Tour de France 2010

[hannos]

I would expect that would be considered a mechanical, and the peloton would have waited.

[gauchoracer]

RAFLMAO............
Personally

[jules21]

How would the Tour cyclists, and the cycling community generally, have reacted if Contador had had a puncture and Schleck had continued on and won the Tour?

on the last stage? widespread outrage and rioting

schleck actually lost his chain again yesterday while he and contador were on a mock attack. there was no question of attacking, they were sharing a laugh together.

[Addict]

just watched the highlights and have to say cavdendish's acceleration is fkng phenominal ... the camera shows big thor being led out.. petacchi creeping up.. and BANGGG! all you see is mark rocketing across the screen from the otherside.. crazy stuff..

[roller]

LA is being a naughty boy with his team today... .

Typical attention seeking Americans If he wants to ride in a charity ride, he should turn up to a charity event, not the Tour de France. There is a time and place for everything...

yeah terrible form.

instead of letting the jersey winners have the focus on them on the last stage it was "ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!!! i'm fighting cancer and you want me to change my jersey!"

so glad he won't be back next year.

or will he.

oh god. phil, paul. . and now . . LANCE in the commentary box.

[Joeblake]

oh god. phil, paul. . and now . . LANCE in the commentary box.

(Texan Drawl): "Well, yeah, okay so he won the stage. But if it had been ME..."



Actually I believe he WILL retire this time ... for good.

And if I'd been standing by the roadside when Lance was changing his jersey, I'd be waving my cheque book/credit card ... "Mr Armstrong, $5000 to Livestrong if I can have that black jersey ..."


Joe

[jules21]

just watched the highlights and have to say cavdendish's acceleration is fkng phenominal ... the camera shows big thor being led out.. petacchi creeping up.. and BANGGG! all you see is mark rocketing across the screen from the otherside.. crazy stuff..

it would make sense if he had a motor in his bike. it's hard to believe anyone can be that fast

[Joeblake]

Maybe now that Mark I has shown that he doesn't always need Mark II, Mark II might be able to change teams and start going for sprint stages himself. Could be v-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-r-y interesting, having another top gun sprinter to give Aussie Green.

Joe

[aussieboy13]

so glad he won't be back next year.

or will he.

oh god. phil, paul. . and now . . LANCE in the commentary box.

I believe he may be trying to go back to his triathlon Roots.

But mind you perhaps this tour taught him he is an old man now compared to everybody else.

Heaven help if he makes it to KONA.

[jules21]

But mind you perhaps this tour taught him he is an old man now compared to everybody else.

he may have well have finished strongly had it not been for all those incidents that ruined his day in the alps(?)

[toolonglegs]

so glad he won't be back next year.

or will he.

oh god. phil, paul. . and now . . LANCE in the commentary box.

I believe he may be trying to go back to his triathlon Roots.

But mind you perhaps this tour taught him he is an old man now compared to everybody else.

Heaven help if he makes it to KONA.

When he was been interviewed by Jaja at the end as he walked off he called out something like "see you at the triathlon next year".

Also I don't think the time is calculated on the first lap crossing of the line...if Schleck had turned from a skin and bones mountain man into a burly kermesse man over night and attacked and stayed away...maybe it needed rain for that ...oh and a shimano drive train.

[brentono]

Brento On the 39secs - I think Schleck may have gotten it wrong. Checking on the net - a few other blog authors have noticed this as well... Winner stands though.

Lets see if Petacchi gets to keep his green

Great effort Cadel Evans, a worthy champion.
Petacchi keeps Green Jersey

After thought, Schleck didn't get it wrong, I'm now sure, he had it right.
The rule goes for the TT, (just came to me)- if two riders are on the same time,
a countback, of the hundredths of seconds are added, over the four time intervals, on TT stage.
Schleck must have known this figure (as he would), and it totalled another 2 seconds, that he was down on Contador.
That my thoughts.
Cheers,
BrentonO

[Chuck]

so glad he won't be back next year.

or will he.

oh god. phil, paul. . and now . . LANCE in the commentary box.

I believe he may be trying to go back to his triathlon Roots.

Thought I heard the Hawaiian ironman was in his sights

[AUbicycles]

Thanks Brentono - that sounds logical.

I think Cavendish does benefit from Renshaw - because Renshaw does the work of choosing the line and making position - along, Cav has to do it himself when alone and has to concentrate and think about more. Agree - the acceleration was amazing, and the posture, crouched with bums up.

[Parrott]

just watched the highlights and have to say cavdendish's acceleration is fkng phenominal ... the camera shows big thor being led out.. petacchi creeping up.. and BANGGG! all you see is mark rocketing across the screen from the otherside.. crazy stuff..

I read that and thought yeah he is pretty fast, but that is a bit over the top. Not if you watch this, from 8:52, the difference in speed is amazing . You had it spot on.

