Tour De France 2009

A Rest Day today. Which only means an hour or two for these guys to ride without any pressure today. Contador is in 2nd, Lance in 3rd still only 8 seconds off the pace.

Did you see the frenchman, the last one to win the tour was taking a very subtle shot at Armstrong.

Lance is in a great position. If he wins, he can talk about being older and still pulling it off. If he loses to Contador, he can claim that was the plan all along to support his team leader. Win-win

Originally posted by CRH49:
Did you see the frenchman, the last one to win the tour was taking a very subtle shot at Armstrong.

Lance is in a great position. If he wins, he can talk about being older and still pulling it off. If he loses to Contador, he can claim that was the plan all along to support his team leader. Win-win

The French dont like Texans showing them how the Tour de France is supposed to be won.

Originally posted by VaBeachNiner:

Originally posted by CRH49:
Did you see the frenchman, the last one to win the tour was taking a very subtle shot at Armstrong.

Lance is in a great position. If he wins, he can talk about being older and still pulling it off. If he loses to Contador, he can claim that was the plan all along to support his team leader. Win-win

The French dont like Texans showing them how the Tour de France is supposed to be won.

speaking of taking a shot, Yesterday some kids were shooting pellet guns into the Peloton hitting two riders.

I'm not sure why George Hincapie is PO'd at Astana for assisting in keeping today's breakaway from getting too large of a gap. Astana had nobody in the break and they couldn't afford to let the group of 12 gain too much time before the upcoming stages. Friendships aside, Astana didn't do it to "insult" George and he needs to chill out.

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
I'm not sure why George Hincapie is PO'd at Astana for assisting in keeping today's breakaway from getting too large of a gap. Astana had nobody in the break and they couldn't afford to let the group of 12 gain too much time before the upcoming stages. Friendships aside, Astana didn't do it to "insult" George and he needs to chill out.

I am sure he feels let down a little by Lance and Levi. But He is the one who chose to be part of a different team.

Anyway This tour really gets underway after the rest stage on Monday. The Alps await.

Originally posted by BigRon:
I am sure he feels let down a little by Lance and Levi. But He is the one who chose to be part of a different team.

Anyway This tour really gets underway after the rest stage on Monday. The Alps await.

Levi dropped out with a broken wrist late in Stage 12.

And Sunday's stage is really when the fun begins.

Originally posted by SoCal9er:

Levi dropped out with a broken wrist late in Stage 12.

I missed that. WOW

Originally posted by BigRon:

Originally posted by SoCal9er:

Levi dropped out with a broken wrist late in Stage 12.

I missed that. WOW

Yeah it sucks he's like the only reason why I was paying attention to the Tour since he's from Montana so I'm probably done watching.

Outstanding stage for Contador and Astana. Lance looked good on the final climb considering he came back from 3+ years retirement. Garmin's Bradley Wiggins climbed very well and Sastre came from way back to finish with the leaders.

Originally posted by SoCal9er:
Outstanding stage for Contador and Astana. Lance looked good on the final climb considering he came back from 3+ years retirement. Garmin's Bradley Wiggins climbed very well and Sastre came from way back to finish with the leaders.

Contador in first after today. Lance in Second. I wonder if it will change over the course of the next week and a half. Is the TDF over for all intents and purposes?

Originally posted by BigRon:
Contador in first after today. Lance in Second. I wonder if it will change over the course of the next week and a half. Is the TDF over for all intents and purposes?

No, the Tour has not been decided yet. There are still a few mountain stages including the Saturday uphill finish in Mont Ventoux and the ITT mid-week. It is unlikely that Lance Armstrong will finish on the podium after showing a lack of top end climbing power today. I'd watch out for Garmin's Bradley Wiggins with his new found climbing prowess and outstanding ITT ability. Others who I expect will make some noise before it's over next Sunday: Andy Schleck, Carlos Sastre, and Cadel Evans. But I do think Contador will win.

Originally posted by SoCal9er:

Originally posted by BigRon:
Contador in first after today. Lance in Second. I wonder if it will change over the course of the next week and a half. Is the TDF over for all intents and purposes?

No, the Tour has not been decided yet. There are still a few mountain stages including the Saturday uphill finish in Mont Ventoux and the ITT mid-week. It is unlikely that Lance Armstrong will finish on the podium after showing a lack of top end climbing power today. I'd watch out for Garmin's Bradley Wiggins with his new found climbing prowess and outstanding ITT ability. Others who I expect will make some noise before it's over next Sunday: Andy Schleck, Carlos Sastre, and Cadel Evans. But I do think Contador will win.

Is this Bob Roll? hahaha

It's kind of hard to imagine anyone other than Contador winning this year's tour at this time, but Bradley Wiggins could make an upset if he can stay close in the Alps. Wiggins is great at the ITT, so if he can stay within two minutes of Contador, then he could upset Contador. This is still only a remote chance, though, because Contador has become pretty good at the ITT himself - he's the current Spanish TT champ. I still think Armstrong can get a podium, but he'll have to have a great TT. It really nice that the news coming from this year's Tour de France is competition related and not performance enhancing drugs related.

contador is a beast.. sorry lance

armstrong is still the man considering his age though