
I guess its still a few generations away before the sport can be considered to be clean.

It's not necessarily drugs though, I was reading about that Spanish doctor and it seems what he would do is take blood from the riders, separate the red blood cells from the plasma and then the week before the race would put the red blood cells back in the rider (does that sound like a 5 year old has written it?) which would give them a performance boost.

I believe this is what Vinokourov got caught on - the fact there were 2 types of red blood cells meant he'd been given extra (of someone elses) to boost his performance.

This IMO the lowest moment of a great sport, I honest feel very down about all this as to watch the big mountain stages on the tour and other races is one of the geniune sporting moments of any year.

I hope cycling sorts itself out as it really is a great sport, time for total re shake of the way sport is run top to bottom. I think there is an arguement that cycling does more to deter cheating, i doubt anyone who makes the next 100m mens final at the next olympics will do it legally

This started back in the 1970s in athletics. The theory is that when you take a load of blood out of the athlete, the body then replaces the lost red blood cells (which carry oxygen round the body). Then, just before the race, you put the old red blood cells back and the athlete can get more oxygen to his muscules than he could previously.

For many years this was undetectable. I think the fact that Vinokourov was caught with someone else's red blood cells means it was a last-minute panic measure after he dropped back after the first week - using your own blood needs a few weeks preparation.

Back to Rasmussen, lets just remember he hasn't given a positive test...... yet he is guilty?
I think sacking him before the end of the tour was a bad mistake, negative publicity for the team sponsers and not mention another nail in the coffin of this once great sport.......

If he won the tour (still with no positive test) everyone could celebrate, the team could get the publicity and the tour ends with a real winner. Then if the team still want to sack him, leave it till a month or 2 later and do it.

Would this not have been a better way to handle it? and of course I had an interest in Rasmussen at 66-1!

But then the sport risks another Floyd Landis.

But as i said there is no positive test result so you can't compare to landis who had a positive result.

Landis crossed the finish line in Paris with no positive test result, just like Rasmussen may have done.

That was my point.

Ramussen broke the team and the doping rules my missing tests and lying about there whearabouts when they missed the test

good riddence to bad rubbish

now i wish david miller would shut up i think all drug cheats should be banned for life

iban mayo now failed a drug test after the events finished

i do hope they can sort something out over the next 11 months

i really didnt enjoy this years tour

Lets be honest, the way it is probably 40% of the field could fail a test at any time......