blonde poker forum

Really got into this last year. Working from home it's easy to put it on in the background, listen to commentary and then look up at the key moments.
If anyone has any early thoughts on the tour then I'd like to hear them. I'm definitely not a cycling expert I just enjoy the event.

Was reading a preview and the Green Jersey points have changed and it seemed to suggest that it would be a negative for Cavendish. He's come pretty close in the last 2 years. Once he lost all points in a stage and last year had a fall before the tour meaning he didn't have the best prep. Really hoped it would be his year.

I think Dubai suggested A.Schlek ew at 8/1 last year but there is nothing like that available this time round. Is it still a 2 man tour?

I was considering Wiggins top 10 @5/6 and Cancellara to win 1 or more stage @17/20. These sound any good?

Love the tour, will be wasting my afternoons especially the mountain stages watching it.

Can only see 1 winner though, Contador's has already won the giro this year. I reckon a disqualification for doping is nearly as likely as him actually losing it on the road.

i think wiggens would be value for top 8 at 5/6 but i am a bus driver

wiggens is a top 5 contender brit or not

He just won the Dauphine which is a very mountainous tour, seems a fair price to me. He doesn't have to keep up with Contador and the Schlecks just keep pace with the rest.

I will take 4-5 Wiggins top 10 if anyone wants to lay it

does that mean your backing him to finish in top 10?

in that case even if i had the money i dont want the action

Where is it 5-6? I can only see 4-5 and can't get on- yes I think it's a bet

Nothing to do with patriotism. Don't know much about cycling but obviously know more about Wiggins as he's British.
Was just based on the fact that he came 4th 2 years ago.
Just thought last year was Sky's first year so they will have learnt from it and maybe that was the reason for a poor showing last year and I heard he was in better form this year winning an event a couple of weeks ago.

It was 5/6 at skybet earlier in the week. It was in their Bradley Wiggins specials but just checked and it is now 1/2.
The price was why I asked as I had seen 1/2, 4/7, 4/6 so thought 5/6 might have been value.

it was

Wiggins is top ten if he finishes, he will lose time in mountains though realistically he could make 2mins up on some of his rivals in the TT. I think he is battling in a tough group for 3rd-10th, the usual suspects. I don't like basso and think Evans is clear bet for 3rd. I like horner, so most bets attached to him. If you can get on at hills, top american at 2/1 looks good to me. I can't see past radioshack for team classification, movistar (Caisse d'épargne) normally go for this although there team doesn't look strong enough on paper.

I think the Sky team might be a bit short in the tough mountains, Uran will need to ride well in support of wiggins. They have a lot of power riders who can blast up a hill for short bursts but I think that is where they went wrong last year. They should conserve riders and follow, they don't have to make the race and put pressure on (Schlecks will need to do that).

King of the mountains, I've got three in the stable:

Amets Txurruka
Egoi Martienz
Rein Taaramae

Top two as Euskatel love a rider in the break and then Rein as I think he'll drop down in GC and then want to do something.

I'm looking forward to it, hopefully we won't lose too much money to the punters. Wiggins won't be a good result on the index, the punters keep backing him!

My Predictions:

G.C.

1. Contador
2. A. Schleck
3 Wiggins

King of the Mountains:

Contador or Schleck

Green Jersey

Cavendish (will win 5/6 stages)

Best Team

Trek

Winner of TT(stage 20) Tony Martin (if he is still in)

also, Whats the odds on Nic Roche making the top ten in Paris?

Pedals up, we're off. I fancy Cav's team mate Matt Goss to be famous after the first stage of the tour! If it goes to the sprinters then Hushvold isn't going to be far off though I am keen to take on the shakin stevens about Gilbert today.

Edvald Boassan Hagen ew for me today.

Always been a eurosport man for tdf but what do others think eurosport or orb4?

Crash!
Wonder who's down?

I think Contador was 2 minutes down today! Exciting first stage, though Gilbert romped it!

1'20" behind the winner, but more importantly 1'14" down on Schleck, Wiggo, & Evans

Can anyone explain how Schleck and Wiggins got a time 6 seconds off the leader please?

