Tour de France Contest

[wilblake]

Originally Posted by Bigwaved

I was reading the updates. It seemed like a wild downhill there at the end.

Yea, both the Discovery team rider (Popovych or Gusev? I don't remember them naming him) and Cancellara ran a bit wide into the grass on an extreme hairpin, but never dismounted and were able to rejoin the main pack.

[Bigwaved]

Originally Posted by wilblake

Yea, both the Discovery team rider (Popovych or Gusev? I don't remember them naming him) and Cancellara ran a bit wide into the grass on an extreme hairpin, but never dismounted and were able to rejoin the main pack.

I will check it tonight after work. Tivo is good...

[Alpedhuez55]

Originally Posted by stormin

Thursday morning thoughts..........

What do you guys think about the electric gear shifting idea? Kind of cool, if it works. Would be a total pain for the average Joe though. Having to remember to charge the battery the day before you want to go for a ride would suck. I also think that the regular line ups from campy or shimano are quicker then they ever need to be for the normal everyday rider.

The Mavic Mektronic worked OK. I rode a bike with the rear deraileur one it. I never had to work on one though. I would be more worried about having a battery go on you during a ride. It is not like you have a team car behind you to swap out your bike.

I think the component manufacturers are looking for the next thing. The drive train cannot get much lighter.Cutting out the cables and housing and lightening up the levers are about the only place left to lose weight. Carbon fiber can only go so far.

Interestingly enough the announcers were talking the other day about how the governing bodies should re-visit the equipment rules and the minimum weight restriction in particular. Technological advancements have made it possible to build a safe bike well under the current minimum weight requirement, so why not change the rule? After all, the rule was originally put in place in order to protect the riders from equipment failure. Just my , but I disagree. I think they should keep it the same year after year for the big races like the Tour. As long as all the riders have to play by the same rules, why change it? If the equipment stays relatively unchanged from year to year then it gives you a good basis for comparison. This makes it possible for us to appreciate and marvel at Marco Panti's 37' 35" up Alpe d'Huez. I'm fairly confident that I could do it faster on a motorcycle, but is that relevant? If baseball changed to aluminum bats every Tom, Dick and Harry would beat Hank Aarons home run record.

I think for safety purposes you need a limit. 15 pounds is fair. I used to work for a company that made bikes for Cofidis and AG2R, Decathlon. I actually rode on a bike that Jan Kirsipu won a stage of the TDF on. They had two riders on their teams die because of carbon fiber failures. And that is only going back about 5 years. Look at last year with George Hincape at Paris-Roubaix. Bet he wish he had an aluminum steerer on his bike. He probably would have won.

Manufacturers will take risks to make that lighter frame. For now, I say leave it where it is at.

[stormin]

My picks are going down fast!

It is unclear whether Andreas Kloden and Alexandre Vinokourov will start today. Rumour has it that both may be finished, along with Astana's hopes. Kloden may have a fractured tailbone and Vino required stitches in his knee as well the the big road rash on his backside. Even if they start, some of the experts are saying they are done, i.e. - there chances of winning now are hopeless. There injuries are such that they will not be in a position to put forth their best efforts. Very bad luck for both yesterday. I hope they can work through it and recover.

[Bigwaved]

Originally Posted by stormin

My picks are going down fast!

It is unclear whether Andreas Kloden and Alexandre Vinokourov will start today. Rumour has it that both may be finished, along with Astana's hopes. Kloden may have a fractured tailbone and Vino required stitches in his knee as well the the big road rash on his backside. Even if they start, some of the experts are saying they are done, i.e. - there chances of winning now are hopeless. There injuries are such that they will not be in a position to put forth their best efforts. Very bad luck for both yesterday. I hope they can work through it and recover.

Yesterday was a wild stage. I hope they start.

[stormin]

Originally Posted by Bigwaved

Yesterday was a wild stage. I hope they start.

Well they started today, let's hope they start tomorrow again. I guess today will be used as a gauge to see if they can continue.

Here's a little re-cap from last year's Tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v03mZ6qzIvk

[stormin]

I haven't checked to see how the race is progressing today, but given that it should be another sprint finish, what do you guys think about the strategy of CSC and Fabian Cancellara backing off a little and giving up the Yellow Jersey today with a little dignity as opposed to giving it up tomorrow in a huge, televised melt-down in the mountains?

[Alpedhuez55]

Originally Posted by stormin

I haven't checked to see how the race is progressing today, but given that it should be another sprint finish, what do you guys think about the strategy of CSC and Fabian Cancellara backing off a little and giving up the Yellow Jersey today with a little dignity as opposed to giving it up tomorrow in a huge, televised melt-down in the mountains?

CSC had Jens Voight delivering waterbottles in the mountains while he was leading the tour a couple of years ago. I do not think the dignity of the Yellow will have anything to do with their strategy.

[Bigwaved]

The first bump in the road has uncovered a few of the wannabes.

[Alpedhuez55]

Originally Posted by stormin

Well they started today, let's hope they start tomorrow again. I guess today will be used as a gauge to see if they can continue.

Here's a little re-cap from last year's Tour.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v03mZ6qzIvk

That was a cool video. Sad that we will know the winner of this years tour before we will know the winner of last years tour

[Alpedhuez55]

Originally Posted by Bigwaved

The first bump in the road has uncovered a few of the wannabes.

I think all of the usual suspects survived. Got to give credit to Vino and Kloden for riding with their injuries. Tomorrow will be better!!!

[j6ppc]

Originally Posted by Alpedhuez55

I think all of the usual suspects survived. Got to give credit to Vino and Kloden for riding with their injuries. Tomorrow will be better!!!

Today was just an aperitif.
Tomorrow should be insane. The usual suspects better have their game faces on.


Tuesday's stage after the rest day is nothing to sneeze at either...

[Alpedhuez55]

Rasmussen is looking great today!!! I would love to see him tear open the tour like Pantani did and sneak out a win in the race. I doubt he can build up enough time for a lead to survive the time trials. I would guess he would need three Mountain Stage wins at least.

[Bigwaved]

This year has been crazy. No organization at all on either mountain stage. The steep ones should be fun to watch!

[Alpedhuez55]

Originally Posted by Bigwaved

This year has been crazy. No organization at all on either mountain stage. The steep ones should be fun to watch!

I do not get Astana at all. They had Kloden pull back to help drag Vino up the last few KM. I know they are both hurting, but Kloden seems to be their strongest rider this year. Kasekin could have dropped back. Kloden made the wrong choice of teams. But at least they had Borat cheering them on today

There is still no clear favorite. I actually would give Rasmussen a chance. He will need to find about 5 more minutes over the contenders. An attack on Tuesday could be in the cards for him.

McEwen did not make the time limit. There goes my Green Jersey pick. McEwen, Rogers and O'Grady all out. Not a good day for the Aussies.