Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Off Topic => Sports Arena => Topic started by: TopDeck113 on June 29, 2010, 07:37:23 PM
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What IMO is the best annual sporting event starts on Saturday.
Predictions
Yellow - Can't see past Alberto Contador - it's a very mountainous Tour and he's a great climber. My outset bet is Andy Schleck. It'll be interesting to see how Bradley Wiggins and the new Sky team do. If he can improve on last year's fourth I'll be amazed but delighted.
Green - Mark Cavendish's not to win. Might not secure as many wins as last year, but will hopefully have the nous to secure points on the days when he's not on the podium.
King of the Mountains - By right it should be Contador, but contenders for GC don't ruin their chances by contesting climbs that would jeopardise their chances of finishing in yellow on the Champs de Elysees. I'll go for someone with unfulfilled potential on a team not having to contest anyother classification: Lampre's Damiano Cunego.
Young Rider - Andy Schleck.
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Armstrong - it's his last tour, I think he may be motivated to go one better than last year.
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I'm really looking forward to Le Tour and the Sky Team.
Hoping for Brad on GC and think Cav will win Green this year.
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Cavendish might find it difficult this year because he's not the most liked of riders in the Tour, not that this will bother him too much but if he finds himself targetted in the run up to the sprints his team are going to have to work extra hard to protect him and lead him out. For that reason alone I think Thor Husholvd will take green.
It would be great to see Bradley win, but realistically it's Contador's as long as his team (which isn't as strong as last year) can keep up with him on the climbs to help when he needs it.
Actually I quite fancy one of the Schlecks to spring a surprise this year.
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My prediction - it will be overshadowed yet again by drugs.
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My prediction - it will be overshadowed yet again by drugs.
If you didn't take so many you'd be able to watch it properly.
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You have to love this event. Such are the demands on them that whoever comes out on top can claim without fear of contradiction that they are truly at the top of their profession. However, the drug manufacturers shouldn't take all the credit the riders do have to do a bit too.
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My prediction - it will be overshadowed yet again by drugs.
If you didn't take so many you'd be able to watch it properly.
well the 2009 Tour was one of the cleanest since at least '98, and the younger riders dont tolerate drug use as much as other riders have over the past decade, i think this tour will hopefully be even cleaner than the last one.
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Can someone explain how it works... I know the bloke in the yellow jersey is the leader, not sure about how all the stages and King of the Mountains bits work.
Does whoever wins the most stages count as the overall winner or is overall winner calculated on accumulated time?
Are they having it in any funny countries this year like when they started it in Britain / Ireland?
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Can someone explain how it works... I know the bloke in the yellow jersey is the leader, not sure about how all the stages and King of the Mountains bits work.
Does whoever wins the most stages count as the overall winner or is overall winner calculated on accumulated time?
Are they having it in any funny countries this year like when they started it in Britain / Ireland?
The simplest part is the winner - whoever does the complete Tour in the least amount of time.
There are other categories like 'King of the Mountains' and 'Sprint Champion' - but they tend to be quite specialised and the winner of those is rarely (if ever?) the overall winner.
You can see the route here (http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html) - looks like some Belgium and Holland action this year.
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GC (General Classification - Yellow Jersey) - one with the lowest overall time.
King of the Mountains (Polka dot) one with the most points. Points are awarded for who goes over the top of each climb - larger the mountain larger the number of points awarded.
Points Jersey - Green Jersey - Points awarded for the ones over the line at the end of the day first PLUS some sprints during the day.
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You can see the route here (http://www.letour.fr/indexus.html) - looks like some Belgium and Holland action this year.
Starting in a city where many great sporting triumphs have been celebrated...
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Well, one that matters anyway.
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Can someone explain how it works... I know the bloke in the yellow jersey is the leader, not sure about how all the stages and King of the Mountains bits work.
Does whoever wins the most stages count as the overall winner or is overall winner calculated on accumulated time?
Are they having it in any funny countries this year like when they started it in Britain / Ireland?
It starts in Rotterdam this year (now there's a place!) and goes through Belgium before hitting France.
Right.
