T_S_A_R Posted June 25, 2012 Share Posted June 25, 2012 thining back 4 years not one british rider finished the road race. what a difference 4 years make i'm hoping that every other country decides that they want nothing to do with a sprint and chaos ensues with dozens of attacks. the end of beijing road race was brilliant. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Nomad Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Hesjedal, Basso, Scarponi all on the start list despite doing the Giro. Don't imagine any of them will be in the mix to win in Paris, but Nibali has some back up in Basso & Szmyd, would be good if they could take it to Sky somehow. Another intriguing combo is Movistar pair Cobo, winner of the Vuelta last year, and the returning Valverde. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_A_R Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 a wee 8.3km TT to kick us off tomorrow. cancellara and martin are obviously the faves and wiggins, sagan, evans and larsson are probably just behind them. i'll be keeping a watchful eye on levi and menchov as if they are on form they have to be contenders and also mick rogers and froome to try and get an idea of how strong uk postal are. sky sports news just done a good piece on the grand depart, it looks like they are going to give the tour some in depth coverage this year. it was pissing it down in liege so it's possible that the weather will play a part tomorrow either in terms of crashes or riders facing different conditions. on sunday we have an interesting looking finish. gilbert will want to win it in front of his home crowd but it will also be appealing to valverde, vino, hyjsedal amongst others. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_A_R Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 i'm starting to think that wiggins is trolling me. from his guardian blog. The numbers we have been working by this year on the road are not power output or speed, but VAM: Vertical Altitude Metres, or how quickly you gain height on a climb. That way it doesn't matter about power output, windspeed, the steepness of the climb or your speed: it's simply a matter of how fast you gain height vertically, as if you were in a lift, measured in metres per hour. The average VAM for a big climb on the Tour last year was 1,400m or 1,500m. When Alberto Contador attacked at Verbier in 2009 he was going at about 1,800m, which is similar to the figures Marco Pantani used to reach. In the Dauphiné, on the Col du Joux-Plane on the penultimate day, we were climbing at about 1,700 VAM. There aren't many riders out there who can go that fast, and there weren't many able to stay with us on that stage. So that gives me confidence that physically I'm in the right place at the moment. The catch, however, is that the Tour is not just about the numbers. We've got to take those numbers, the physical ability they represent, and perform day after day after day. so you and your three distinctly average domestiques, in a nothing stage, managed 95% of the performance of the two the greatest doped up climbers ever in all out attack mode? WTF. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Zabriskie sporting the Captain America suit as the US TT Champ. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Wiggins going like a bat out of hell here. Tony Martin had a mechanical and lost 15 seconds. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 (edited) Wiggins set the fastest. He was 6 seconds behind at the half way and finishes lest than a second ahead of Chavanel. Let's see of anyone can top that. Cancellara sets off, the only guy I can see beating Wiggins here. Edited June 30, 2012 by Shuggie_Murray7 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Fabian!!!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_A_R Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 spartacus owns it. tony martin would probably have been close if is it wasnt for his puncture. wiggins continues to do the impossible by improving both his climbing and his TT'ing. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 Menchov didn't do his chances any harm with a decent start. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_A_R Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 (edited) forgot to say.... impressive from menchov. katusha have looked strong all year, i think he could be a factor. cancellara looked huge. the last few years he has been came into the tour looking quite slim but he's obviously not planning on doing any work in the mountains this year. probably planning a double gold medal assualt. Edited June 30, 2012 by T_S_A_R 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 forgot to say.... impressive from menchov. katusha have looked strong all year, i think he could be a factor. cancellara looked huge. the last few years he has been came into the tour looking quite slim but he's obviously not planning on doing any work in the mountains this year. probably planning a double gold medal assualt. With the Olympics looming I was thinking that there's a possibility that Cancellara will not finish the tour. Would a stage win and a couple days in yellow satisfy the team? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_A_R Posted June 30, 2012 Share Posted June 30, 2012 With the Olympics looming I was thinking that there's a possibility that Cancellara will not finish the tour. Would a stage win and a couple days in yellow satisfy the team? i don't think he gives a f**k about the team. bruyneel is finished and the team will probably fold at the end of the season. the mountains won't kill him if he takes it easy though. i think he'll finish. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve McQueen Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 21 stage wins for Cav, phenomenal really. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Compliment Sandwich Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Superb win for Cavendish today, who proved his doubters wrong winning without the help of his team. Two more stage wins and he becomes the sprinter with the most stage wins of all time, and fourth most stage wins in the history of the TdF, in only his fifth Tour. Interesting to hear him say he wants to win in Paris. I'd still be surprised if he doesn't pull out before the mountains to focus on the Olympics. Wiggins can take the the headlines across Europe (except the UK) from there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Musketeer Gripweed Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 You've got to wonder how much money SKY are throwing at Cav. As he himself says, he is an add on to the team. He is far from the focal point, which he has been for years at HTC. Yet he can still do that. Amazing. Sagan will win Green though. Could be a good battle right enough, if Wiggo (Mod target) is struggling. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shuggie_Murray7 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Cav is absolutely going for green, he says he's not and then goes out for the intermediate sprints. Superb from him today, proves that all the talk about "ah but he only wins because of HTC" is pish. He practically did the last 1.5k with no team mates, chose the right wheel and jumped everybody. I know loads of people love to hate him but he's one of my favourite sportsmen. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Brightside Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 A few crashes today but there was just a massive one with 30k to go. JJ Rojas is out. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T_S_A_R Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 when i was at work cycling news had menchov dropping out the top 10 but i looked in again there and he got the yellow jersey group time. sagan's celebrations are cringeworthy but i like them 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peasy23 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Crash for Cavendish today with a couple of kilometres left, bit shaken but no major damage hopefully. Andre Greipel takes the stage win. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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