Crash within last 3kms so they get given same time as 3rd place finisher

A good day for the GC today as Andy Schleck puts another 20+ seconds between him and Contador. Schleck now favourite and I think Contador is now worth backing at 6/4, although I doubt I'll be able to do it as I can not stand the dope!

contador isnt worth backing at less than 2-1 as its still only 50/50 if he will finish race as i can see some drug scandal in near future

Politics aside, a 2 minute gap is not enough for the rest to best Contador over the next couple of weeks. Its great for the GC, can A Schelck keep the time in the Pyrenees and Alps. Its making for an exciting tour 2 stages in. 

I'll put £50 on Contador at 2/1. If you're offering Ironside?

do i look like a bookie?

ffs i wont even bet a £5 on a footy match at the moment never mind lay too lose £100

lol, all I'm saying is that Contador can put 2 mins on the field in the mountains in a couple of kms plus he's about 40 secs better than Schleck in the TT.

Anyone who saw the mountain TT in the Giro, when he didn't really need to try, will know the rest don't stand a chance!

He only won the last one by 39secs and a huge chunk of time was gained when Schlek's chain came off wasn't it?
Nobody has done the Giro, Tour double for ages have they? Might tell later on?

the well known drug cheat and ex team mate of wiggins who is jealous as hell of him is the only person in the media that doesnt think wiggens can make top 10
miller could/should of been leader of team sky if he didnt miss 2 years for his drugs ban

i would think contador is just a little over evens maybe 5/4 to make up the gap but i also think its evens that he will either quit or get suspended before the end of the tour

il lay whatever Betfair is + 0.10 on top Delboy if u want to bet Contador. So if he is 2.6 to back, u can have 2.7- thats more than fair for friendly wager

Marco Pantani did it in 98', think that is the last time.

I'm happy with this

£50 it is. Set price when you're next on the thread


Thanks Dubai

2.64/2.66

So 2.74- call it 2.75 which is 7-4. Gl, £87.50-£50

Dubai, is there a sport you dont have an interest in?

Womens

obv this is just a generalisation i am sure dubai is all man and likes a bit of female beach volleyball and waterpolo when the clubs are shut like the rest of us

Interesting finishing to the stage, can't remember Contador grimacing as much on a climb.

Layers make Contador shakin stevens for the GC win.

His book is phenominal phenominomal, very good apparently

Cavendish wins today

Pretty sick, just seen that Cavendish's girlfriend is one of my all-time favourite Page 3 girls - Peta Todd.

No wonder he thinks he's so brilliant.

LOL where did he come from?

Incredible from Cav. WP Dubai

LOL - from Guardian coverage.

4.27pm: There's no sign of Cavendish anywhere in the HTC train. He's not going to win today.

4.28pm: OH YES HE IS!!! CAVENDISH TAKES THE STAGE!!!

the sorenson (sp?) crash was truly bizzarre. you see him being thrown out of the pack into a ditch but never see his bike which keeps going, presumably attached to the motorbike he was next to

anyone watching? Thought decent chance of breakaway winning today but the group losing time quickly already, out of breakaway pack Jonny Hoogerland would be my pick but would need them to pick up to have a chance. He 30s currently having been as low as 10s

Peleton taken 2mins out of them in less than 10kms already,  and 90+kms left, so look cooked. Commentators fancy Hushovd

Yeah I am watching (cos Stars tournies are screwed again!), Hushovd seems like a good shout as he is the best climber of the elite sprinters. Boasson Hagen I reckon is a good shout with this type of finish.

I turned on and the breakaway was 9mins clear. I know they close them down for the Intermediate Sprint but they it shows how quickly they can catch them when they want.
Sounds like the finish will suit Gilbert. Cav's decent price for a "sprint" stage but had to do a lot of work yesterday.
Wish more bookies allowed ew betting in play. Thomas has been as close as Hushovd in finishes and like 10x the price.

think the breakaway got the nearly 12 minute lead then gave up lost 3 minutes in just over 10k without the pack doing much work

normally with a cpl of teams sharing the work they will take 1 minute back every 10k
so when i tuned in i thought they might have had a chance but didnt seem to be the intrest there

wpwp

evens as he crossed the line!