There are 20 stages, one initial short individual time trial, one more longer time trial later on (time trials are ridden against the clock, individually, no help from your team mates). There are a few mainly flat stages, very few hills, good for breakaway where a few riders try to get a drop on the 'Peleton' (the main group of riders) and win the stage but usually good for the sprinters. The most dramatic stages are those in The Pyrenees and The Alps, 200Km stages up massive mountains! One good stage where a rider can blow away all his rivals and the tour can be won on one of these, Armstrong was a master of this, Contador is probably the best at the moment.
No team time trial this year I see.
Yellow Jersey and overall winner is decided on cumulative time over all stages.
Green Jersey is the 'points' winner. Points are accumulated on all stages, the top 30 or so to finish a stage get points and there are also points on offer for intermediate sprints in the middle of stages, this is really the jersey for the sprinters who can't hope to keep up in the mountains so will lose loads of time on the yellow jersey but they can gain enough points to get the green jersey by winning flat stages and hanging on in the hilly (but not mountainous) ones. This is what Mark Cavendish wants this year and he has a chance having won ten stages in the last two Tours.
Red Polka Dot Jersey is the 'King of the Mountains'. Points are awarded to the first few riders over every climb, more points on offer on the steepest climbs which are ranked from 5 (fairly gentle hill) through 1 (bloody big mountain) to "hors categorie" (literally "beyond classification") which is basically a cliff face!
There is also a white jersey for the highest placed young rider (U-23).
Any other questions?
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Thanks all.
I will try to watch some of it this year and think of more questions if I get thoroughly confused, more than likely!
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It takes many tours to realise just how tactical and how much of a team sport it is, rather than about the individuals. Well, at least it did for me.
I would just enjoy the wonderful scenery and the staggering fitness levels of the riders.
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Always loved The Tour, my 8 year old son watched it last year and loved it too.
Saw it a few years ago when a few stages were in Kent.
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Yes, agree, the sporting event of the summer. Can't wait to catch the highlights each evening. Working from home, it is a terrible temptation to sit there watching it all afternoon...
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No surprise that Fabian Cancellara won the opening prologue. He really is the man to beat in any form of individual time trial.
Good showing from Millar and Thomas; disappointing from Wiggins.
The race proper starts today and in the context of the next three weeks the prologue is the equivalent of winning the Peace Cup before the league season kicks off.
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I've never watched it unfold and got into it as I should. I suspect that the highlights packages don't really do it justice.
It's a bit like watching a test match in cricket, where they feel each other out, trying different strategies etc with the bottom line being that you have to be incredibly bloody fit to have a chance.
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What a fantastic opening three stages! Not so much if you are a bike-racing purist, but for crashes galore it has been compulsive viewing.
The pavé yesterday has opened up big time gaps, which in the context of the GC will nullify some of the advantages that climbers like Contador will gain when they arrive in the Alps.
Unfortunately for Cavendish fans, it looks like Hushovd is in the mood to retain the mallot vert.
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Wednesday and it looked like Cav had lost what it takes when he sat up in the sprint for the line. Then two wins in two stages to prove the so-called experts (and me) wrong.
The Alps now beckon and the next few days will see a shake out in the GC standings. Cav's a hero, but for me this is when the Tour proper starts.
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Yes, agree, the sporting event of the summer. Can't wait to catch the highlights each evening. Working from home, it is a terrible temptation to sit there watching it all afternoon...
I feel the pain Richard. I work from home and having discovered TVCatchup.com I've ended up having much of the World Cup afternoon games on and now the ITV4 coverage all afternoon. I end up running a work laptop and my personal one for "entertainment".
Its easy to have The Tour on in the background though - its still the last few KM where you can't look away.
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(http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/images/uploadedfiles/editorial/pictures/2008/12/18/1cadel_evans(350_x_524).jpg)
Tubbs
(http://www.lunacynet.com/league/images/s2_tubbs.jpg)
Cadel Evans
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The third stage win for Mark Cavendish and the thirteenth of his career. He is three-off being in the Top 10 of all-time stage winners.
He'll struggle though to get any more this year as his main lead-out man and enforcer, Mark Renshaw, has been thrown out for head-butting Julian Dean and then almost forcing Tyler Farrar into the barriers. Typical, loveable Aussie...
