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here we go

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/2011-to ... -announced

Mhh, a really hard tour I guess for 2011 !
Only 1 ITT, 1 short TTT, and so many HC stages or, HC last kms ...
And my favorite stage is already :
Pinerolo - Galibier-Serre Chevalier via Agnel (HC) + Izoard (HC) + Galibier (HC) without more than 10kms of valley between each HC climb !
If they use this road, this stage could be legendary !

And the day after : Galibier + Alpe D'huez in 110kms of nervous race ...

And the day after, the ITT in Grenoble.
The last 4days in the Alps are :


I always dreamed a stage like that with these climbs in this way !

This will be the only individual time-trial of the 2011 Tour. It will be marked out around the urban area of Grenoble and will boast a 41-km long route punctuated with two difficulties, the ascent to Eybens and the foot of the climb to Chamrousse

So, yes, an ITT for climbers, or Hubers.

Interesting also the sprinting points system. Only one intermediate sprint per day, but with half the points of that of the finish line each.

I don't like it. I don't like any of the mountain stages except for Luz Ardiden. The Aubisque is wasted on a ridiculous stage, the whole Massif Central is a waste. Super-Besse is ok, but not difficult, then there's St-Flour where the climbs are in the middle of the stage and the finish is easy again. The valley before Plateau de Beille is eeeeennnnddddllleeeessssss, just like the way from Briancon to the Galibier. Don't you know this road, olmania? It's a highway, almost. Nothing will happen before the final climb, it's the Tour after all. Finish in Briancon and I'm ok with it, but with the Galibier in the end, everybody has to wait, wait, wait, except for lunatics. Personally, the Huber-ITT and the first six days save this Tour for me, otherwise I would be just plain disappointed.

Don't you know this road, olmania? It's a highway, almost. Nothing will happen before the final climb, it's the Tour after all. Finish in Briancon and I'm ok with it, but with the Galibier in the end, everybody has to wait, wait, wait, except for lunatics.

Yes, maybe, that's the tour.
But if some teams want to do the show, this stage is here for a show !
Possibility to have a small group of 10-20leaders at the top of the Agnel maybe. And then ? no valley to come back, so ...
I think this stage can be spectacular. But maybe nothing will happen, and the last 8kms of the Galibier will be interesting for 1-2' advantage for the leaders.

1'' to 2'' is more what has to be expected.
But I am in total not a bit dissapointed with this tour. How should I, as there was nothing good to expect.
And again this Tour is just full of those boring profiles we are well used to. Taking over the senceless short ttt's, the 1km-mountain arrivals, leaving out the prologue, combining it with those mountain stages that normally are totally limited to the last mountain... As there is one exception this year, one even can speak of the best tour since years.

A TTT of that shortness is as sensless or as meaningful as a prologue was. No big time gaps (maybe). Just to determine the wearer of the leader's jersey and a little presort for the gc contenders. Nothing's wrong about that. At least it's much better than doing a 50km TTT and then cutting the time gaps down to a maximum, like they did it several times before. That was senseless!

a prologue sortens riders by there own strenght and provides a basic order for the first mass start stage. Too, it is likely some other skills than a long TT . With a TTT of that lenght there it is something in between, 5 riders of the team are important, the rest not. Not really team, not really individual, just a bad mixture. As second stage even worse than as first. And the thing sprinters can get to the leaders jersey is more or less nonsense. ONE Sprinter can get to the leaders jersey is more correct. At all, I see exactly no benefits of this kind.

No Geox in this year's Tour. No Menchov, no Sastre. What a disgrace for the sport. I always thought ProTour was introduced to have "the best teams with the best riders in the best races". In 2011 we have a (stronger than ever) FdJ-Team left out of PT because of some bureaucratic bullshit and the 2nd best stage racer of the last years sidelined for the Tour. This whole UCI-ProTour-Licence/ASO-RCS-Unipublic-wildcard lottery-bullshit-thing is getting more ridiculous every year.