Ugh Wiggins looks in real trouble.

yeah he wont finish tour after that even if he gets back on the bike

 :'(
He's gone

absolute perfection over the last 2km from htc, noone else has a chance when they perform like that

gutted about wiggins

Cav looked genuinely devastated there when told about Wiggins

yeah, I think they won the World Championship Madison together

LOL did anyone just see that? A TV car totally wiped out a couple of riders.................

And I think some of the driving on Lincolnshire's roads is bad. Hope the 3 can stay away from the peloton!

Did you see the damage they caused? Shocking.

Used to be that the best drivers got to do the tour coverage...guess that's not the case anymore.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWT8yeHGA0U

(http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq167/Andr4w/jhoogerland.jpg)

Jurgen Van den Broeck crashed yesterday and tried to continue with 3 broken ribs, a broken shoulder blade and a collapsed lung!

the Tour is a bastard of the race...but most of these guys come up through the road racing circuit. Going through narrow village streets with a peleton of 150-200 riders and the only way to win it is to pick up points by winning sprints and all that. The pushing and shoving that goes on there is unreal and that at phenomenal speed. It's the scariest thing I have ever seen anyone do...the telly doesn't do it justice.

Ah yes, the kermis races...they are brutal. Loved watching them, would be WAY too scared to ride in them.

Watching the Tour for the first time, pretty fascinating so far. If you get some time it would be interesting to hear more about the politics of the peleton and any other interesting perspectives - would like to learn more to enjoy more.

lol, fair point..I was fearless on a bike when I was younger.

Who wins today please?

Petacchi ( blind stab in the dark TBH)

Could be a great finish today. Had to work hard to bring the break back. Could finally be a Pettachi day.

Cav in green!!!!

The Race for Yellow begins tomorrow.......

^^^

That was the first year I watched the tour. Indurain was a remarkable athelete, his resting heart rate was ludicrously low.

Really looking forward to the mountains tomorrow, one of the highlights of the sporting year are the classic mountain stages of the tour for me.

Hell yeah, think his resting rate was 28 bpm. Lemond winning on the last day of the Tour overhauling that deficit was the first tour I really watched. Not sure it would happen nowadays what with all the peleton getting the same time

Speculative punt today.. Nicky Roache, certainly 100/1.

Any good for S.Sanchez today? Love watching him descend.

Bink.

Contador looked as if he doesn't quite have it in his legs to make up the gap on GC.

VWP

Got to own up and say I wasn't on. I really like watching him so was hoping somebody would nudge me towards a bet.
Backed Pettachi yesterday thinking a long straight flat finish would suit and he was nowhere so decided not to leave it today.

I think it's make or break for Gilbert tomorrow in the pursuit of the Green so I expect him to have a go at least.
Liked the look of LL-Sanchez for the stage but I do like the sound of Tony Martin. HTC would love him to take some points off Gilbert.

Andy Schleck didn't look overly comfortable either.

what a ride from thor today, doubt anyone predicted that one

Going to be a day the big boys come out to play, really looking forward to watching this all afternoon.

No idea who is going to come out on top!

Just the highlights for me tomorrow. Reckon Frank the Tank will do the business though. Looks a brutal stage.

what a stage, don't remember seeing anything like that before, 9 of the top 10 in a break and no-one getting clear. the schlecks don't look to have enough at the moment, contador just biding his time, voeckler just amazing but the stand out for me right now is cadel, he just looks to be so strong and completely in control of this race, brought back every attack with ease. can't wait to see what happens when he decides to put in an attack

contador looked to struggle at times for me. his knee? Tough to see how he gains minutes on all of them

Voeckler is amazing.

Agree about Cadel

This might come down to the time trial unless the Alps sees one of them gain a chunk of time

Stalemate! I did not think Andy attacked too hard, though as Frank said, no one else was interested. I expected more from the two of them, now I will have to wait till the Alps.

Really chuffed with voeckler.  Managed to get a whole £8 on him at 140-1 to finish in top 3 on Betfair when their was the Vino crash at the front of the peloton with voekler in the breakaway.

As at this moment on Betfair I could lay it so that i get

Tommy Voekler    1st   £132
                         2nd  £1182
                         3rd   £1182
                         4th or worse £70

or alternatively let it ride so that I get Top 3 £1112.  4th or worse £0

Cheering Tommy on like crazy and would love to see him hold on and i beginning to think he could do it.

What do I do?

