Le Tour 2012

[Hopadop]

Wiggins takes the yellow jersey.

Good on him. Another Brit to get behind with the added bonus of him not being a complete bellend.

Just back from Normandy and a bit of Tour watching - a hill on the way to Boulogne on Tuesday and Abbeville for the start on Wednesday.

I was a Tour virgin, not at all knowledgeable and only a bit interested, but it's impossible not to get enthused. I knew it was a big event, but the scale of it all is impressive.

I couldn't help thinking that it would be far better if they cut out 95% of the support teams and other official vehicles.

[Dave Cooper please]

Told you Chris Froome was good didn't I.

[lovejoy]

Froom should have won the Vuelta last year but Sky gave Wiggins the team support in a tactical blunder.

Cant believe the coverage was of the winner trundling beyond the line whilst the two favourites were attacking each other further down the road.

Wiggins will take time in the TT tomorrow but I fear Cadel will be stronger in the Alps.

[Dave Cooper please]

Evans hasn't shown anything to make me think he's stronger than Wiggins, and tellingly, Evans is usually completely isolated on the steepest climbs while Wiggins always has Froome alongside him.

[Dave Cooper please]

Fantastic rant by Wiggins.

[The Left Side]

Blimey some nasty crashes over the weekend.

[Eckybloke]

Wow.

That was an ass kicking and a half.

Allez Wiggo.

[SteveN]

Allez Wiggo indeed, and also Allez Froomey. 

Sky are now in  a position that even if something untoward happens with Wiggins they can support Froome for the yellow jersey.

[Dave Cooper please]

Well, not only Wiggins but Chris Froome as well have just blasted Evans away in the time trial.
Could be a British 1-2 at this rate.

[Hopadop]

Well if that performance doesn't silence accusations of being a drugs cheat, nothing will...

Seriously, an amazing performance.

As before I'm a Tour novice. I've heard a lot about Cavendish but seen nothing to justify it. Is he having a mare, or have we just not had his kind of stage yet?

[usav]

As before I'm a Tour novice. I've heard a lot about Cavendish but seen nothing to justify it. Is he having a mare, or have we just not had his kind of stage yet?

He's won one stage already and was unlucky in another where he crashed before the end.   He will win another one or two before it's over.   The mountains certainly are not his speciality.

[Dave Cooper please]

As before I'm a Tour novice. I've heard a lot about Cavendish but seen nothing to justify it. Is he having a mare, or have we just not had his kind of stage yet?

His one stage win so far was superb, with no support from his team he picked his way through the sprinters and powered his way to the win.
Cav's problem this year is that he has no "ride-out train", which is when the rest of your team get into a line at the front of the peleton and basically carry you to the final 500metres or so. This year Team Sky are riding for Wiggins and not Cavendish, in fact Cavendish is spending a lot of his time carrying food and water bottles from the team car to the rest of the team.

 

[lovejoy]

Sky have the option now of doing the old 1-2 by sending froome away with any breaks knowing if it stays away they wont need to chase and if it doesnt the other teams will be tired from chasing it down. Wiggins just needs to mark Evans. Easier said than done. There are still many twists and turns left in this one.

[Hopadop]

Thank you usav and PC. I'm just showing my ignorance, when a bit of research would've told me he'd won 21 stages, the 6th highest ever.

So he's a sprinter, whereas Wiggins and Froome are more allrounders, capable of winning the whole thing? Which is why they get the team support?

I know it's never going to happen, but I think it would be more compelling if they had riders working for themselves and making individual decisions, rather than following team orders. It would have the added bonus of getting rid of some of the vehicles on the road. I knew there'd be some support and sponsor vehicles around but the numbers are mad.

[paul_e]

Isn't froome more of a climber?  I seem to remember reading something that he's targeting the mountain stages.

Would be nice to see wiggins in yellow, cavendish in green and froome in white and red spots, especially in an olympic year.