Who is your pick for the 2012 Tour de France?

[Sark79]

Lance hasn't been found guilty yet :-) .  I am a fan 

[AndrewT]

Pretty obvious a deal has been struck, Cav rides for sprints as and when they come his way but otherwise works for Wiggins - and then in London Wiggins is subservient and rides like a demon for Cav.

Yeah - Wiggins owes Cav at the Olympics. At the last Olympics Cav pulled out of the Tour to prepare for the Olympics where he was due to ride in one of the two-person team races with Wiggins. The race was at the end of the cycling programme and, by then, Wiggins was knackered and so they failed to get a medal.

[FUN4FRASER]

So back to my original question 

With so many " ifs " and things that could go wrong

Is Wiggins a bet at 6-4  ?    or     Do we get with the field at 4-6  ?

Poll  ?

[Ironside]

I wouldn't back wiggens at less that 7/2 one wheel touch over 3 weeks and his chances could be over

[Longy]

Impressive stuff from Sky, completely ripped the peloton apart.

Looking like as the odds suggested a Wiggins vs Evans showdown for the GC.

[Josedinho]

Incredible from Sky. Allez Wiggins.

[The Camel]

I wouldn't back wiggens at less that 7/2 one wheel touch over 3 weeks and his chances could be over

Indurain was 2/5 for about 4years straight and won every time.

[redarmi]

I wouldn't back wiggens at less that 7/2 one wheel touch over 3 weeks and his chances could be over

Indurain was 2/5 for about 4years straight and won every time.

This occurred to me when I saw this post too.  Not only that Harry Findlay made him the bet of the year at that price too.

[The Camel]

I wouldn't back wiggens at less that 7/2 one wheel touch over 3 weeks and his chances could be over

Indurain was 2/5 for about 4years straight and won every time.

This occurred to me when I saw this post too.  Not only that Harry Findlay made him the bet of the year at that price too.

Might be the most amazing athlete I've ever seen.

Used to ride up those mountains like he was cycling down to the shops to get the paper, while all the riders trying to keep up with him looked like dying.

Heard that his lungs were about 50% biggr than average or some such freak stat.

[Longy]

Indurain had a physiology superior to fellow athletes. His blood took seven litres of oxygen around his body per minute,[24] compared to 3–4 litres for an ordinary person and 5–6 litres for fellow riders. His cardiac output is 50 litres a minute; a fit amateur cyclist's is about 25 litres. Indurain's lung capacity was 7.8 litres,[2] compared to an average of 6 litres. His resting pulse was as low as 28 BPM,[2] compared to an average 60–72 bpm, which meant his heart would be less strained in the tough mountain stages.[14] His VO2 max was 88 ml/kg/min; in comparison, Lance Armstrong's was 83.8 ml/kg/min and Greg LeMond's was more than 92 ml/kg/min.[25]

From Indurain's wiki page.

[Josedinho]

Don't think either will do much attacking though do you?

Ride as a team to ride others into the ground like today but I don't see them leaving each other to attack. Possibly to cover Cadel if one can't keep going.
They know they just have to keep Brad close and he'll win it in the time trials.

[MahoganyVic]

I'm far from an expert, but was todays stage not a bit of an abnormality in the fact the climbs were short but very steep. Add to that the fact its the first one of the tour so a few riders were prob not quite ready for it.

I love Nibali but the price on him is gone. Is it inconceivable that someone who was dropped today could come back in to it? Some class riders like Schleck and Sammy Sanchez, could they be capable of taking big time out in the mountains?

[vegaslover]

This is Wiggins v Cadel and has been all year really

Sky totally set up for Wiggins, Froome only getting a chance if Wiggins injured imo, as was proved earlier on in the season

Awesome performance from sky today, think they'll keep the pressure on over the next few stages and get a decent lead

[Josedinho]

Superb again by Wiggins but also by Froome. Will get harder and harder to make him stay with Brad the better he does.

[Graham C]

I don't get team orders in cycling, why are Sky not allowing Froome to go for it too? Why do are they protecting Wiggins so much?  Yesterday Froome could have made up even more time on Wiggins but was pulled back.  I'd have thought Sky's priority was for a Sky team member to win, surely having competition within the team is healthy?  If I were Wiggins and I won knowing that Froome was held back I wouldn't feel as if I achieved it properly.

I don't know much about team cycling, there's more to it than I understand, I need to know more.