Thought it was a pretty meh stage for a high mountain one. Too much of the main GC contenders looking at each other, instead of going for it with the exception Andy Schlek.

Contador clearly has some issue whether that be the Knee or lack of form. He rarely ever sits there in the bunch on mountains.

Voekler is the greatest, was a fan before he got in yellow this year. His suicidal breakaway attempts are always lots of fun.

So much this.

I think since Contador had the fall early on, and the others gained on him, they've been content to wait for Contador to make his move to catch up, and not risk blowing themselves out before they have to respond to Contador.

woke up this morning to lower prices on Voekler

£533 if he top threes
£200 4th or worse

£8 stake

Happy days

Alpe d'huez on Friday is shaping up to be immense.

SAndy

It's the only must watch stage IMO...Alpe is immense.

Now that most of the field is "clean" its much more difficult to produce the artificially aided superhuman efforts to make a huge breakaway up the mountains and thus take a big chunk of time out of similarly gifted riders

eg Contador/Cadel/Schleck/Basso and Sanchez are all great, but no one can get a drug induced advantage over the other

Discuss

I don't think anywhere near the majority of the field is clean, in fact I would be surprised if any of the GC contenders are riding totally within the rules. There is a massive black cloud around Contador's activities in the last year or so.

I pretty much take it as read that they are all cheating but still love the drama of the tour.

i cant believe that on friday TDF isnt starting live on eurosport till 1pm on friday normally they start at 10 or 11 for the big alp stages

I reckon Basso will have a good shout on l'Alpe. He's better than all those mugs.

Shame we don't have a proper Dutch mountain goat anymore, we used to pwn that feckin' hill.

actually, having a closer look at this week's schedule now and I reckon that Basso could well have a pop on Thursday. Absolutely brutal stage and that's where a lot will be decided (Though Voeckler won't win the Tour IMO and I can't really see Evans winning it)

What about ITV4. They started at 11am last week on one stage

edit: just checked, ITV don't start till 1:30

The stages don't start at the same time every day - look at the Time schedule on this page:

http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1900/etape_par_etape.html

Who wins the lot then please? I've heard people say nobody looks comfortable. Is it all to play for? Frank's pretty big odds for his time isn't he?
Has Cav won green? Are there serious concerns he won't get up the mountains? I know there is the chance of a crash but other than that will he deffo make it to Paris. He has for the last 2 years so wondered if there was any real chance he wouldn't make it.

At the prices give me Basso please (20-1'ish) If he can do something Thursday/Friday and pull clear of Evans (who is obv the best time trialist out of the top 4/5 ATM)  he'll win it.

Think Andy has way more in his legs than you all believe and will take minutes out of Evans this week. Expect him to be long odds on come next week

only just watched back yesterday's stage. interesting to see the race director interviewed afterwards stating that they'd redesigned the intermediate sprints around cav as it was ridic that he might go his whole career without winning green

+1

Yet to see the hammer from Andy, hes obv analysed the race and I expect to see fireworks in Alps.

Good discussion from Tighty reference performance. Was Ben Johnson the sprinter he was post 1988?? That was my thinking when I resisted backing AC.

Is the tour clean?? interesting wiki page highlighting doping cases....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_doping_cases_in_cycling

Pretty com to look at the fastest ascents of Alpe d'Huez.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpe_d%27Huez#Ascent_times

Those times would surely mean that Lance 'I've never taken drugs, nope, not me' Armstrong is, by quite some distance, the greatest sportsman who has ever lived, seeing as everyone else anywhere near him has either failed tests or been massively implicated in drug scandals.

All aboard the ASchleck express then.

I expect Frank to drift like a barge after today's stage. Sanchez to be no more than 25-1 after today...will be interesting to see what else happens during the crazy descents today.

I don't think much happens today does it? Surely a breakaway wins?
Sanchez and Voeckler style stage but they're to high up the GC to be allowed to get away.
Weather is bad so can't see anybody being overly aggressive on the descent.
Only Omega Pharma Lotto will work to bring back a break if Gilbert isn't in it. Think GC contenders and HTC would be happy to let a breakaway go and other teams will try and get somebody in the break.
Thomas or EBH will want to get in the break, Casar and Chavanel too. I think it could be a good stage for LL Sanchez but I think the winner comes from a breakaway and with time running out for stage wins, riders ruling themselves out of a decent GC place so now looking for stage wins and the day after a rest day then it's hard to narrow down.

