Tour pick?

[moosterbounce]

Ok folks...it is getting nearer...and I realise there may be a drug scandal or people may pull out...but...who's your pick for the Tour jerseys?

I reckon:
Yellow - Oscar Periero (with second to Cadel)
Green - Our Robby (though I like Thor Hushovd)
Dotty - Michael Rasmussen (he always pulls something special for the tour, but Leonardo Piepoli is a chance)

C'mon...take a guess...

Moo...

[europa]

Cadell for yellow (yeah, it's more hope than belief but stuffit)

Robbie for green

Some skinny git for the dots

Richard

Go on Moo, organise some points based competition based on tour predictions.

Richard

[mikesbytes]

After his recent hill climb, shouldn't we consider Tuco for the poka dot jersey.

[Mr888]

After his recent hill climb, shouldn't we consider Tuco for the poka dot jersey.

And if you squint hard enough, you'll see it's his colour as well

[senator52]

Cadel is in some good form at the Dauphine right now definitely a chance, but Im going to go with Vinokourov just because he is so aggressive going up the mountains I dont think anyone will be able to ride with him. Add to that his Kazakh wingman Kashenkin(sp?) and Astana are a very dangerous team with plenty of support (salvodelli, kloden if they ride etc.) Michael Rogers might be able to make some noise if he gets some help in the mountains, he was incredible last year and he was doing all the pulling for Kloden in the mountains. Being the GC captain he should have a great top five chance. Not exactly sure whats going on with Valverde and his drug links right now, but he is certainly a chance, as to Periero, but he is under a doping cloud from last years tour still as well...will just be interesting to see who shows up at the start line. If both Valverde and Oscar P. start will Valverde begin as captain like last year? "Equal captains" til the race sorts them out, or Periero? So many options for all to consider...

Not sure if Petacchi is riding the tour? But I still think Robbie can get the green jersey, even though he insists he is more stage wins orientated. Petacchi will be his hardest challenge if he does not have a crash or punch a team bus, Oscar Freire would be my pick for third.

Polka dots, Rasmussen really has looked unchallenged the last two years in the mountains jersey, so I'll stick with him. Piepoli and his freakishly small body (and his freakishly large head ) are a very good bet also.

Im just excited, GO AUSTRALIA , Brad McGee was a fantastic chance for the prologue in ENGLAND! but i heard he has hurt his hip and will not start dissappointing for all involved im sure.

Either way it shapes up to be a fascinating race with so many new fresh faces looking to overcome the shadow enveloping the sport in recent times.

Vive le Tour!

[moosterbounce]

Yeah, I forgot about the Astana boys - there is a lot of talent in there and you are right Senator, Vinni could pull together something special. Cadel is so Tour focussed, you never know what he has in him until the start of week 3.

Regardless who wins, they are all better than me though I did 50km on the Moo Hills today (20-40m in 1km). Pretty lame for those guys, but I used to avoid this area completely, and today I did 9 loops...and enjoyed it.

Maybe I'll make a tour team one day...oh shame...no girls..

Moo...

[tuco]

Maybe I'll make a tour team one day...oh shame...no girls..

Moo...

Isn't there a female version? One of our club members is going over to compete in the womens Australian B team in the tour de femme.

After his recent hill climb, shouldn't we consider Tuco for the poka dot jersey.

They did ask me to ride but I don't have a passport.

[europa]

There is a women's TdF ... and having started to type this, the cold has shut my brain down and I can't remember the specifics. I think it's run just before the men's ... so it should be happening now ... or is it after the men's event.

Richard
suffering momentary bouts of sanity

[tuco]

There is a women's TdF ... and having started to type this, the cold has shut my brain down and I can't remember the specifics. I think it's run just before the men's ... so it should be happening now ... or is it after the men's event.

Richard
suffering momentary bouts of sanity

Must be after, August I think, because she I was racing with her at the NQ titles and I saw her race last Sunday. She was going to AIS for a few weeks first then off to France.

The letour website doesn't seem to have and details.

[LuckyPierre]

I'm glad that there's been some support for our Michael already, but a bit more won't help! The Astana team is strong, but T-Mobile is hardly fully of mugs.
I don't care who wins the race, I will consider the Tour a success if there are no scandals. Sadly, I think that there is little chance of that, because some-one, somewhere will see the Tour as an opportunity to even some old score and dob some-one in.

[LuckyPierre]

La Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale 2007starts today.
While it is referred to as 'the women's TdF' in wikipedia, the T-Mobile team isn't listed as a starter, so I really don't care who wins.
ps. no, it's not becuase I don't respect women's sport, nor because I'm a T-Mobile tragic, but it is because the women's T-Mobile team is lead by Oenone Wood.
pps. both the European and US national championships are on during the Grande Boucle Féminine, so it appears that the team is setting itself for the Giro d'Italia Femminile instead.

