Tour de France

[Charles]

Heard on the news that Landis has regained the Yellow jersey? I have a house full of relations and can't sneak off to watch.

[j6ppc]

Originally Posted by Charles

Heard on the news that Landis has regained the Yellow jersey? I have a house full of relations and can't sneak off to watch.

Well he lost it today.

General classification after stage 16

1 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 74.38.05
2 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 1.50
3 Andreas Klöden (Ger) T-Mobile 2.29
4 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 2.43
5 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 2.56
6 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 3.58
7 Michael Rogers (Aus) T-Mobile 6.47
8 Christophe Moreau (Fra) AG2R-Prevoyance 7.03
9 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 7.46
10 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8.06
11 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak 8.08
12 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 13.27
13 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 13.48
14 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 13.52
15 Marcus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 15.04
16 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 17.46
17 Axel Merckx (Bel) Phonak 18.33
18 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 18.57
19 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Lampre-Fondital 19.21
20 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 19.46

[Charles]

Thanks for updating me. I am really enjoying this year's race, and to a non-bike racer like myself, this year's race seems to be within reach of many riders.

[Alpedhuez55]

Wow, what a bonk. It was pretty dramatic today. He probably did not eat enough and had no energy. You just hate to see the Yellow go down in such a dramatic fashion.

Look for CSC to go all out tomorrow. Scheck, Vandevelde, Zabriskie, Voight will work hard for Sastre and try to break Pereiro. He needs to gain a minute on Kloden if he can too.

This is an exciting tour!!! I think I will stay home on Saturday Morning to watch the time trial.

[Marathon]

Originally Posted by Alpedhuez55

Look for CSC to go all out tomorrow. Scheck, Vandevelde, Zabriskie, Voight will work hard for Sastre and try to break Pereiro. He needs to gain a minute on Kloden if he can too.

I agree. CSC has had a pretty amazing tour, especially considering the GC favorite not starting, and Bobby J crashing out in the TT. With Sastre looking pretty strong today, I think they will feel that tomorrow is the day he either makes up serious time towards the yellow or accepts second place. Sastre beat Pereiro by 30 sec. in the first time trial, so he obviously can't wait until the second time trial and think he'll make up the entire 1:50.

Poor Floyd. That was a hard bonk. Barring some type of natural disaster or terrorist attack, he is out of it. He can't make up eight minutes in the TT.

[mosesbotbol]

The race is not over, but guessing who is going to win gets harder each stage. What an exciting Tour.

[Alpedhuez55]

Funny how the likely podium (Sastre, Kloden & Periero) were the top three support riders for their team's GC contenders (Basso, Ulrich & Valverde).

I am rooting for Sastre. I think CSC is the real America's Team. The main sponsor is a US based company, they started three Americans in the tour as opposed to one by Discovery. If anything, Discovery was holding back US talent. Hamilton, Landis & Leiphiemer had better results when they moved to other teams.

We really need a mostly American team like 7/11 or Motorola used to be 15 years ago.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Alpedhuez55

We really need a mostly American team like 7/11 or Motorola used to be 15 years ago.

I am with you on that.

[j6ppc]

Here's my inexpert spin on today (already posted in the contest thread but thought you guys might enjoy):



Wow... Today's stage was quite entertaining and reshuffled the GC a bit.
It was won by Rasmussen who broke away just a few kms into the race and stayed away the entire time.
He also took the lead in the KOM. This will, perhaps, compensate him a bit for the incredible meltdown he experienced in the final ITT of last year's Tour De France.

Landis cracked on the final climb and barring a spectacular day for him tomorrow coupled with a bad day for his rivals his bid to win this year's TDF (or even to gain a spot on the podium in Paris) may well be over.

Oscar Pereiro regained the overall lead. Surely there are some teams that regret having allowed him to regain the time he lost in the Pyrenees, a deficit of nearly 1/2 hour. In any case Pereiro is being taken a lot more seriously now and may well end up on the podium in Paris assuming his form holds.

Klöden continues to show good form while Evans and Leipheimer are slowly slipping out of contention.

Tomorrow's last day in the Alps could well provide more fireworks.
What a wild and wonderful tour this has been

[Alpedhuez55]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

I am with you on that.

I think it wnet downhill when the Mercury team did not get in the 2000 tour. They had great results on the pro tour. Chris Horner won the Tour of Langkawi and the team had good results in other races like the Criterium International. They were deserving of a Wildcard but they of course put in some crappy French teams.

Mercury dropped the sponsorship. Saturn did a couple of years later as well. It would be nice for Domestic Riders to have another team other than Disco that could take them to Europe now and then.

[mosesbotbol]

Originally Posted by Alpedhuez55

It would be nice for Domestic Riders to have another team other than Disco that could take them to Europe now and then.

Now with the Pro Tour system, not sure if we'll see domestic teams really making inroads in Europe. Libetry Seguros was an american sponsor, and I am happy seeing top riders being american on any team. The cycling world knows that people from where ever can be a good rider. Isn't Phonak ending their sponsorship this year?

I wonder how today will shape up in the Tour?

[Alpedhuez55]

WTF, there is still a long way to go, but Floyd is having a great day and could be right back in the mix on Saturday

[j6ppc]

Originally Posted by Alpedhuez55

WTF, there is still a long way to go, but Floyd is having a great day and could be right back in the mix on Saturday

WTF is right!

http://live.cyclingnews.com/?id=latest



15:17 CEST 130km/70.5km to go
Given that Landis is the best time trialist of the GC riders, the other riders in the bunch are probably getting concerned. A tad. But there is still the Joux Plane to overcome, and you can bet that the pace will increase behind.

Landis is in second overall, virtually.

150 CEST 131km/69.5km to go
Landis signals for his team car, and gets two bidons, one of which he empties over himself. He rides up the Colombiere with the young T-Mobile rider still doing well to hang on. The mountains dwarf them on either side, and the fans encourage them in their bold effort. This has been another great stage.

The Caisse d'Epargne riders are a bit stuffed now. Only Arroyo is left as Zandio shakes his head and drops back. The maillot jaune still looks cool, but he's running out of friends.
Current race situation

* Floyd Landis (Phonak - 11th on GC at 8'0, Patrik Sinkewitz (T-Mobile)
* Patrice Halgand (CA) at 0'28
* Daniele Righi (Lampre-Fondital) at 1'15
* Stuart O'Grady (Team CSC), Pavel Padrnos (Discovery Channel)
* Juan Manuel Garate, (Quick-Step-Innergetic) ?
* Christophe Le Mevel (Crédit Agricole), Bram Tankink (Quick.Step),
* Group maillot jaune (40 riders) at 6'53

[mosesbotbol]

Go Floyd, this could be epic. He's a true grit and I wouldn't expect him to just roll over...

[Alpedhuez55]

Originally Posted by mosesbotbol

Go Floyd, this could be epic. He's a true grit and I wouldn't expect him to just roll over...

He came back from the dead today. That ride will be legendary if he can close the deal on Saturday. You can mention his name with Coppi for a a legendary solo ride. THis was like watching the 2004 Sox/Yanks ALCS!!!!

He is 30 seconds down and about 2 minutes better in the time trial than the two guys in front of him. He is the favorite all over again!!!