Agree that a breakaway will win. But Sanchez is a crazy MF'er and he could well go wild on the descents today and take few seconds  out of the other guys as he could stay ahead of them on the final stretch.

Looks like Contador is back, good signs for the last week.

Schlek cracked, wow.

may as well just quote myself as today's stage has left me feeling exactly the same as saturday's

QFMFT.

Dissapointed with Basso though and obv massively wrong about Evans. :(

Wow Contador 2-1 for a few minutes, price gone now though

2-1 with me if u want to bet

No thanks, can't bring myself to take 2-1 on anyone right before the two most backbreaking stages in the tour. Just surprised that the price was snapped up that ridic fast. There surely has to be another twist or two in the tail. Bet365 have Evans @ evens now...surely the Lay of the week @ that price?

 Big discrepancy in bookies prices in the outright win market.

Ah ur posts reads like 2-1 was big. No worries

So, what dome think of Andy @ 8s after today? Dubai?

I dunno mate, trying to analyse it now- cant believe he looked so strong last week and done a minute in that stage. I know he dont like rain or descending etc- will prob have a small bet- the 8 s should be either 2 s or 50s, nothin inbetween

Yeah, I'm no expert but my old man is - he's been watching as in hospital every day. He said same about rain, I think worth speculative punt at 8s, like you say will look massive value or biggest waste of money ever after next two / three stages

This

Berti will attack like crazy on Thursday and Friday. If he doesn't break them there he's still got the time trial on saturday.

Bet365....usually cool - however I'm allowed £100 at 8/1 - bit of a joke isn't it? Tbh only wanted another 50 but v surprised

Big Day tomorrow. I think Contador and Schleck of the Andy variety will ride to the finish after dropping the rest and having at least two minutes on Evans.

FYP

Thoughts today anyone with Contadors rumoured injury problems?

I don't buy it. I can believe he doesn't feel as good as yesterday but who will? The other riders seem to be have been shadowing him so I think he has his attacks planned and will not worry about anyone else.

1 time AS?

This - repeatedly followed by Kinetic winning the 3.20 at Sandown ;-)

Bink one landed

Surely Laying Contador @ 5.2 or so to win the Tour is outstanding value???

got involved fairly heavily at 2/1, wish i'd had some 8/1 as well.

Come on AS.

Come on Andy keep the gap!

Contador's a goner!

Nice sweat ha

Amazing ride from Schlek. One that none of the others would ever be capable of

Voeckler the lay of all time at 18s. Be 1000s by tomoro night surely?

He's kept the jersey! Schleck has to do it all again...

Frank big runner tomoro.

I heart voeckler

great ride from andy, proper old school

tomorrow could be amazing

FFS - how am I supposed to choose between this adn the cricket tomorrow?  Hopefully be raining at Lords again!!!

Amazing stage, best I have seen in the last few years.

Still think the Schleks have to attack tomorrow, Evans would be fave to make the 1:20 back on the time trial as it stands.

That was a great stage - happy with the 8s now and bit more at 13/2 after bet365 knocked me back - one time AS but work to do...I still think Frank may be a factor, how do we all think AS legs will be tomorrow

What price Frank tomoro? Anyone wanna lay anything before prices are out?

uuurgghh- no lol

I am no cycling judge and wouldn't really want to lay a price but would be pretty surprised if he was much bigger than 5/2.....maybe even shorter.  I would be a big backer at anything bigger than 3/1.

I caught todays stage on a tv in work with the sound on mute. Loved it, can not wait for the highlights programme tonight, I missed how AS got away. Great team work by team leopard trek, with Monfort putting a shift in!

Gutted I am on the road tomorrow, I am expecting more of the same.

so did everyone watching on itv, he did it during an ad break

Voekler is god :)

Top 3  (140-1)

Safely layed on Monday for a nice earner anyway

Franck Schleck is between 9/4-3/1...maybe I am a cycling judge after all!!!!  You a backer at 3/1 Dubai??  Prob  bit tight for me....def close to a bet though

Eurosport FTW!