[familyguy]

just watched the highlights and have to say cavdendish's acceleration is fkng phenominal ... the camera shows big thor being led out.. petacchi creeping up.. and BANGGG! all you see is mark rocketing across the screen from the otherside.. crazy stuff..

Famous last words part 740283:
Thor Hushovd: "What was that flash? Never mind..."

[Baldy]

I dont even like mark 1 but the side on view of the sprint when he comes into view makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up Its just crazy...

He sure has the build for it I guess, with his stumpy little body and t-rex arms it just works

Be interesting to see him go against Griepel and lotto next year, I dont know that the big fella is as fast but if he does take that chunky nugget Bert with him its going to be head down, bums up and elbows sharpened

For my first real time following the whole tour its been great, frustrating at times but im hopelessly addicted now. Im even thinking about going for a roll around with the vets this summer, which is something I never thought I'd do! But I figure you can make what you want out of it, kind of like an amped up training ride....do my work on the front early and then sit in for a while and enjoy riding in the bunch then trail off the back whenever I like. It would be worth the race fee's just to check out the bike porn

One thing it has done is bring the excitement of going to the worlds to a whole.....nufer..............le-vel

[AUbicycles]

He sure has the build for it I guess, with his stumpy little body and t-rex arms it just works

Just curious Baldy, is this what you saw crossing the line first in Paris yesterday?

CavenRex!

[Baldy]

[Fletcher]

For my first real time following the whole tour its been great, frustrating at times but im hopelessly addicted now.

x 2

[brentono]

I dont even like mark 1

+1
CHAV-endish
One sprint "wonder" that's why he will never wear the Green Jersey, at the end of Le Tour.
Cheers,
BrentonO

Albert Zimmerman
Just an ancient, a dinosaur good only for his age? Ponder this: on a bike weighing 12kg, on soft tyres 38mm across, without toe-straps and on a gear of 17 x 7, he rode the last 200m in 12 seconds. Many an amateur would be pleased with that today. And if that 17 x 7 gear sounds odd, it's because track riders used inch-pitch chains. In today's half-inch pitch, the gear would be 34 x 14. In other words, minute. The cycling mathematician, Dave Lefèvre, says that according to whether that was exactly 12 seconds or closer to 13, and depending on the precise size of the wheel (which could have been larger then than now), Zimmerman may have pedalled between about 170 and 185 revolutions a minute.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/the-greatest-pedaller-of-all-time

[toolonglegs]

I would be quite happy to be that one sprint wonder!...if he gets to the finish line in Geelong he will be in stripes...and going to the Vuelta means he is pretty serious about it.
That and he may already be in green depending o what happens in Italy .

[AUbicycles]

brentono, he came pretty close - and if Petacchi didn't make it in second - it may have been a very real chance. As TLL mentioned, less see what happen in Italy.

You can certainly argue on personality though he shares his success with his team and 6 stage wins last year and 5 this year is a pretty solid effort.

[brentono]

brentono, he came pretty close - and if Petacchi didn't make it in second - it may have been a very real chance. As TLL mentioned, less see what happen in Italy.

You can certainly argue on personality though he shares his success with his team and 6 stage wins last year and 5 this year is a pretty solid effort.

Too true, and what you say only backs my point. There are always the "what if's?"
and what if more of the other sprinters, didn't have their bad luck during Le Tour,
there would have been more competition.

My point, made about Petacchi, was he was always trying at each intermediate sprint, and even to work in breakaways.
That's why he has the Green Jersey.
Cavendish was denied the points classification's green jersey as Alessandro Petacchi finished second on the stage
to win the competition by 11 points, this year, 2010.
It was a moment of deja vu for Cavendish, who secured his sixth victory of the 2009 Tour on the same Paris boulevard.
Twelve months ago, was denied the maillot vert by 10 points and he was green with envy again this year as Petacchi
took the prize by 11 points.
"I'm disappointed this year not to win the green jersey," said Cavendish.
Two years in a row, same result.
This is why I said, one sprint wonder, winning stages is fine, but he will never win the Green Jersey,
that way, so he may never be really recognised as the Green Jersey Sprinter of Le Tour. Sad.
And that's personality (or lack of it) aside.
We all have our point of view, that's mine, no worries.
Cheers,
BrentonO

[AUbicycles]

I see what you are saying, he could win the green, and maybe it would be nice though when I was chatting with Mark Renshaw before the tour kicked off, it was pretty obvious that the goal was not the green, rather the stage wins. I think as he started racking up the points, the green became more realistic, but only probably because he had a chance. We know other riders like Thor only have their eyes on the green.. and that is their primary goal.

I don't mind the strategy, it is what they want, good for the team and the sponsors. Perhaps the taste for the green is really something that the media whips up in that the media assume that Cav is after the green and follow this line of thought... when all he wants to do is be first over the line

Cheers
Christopher