[europa]

Oh goody, it's in French and I get to suffer one of the on-line translators

Richard

[LuckyPierre]

What, don't you speak French?
I couldn't find much current news on English-language sites.

[europa]

I thought the women's tour had a stronger profile than that - another case of women's sport being overlooked?

Anyways, back to da blokes.

We've got two aussies to watch in the GC - Cadel and Michael
We've got two aussies at least to watch in the Green - Robbie and Stuey
We're sure to pick up the most aggressive jersey at some point.

That leaves the Young rider and that strange dotty jersey - any aussie takers for them?

Richard

[X-wing]

What? No T-Mobile at the Tour de Femme?! I guess should stop my letter writing campaign to SBS, insisting that they interview Emilia Fahlin every day.

http://www.t-mobile-team.com/tmo_team/servlet/pages/894418/content/76954

Sigh...

X-wing goes for cold shower

[moosterbounce]

Freaky...just like looking in a mirror

[LuckyPierre]

... Emilia Fahlin ... Sigh...

If I was to say tell you that Oenone Wood dropped in at a Club event just before she went overseas after the Geelong leg of the World Cup, and that she brought Emilia and Linda with her, when would you get out of that cold shower?

Now, aren't you glad that I made the bit about Emilia and Linda up?
I did get to have breakfast with Mick Rogers (along with lots of others) at Christmas time though

[MichaelB]

Anyone picking Petacchi will likely miss out on the money.

Apparently been dropped from the squad with a "non-negative" blood test with Salbutamol being detected !!

Oh well, more drug scandals .....

The SBS telecast times are here ;

Cycling Results TdF

[Mulger bill]

Anyone picking Petacchi will likely miss out on the money.

Apparently been dropped from the squad with a "non-negative" blood test with Salbutamol being detected !!

Oh well, more drug scandals .....

What do they have against asthmatics?

[europa]

Anyone picking Petacchi will likely miss out on the money.

Apparently been dropped from the squad with a "non-negative" blood test with Salbutamol being detected !!

Oh well, more drug scandals .....

What do they have against asthmatics?

Is he an asthmatic? If he is, it'd be shown on his records and he'd be allowed to use the stuff. I think that is one of the sad parts about doping - athletes have a lot of restrictions on what they can and can't take for legitimate reasons. The official line is that there are alternatives, but I watched an interview with one of our swimmers where he was talking about being sick (not horrendously so - 'a day or so off work' level sickness) and untreated because it just wasn't worth the hassle with the drugs.

Dopers are cheats, and I use that term in the derogatory sense.

Richard

[moosterbounce]

I read somewhere that an ususually high percentage of peloton riders were on authrised asthma medication...I'll try to find the article, but it was about 60%. It is higher than the normal population isn't it?

Makes you wonder why huh?\

[mikesbytes]

I read somewhere that an ususually high percentage of peloton riders were on authrised asthma medication...I'll try to find the article, but it was about 60%. It is higher than the normal population isn't it?

Makes you wonder why huh?\

Didn't they clamp down on that in recent times?

[moosterbounce]

Not sure. I read it about 3 months back. You do need to have a medical certificate for use etc, but I don't know how the authorities could have clamped down. I mean, it may all be above board - maybe cycling is something doctors promote as "good for asthma" like swimming? I'm lucky I don't suffer from asthma, but my sister was advised to swim.

[Mulger bill]

Anyone picking Petacchi will likely miss out on the money.

Apparently been dropped from the squad with a "non-negative" blood test with Salbutamol being detected !!

Oh well, more drug scandals .....

What do they have against asthmatics?

Is he an asthmatic? If he is, it'd be shown on his records and he'd be allowed to use the stuff. I think that is one of the sad parts about doping - athletes have a lot of restrictions on what they can and can't take for legitimate reasons. The official line is that there are alternatives, but I watched an interview with one of our swimmers where he was talking about being sick (not horrendously so - 'a day or so off work' level sickness) and untreated because it just wasn't worth the hassle with the drugs.

Dopers are cheats, and I use that term in the derogatory sense.

Richard

*pleading ignorance*

Ummm OK.

I had no idea the ol' puffer could be abused like this

If he aint a listed user, string him up.

Shaun

[X-wing]

Two cents from an asthmatic...
I run, and I ride, and before I started to lose weight I couldn't do either of them for very long before my breathing started to tighten up on me.
My doctor told me that a hit of ventalin (the reliever medicine, not the base medicine that I use every day) before doing any exercise will help open up the tubes.
I found it to be a really effective way to kick off any heavy exercise - note that this is for a rather lame definition of 'heavy'. I imagine that for tuned bodies like these riders, the tiniest little assistance would be of some advantage.

I think the easiest way to tell if they are asthmatics though would be to run the TdF in early spring... although we may be inundated with 'hay-fever' sufferers as well!
He he.

X-wing.