Eurosport realtime for me and ITV4 for highlights!

Alhough his tour has gone, I can see AC going for it tommorow. Not been his tour obv, though I think he'll want to leave a mark. Although I could be way off the mark!

Just caught up on the highlights programme.

Fabulous stage today.  Great ride by Schleck but was so pleased that Voeckler kept the yellow jersey for another day at least.  I really hope he makes the podium at the very least.

And my favourite Tour De France stage returns tomorrow - Alpe D'Huez.  It's been a while since it was on the Tour.  It was going up this on a coach every day on a skiing trip in 1990 that I really got hooked to the Tour - I couldn't believe how steep it was and thought anyone wanting to go up it on a bike must be insane (never mind the other 100 odd kilometres and other climbs!)

It's great to have such a wide open race so late in the game.  One final chance tomorrow for the climbers to put some distance between themselves and the time triallists before Saturday.  Potentially we could get something as close as the LeMond vs Fignon epic (albeit not quite the drama of a time trial on the final stage).

eurosport for me but ITV4 during the adds then switch back if i remember

The commentators on ITV4 are so much better, therefore Eurosport is my back up.

who commentates on ITV?. I am exclusively Eurosport as I like the commentators and never felt like trying ITV

Ad breaks aren't synced guys so flicking channels during breaks give 100% tv time, eurosport commentaries would be better if the Irish guy would slow down a little and open his mouth so we can hear 100% of what he is saying

only just seen cav's had 20 points deducted for missing the cutoff. champs elysees sprint will decide green now


phil liggett and paul sherwen

if cav missed the cut off today he is in trouble tomorrow

As Gatso said Liggett and Sherwen, grew up with them watching 30min highlights on Channel 4 in the 90's. The tour sounds all wrong without them commentating to me.

Can't believe the praise Voeckler received for yesterdays ride. Schleck was superb, rode away and nobody else even tried to attack all day. Cadel did all the work to close down the gap and dragged TV up the mountain. He sits in the wheel and takes more praise than both.
Andy's got to take some time off Evans today. Reckon Frank could be in yellow at the end of the day? Andy would fancy beating him in the time trial if it was close wouldn't he?

Fun and games already!

amazing already. this could be a real classic

what a start!!!!!!!!!!!

Frank Shleck game over!!!

Tommy V -  Cmon my man - sadly think he will blow up on the second climb.    Top 3 thats all i ask Tommy!!!

GG Evans??

No idea about Evans.  voekler cooked now

What happened at start?  was watching cricket.....

you need to watch the highlights, too much to explain but the basics are that contador did a contador

this is such a great stage

someone summarise please. will miss live and highlights FML

AC attacked on the first climb. AS took his wheel though TV and CE were dropped. I got rather excited thinking it was curtains for CE though it appeared he had a bike malfunction just as the top 2 were getting away. TV was cooked though. TV then made a mistake by riding on his own....CE dropped into the next group and single handedly pulled them up the climb and subsequently the 2nd climb up Col De Galibier. Hes done alot of work and big Frank has sat in waiting to mop up.

Looks like there all starting at the botom of Alp d'huez a the same time... TV about 1.20 behind.

Gonna be a big 40 mintues coming up!!!! hold on.

Scrap that about TV, hes back with them. Theres going to be a few cracks up this surely! CE, TV, AS???

think frank has to use his fresh legs now, cadel wins the tour if he can hold on to him for 16km. gonna be good

How much faster is Cadel in the TT?

Andy would need more than the minute he holds. Although the power of the yellow jersey may spur him on!

Contador just whacked a protestor!!! Now Andy and Cadel discussing the crowds... come on Andy!!! Do this!!!!

get in cadel. think he's won it today, really looked like he's lost it when his bike failed before the cars had got up to the break but they just can't drop him

is there no sport that aussies are bad at?

Not his - fml was out and AS traded at 1.62....now I cant see point og getting out but know I should lol

Table tennis?

Did you see the last Ashes?

elephant polo

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/14175299.stm

sucks.

 ;madasahatstand;

Looks like I owe Dave Shallow £50......

WP Cadel

VWD Cadel, really didn't think he had it in him. VWP.

Fair play Cadel was the best all rounder and did not have his off day, totally deserved it! Romped it in the end.

