Who is your pick for the 2012 Tour de France?

[Sark79]

I can't wait for this to start.  My original pick was Andy Schleck before he was injured in the Criterium du Dauphine. One of my friends and I had a bet on for the tour, I had Schleck and he had Wiggins. Now my pick is Evans.

This is my top 5

1. Cadel Evans
2. Bradley Wiggins
3. Ryder Hesjedal
4. Frank Schleck
5. Levi Leipheimer/Thomas Voeckler

My absolute favorite rider is Fabian Cancellara . I have a download that has been watched about 20 times called 'Full Gas'. His speed and cornering are immense. He is focusing on the Olympics rather than the Tour, so he may not be at his sharpest for the TT in this years event.

This is an awesome video of Cancellara's skills

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxXqQqAc2pA

Who are your 2012 Tour picks?

[Sark79]

1. Bradley Wiggins.

2. Cadel Evans.

3. Vincenzo Nibali

4. Chris Froome

5. Dennis Menchov

Edit: Tony Martin to win both Time Trials (9 & 19)

You have the exact same list as my mate. I think Chris Froome will be strong as well. The Prologue is a short flat 6.4km so that could throw up some surprises later today.

I just got a book delivered this morning from amazon called "Not Dead Yet" written by Phil Southerland.  He is the founder of Team Type 1. As a diabetic myself, I was surprised to learn a few weeks ago that this team have won the Race Across America three times. I didn't think this would be possible. They are aiming to put a team in the Giro and Tour next year, so I will definitely be supporting them when that happens, :-)

 People like this make you realise what is possible if we push boundaries. I watched an ESPN disabled sport special recently and saw Alex Zanardi on it. Since retiring from car racing, he turned his attention to hand cycling and will be representing Italy in this summers paralympic games. Amazing stuff.

[Josedinho]

Got a bit of a tasty bet on Wiggins, got good odds on Evans before Contador was banned and backed Van Den Broek and Rui Costa recently.
Tony Martin says he's going for stage wins rather than GC but if he takes a load of time out of people in the same spots as Wiggins and gets in yellow do people think he might change his mind?

[Sark79]

Well he is certainly in form in the TT as he recently won the German TT championship. I think Wiggins will be too strong in the hills though. 

[kinboshi]

Would love to see Wiggins win it. Such a competitor.

[TightEnd]

Love watching this.

Extremely saddening to see Armstrong get done for doping, after all these years

Sadly I think the TdeF completely lacks credibility as a "clean" contest.

Incredible to watch though

[FUN4FRASER]

Would love to see Wiggins win it. Such a competitor.

Focus on Wiggins

He has the talent...but can anybody tell me if Wiggins has the right team to win this ? and what will he be like in the Mountains ? He looks vunerable & a very short price to me  so is a possible lay at just under 6 -4 ( so effectively you have backed every other rider at 4-6)

http://www.oddschecker.com/other-sports/cycling/tour-de-france/winner

The question is ......would you want Wiggins at 6- 4 ? or  back every other rider at 4-6 ? Seems a no brainer to me  as so much can go wrong ..one fall / injuries/ doping ban /one break away / team instructions/etc etc

Views  /Discuss   Please  ?

Just found out the tour has been running since 1903 and it has never been won  by any British rider(Stephen Roche won for Ireland in 1987) so history dictates a big 100 year ask

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

[Josedinho]

Sounds like he doesn't have to be that good in the mountains as he should have a lead from the TTs. Cadel didn't really attack in the mountains just sat in the wheel of schleck and contador if they attacked.
I think one of his biggest challenges is working out whose attacks he needs to cover as without schleck and contador I think some other riders will have a go at winning it in the mountains.

[Sark79]

Wiggins has been working hard for the mountains, I dont think he will be too far off

[Tal]

Has he ever completed the course before? To me, 6-5 is a farce of a price. He is the form rider and he has a purpose-built team, but it's a long way with a lot of uncontrollables.

[Sark79]

I wonder if Sky can work for both Wiggins and Cav. Green and Yellow may be tough to achieve for one team.

[Tal]

Team is def built for Yellow. Cav will be in the mix for green but it's clear he wants Olympic gold in the road race. Brailsford is no fool. He knows two jerseys is asking too much.

[Sark79]

I have never been a Cav fan. He strikes me as an arrogant prima donna . Even if he says he is going after the Olympics rather than the green in the Tour, I don't think he is the type of person not to fight for the green. I may be wrong, but behind closed doors he will be demanding full support from Sky for his efforts.  I have my mind made up about him, so I might be being unfair to the guy, lol. 

[AndrewT]

Team is def built for Yellow. Cav will be in the mix for green but it's clear he wants Olympic gold in the road race. Brailsford is no fool. He knows two jerseys is asking too much.

Yeah - Cav knows the focus for this year is Wiggins, and for him it's the Olympics.

Doubt they'll both be at Sky next year - Cav will want a team where the focus is on green.

[AndrewT]

Love watching this.

Extremely saddening to see Armstrong get done for doping, after all these years

Sadly I think the TdeF completely lacks credibility as a "clean" contest.

Incredible to watch though

I think that the dirty days are behind the Tour now, and finally dismantling the Armstrong legend will be the thing which puts a full stop on it. It was always a bit sickening watching him getting all the glory when it was plainly obvious that no clean human could have put in the performances he did.

Look at the times for the Alpe d'Huez ascent - everyone who has a top time has since been done, or very strongly suspected, for doping. Since the crackdown on drugs no one has got remotely close to those times. Armstrong had the second quickest time - only Pantani was ahead of him and he was so doped up he rattled.