Saur is in, which is good. Fully deserved, Jérôme Coppel!!ASO just didn't have the guts to kick Cofidis out... horrible Tour in 10, 11 doesn't really look much better. Moncoutié announced, the rest probably similar to 10.. Taramae, El Fares ok, although maybe for both of them full concentration on something else than the tour would have been better.. Anyway, easier to punish Gianetti again, 08 Riccò+Piepoli, 10 there with a horrible team..... payback. Hard for Menchov, but Coppel there=excellent. 2012 I want Skil with Geniez too!

Boooh! I want Menchov!

Excluding menchov is complete crap... Ok perhaps he's in a wrong team... But as said, the second best actual tour rider. And the main contender of schleck if contador is suspended.
There are simply too many french teams... Which makes the decision tough to exclude one of them of course. All have one "charismatic" ( ) leader.
But this is almost falsifying the competition.

I read an interesting post in a tour live ticker today:

Es gibt mittlerweile einen Trend dahin, dass Ausreißer nicht mehr so weit weggelassen werden wie früher. Das liegt daran, dass sich Ausreißer nicht mehr auf Teufel komm raus einen möglichst großen Vorsprung erarbeiten wollen, sondern sich lieber noch Reserven aufsparen, um dann am Ende der Aufholjagd des Feldes besser Stand halten zu können

Sound somehow similar that groups without and groups with pullers in RSF

And the best one ist the last sentence, dedicated especially to bergwerk:

Die Mannschaften im Peloton gehen also einfach kein Risiko mehr ein.

But that's different to RSF, cause here some teams love the risk. And sometimes the risk is too much.

Zentaron wrote:But that's different to RSF, cause here some teams love the risk. And sometimes the risk is too much.

The exception that proves the rule...

Cadel!!! It's really great to see him ride so successful since 3 years now, after competing for the Tour win and never getting it til 2008. He's an inspiration for me to become more sporty because he became so strong very late in his career, I mean he's far over 30 now, 27 usually is the best age in terms of potential... Congrats, he earns every win!

yeah, now he's finally doped too

Falls : Contador, Brajkovic, Chavanel, Boonen, Gesink, Sörensen, and some others riders
very nervous day in the TDF, but finally, Cavendish won the sprint, tomorrow will be interesting with a little hill before the finish line

finally....Manx-Missile yeah

http://video.bicycling.com/video/Chris- ... ge-7-Crash

i dont understand, when did i crash ??
has it been a long time ??
we have been chasing for 25km ??
oh man i'm fucked...

Oh my god this is epic
But, it doesn't seem very healthy...

It's kind of funny, especially the end. He's asking stupid questions while they take him to hospital.

Sad thing is that we lose a nice climber for this Tour and given his age, it could be more than that.

Wow, that's funny but more shocking.
Sadly already 10 riders are out and they all were good (Wiggins...) and others are hurt (Kreuziger, Gesink...). But it's the tour - we have that every year.
Yesterday it was a nice attack by Astana, but Vino was not strong enough on the last climb. But I'm sure he will try it again in his last tour(=right?). I hope we will see more of this action - also from other teams - in the mountains next week.
And up to now I like how Klöden and Martin are riding.

Voeckler!

After the harsh criticism at Giro for the Crostis,now,we see real professionals at work ...
The Tour classification, is not made ​​by uphill and downhill, but by the organizations themselves.
Really pathetic

Has anybody heared the interview with Wiggins? Legendary!

He said he's going to the hospital on Monday (for checking again), but his dogs will be castrated on Wednesday. With all the medication he got, he just hopes that he don't confuses the two dates

And another one with British humo(u)r (although only in German):

"Jetzt wo die Medikamente nachlassen wird mir die Realität bewusst. Es ist traurig, dass ich so früh auf dem Rückweg bin. Ich kann mich aber nicht genug bei jedem bedanken, der mich unterstützt hat. Die ersten Worte meiner 6-jährigen Tochter am Telefon: "Daddy, bedeutet das, dass du jetzt mit dem Fahrrad fahren aufhörst und nicht mehr von zu Hause weggehst?" Kinder!"