 ;popcorn;

New to the sport so perhaps a dumb question.

On the coverge today, they were talking as though the race was already won.

Is that because the nature of the stage ensures no-one could overhaul his lead or is it just traditional for the yellow jersey not to be challenged on the last stage into Paris ?

TIA

It is traditional for the Yellow jersey not to be challenged on the final stage, mainly due to the fact that is virtually impossible to gain any significant time with a breakaway. You will not only have the yellow jersey team chasing you but all of the sprinters teams.

Cav must be a massive fave for tomorrows stage.

Thanks

Yeah, he's odds on...I love watching the final 10 minutes or so of the final stage. Nothing happens before then but always hope that one of these days someone will be successful in breaking away on the CE.

Didn't Bernhard Hinault do it once to win the stage having already sown up the tour?


Edit: he did it twice:

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HOtPQFyoCY

wiiiiii cadel. can't believe anyone ever doubted him, he's looked like the strongest rider in the tour all the way through, abs immense

Ignoring the obvious time trial stage in 89, the one that sticks in the memory the most is 1991 - thanks to Abdoujaparov!

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Nt4x3nuzfQ

yeah, those old finishes were grand. Peleton doesn't let it happen anymore though.

today was a lesson in how to win in paris. gonna be sad to see that team split up

Bernie and Renshaw going to Sky too though surely?

Will be sad to see the HTC Train go but still think Cav can be successful

dont think any team has ever seriously attempted to win green and yellow in same tour would be a huge demand on the team
only way to do it would be to give the sprinter 1 or 2 team mates and the GC the other 5 or 6 still would weaken both attempts

can't see how they balance cav and his train, wiggins, boasson hagen and thomas. something has to give

dunno. I would think that joining his mate would've been one of the big selling points for cav so I'd be surprised if he leaves

Wiggins gives imo.
Cav gets Bernie, Thomas, Renshaw ahead of him at the end of flat stages.
Thomas leads out EBH on uphill finishes.
When mountains start EBH gets in breakaways in medium mountain stages.
Wiggins stays in the team but I think it will come apparent that the team won't be working to hard to keep him in contention or to chase other teams.

yeah, I quite like that idea actually. can see it working

A lot of questions being asked here, the main one you have to ask yourself  is.. would a fit wiggo have made the podium? My answer is no.

What a great tour, not since marco blew tours away on the mountains have I enjoyed a tour as much, despite losing money!

With it being the Olympics next year, there may well be some one off team changes as well.
Several riders are scheduled testing in the next few weeks to see how well they recover from the Tour. this may mean a few missing the tour next year, or pulling out early

Renshaw to Rabobank to race against Cav next season? Gutting if they don't stay together.

Great ride by Wiggins today in the Worlds TT. Still a chance of Silver if Cancellara fades.

Got a decent team tomorrow for the road race with Thomas hoping to lead out Cav meant to be a course to suit but Gilbert is favourite. I imagine Hushovd and Boassen-Hagen could work well.

I read Renshaw isn't in the team. Only made it as a reserve.
If it's a bunch sprint (which it was apparently designed to be) isn't it likely to be the usual suspects from this years tour? Cav, Greipel, Rojas, Feillu with Sagan thrown in?
If not Boassen Hagen, Hushovd, Gilbert?

Cav just seems pretty big to me. I know it's a one of rather than part of a tour so people can target this from way out but he's the best sprinter. The team has to work to make sure it ends in a sprint. After that he's not going to be far away is he?

There is a maximum of 9 though I think. So they have 14 for the road race but they can't all ride. We have 12 but we're only allowed an 8 man team. It's all to do with rankings.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

MARK CAVENDISH - CHAMPION OF THE WORLD

Abso this ^^^^^
Loved the end of the race today where the official is trying to move Cav to presumably the media area, while he is waiting to congratulate/thank the rest of his team coming through.

I wonder what will happen next year. Cav seems very keen to get an olympic medal next year, but can see him riding even more next year with the hoops on his back

i had a tear in my eye watching them win that yesterday. Wiggins stint was incredible, watching the other teams come to the front to take it up but just not being able to live with him had me cheering.

Wiggins antepost for the tour next year?

Isn't it odd to have an individual title for something that is really a team sport?