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Ooh, now then.
Shleck and Contador were together on the last climb of the day and just as Shleck tried to attack his chain came off. Normal (unspoken) etiquette would be that Contador wouldn't attack while Shleck had mechanical problems but no, Contador went for it, and it could be the decisive move of the Tour.
Big talking point this,
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Ooh, now then.
Shleck and Contador were together on the last climb of the day and just as Shleck tried to attack his chain came off. Normal (unspoken) etiquette would be that Contador wouldn't attack while Shleck had mechanical problems but no, Contador went for it, and it could be the decisive move of the Tour.
Big talking point this,
Personally I'd say tough shit to Schleck. If Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button were racing round Silverstone and Button got a puncture, you wouldn't expect Lewis to pull over in the pits while Jenson got it fixed. End of.
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I'd agree with you, but that's not in the unwritten rules of the peleton, and when you are going head-to-head with 180 odd other riders it's better to stay friends with them.
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Absolutely you have to take off your football or motor racing hat with this one. Cycling is a bit like golf in its unwritten etiquette.
Not only did he rip up the fair play manual but after the stage Contador lied 'I was attacking when it happened' 'I didn't know he was in trouble I didn't look round' (Oh but you did Alberto) and 'I didn't know he had a mechanical problem' (so no ear plug to team car today?!)
If he's that desparate to win it makes you wonder what else he would do.
As the French crowd said today Boooo Booooo
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Contador was out of order. He attacked simply because he knew that Schleck was looking like he could put further time on him in GC.
As lovejoy says, he has also shown himself to be a liar: leaving aside the fact that he was right behind when Schleck's chain came off and he looked round when he passed him, these days the communication with his team car is such that he would have known full well the situation and the lead he had gained.
The defining moment of the Tour. Unless Schleck now has a couple of amazing days, Contador will win simply on the basis that he's probably a minute quicker when it comes to the ITT.
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I am with Omar Little on this one.
The French and their unwritten rules of cycling etiquette can fuck off. Who made them the moral arbiters of the world?
Stephen Roche said he'd have kept pedalling, Sean Kelly said he wouldn't. Seems like there are aguments on both sides.
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Damon - its their Tour, their rules. The clue is in the name.
If in the open golf on the last day tiger is paired with casey Casey looks away and Tiger moves his marked 6 foot nearer the pin - would you say golf etiquette can f&ck off?
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But that would be cheating, against the rules of the sport, not the spirit.
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Damon - its their Tour, their rules. The clue is in the name.
If in the open golf on the last day tiger is paired with casey Casey looks away and Tiger moves his marked 6 foot nearer the pin - would you say golf etiquette can f&ck off?
that's not a breach of etiquette, it's just cheating. I don't see the comparison.
The French are very selective about who they criticise. When it suits them, it's just la guerre. Like when Hinault attacked Lemond after agreeing not to. Or yesterday when Nic Roche was attacked by his own teammate when he got a puncture on the climb (Gadret became the best-placed Frenchman in the Tour as a result).
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On reflection I think I'm with those of you saying "tough shit", Contador wants to win and took his opportunity. It's just that I tipped a Shleck to win at the beginning of this thread!
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What would Eddy Merckx have done, what would Bernard Hinault have done? I find it very hard to imagine them pausing on that hairpin turn to wait for the yellow jersey to catch up.
Hinault would probably have pretended to slow down while actually speeding up.
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Ha! The French talking about cheating!
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What would Eddy Merckx have done, what would Bernard Hinault have done? I find it very hard to imagine them pausing on that hairpin turn to wait for the yellow jersey to catch up.
Hinault would probably have pretended to slow down while actually speeding up.
Hinault!
Renault!
Bravault!
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So the pro Contador camp also applauded the aussie who bowled underarm when the Zealanders needed 6 off the last ball?
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Mike Brearley's England did that too.
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The two best riders in the Tour going head-to-head up the Col de Tourmalet, great stuff.
Shleck can't get rid of Contador, and he needs at least a minute lead going into tomorrow's time trial, looks impossible.
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Great battle all the way up the Tourmalet - and credit to Contador on this occasion for not trying to nick it on the line having done nothing but hold Schleck's wheel more-or-less the whole climb.
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Contador's to lose now though, he's a much better time triallist.
Quite fancy Wiggins tomorrow, I reckon he's been saving himself since realising he had no chance of a podium finish in the overall.
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Great battle all the way up the Tourmalet - and credit to Contador on this occasion for not trying to nick it on the line having done nothing but hold Schleck's wheel more-or-less the whole climb.
I am suprrised he didn't try and knock Schleck off his bike on the run in.
Contador's name was mentioned in connection with the Operation Puerto drugs investigation a few years back and whilst his name was cleared Le Monde reported that he refused to do a DNA test which would have identified whether any of the blood bags found in the investigation were linked to him.
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Stage win number four for Cav.
He's still in with a chance of winning the maillot vert, but to do so not only does he really need to win on the Champs-Élysées (which I can see happening), but also for Petacchi not to finish in the next six places and Hushvold not to finish second. I think Petacchi is in good enough form to hold Cav's wheel and get the place on the podium.
As for GC, Contador's 8-second lead will be well over a minute after today's ITT and Sunday will be the traditional coronation of the man wearing the maillot jaune.
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Didn't catch yesterday but seen most of it. I was rooting for Schleck so gutted about the whole chain thing. Not critical of Contador though, despite what he's said Schleck would've done the same. Only difference is he could've pretended more convincingly that he hadn't realised because he'd have been in front of him!
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Cav won the final stage but Petacchi finished second and so wins the Green Jersey
Lance has retired again
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Cav won the final stage but Petacchi finished second and so wins the Green Jersey
Lance has retired again
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All over for another year. Overall it has been a very good Tour - GC and Points in the balance all the way to the end - and (so far at least) no doping controversies.
Always good to look back at one's predictions:
What IMO is the best annual sporting event starts on Saturday.
Predictions
Yellow - Can't see past Alberto Contador - it's a very mountainous Tour and he's a great climber. My outset bet is Andy Schleck. It'll be interesting to see how Bradley Wiggins and the new Sky team do. If he can improve on last year's fourth I'll be amazed but delighted.
Green - Mark Cavendish's not to win. Might not secure as many wins as last year, but will hopefully have the nous to secure points on the days when he's not on the podium.
King of the Mountains - By right it should be Contador, but contenders for GC don't ruin their chances by contesting climbs that would jeopardise their chances of finishing in yellow on the Champs de Elysees. I'll go for someone with unfulfilled potential on a team not having to contest anyother classification: Lampre's Damiano Cunego.
Young Rider - Andy Schleck.
Two out of four - not bad.
Cavendish second in the points competition, and if he'd started as he finished he'd have won it.
Cunego fifth in the King of the Mountains. Note to self: this seems to be the competition that the French seem to go after, bear in mind when making predictions for 2011.
In the meantime, I've taken advantage of the blank Premier League weekend on 11th September and volunteered to be a marshal on the first stage of the Tour of Britain. Hopefully get to see some of the up-and-coming stars of the future whizzing through Lancashire.
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Winner fails a drug test. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11441045)
What a farce.
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Winner fails a drug test. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11441045)
What a farce.
Watched his press conference right through. Didn't have the air of a guilty man. Cool and calm, answered every question at length
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This looks like food contamination, the amounts are absolutely tiny. 100s of times lower than the labs actually need to be able to detect. He blames it on a steak from Spain. Plenty of cows are given steriods and antibiotics to improve the meat texture and reduce fat content.
Worse is Mosquera who came second in the Vuelta. He tested positive for blood plasma and there is no doubting that.
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They've always got an excuse. Too much coffee, ginseng tea, dog ate my homework. He fcking cheated when Schleck's chain slipped and he attacked and then lied about not seeing it. Nothing I've heard today surprises me.
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I take back my earlier post. He had a blood transfusion didnt he! The lab where they checked the blood wasn't hi-tech enough pick up the micro doses that the german WADA lab could:
http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/5846/German-journalist-claims-UCI-denied-Alberto-Contador-positive-test-says-rider-may-have-received-transfusions.aspx
Bastard.
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They won't never change ...sadly
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Good article from David Walsh on the back of the Sunday Times too.
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I agree with you